John Ramirez always knew where he wanted to land and trusted the process to get there.

The unbeaten junior bantamweight contender known affectionately as ‘Scrappy’ in boxing circles is prepared to show out in his WBA title eliminator versus Panama’s Ronal Batista (15-3, 9KOs) this Saturday as part of a DAZN show from the Kia Forum in Inglewood, California. A win will put the Los Angeles native in line for his first career title fight sometime in 2024.

“We had a plan. The plan was to take the right fights, get to a title eliminator to get to the world title,” Ramirez said during the final pre-fight press conference. “Now that title eliminator is here. A lot of people said I wouldn’t get here. But guess what? I wrote it down. I visualized it and made it happen. I stayed hungry and made it to this level.”

Headlining the show, Alexis Rocha (23-1, 15KOs) and Giovani Santillan (31-0, 16KOs) meet in a two-way risky welterweight contest.

Ramirez (12-0, 8KOs) will enter his third fight of 2023, having gone the ten-round distance in each of his past two outings. The brash 27-year-old outlasted Fernando Diaz in a split decision win, his closest fight to date which took place this past May 27 at Fantasy Springs Casino in Indio, California.

Still, he never veered from his own script of positioning himself to challenge for his first world title. Saturday’s bout will see the winner become the mandatory challenger to WBA junior bantamweight titlist Kazuto Ioka, whom Boxing Scene previously reported to be in advanced talks for a New Year’s Eve showdown versus lineal and WBC champ Juan Francisco Estrada.

That immediately raises the stakes for Ramirez, a stablemate of former WBO super middleweight titlist and current cruiserweight contender Gilberto ‘Zurdo’ Ramirez (no relation). Both boxers could be poised for separate title shots in 2024, though the diminutive contender recognizes the work required to hold down that status.  

“When you get to his level, it’s easy. To stay here is hard,” noted Ramirez. “I keep telling people that. I’m here to stay. Make sure you guys tune in. Showtime is running out of business. It’s Scrap Time, baby!”

Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox