Stevie at his best outboxes Ramirez. He doesnt shut him out as Camacho did, and as Pea did in the rematch, but he'd win by a 7-5 or 8-4 margin.
I'd take Ramirez personally... you look at who bested him, it was either tremendous speed and defense (Whitaker/Camacho) or it was toughness and serious strength (Chavez/Boom Boom) ... Johnston, a relatively light punching volume guy with good but not great defense isnt getting past him... I like Ramirez to win a close decision on the basis of vastly superior power and strength
My problem with the argument of JLR only being beaten by the best is, who exactly has he beaten to suggest he was only a notch or two below? His one career defining win was the Chapo rematch, and he arguably lost every round before knocking him out. His resume is fairly shitty beyond that. I don't know... kinda feel like he's in line with all of those good-but-not great heavyweights who just happened to fight in Ali's era, and ditto for any middleweight champ (and contender) while SRR roamed those streets. Good fighters, but whose status is magnified more so for the era in which they fought than the results they produced. Not suggesting that Johnston has a plethora of HOF fighters on his resume or even that he wins this fight - just that I never got the hype surrounding Ramirez.
It's a paradox. Many will tell you Whitaker was outright robbed in his first fight with Ramirez. But the reality is, he made it damn close, and as a result has been regarded highly, especially with respect to his accomplishments over the years. Either way, I agree he's a pretty flimsy measuring stick.
Whitaker was outright robbed in the first fight, which is why I don't count it as a career-defining win for Ramirez. You can make the argument that Whitaker won at least 20 rounds between the two fights.
you must have missed him outmuscling Ramirez the entire fight but im not surprised by that, you miss a lot of things
well, I think part of it has to go to his excellence against everyone else... What I would say is this: look at Stevie Johnston's title defenses... anybody there you'd bet on to beat Ramirez? I can only go by how Ramirez was beat... I never saw anyone beat Ramirez with Johnston's style and talent... I also think the Rosario rematch is only part of the story... if that first fight had been a 15 rounder, I think Ramirez would have stopped him... he was swarming at that point and really dominated the second half of that fight... as it was, it was still a razor thin decision for Rosario... Ramirez had some solid wins... he beat Terrance Alli for a belt... Boza was at the end of the road, but he handled him exactly like you would expect him to handle him in that state, easy knockout victory... and of course, he had an excellent showing against Alexis Arguello... I would agree that his resume isnt the greatest, but its consistent... he won a lot more than he lost, and he lost only to the best, he looked a formidable fighter... And when I look at Stevie Johnston's resume, I dont see anybody there where I'd make Ramirez an underdog... Bazan? Manfredy? I cant envision either of those guys beating Ramirez, and I cant envision either of them doing any better than Ramirez did against Chavez/Whitaker/Camacho
