Fight for water fatigue?

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- Jose Ramirez returns to Fresno this Saturday night to defend his NABF Junior Welterweight title in front of thousands of local fans. And as his career continues to progress inside the ring, Jose continues to be a champion for water outside of it as well.

Saturday's main event will feature Avenal's Jose Ramirez against veteran fighter Rob "Red Hot" Frankel. The top rank fighter looks to impress founder and CEO Bob Arum and world renowned trainer Freddie Roach when he steps into the ring.

"It's a big motivation and it's a big honor to know that these events here in the valley are creating that much noise that it's attracting Bob Arum, it's now attracting Freddie Roach who's in my corner." said Ramirez.

10,000 fans could end up packing Selland Arena to watch the main event. And it's been a collaborative effort between Ramirez's team and the Latino Water Coalition to use his fights as a platform for change. But this will be the third "Fight for Water" in the past year, and another one is scheduled for October.

So could their message be somewhat watered down by having so many events in such a short period of time? "No, because the message needs to get to Sacramento. And the message needs to get to congress. And when I say Sacramento, they're changing legislators every year. The legislators change out. But the pressure needs to be there. The public needs to hear this." said Manuel Cunha of the Nisei Farmers League.

"And guess what? There are elected officials, politicians that are boxing fans. So, they're getting the message pretty directly." added Mario Santoyo of the Latino Water Coalition.

In a sport where self-promotion is thought of as a prerequisite for a fighter. Ramirez is right there with the rest of them. But he's also choosing to represent his community. And when he turned pro, he made it a point to have at least one fight a year in the Central Valley.

"I'm ok with it because it's for a good cause. We're advertising something really positive that we need. It's important to us. To the communities where I'm from and the Central Valley. So it's a good purpose, so as long as it's for a good cause, I'm going to be behind them 100%" added Ramirez.

The undefeated boxer knows that his dream of becoming a world champion is dependent on him winning the fight. Ramirez enters the ring at (13-0, 10 KO's) but he's never faced a fighter that has as much experience as Rob Frankel. And if he somehow doesn't come out on top, all the momentum he's created for his cause could dry up in a hurry.

"I'm very excited. It's a big honor to be able to showcase my talents in front of my community, my family, my friends and everyone who looks up to me." said Ramirez.