The eagerly-anticipated 140lbs unification clash between WBA ‘Super’ and IBF king Josh Taylor and WBC/WBO counterpart Jose Ramirez is set to take place at the MGM Grand, Las Vegas, on May 8.
Top Rank CEO Bob Arum has already reserved the Vegas venue with Scotland’s Taylor now in the process of securing a visa, according to Mark Kriegel of ESPN.com.
Fans will be in attendance “in accordance with strict standards imposed by the state of Nevada,” says Arum. The purse split will be 50-50. Unified 168lbs champ Canelo Alvarez’s projected showdown with WBO title holder Billy Joe Saunders is tentatively scheduled to take place on either May 1 or May 8, but this won’t affect the planned Taylor-Ramirez date.
But Ramirez’s manager Rick Mirigian told Kriegel the fight isn’t locked down just yet. “I’m optimistic, but negotiations continue,” said Mirigian.
Undisputed lightweight champion Teofimo Lopez will likely meet the Taylor-Ramirez victor later this year though Arum held talks with Golden Boy Promotions’ Oscar De La Hoya and Eric Gomez on Thursday about a 2021 clash between Lopez and hot property Ryan Garcia, who is also negotiating a money-spinning bout with Manny Pacquiao.
A Lopez-Garcia clash would rely on the lightweight king defeating his IBF mandatory George Kambosos Jr. and Garcia beating Dominican Javier Fortuna with the unbeaten rivals then meeting later in 2021.
“It would have to be this year,” Arum told Kriegel. “Because after that, Teofimo is going up to fight the winner of Taylor-Ramirez.”
Featured image: (L) Mikey Williams/Top Rank (R) Queensberry Promotions