Devin Haney vs Jose Ramirez Preview May 2nd, 2025
Unbeaten WBC Junior Welterweight Champion Devin Haney of San Francisco, California moves up to the welterweight division to face former WBO/WBC Junior Welterweight Champion Jose Ramirez of Avenal, California this Friday, May 2nd. The 12-rounder from Times Square in New York City can be seen live on DAZN pay-per-view in most nations. Haney, the former IBF, WBA Super World, WBO, WBC ‘Franchise,’ and Ring Magazine World Lightweight Beltholder won the WBC Junior Welterweight Title in December, 2023 when he dominated Regis Prograis over 12 rounds. He then fought Ryan Garcia last April and was dropped three times in a majority decision loss but the fight was later ruled a no-contest when Garcia was fined and suspended for failing a drug test. Ramirez last saw action in November when he dropped a 10-round unanimous decision to Arnold Barboza Jr.
Haney vs Ramirez Betting Odds
Here are the betting odds from online sportsbook BetOnline.ag (full review here).
- Jose Ramirez +550
- Devin Haney -900
My Pick
Haney is just 26 years old and has evolved from being a can’t-miss prospect to a multi-weight world champion following his excellent 138-bout amateur career after getting into the sport as a seven-year-old. He won a silver medal at the USA Junior National Championships in 2013 and reached the quarterfinals of the World Juniors the same year. He then won a gold medal at the 2014 US Junior National Championships and the 2015 USA Youth National Championships.
He was the youngest boxer ever to win the Youth World Championships and captured a total of seven national titles along the way. Haney, who was born in San Francisco and fights out of Las Vegas, then turned pro in December of 2015 as a 16-year-old and has a perfect record of 31-0 as a pro with 15 Ko’s and has 222 rounds of experience under his belt. He won the WBC Interim World Lightweight Title in 2019 by stopping Zaur Abdullaev and the full title in his next fight with a unanimous decision over Alfredo Santiago.
Haney defended the title by unanimous decision against Yuriorkis Gamboa, Jorge Linares and Joseph Diaz before beating George Kambosos twice in a row by unanimous decision in Australia to win the rest of the lightweight belts. He fought once more as a lightweight against Vasyl Lomachenko and beat him by a controversial unanimous decision before heading north in weight to take on Prograis and Garcia. Haney has also won several regional and minor titles along the way including the WBC Youth World, USBA, IBF North American, WBC International, and WBO Inter-Continental Lightweight Belts. He stands 5-feet-8-inches tall with a 71-inch.
Haney possesses tremendous skills and speed with average power with a current knockout ratio of 48.4 per cent and has gone the distance in his past nine fights (including the Garcia contest) with his last stoppage coming in September, 2019 when he halted Abdullaev after four rounds. His first four pro bouts took place in Mexico since he was too young to box professionally in America at the time. He’s beaten everybody in front of him so far with his toughest opponents being Prograis, Lomachenko, Kambosos, Diaz Jr., Linares, Gamboa, Santiago, Antonio Moran, Mason Menard, Juan Carlos Burgos and Xolisani Ndongeni.
The 32-year-old Ramirez won the vacant WBC Junior Welterweight Crown with a unanimous decision over Amir Imam in March, 2018 and defended it for the first time with a unanimous decision over Antonio Orozco before beating Jose Zepeda by majority decision and taking down Maurice Hooker in six to add the WBO title. He then met Viktor Postol in 2020 and took a majority decision. Ramirez attempted to unify the belts against Josh Taylor, who held the WBA and IBF versions, and lost a close 114-112 decision on all three scorecards despite being dropped twice.
He rebounded from the loss to Taylor with a 12-round unanimous decision over Jose Pedraza along with an 11th-round stoppage of Richard Commey and a 12-round unanimous decision over Rances Barthelemy. He was then derailed in November with the loss to Barboza Jr. Ramirez enters this contest with an impressive mark of 29-2 with 18 Ko’s and has boxed 184 rounds since turning pro back in 2012. He stands 5-feet-10-inches tall with a 72-inch reach for an inch advantage in height and reach over Barboza and has a decent amount of pop in his fists as 62.1 per cent of his wins have come by stoppage but has gone the distance in eight of his past 10 fights.
Ramirez enjoyed a fine amateur career and represented the USA at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, England where he went 1-1. He also faced Vasyl Lomachenko at the 2011 World Championships in Azerbaijan and was beaten 16-9 on points. Since turning pro Ramirez has also won the NABF Junior Welterweight Title as well as a couple of other regional belts as well as his world championship. As well as beating Barthelemy, Commey, Postol, Hooker and Zepeda, Ramirez has also defeated Antonio Orozco, Amir Imam, Mike Reed, Issouf Kinda, Johnny Garcia, Jake Giuriceo, Robert Frankel, Ryusei Yoshida and Tomas Mendez.
Prediction…
Both men are moving north to the 147 lb welterweight division for this fight and while Ramirez has the edge in power, Haney has the edge in overall boxing skills. There’s a good chance this fight goes the distance and although Ramirez should make it a close fight, he struggled against Barboza in November and I can’t see him outboxing Haney here. Ramirez would have to outwork him and keep throwing punches all night long to keep Haney on the back foot. Haney has the edge if the fight goes the distance as he’s the better boxer overall.
Haney has the overall edge in skills.
Play: Haney -900 @ BetOnline.ag
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Devin Haney betting • Jose Ramirez betting