John Ramirez Wants Revenge for His Only Defeat — But Mandatory Status Cannot Guarantee the Rematch

John “Scrappy” Ramirez has fought his way back to the front of the WBA super-flyweight line after suffering the only defeat of his professional career. Now he wants the man responsible for it.

David Jiménez defeated Ramirez by unanimous decision in April 2024, taking the WBA interim super-flyweight title and leaving Ramirez with questions about whether he had been ready for that level of competition. Ramirez recently acknowledged to World Boxing News that he was capable but incomplete when he entered the first fight. He believes experience was missing, and he wants an opportunity to prove that the result does not define the fighter he has become.

Ramirez has earned another WBA title opportunity. The organization lists him at 17-1 with no draws and identifies him as its No. 1 contender in its October 2026 super-flyweight rankings. The WBA also designated him as Jiménez’s mandatory challenger and initially ordered the two sides to negotiate.

That should have created a direct path to revenge.

Instead, Jiménez received permission to make a voluntary defense against Seigo Yuri Akui on November 29 in Tokyo. Ramirez must now wait for that result, knowing his championship opportunity remains protected under the WBA’s current ruling but the rematch he wants does not.

If Jiménez wins, Ramirez can pursue the title and revenge in the same fight. If Akui wins, Ramirez will still be positioned to challenge for the championship—but the personal score with Jiménez will remain unsettled.

That makes November 29 about more than one title defense. It will determine whether Ramirez’s next chapter becomes a rematch or an entirely different test.

The First Fight Left Ramirez With More Than a Loss

Jiménez did not narrowly escape their first meeting. According to the WBA’s report of the April 20, 2024 bout in Brooklyn, he defeated Ramirez by unanimous decision to capture the interim super-flyweight title. The official scores were 117-111, 117-111 and 116-112.

Those numbers matter because they establish the size of the challenge Ramirez wants to revisit. He is not seeking to correct a controversial verdict decided by one disputed round. All three judges had Jiménez winning, and two scored the fight by six rounds.

The loss dropped Ramirez to 13-1 at the time, according to the WBA. It also interrupted the momentum of an unbeaten contender who had reached his first major title opportunity without previously experiencing professional defeat.

Ramirez’s recent explanation does not challenge the official result. In his account to World Boxing News, he accepted that he lacked the experience and complete development required when he first faced Jiménez. His position is that he was good enough to reach the opportunity but not yet prepared enough to capitalize on it.

That distinction gives his demand for revenge some substance. Ramirez is not arguing that the judges denied him a victory. He is arguing that the version of himself who lost in 2024 is not the version waiting for another title shot in 2026.

His record supports the narrower claim that he rebuilt his position. The WBA’s current profile lists Ramirez at 17-1, meaning he has added four victories since leaving the Jiménez fight at 13-1. His No. 1 ranking shows that the organization now regards him as the leading contender for its championship.

What the record cannot establish is whether those improvements are enough to reverse the first result.

Only another fight with Jiménez could answer that question.

The WBA Ordered the Rematch Path, Then Allowed a Detour

Ramirez appeared to receive the opening he wanted when the WBA ordered Jiménez to make a mandatory defense against him on September 18, 2026. The organization initially gave the parties 30 days to negotiate.

The championship picture had changed significantly by then. According to the WBA, Jiménez was elevated to world champion on June 10 after Jesse Rodríguez left the division. Ramirez was no longer chasing the interim title they had contested in 2024. He was pursuing another opportunity against a former opponent who now held the WBA’s world championship.

Four days after the mandatory order, Teiken Promotions requested permission for Jiménez to defend voluntarily against Akui, according to the WBA’s account of the proceedings. Golden Boy Promotions opposed the request on Ramirez’s behalf.

The WBA nevertheless granted the special permit on October 12, authorizing Jiménez-Akui for November 29 in Tokyo.

There is no need to turn that ruling into evidence of misconduct. Teiken sought a voluntary defense, Golden Boy defended its fighter’s mandatory position, and the sanctioning body exercised its regulatory authority to approve the request with conditions attached.

The consequence for Ramirez is still clear: the championship opportunity he earned has been delayed.

It also became less predictable. Before the special permit, the WBA order pointed directly toward Jiménez-Ramirez. After the permit, Ramirez was left preparing for a title fight without knowing which champion he would face.

That uncertainty matters at super-flyweight, where the identity of the opponent shapes everything from tactical preparation to the promotional story surrounding the contest. Jiménez offers Ramirez a familiar rival and the chance to correct his only defeat. Akui would present a different matchup without the shared history that makes the Jiménez rematch personally significant.

Ramirez is waiting for one title shot, but he is facing two possible futures.

The Ruling Protects Ramirez’s Position, Not His Preferred Opponent

The WBA placed an important condition on its approval of Jiménez-Akui. According to the organization’s October 12 ruling, the winner must defend the championship against Ramirez within 120 days of the November 29 fight.

If Jiménez and Akui fight to a draw, Jiménez remains obligated to face Ramirez within the same period.

That condition limits the damage to Ramirez’s position. He remains the mandatory challenger under the current ruling, and the voluntary defense is not supposed to remove him from the title picture. The WBA has also authorized Ramirez to take a non-title fight while he waits, although no such bout is confirmed in the available reporting.

Still, mandatory status should not be confused with a signed fight contract.

The order establishes the WBA’s intended championship sequence. It does not provide a confirmed date or location for Ramirez’s eventual title challenge, and it does not eliminate the possibility of further negotiations, scheduling complications or a purse bid if the parties cannot reach an agreement.

Most importantly, it cannot promise Ramirez the opponent he wants.

A Jiménez victory on November 29 would preserve the cleanest version of the story. Ramirez would receive a world-title opportunity against the only man to defeat him, with the chance to win a championship and avenge that loss at the same time.

An Akui victory would separate those objectives. Ramirez could still challenge for the WBA title, but defeating Akui would not change what happened against Jiménez in Brooklyn. He could become champion while the most personal question of his career remained unanswered.

A draw would keep Jiménez in place and preserve the obligation to face Ramirez, but even that outcome would require the parties to move from a regulatory deadline to a finalized event.

The WBA has protected Ramirez’s place in line. It has not guaranteed that the man standing at the front of that line will still be Jiménez.

Jiménez-Akui Will Decide What Ramirez Is Really Fighting For

Ramirez has good reason to watch November 29 closely, but he cannot afford to approach it only as a Jiménez supporter hoping his preferred rival retains the belt.

His real responsibility is to prepare for the winner.

If Jiménez prevails, Ramirez will have a clear opportunity to demonstrate how much he has developed since 2024. His admission that he was not ready the first time would then become part of a testable claim. He would have to show better judgment, greater adaptability and enough improvement to close the gap reflected in three decisive scorecards.

Four additional victories and a No. 1 ranking have returned him to the opportunity. They do not prove he can produce a different result.

Jiménez would also enter a rematch with the confidence of having already solved Ramirez once. The burden would be on the challenger to show that experience has changed the matchup rather than merely strengthened his belief in himself.

If Akui wins, Ramirez’s task changes immediately. The revenge narrative disappears from the title fight, and the focus moves toward whether Ramirez can adjust to a champion he has not built this comeback around. That may be less emotionally satisfying, but it would be no less significant professionally.

A world championship does not become less legitimate because it was won against a different champion than the one a fighter wanted to face.

The danger for Ramirez is allowing revenge to become so central that Akui is treated like an interruption instead of a possible opponent. Jiménez is the man connected to Ramirez’s only defeat, but Akui has the ability to rewrite the entire championship picture before Ramirez receives his chance.

November 29 will decide whether Ramirez gets the fight he wants or simply the opportunity he earned.

Those are not necessarily the same thing.