Unified champ Ramirez signs multi-year extension to remain with Top Rank

Unified junior welterweight world titleholder Jose Ramirez has signed a multi-year contract extension with Top Rank.

According to The Athletic, the deal was finalized before the unbeaten Ramirez added a second 140-pound title with a sixth-round stoppage of previously unbeaten titlist Maurice Hooker last month.

In a high-action bout, Ramirez stopped Hooker with an onslaught of heavy blows to unify two 140-pound world titles at the College Park Center on the campus of the University of Texas at Arlington.

The 27-year-old Ramirez (25-0, 17 KO's), who has been with Top Rank since 2012, was due for a contract extension. The 2012 U.S. Olympian signed a two-year extension in advance of his April 9, 2016 fight against Manuel Perez.

Ramirez now has half of the four major belts in his weight class and could be in line to fight for the undisputed title in the first half of 2020. According to sources, Ramirez could return in December.