The highly anticipated Times Square boxing card takes place on Friday, May 2. The “FATAL FURY: City of the Wolves” event, which is headlined by a boxing match between Ryan Garcia and Rolando “Rolly” Romero, also features two other important bouts. In the co-main event, Devin Haney faces Jose Carlos Ramirez. Meanwhile, in the fight card opener, Teofimo Lopez puts his WBO light welterweight title on the line against Arnold Barboza Jr. Below, We look at the Haney vs. Ramirez. fight betting odds, picks, and predictions.
Devin Haney Vs. Jose Ramirez Betting Odds And Line Movement
When the betting odds opened for this fight, Haney was a -1000 favorite over the +630 Ramirez. The betting line has shifted. Today Haney is -1205, while Ramirez is a +600 betting underdog.
Devin Haney Vs. Jose Ramirez
Devin Haney (31-0-0-1 with 15 KOs) was on a 31-fight winning streak when he stepped into the ring against a seemingly unhinged Ryan Garcia at Barclays Center in Brooklyn in April 2024.
Garcia dropped Haney three times that night on route to a decision win. However, as mentioned above, Garcia failed a drug test, which resulted in the outcome of the fight being overturned, and ruled a no contest. The failed drug test and Garcia’s weight miss give Haney some slack heading into the Ramirez matchup, but Garcia tagged Haney with his left throughout the fight. Make no mistake, Haney needs a bounce-back performance in Times Square.
Jose Ramirez (29-2 with 18 KOs) opened his career on a 26-0 run. By the time Ramirez faced Josh Taylor in May 2021, Ramirez owned the WBC and WBO light welterweight titles. Taylor held the WBA and IBF belts. When the fight ended, Taylor walked away with the decision win and as the undisputed light welterweight champ.
Ramirez bounced back with three wins before dropping a decision to Arnold Barboza Jr. in November 2024.
The Haney vs. Ramirez fight will be contested at welterweight.
ESPN has Haney ranked as the No. 2 junior welterweight.
Devin Haney Vs. Jose Ramirez Tale Of The Tape
Devin Haney
Record: 31-0-1 with 15 knockouts
Age: 26
Height: 5’8″
Reach: 72″
Stance: Orthodox
Jose Ramirez
Record: 29-2 with 18 knockouts
Age: 32
Height: 5’10″
Reach: 72″
Stance: Orthodox
Devin Haney Vs. Jose Ramirez Breakdown
Ramirez uses level changes and feints to set up his positioning and range and to pick up on the tendencies of his opponents. While this movement can be effective against some opponents, Haney will present some problems for Ramirez on this front, as he has a tendency to step out of range when his opponent changes levels. Once Ramirez is in range he can unload effective combinations to the head and body. However, Ramirez is not the best clinch fighter, and his opponents can easily tie him up. Haney is unafraid to clinch if he doesn’t like the position he is in. Ramirez needs to stay active and not accept the clinch of his opponent.
Ramirez is a pressure fighter, but his pressure is sneaky. His footwork and movement can disguise his forward motion. His style allows him to gain ground and get into range before his opponent can react. He doesn’t charge straight in. Instead, he moves, bounces back and forth, and moves laterally, slowly gaining ground.
Ramirez’s good footwork and movement also allow him to get out of range when punches come his way from the outside. The problem with this defensive approach is that it also puts Ramirez out of range, which means he has to work on getting back into range, which can be a time-consuming affair for him. Ramirez also employs an active high guard on defense. The problem with the active guard is that a fighter can misjudge what’s coming his way. The result of a misjudgment while using an active guard is that the fighter will get hit. The active guard is also a liability in that a fighter using it can fall victim to “blocking” probing shots, which opens them up for the power shots coming behind that probe.
Haney is one of the best boxers in the business when it comes to his jab. He is fast and accurate with his lead hand and hides his jab well with feints and probes. Haney also effectively uses a double jab to the head and body. Another thing that makes Haney’s jab effective is that he is defensively sound when throwing it, using head movement to avoid any counter coming back at him after he throws the jab. While Haney’s jab is effective, his goal is to use the lead hand to set up his power, which he does well. Ramirez could struggle with Haney’s jab piercing through his high guard.
While Haney can use his movement to avoid counters off his jab, he can also find himself reaching with that punch while dropping his back hand, which opens him for counters. Ramirez might be able to catch Haney when he sees this happening, but he’ll need to work on his timing if he hopes to do so. Ryan Garcia was able to catch Haney with lefts when he left his back hand low. With that it would be a shock to find that Ramirez and his team did not work on landing power lefts.
Haney’s timing and reflexes allow him to land effective counters, something he should be able to do if Ramirez is unaware of his positioning after throwing jabs. If Ramirez stays in range and leaves his head on line, he will get countered.
Haney lost a lot of his shine against Garcia. Sure the fight was ruled a no contest after Garcia’s failed drug tests, but that doesn’t erase the fact that Haney was dropped three times in that fight. Look for him to make a statement against an opponent he should beat, even on Ramirez’s best day.
Devin Haney Vs. Jose Ramirez Pick And Prediction
Haney lost a lot of his shine against Garcia. Sure the fight was ruled a no contest after Garcia’s failed drug tests, but that doesn’t erase the fact that Haney was dropped three times in that fight. Look for him to make a statement against an opponent he should beat, even on Ramirez’s best day.
The betting pick is for Devin Haney to beat Jose Ramirez via decision.
We will have more on the Haney vs. Ramirez fight and the Garcia vs. Romero fight card as fight night approaches.
