Jesus Ramos ready to exceed boxing expectations

Jesus Ramos is one of the young welterweights making a move into the higher divisional rankings. Boxing has been omnipresent in his life.

Jesus Ramos is one of the young talents making a dent on boxing’s welterweight division hierarchy. At just 20 years old, Ramos is undefeated with a high KO percentage and is looking to up his name recognition when he fights Javier Molina on the undercard of Andy Ruiz Jr. vs. Chris Arreola on Saturday, May 1.

Ramos (15-0, 14 KOs) was born into a boxing family. His father and uncle Efrain both had boxing experience, and his other uncle Abel Ramos became a successful professional as Ramos was a maturing adolescent. Abel is 10 years older than Ramos and served as one of his primary boxing role models. They will be fighting on the same card on May 1.

“My uncle was always training,” recalled Ramos to FanSided. “And I was always, you know, watching it and training. And actually, I wanted to train too. I was really young. I wanted to be like them.”

Uncle Abel won his first 8 professional bouts and now has wins over Bryant Perrella and Francisco Santana. He also competes as a welterweight and was a local star coming up in Casa Grande, Arizona. Ramos felt pressure as a kid to live up to Abel’s and his family’s reputation as boxers.

“Yeah, of course,” said Ramos about feeling pressure to succeed. “Especially, you know, with an uncle who had a good legacy. Especially here in Arizona. He had been competing in Golden Gloves. He was a champion. He had gone to several nationals. So everyone kind of knew very well. And, you know, me being the nephew, you know, they expected the same out of me.”

Ramos didn’t let high expectations get the better of him. He excelled, and in time, became his uncle’s sparring partner as a young teenager. Ramos was a bit intimidated to step into the ring as his uncle’s adversary for the first time.

“I was 14 when I first sparred my uncle,” said Ramos. “And you know, it was just crazy, you know, because I was coming up, and I’m like, I’m not going to spar Abel until I’m like 20. At 14, I was almost as tall as him, and we were already sparring.”

Jesus Ramos takes the next step up against Javier Molina on May 1

Looking back, Ramos feels like Abel took it easy on him when they started sparring together. He turned it up a notch as Ramos grew and his boxing skills improved.

“From the beginning, I think he did take it easy,” laughed Ramos. “I was younger, and he was taking it easy. As I grew older and got a little stronger, it was a little more competitive.”

Little by little, the experience, age, and power gap between Ramos and Abel and the other professionals he sparred started to lessen. He noticed that he could do more than hang with them. Ramos was pushing them. Ramos sensed that he became their equal.

“I first started sparring professionals,” said Ramos. “So I kind of started getting more looks and started learning a lot more. I can spar Abel, and I kind of had that moment where I felt a little stronger. I felt like I had a little more experience, and they were professionals. I started realizing that I was giving him more work, and he had to work a little harder with me.”

Today, Ramos has a perfect record and a nearly perfect KO rating at 93 percent. He has knocked out all but one of his 15 opponents. His next opponent Molina (22-3, 9 KOs), is a veteran with a good chin and has never been knocked out. Ramos’s power will put it to the test, but ironically, Ramos didn’t consider himself as a power puncher coming up through the amateur ranks.

“I never considered myself a power puncher,” said Ramos. “I never considered any of that.”

Ramos added, “It started coming more into play once I turned professional, once I started knocking people out. I was not really like, forcing it, you know, it was just happening. And I was like, Okay, I do have power. And that’s when I realized.”

His power is definitely here, and it will probably get better with age. Ramos is laying people out at 20. Imagine what he will do once he’s in his prime.

Once again, the expectations are there, but Ramos has met them in the past. It looks like he’s getting ready to do it again.

Watch Jesus Ramos vs. Javier Molina on the undercard of Andy Ruiz Jr. vs. Chris Arreola on Saturday, May 1. The fight card can be purchased through FOX pay-per-view and the FITE app. Coverage begins at 9 p.m. ET.