Off-base judging is an unfortunate part of the sweet science, but it can devastate a fighter.

Julian Ramirez of East Los Angeles was crushed upon hearing the scores of his fight against Abraham Lopez of La Puente in June last year at StubHub Center. Ramirez knew he won. But judges Carla Caiz, Max DeLuca and Fernando Villareal scored it for Lopez by scores of 97-93, 97-93 and 98-92, respectively.

The card was presented by Oscar De La Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions, which promoted both fighters. Golden Boy president Eric Gomez thought the cards were wrong.

“It was a close fight,” Gomez said Thursday. “I had him (Ramirez) winning. I thought he pulled it off. I had him winning, but it was such a close fight and for whatever reason, judges saw it differently.”

The result is Ramirez has not fought since. And when he does lace up the gloves again, he wants to do it for another promoter.

Ramirez, a southpaw, is still bummed out about the scoring many believe kept him from what would have been the most important victory of his career. The hard-fighting featherweight entered 16-0 with eight knockouts and was making his way toward the big time.

“Everybody saw me winning, but these judges, they just screwed me up,” Ramirez said. “Everybody could say, ‘You could fight again.’ But it doesn’t work like that. I’m going back to the short end of the stick, getting paid minimum just because I got screwed.”

Ramirez said in the ensuing days he received a lot of positive feedback from people who thought he won.

“Everybody commented to me, wrote to me,” he said. “And I was like, ‘Man, why did I get screwed? That’s (messed) up.’ ”

Then he read something from a deployed soldier that made him stop and think.

“I saw this comment, ‘Me and my soldiers saw the fight and it gave us motivation,’ or something like that,” Ramirez said. “Then I started thinking like, ‘Man, life isn’t hard.’ I’m just a fighter and these guys are out there killing each other, they’re at war.

“And I’m motivation for them.”

It put things into perspective for Ramirez, who would love to continue his career. But again, he doesn’t want it to be for Golden Boy. The bad decision left a bitter taste in his mouth, and he’s not so sure Golden Boy handled it well.

“I was mad at the whole thing,” Ramirez said. “And then time went by and they weren’t calling me. They never talked to me, like Eric Gomez, Robert Diaz. … Oscar. Nobody ever talked to me.”

Gomez said attempts to contact Ramirez’s co-managers – Ramirez’s mother, Rosaelena Gonzalez, and De La Hoya’s brother, Joel – were made but basically ignored by Ramirez.

Gomez and Diaz, a company matchmaker, said fights were offered to Ramirez through his managers. But Diaz said the rematch Ramirez wanted with Lopez was not one of them.

Gomez and Diaz also noted Ramirez missed weight several times during his time with Golden Boy, and they took steps to “save the fight.” Ramirez said he may have missed weight as many as three times, and that Golden Boy wanted to save the fights because he – Ramirez – was the only fighter selling tickets for those particular cards.

Two sides to a story. It sometimes happens when a fighter is victim of less-than-stellar judging.

Moving forward, Ramirez in his mind is a free agent. Diaz admitted Ramirez’s contract has expired, but Golden Boy could try to keep him tied in because of subsequent fights he wouldn’t consider taking.

Diaz would rather let Ramirez walk.

“Absolutely, and we would wish him the best of luck,” Diaz said.

Gomez said he’d have to check into it further.

As for Ramirez, he is only 24 and has much more to offer the sport. He’d like to sign with another promoter. He may have to grit his teeth once he does.

“It’s a love-hate relationship,” Ramirez said. “I love to fight, and I just hate the bad side of it.”

Anthony Joshua vs. Carlos Takam

Carlos Takam, 36, is a heavyweight contender from France who Saturday will try to shock the world when he challenges hard-hitting champion Anthony Joshua of England for his two major titles from Principality Stadium in Wales (on Showtime).

Takam is 35-3-1 with 27 knockouts, and he will almost certainly have four losses after Saturday. But Joshua (19-0, 19 KOs), who is coming off an 11th-round TKO of recently retired former champion Wladimir Klitschko in April, says Takam is no patsy.

“This division is unpredictable,” Joshua said. “You saw I got tired in the fifth round against Klitschko. Am I going to find out I’m only a five-round fighter? Takam is tough and can go the distance. He’s definitely going to take me into late waters and that’s where it’s going to be interesting.”

Takam’s list of opponents is not awe-inspiring. But he has been in the ring with Joseph Parker, who beat Takam last year before winning a piece of the championship.

“When we get in the ring, it’s just two fighters,” Takam said. “Only at the end of the fight will we know who the real world champion is. I saw Joshua go down. I saw he has a weak point, and we’ve been working on targeting that.”

Klitschko decked Joshua in the sixth round.