Dmitry Bivol follows up his unexpected, brilliant, win over Saul Alvarez in May by travelling to Dubai for a showdown against another high-profile Mexican, unbeaten Gilberto ‘Zurdo’ Ramirez. Ramirez hasn’t fought anyone in nearly this class before, but then, the same could be said of Bivol when he stepped up in May, so this looks to be an interesting test for both men.
The fight will air on DAZN in the US and Europe, with the card starting at 1.30 p.m.ET.
Preview
Bivol is, of course, on a high right now. He was champion already when he fought Canelo, but he went overnight from ‘beltholder’, proven but not proven so to speak, to the man in the division, the one with a target on his back. He also went from someone seen as solid-but-unspectacular to proving himself a masterful boxer, with a set of skills he’d mostly just been hiding till he needed it.
First to step up to the plate is Zurdo Ramirez, a 31-year-old Mexican who’s fun to watch and comes with an impressive looking 44-0 record but has been pretty much marking time waiting for the big fight for years. His resume’s not terrible, he’s fought some solid opponents and even when keeping busy rarely takes complete mismatches, which some of his contemporaries are guilty of. But there’s a decent argument to make that the last time he fought someone genuinely proven at world level without being well past his best was Arthur Abraham, six years ago and a division below. And even Abraham was 36 at the time. There’s definitely been a sense of keeping his powder dry and his 0 safe for the big cash-in. Canelo never materialized for him, but if he can beat Bivol he definitely strengthens both his case for getting that fight someday and his overall future paydays, so here we go.
Prediction
Previous to the Canelo fight, Bivol had built a reputation as a tag-and-move fighter, winning fights by catching his opponent with jabs and short combinations before escaping to safety, without much engagement in close. His plan to beat Canelo was a lot more complicated, and did involve clo
