When they have a fight scheduled, particularly an important one with significant career implications, boxers tend to discuss ad nauseum the importance of focusing on the task at hand.
It?s almost as if the mere thought of discussing any topic other than their upcoming opponent would doom them to failure.
Jose Ramirez, a member of the 2012 U.S. Olympic boxing team, has such a fight scheduled. He?ll make his pay-per-view debut in a super lightweight bout against Manny Perez on April 9 at the MGM Grand Garden in Las Vegas ? the opener of the Manny Pacquiao-Timothy Bradley show.
A Ramirez win would keep his dream alive of fighting for the world title by the end of the year.
Yet, the 23-year-old Ramirez, who became the first in his family to attend a four-year college and who has been an outspoken advocate for the migrant farm workers who toil in the fields in Central California where he grew up, can?t sit by idly.
It?s almost as if Ramirez has become the face of what promoter Bob Arum has taken to referring to as his ?No Trump? undercard.
To Arum, it?s a marketing gimmick, taking a shot at the notoriety of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump in a transparent effort to lift the profile of an otherwise tepid promotion.
To Ramirez, though, it?s no gimmick. It?s about equality, fighting for the rights of the oppressed.
Ramirez has become a hero among those in California?s Central Valley for his tireless efforts for water rights. He hasn?t simply lent his name to the effort, but has got involved and led a protest at the governor?s office in Sacramento, California.
Ramirez is pained by Trump?s stance on immigration, his vow to build a wall on the U.S. border with Mexico and his description of some immigrants as rapists and criminals.
Ramirez is a first-generation American who, while pursuing his boxing career, still toiled in the fields picking peppers, almonds and other fruits and vegetables.
It was scorching hot and backbreaking work.
?I was young and healthy and an athlete and it was difficult for me,? Ramirez said. ?There were people next to me who had been this all their lives, much longer than I?d been alive.?
Those are the people whom Ramirez feels compelled to stand up for, the voiceless, those who rely on the low-paying jobs in the fields to survive but who don?t have the means or the courage to speak out.
But he?s not simply a Trump opponent looking to advance a political cause. This, to Ramirez, is a deadly serious human rights issue.
?I don?t want to sit here and say bad things about him, because in a way, that makes me him, in a way,? Ramirez told Yahoo Sports. ?I?m not going to respond by saying bad things about Mr. Donald Trump, like that will make it even somehow. However, I need to stand up for the people he talks about, and it?s me he?s talking about in a certain way.
?When he talks [about Hispanics], he talks in generalities. When he says something bad about Hispanics or Mexicans, he is being very general. But it?s wrong, because it?s people like my parents he?s directing this at.?
Carlos and Juanita Ramirez emigrated from Mexico and settled in California?s Central Valley, where for decades they worked in the fields.
They had very little money, but they raised a family and instilled values in their son that has inspired him to speak out on behalf of the downtrodden and less fortunate.
?If Mr. Trump were to one-day meet my parents, he?d realize he?s wrong about what he is saying about Mexicans and Hispanics,? Ramirez said. ?They?re great people and they came to this country looking for a better life and they worked extremely hard. I did that work when I was a teenager, and I can?t even imagine doing it for as long as they have.
?There are a lot of people out there like them. And they?ve had kids and they are young, first-generation Americans like me, and they?re doing a lot of great things. They?re going to school, and graduating college maybe for the first time in their family?s history and they?re starting businesses and becoming activists and doing things for their community. They do this because their parents, the ones that Mr. Trump has singled out, have taught them these values.?
He said he believes much of Trump?s campaign rhetoric has been to garner support for his positions. But he said it?s important for Hispanics in influential positions to speak out so the public knows the truth.
Ramirez said he doesn?t condone those who break the law, but said he believes it?s an extremely small number of those who do.
Ramirez said that despite Trump?s talk, he?s not angry at the candidate and said he believes his intentions are good, even if Ramirez disagrees. A friend of his won a college scholarship that was funded by Trump, and she?s pursuing an education in journalism.
?I believe he?s a lot more educated than the way he speaks sometimes,? Ramirez said. ?I don?t think he?s a bad guy. I?m sure he?s done a lot of great things in his life, and he has helped a friend of mine a lot. But sometimes, he doesn?t sound that good when he speaks about this topic.
?If I could become a voice for the people who are afraid to speak up, I would tell him to look into this and come and meet the people. He would be impressed by what these people have done. I would tell him, ?I respect you, Mr. Trump, but the Mexican people, the Hispanics, are hard-working people who are deserving of your respect, and you should treat them that way.?
