Jose Ramirez: First Viktor Postol, then the real prize – Josh Taylor

There’s no doubt about what awaits Jose Ramírez. First, however, he has to travel to China and measure where he is. How prepared he is. It’s long way to go to get what everybody around him thinks is so close.

A Ramírez bout with Josh Taylor was the story when Taylor signed with Top Rank on Jan 9. It was never a question. Just when.

But a date was already on the Ramírez itinerary. There’s a bout with Viktor Postol on ESPN for an opening bell that will sound at about the time alarm clocks go off on the resort island of Haikou in the early morning hours of Feb. 2. For an American audience, it’ll be prime time Feb. 1.

On Ramírez’s career clock, it’s serious business in any time zone.

It will put him within a fight or two of who — what — he has always wanted.

“Taylor is the fight I want, hopefully next,’’ Ramírez said Wednesday on a conference call.

Ramírez, who was scheduled to leave for China on Thursday, foresees the Taylor bout as his last fight at 140 pounds. Then, he says he plans to move up the scale to 147 against Terence Crawford, a welterweight champion and leading pound-for-pound contender.

Exactly when the Ramírez-Taylor fight might happen, however, hinges on some mandatory defenses attached to the belts held by both. Each hold two. Taylor is expected to make a mandatory defense against Apinun Khongsong of Thailand before he moves on to Ramírez. The timing of that one is still unclear.

Top Rank’s Bob Arum said there’s a chance Ramírez could also fight a mandatory. Arum also said an exception from further mandatory defenses could be granted, which would immediately set up Ramírez-Taylor for all of the meaningful belts

“We’ll see,’’ Arum said.

Meanwhile, Ramírez (25-0, 17 KOs) has a chance to test himself against Postol (31-2, 12 KOs), a former champion whose 33 fights include losses to Crawford and then Taylor, both by unanimous decision.

“This will give people an idea of where I am as a fighter,’’ said Ramirez, who added that he won’t use the Postol fight as a way to measure his chances against Taylor and/or Crawford. “I won’t focus on how I would do against Crawford or Taylor. I’ll focus on what I do.’’