'I felt like Katie disrespected women's boxing...no one's reached out to us at all'
Ricardo Ramos, manager of American number one and World number three Jessica McCaskill, didn’t take kindly to Katie Taylor’s comments about her lack of willing opponents.
MUCH OF THE rhetoric surrounding Katie Taylor’s Stateside bow regarded her inability to find suitable opponents, such is her frightening ability in the ring.
Taylor laid waste to a game but overmatched Jasmine Clarkson at Brooklyn’s Barclays Centre on Saturday night, with the 22-year-old Texan being pulled before the start of the fourth round. Clarkson was tough but had no business sharing a ring with a fighter of Taylor’s pedigree, the fact that she entered the contest as the third-ranked lightweight in America in spite of having twice as many defeats on her record as she did wins a fairly glaring exemplification of the shallow talent pool within which Taylor has already made a significant splash.
Prior to her victory, Taylor had implored prospective rivals to “step up,” bemoaning the lack of willing adversaries which had resulted in her only having an opponent confirmed four days before first bell. One such boxing figure who didn’t take her admonishment at face value was Ricardo Ramos, manager of oft-hypothesised Taylor opponent and US number one Jessica McCaskill [5-1, 3KOs].
Speaking to The42, Ramos criticised both the 2012 Olympic gold medalist and her team for failing to contact him regarding a scrap with the big-hitter from Chicago.
“Yeah, definitely,” is his response when asked if he wants his fighter to trade leather with the Bray woman. “They’ve brought up Jessica’s name three or four times in a couple of different articles, especially in The Irish Times this morning. But we just haven’t gotten a phonecall.
And the girl Jasmine Clarkson that she fought in Brooklyn on Saturday, was our opponent first, and then they outpaid her! Jasmine cancelled on us and went to Brooklyn to fight Katie. So I was a little bothered by that. I don’t believe the articles are true. We’ve tried to make that fight with Katie a couple of times.
“Just go back and look at the articles. I mean, on the undercard of Kovalev-Ward – whoever posted that article said that Katie Taylor is most likely to fight Jessica McCaskill in Vegas. I never got a phonecall. And then today in the Irish Times it says that Jessica was a possible opponent. No one’s called me, no one’s reached out to us at all.”
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McCaskill is ranked at third in the world by BoxRec in large part due to a unanimous points victory over highly-rated Puerto Rican Carla Torres back in January, while Taylor is currently ranked ninth in the world by the website. Ramos, who has managed CasKILLA’s two-year professional career to date, took umbrage with Taylor’s comments last week, and suggested that though she was doubtless relaying what she had been told by her team, the sentiment was disingenuous.
I felt like Katie disrespected women’s boxing by telling all these ladies they have to step up. She’s supposed to be here to help women’s boxing, and I don’t feel like she is.
“Don’t get me wrong, finding a female opponent is difficult. There is some truth to what they’re saying but, you know, we’ve proven more than willing to have a conversation about that fight, for sure.
“Listen, she’s a gold medalist, so I know there are some people that are hesitant [to fight Taylor], and obviously it’s not her, really – it’s her matchmakers. It’s obvious her matchmakers don’t want to get her in too dangerous. I get it. And Jessica is a puncher, so it might not be the right time for them to fight us.
“But we want the fight, and we’d be willing to come to London to take the fight. Jessica and I would love to come to London if the opportunity presents itself.
“Dublin…yeah. We would go to Ireland too. We want a shot at Katie Taylor, preferably for a belt, and we’ll take it from there.”
As Taylor bludgeoned Clarkson on Saturday night, McCaskill was busy doing damage of her own.
The Windy City native won the vacant American Boxing Organization Intercontinental lightweight title with a second-round stoppage of Canadian Natalie Brown at the UIC Pavilion in her hometown – headlining the venue two months after Ireland’s Michael Conlan did the same.
Following her explosive victory, McCaskill called Taylor out from centre-ring.
“Everything is fine,” manager Ramos says. “She’s just won the ABO title, she’s 5-1. We have a puncher’s chance.
“We understand the situation we’re in, and we’re not afraid to travel out to go get it.”
Taylor is expected to return to the ring at London’s York Hall on 1 September before fighting for a world title in Las Vegas, on the undercard of Joshua-Klitschko II, on 11 November. The 31-year-old Braywoman is ranked as number one by the WBA, whose vacant title will be contested by Cecilia Sofia Mena [10-1-1, 5KOs] and Anahi Esther Sanchez [16-2, 8KOs] next Friday.
It’s not unlikely that the victor will defend her belt against Taylor, though Jessica McCaskill might well have something to say about that.
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'I felt like Katie disrespected women's boxing...no one's reached out to us at all'
MUCH OF THE rhetoric surrounding Katie Taylor’s Stateside bow regarded her inability to find suitable opponents, such is her frightening ability in the ring.
Taylor laid waste to a game but overmatched Jasmine Clarkson at Brooklyn’s Barclays Centre on Saturday night, with the 22-year-old Texan being pulled before the start of the fourth round. Clarkson was tough but had no business sharing a ring with a fighter of Taylor’s pedigree, the fact that she entered the contest as the third-ranked lightweight in America in spite of having twice as many defeats on her record as she did wins a fairly glaring exemplification of the shallow talent pool within which Taylor has already made a significant splash.
Prior to her victory, Taylor had implored prospective rivals to “step up,” bemoaning the lack of willing adversaries which had resulted in her only having an opponent confirmed four days before first bell. One such boxing figure who didn’t take her admonishment at face value was Ricardo Ramos, manager of oft-hypothesised Taylor opponent and US number one Jessica McCaskill [5-1, 3KOs].
Speaking to The42, Ramos criticised both the 2012 Olympic gold medalist and her team for failing to contact him regarding a scrap with the big-hitter from Chicago.
“Yeah, definitely,” is his response when asked if he wants his fighter to trade leather with the Bray woman. “They’ve brought up Jessica’s name three or four times in a couple of different articles, especially in The Irish Times this morning. But we just haven’t gotten a phonecall.
“Just go back and look at the articles. I mean, on the undercard of Kovalev-Ward – whoever posted that article said that Katie Taylor is most likely to fight Jessica McCaskill in Vegas. I never got a phonecall. And then today in the Irish Times it says that Jessica was a possible opponent. No one’s called me, no one’s reached out to us at all.”
McCaskill is ranked at third in the world by BoxRec in large part due to a unanimous points victory over highly-rated Puerto Rican Carla Torres back in January, while Taylor is currently ranked ninth in the world by the website. Ramos, who has managed CasKILLA’s two-year professional career to date, took umbrage with Taylor’s comments last week, and suggested that though she was doubtless relaying what she had been told by her team, the sentiment was disingenuous.
“Don’t get me wrong, finding a female opponent is difficult. There is some truth to what they’re saying but, you know, we’ve proven more than willing to have a conversation about that fight, for sure.
“Listen, she’s a gold medalist, so I know there are some people that are hesitant [to fight Taylor], and obviously it’s not her, really – it’s her matchmakers. It’s obvious her matchmakers don’t want to get her in too dangerous. I get it. And Jessica is a puncher, so it might not be the right time for them to fight us.
“But we want the fight, and we’d be willing to come to London to take the fight. Jessica and I would love to come to London if the opportunity presents itself.
“Dublin…yeah. We would go to Ireland too. We want a shot at Katie Taylor, preferably for a belt, and we’ll take it from there.”
As Taylor bludgeoned Clarkson on Saturday night, McCaskill was busy doing damage of her own.
The Windy City native won the vacant American Boxing Organization Intercontinental lightweight title with a second-round stoppage of Canadian Natalie Brown at the UIC Pavilion in her hometown – headlining the venue two months after Ireland’s Michael Conlan did the same.
Following her explosive victory, McCaskill called Taylor out from centre-ring.
“Everything is fine,” manager Ramos says. “She’s just won the ABO title, she’s 5-1. We have a puncher’s chance.
“We understand the situation we’re in, and we’re not afraid to travel out to go get it.”
Taylor is expected to return to the ring at London’s York Hall on 1 September before fighting for a world title in Las Vegas, on the undercard of Joshua-Klitschko II, on 11 November. The 31-year-old Braywoman is ranked as number one by the WBA, whose vacant title will be contested by Cecilia Sofia Mena [10-1-1, 5KOs] and Anahi Esther Sanchez [16-2, 8KOs] next Friday.
It’s not unlikely that the victor will defend her belt against Taylor, though Jessica McCaskill might well have something to say about that.
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‘I’m definitely ready for a world title fight’: Katie Taylor looking to bigger prizes
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Fight Talk jasmine clarkson Jessica McCaskill Katie Taylor