The 140lbs clash between Jack Catterall and Jose Ramirez is “edging closer,” sources have told BoxingScene.
The date that has been circled is May 30, at the Save Mart Center in Fresno, where Ramirez is a considerable draw and where he will have to fend off Chorley’s Catterall if he’s to stay at the top table of contention.
Catterall, a southpaw, has openly called for a bout with WBO champion Devin Haney, but the Englishman’s team knows he has to keep busy until Haney’s mandatory is called.
Catterall is the WBO’s No. 1.
He is also ranked No. 6 by the WBC and WBA and No. 8 by the IBF.
Matchroom had appeared keen on matching Catterall with the in-form Conah Walker, but the 33-year-old Californian has all-but won the race.
Ramirez is 29-3 (18 KOs) and is coming off a pair of defeats but in good company, to Arnold Barboza and the aforementioned Haney.
That points loss to Haney was in May last year in a drab fight in Times Square with the Baroboza reverse, also on the cards after 12 rounds, came in November 2024.
Catterall, who left trainer Jamie Moore for Bozy Edwards in Philadelphia last year, is 32-2 (14 KOs) and he won a physical bout with Ekow Essuman at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in November.
Three fights ago, Catterall – a 32-year-old who goes by the nickname ‘El Gato’ – was also outscored by Barboza before he returned to beat Harlem Eubank in an anti-climactic bout that ended early following a clash of heads in the seventh round.
Essuman followed, and since then Catterall has been vocal in calling for the Haney fight on social media.
The third defeat on Ramirez’s record came against another British southpaw, Scotland’s Josh Taylor, a bitter rival of Catterall.
