Jose Ramirez will finally make the first defense of his unified world title belts against Viktor Postol on May 9, Top Rank announced Monday afternoon.

The 12-round bout will take place at the Save Mart Center in Fresno, Calif., not far from Ramirez’s hometown of Avenal. The fight will take place after the 10-round junior welterweight bout between Jose Pedraza and Javier Molina.

Both fights will air live on ESPN and ESPN Deportes (10 p.m. ET/ 7 p.m. PT).

The Ramirez-Postol fight was originally scheduled to take place at a golf resort in Haikou, China on February 2 (February 1 in the United States) but was postponed due to the outbreak of coronavirus.

Ramirez (25-0, 17 knockouts) is wildly popular in California’s Central Valley, where he was born and raised, as sellouts have become the norm in venues he has fought in.  May 9 will mark the sixth time the 27-year-old has fought at the Save Mart Center.

In his last bout on July 27, Ramirez stopped Maurice Hooker in round 6 of a clash between unbeaten world junior welterweight titleholders. With the victory, Ramirez, who owns the WBC title, won the WBO title.

Ramirez hopes a fight against Ring Magazine champion Josh Taylor, who also owns the IBF and WBA titles, gets made later this year. While he may be the betting favorite, Ramirez is not overlooking Postol.

“It is always a blessing to fight at (the) Save Mart Center in front of my loyal fans,” said Ramirez, who is ranked No. 1 by The Ring. “I prepared for Postol once, and I will be in top form May 9. My trainer, Robert Garcia, will have me ready for whatever he brings to the table. He is a former world champion who I cannot underestimate.”

Postol (31-2, 12 KOs) last fought on April 27, defeating France’s Mohamed Mimoune by unanimous decision. Postol has won his last two bouts since losing by decision to Taylor in June 2018.

The 36-year-old, who is originally from the Ukraine and now resides in the Los Angeles suburb of Marina del Rey, suffered his first loss of his career at the hands of Terence Crawford in July 2016. His notable victory was a knockout over Lucas Matthysse in his previous fight in October 2015.

“I am glad the new fight date is set,” said Postol. “I’m already in (the) gym, and camp is going really well. I was ready to fight on February 1 and now I’m focused on May 9. The fight is taking place in his hometown, but that does not bother me because I have the experience to fight on away soil. I am looking forward to become a champion again.”

Pedraza (26-3, 13 KOs), who resides in Cidra, Puerto Rico, lost by unanimous decision to Jose Zepeda in his last bout on September 14. The former two-time world titleholder has lost two of his last three fights.

Molina (22-2, 9 KOs) notched an impressive victory in his last bout on February 22, defeating Amir Imam by unanimous decision. The Norwalk, California resident has won his last five bouts.

Francisco A. Salazar has written for RingTV since October of 2013 and has covered boxing in Southern California and abroad since 2000. Francisco also cover boxing for the Ventura County (California) Star newspaper, Boxingscene, and FightNights.com. He can be reached by email at [email protected] or on Twitter at FSalazarBoxing