Jose Ramirez doesn’t know precisely what was said in the negotiations that landed him a May 2 Times Square co-main event against two-division champion Devin Haney, but he doesn’t mind if sullying his reputation was part of the process.

Ramirez, 29-2 (18 KOs), told BoxingScene he emerged as the comeback opponent for Haney, 31-0 (15 KOs), from a discussion among Golden Boy Promotions President Eric Gomez, Haney’s father-manager-trainer, Bill Haney, and Saudi Arabia boxing financier Turki Alalshikh.

Haney, 26, could be excused for taking a softer touch than the formerly unified 140lbs champion Ramirez, who also wields a capable left hook after Ryan Garcia used his lethal version to repeatedly rock Haney and drop him three times in an April 20 bout that was later converted to a no-contest due to Garcia’s three positive tests for the performance-enhancing drug Ostarine.

But Ramirez, 32, is also coming off a defeat, a narrow unanimous decision in Saudi Arabia to No. 1-ranked WBO 140lbs contender Arnold Barboza Jnr, who fights WBO champion Teofimo Lopez in the Times Square opening bout.  

“Obviously, Eric Gomez, being my promoter, is not going to say, ‘Hey, Jose’s a monster,’ or ‘Jose’s a tough fight,’ because then maybe Bill Haney doesn’t take this fight,” Ramirez said. “So if they had to play me down, emphasize my lack of performance in November … it’s a poker game. They played their cards properly and got me to where I’m at now.

“Once they got that contract signed, they called me and said, ‘Jose, you’re going to win. Get your ass in the gym and get ready. This is a fight you can win, that can change your life.’”

Ramirez’s promoter, Oscar De La Hoya, said when he was asked to supply an opponent for Haney, Ramirez was the first fighter he considered.

“Being a relentless volume puncher, he was the perfect fit, especially since Haney was coming off getting beat up throughout the whole fight,” De La Hoya said. “I saw how close Barboza versus Ramirez was. But I felt anyone else would just look at it as a loss. Not really looking at his style and his left hook. Not really looking at how he’s performed before that. Just the ‘L.’

“I’m sure Devin Haney is going to be very confident, but Jose Ramirez is going to give him a great fight. I really believe Devin Haney is a shell of himself coming off that bad loss and being off a year. You doubt yourself when you’re gone that long, and the first time you get hit, it really hurts.”

In a recent interview with BoxingScene following eight rounds of sparring with two opponents at trainer Robert Garcia’s new boxing academy in Moreno Valley, California, Ramirez said after two rousing sparring sessions earlier in the week he was slightly dismayed by his performance that day because, “I was relying too much on one or two punches,” during the middle rounds, knowing that repeated pressure is essential to defeat Haney.

“I have to put them together because I’m more explosive now. My style of boxing is not about hurting them with one punch. The best version of me is going in and out, always being there to land. Having that consistent pressure, being fast – jab-right, to the body and the head,” Ramirez said. “I can break anyone down.”

Hall of Fame matchmaker Bruce Trampler, who formerly scripted Ramirez’s career when the fighter was in the Top Rank stable, said Haney has the skill to defeat Ramirez “if he’s mentally and physically unencumbered” by the Garcia bout.

“We know Ramirez is a mechanically sound guy, persistent, not flashy, in your face and blue-collar,” Trampler said. “Haney’s a cypher, but if he wants to play at that level, this is who he has to fight.”

Brad Goodman, Trampler’s Hall of Fame colleague at Top Rank, said he leans to Haney based on purer overall skill.

‘It’s not like Jose’s been looking good – against Barboza or [Rances] Barthelemy,” Goodman said. “But it can be a very good fight if Jose has one last, great fight in him – if he can out-hustle Haney and throw more punches. Because Haney has a safety-first style. He’s a hard guy to catch.”

Ramirez and Robert Garcia foresee a distinct advantage over Haney being the crowd’s support after audiences at the New York and Los Angeles news conferences have booed Haney about his lawsuit of Garcia for battery and other claims connected to last year’s bout.

“The boxing world doesn’t accept actions like that [lawsuit] after the fight,” Ramirez said. “If he would have taken the loss like a man … look at what Miguel Cotto did after Antonio Margarito. [Cotto] could’ve sued [Margarito] for using illegal hand wraps. Instead, he took the rematch, got his glory back and so many more respected him for that. But I know it has to be tough on a father to watch his son go through something like that. I’m a father myself.”

Still, the boxing public’s distaste for Haney “could be perfect timing for Jose,” Robert Garcia said. “Jose also lost his last fight, too, but fighting in Saudi – very little people, no one cheering – was pretty much like fighting in the [pandemic] bubble. Jose loves the crowd, the atmosphere, having his family around.

“So Times Square will be great for Jose and he has the chance to pull it out. It’s going to be full of Latinos, Mexicans. That’s something else that could affect Haney and favor Jose.”

To Ramirez, being one of six fighters selected to participate in the one-of-a-kind outdoor event “feels like I won one of those six golden tickets.”

He was asked if he agrees with De La Hoya’s position that Haney may be “shot” from the Ryan Garcia beatdown.

“One fight can break you. That’s how boxing is. One fight can make you doubt yourself, become mentally weaker when you get hit,” Ramirez said.

“We’ll find out that night what he has, but I’m getting ready for the best version of Devin Haney. Truth be told, I’m getting ready for an undefeated Devin Haney not coming off that [Garcia fight]. I want that version because I don’t want any excuses. That’s the guy I can beat. My job is to do what I have to do to win. And if he’s not there mentally, good for me.

“Give me the fight they’re planning for Haney. I want the glory.”

Bill Haney contradicted the theory that the Haneys are discounting Ramirez, who lost his belts in a 2021 bout for the undisputed claim against Scotland’s Josh Taylor.

Selecting Ramirez, Bill Haney said, was to prove Devin Haney was willing to confront the best possible foe after previously defeating former veteran champions Jorge Linares, Vasiliy Lomachenko and Regis Prograis.

“We could’ve fought anybody … Shakur [Stevenson] fought a [contractor]. We picked Jose Ramirez,” Bill Haney said. “That’s what makes Devin elite. He pushes boundaries, and picking an opponent like Jose Ramirez proves Devin is the most accomplished, at age 26, of all the young champions, because he understands the boxing business, matchmaking, and how to make the most money.

“Eric Gomez can take credit for this fight, but let’s give Devin and Bill Haney credit, too, because Devin is going around to all of these promotional companies fighting the best fighters they have.”

Devin Haney is due to stage his rematch with Ryan Garcia in Saudi Arabia in October.

“We’re not stupid,” in selecting Ramirez. “I didn’t want his return to be a fight against a nobody,” Bill Haney said. “What better way to get ready for a left hook than to fight Jose Ramirez, a [fighter] who throws it the right way. The clean way.

“This is about getting to the Mount Rushmore of boxing. We’ve set out for Devin to join that fraternity. If they think we don’t know who we’re dealing with, then let the truth ring out, because they’re setting themselves up to look stupid.”

Robert Garcia said in addition to “sharpening” Ramirez’s left hook, he offers high praise for his fighter’s uppercut and body punching, believing Ramirez won’t fight in the rigid manner he did while losing to Barboza.

“[Ramirez] has to stay active. The whole boxing world knows that. It’s a great opportunity for him,” Garcia said. “Yes, they might’ve taken the fight because of Jose’s last performance, but Haney’s last performance was a lot worse.”

Lance Pugmire is BoxingScene’s senior U.S. writer and an assistant producer for ProBox TV. Pugmire has covered boxing since the early 2000s, first at the Los Angeles Times and then at The Athletic and USA Today. He won the Boxing Writers’ Association of America’s Nat Fleischer Award in 2022 for career excellence.