Philadelphia’s Smalls, a protégé of former unified welterweight champion Jaron “Boots” Ennis, hasn’t faced a legitimate welterweight contender in any of his first 16 professional fights. Ramos, a hardened veteran, gave Mario Barrios, then the WBC 147-pound champion, a very difficult fight in Ramos’ most recent appearance 15 months ago.

“At some point they have to take a big fight, so they decided to fight me,” Ramos told The Ring. “I’ll be ready for that challenge.”

Smalls (16-0, 11 KOs) beat Puerto Rico’s Jose Roman (14-2, 6 KOs) by unanimous decision in his last bout October 11 at Xfinity Mobile Arena in Philadelphia.

That performance persuaded the 26-year-old Smalls’ team to match him against Ramos (28-6-3, 22 KOs) in DAZN’s co-feature on the Emanuel Navarrete-Eduardo Nunez undercard at Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale, Arizona (8 p.m. ET; 5 p.m. PT).

Ramos represents an sizable step up in opposition for Smalls. He has fought former champions Regis Prograis, Ivan Baranchyk, Yordenis Ugas, Omar Figueroa, Maurice Hooker and Barrios during his 14-year, 37-fight pro career.

“He’s a tough fighter, man,” Ramos said. “I see a very strong welterweight. He’s hungry and undefeated. That’s always a challenge. But I believe my experience and the type of opposition I’ve fought in my career is gonna give me the victory.”

A victory over Smalls would rejuvenate Ramos.

The Casa Grande, Arizona native hasn’t fought since his entertaining encounter with Barrios on the Jake Paul-Mike Tyson undercard in November 2024. Ramos recovered from a second-round knockdown, dropped the champion in the sixth round and battled Barrios to a 12-round split draw at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

“It was a war,” Ramos said. “Even when the fight ended, I knew it was a close fight because he dropped me, I dropped him and the rounds were just back and forth. But overall, it was just an action-packed fight, and I left the ring happy because we had given the fans a great fight.”

The 34-year-old Ramos hopes to leave appreciative Phoenix-area fight fans equally satisfied by knocking off a promising prospect promoted by Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom Boxing.

“I’m just keeping that positive attitude and getting up every day knowing I was so close to doing it,” Ramos said. “That’s what keeps me going in the sport – I wanna be a world champion.”