Does Jose Ramirez have a history with boxing? Exploring the connection as Guardians baseman's sparring video surfaces on the internet

Jose Ramirez's punch to Tim Anderson is making headlines in the world of baseball today. As people comment on the brawl, videos have emerged of the Cleveland Guardians infielder posing with gloves he received from a boxer namesake.

In the bottom of the sixth innings, Ramirez hit an RBI double towards right field. As he tried to reach second base, he slid in to the second bag in between Anderson's legs.

Ramirez turned on his back, still lying on the ground, and lifted his hand hoping his opponent would help him up. However, Anderson offered no hands and things got heated as the batter got up to his feat.

The White Sox fielder then seemed to provoke Ramirez into a fight and landed the first punch. The Guardians batter's retaliated with a blow that struck so hard that Anderson was knocked to the ground.

Players from both benches immediately came onto the field as umpires looked to restore order. It took them almost 15 minutes to get back to playing and plenty of players were ejected from both sides.

However, after the game, Ramirez's punch became the highlight of the brawl as fans and media personnel started commenting on the jab. They compared him to his namesake, Jose Ramirez, the boxer who is affiliated to the World Boxing Council. Videos emerged of him sending boxing gloves to the baseball player.

But even though he was recipient of a generous gift from the welterweight boxer, Jose Ramirez himself has no formal training or history with the sport of boxing. The closest he has come to a duel will surely be his encounter with Tim Anderson.

Jose Ramirez said he punched Tim Anderson in self defence

Earlier in the series, Ramirez had taken an exception for the way his opponent at second base had been tagging Guardians batters. After the game he tried to explain his actions, saying:

"As soon as the play happened, he tapped me again really hard, more than needed. And then his reaction was like 'I want to fight' and if he wanted to fight I had to defend myself," Ramírez said. "I felt I was able to land one."

Although nothing has been announced yet, the MLB is likely to investigate the entire matter at length and multi-game suspensions are likely to follow.