Sure, the atmosphere is different with no one in the audience. But still, I believe this is going to be an interesting fight.
What makes this fight more interesting is the betting odds. I saw back in January that Viktor Postol was a +500 underdog (5/1). But now, just a week away from the Saturday, August 29th fight, the odds are nowhere to be found. Why are the odds yet to be listed at virtually every sportsbook in existence when we are just 6 days away from fight night?
The fight was originally scheduled to take place back in January over in China, but for reasons that are obvious to us now, it was postponed. My question is what’s the deal with the odds. A fighter as good as Postol to get listed as such a significant underdog is eye-catching, to say the least. You have to wonder if the books in Vegas and offshore got antsy about their decision to list Postol so long.
Are there certain unknowns with one of the fighters that we are unaware of? Do the books have inside information that we don’t? When the books finally relist the lines, the boxing odds will be at SBR.
The Breakdown
Going to the tape, we see Ramirez vs. Hooker. Within five seconds of the fight, Jose Ramirez put Hooker out of position and hard the angle on him to unload with a flurry of shots. Good movement and a stiff lead jab while transferring his head from front to back allowed for Ramirez to a short-left hook counter on the part of Hooker look like a wild punch that put the taller boxer completely out of position. Next thing you know, Ramirez is tee-ing off.
Looking at Postol, this won’t work. His lead hand control is too good. Ramirez is going to have to actually work his way inside and won’t find those free shots against such an active guard. That said, Viktor Postol ended up stuck on his front foot coming off the jab quite a bit against Matthysse. Ramirez has great lateral movement and excels at get around his opponents’ jab. This in itself can be problematic for Postal and may be why we saw those early odds way up there at +500. It will allow for plenty of opportunities for Ramirez to slip inside and land heavy body shots and later in the fight, after plenty of rib and liver shots when Postol’s right-hand starts to drop, a chance for hard left hooks to his chin.
Ramirez is a bit of a wild fighter. Sometimes he looks out of control. But he’s smarter than you would think at first glance. He actually knows how to set up traps and create strategy-based offense. I believe with the way Postol circles and stays front-foot heavy, it will also allow Ramirez to drop bombs with the over-hand right. As time goes on, raining right-hands coming down while you are caught on your own front foot could get quite dangerous, indeed.
Why does this happen?
Because just about every time Viktor Postol leads in with his jab, he steps forward, heavy on his front foot. His objective is to eliminate range, and then impose his will on his opponent pressing his forearm against them and then leaning his weight into them to put pressure on them before shoving them away. It usually works. But Ramirez, with his style and tendency to chuck overhand rights, will eventually recognize that Postol’s head is the same spot every time. Eventually, even as Postal is pushing Ramirez’ head down, Jose will just start to throw over-hand rights over the top. Eventually one will land and it will be the beginning of the end.
It will take Ramirez a little while to figure out Viktor Postal. So, I think this will be a fun fight to watch. That said, depending on what the new odds are, I would put my money on Jose Ramirez to walk away the Victor. If the odds have no real value, I’d look for odds for Jose Ramirez to win by KO/TKO which will have more value.