WBA light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol 21-0 (11) delivered another classy performance to comprehensively outbox mandatory contender Gilberto ‘Zurdo’ Ramirez 44-1 (30) at the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates on Saturday night.
The 31-year-old Russian was simply too slick for Ramirez, dictating the distance and keeping the fight at centre ring. The scores were 118-110 and 117-111 twice, all for the reigning champion.
“I’m glad to have beaten Zurdo,” Bivol said. “Forty-four fights he won before. Now I’m the first to beat him. Three years ago, I first wanted to fight him. This means a lot to me.”
Mexico’s Ramirez, 31, thought he did enough to win the fight. Certainly he was the busier of the two, throwing 878 punch to 643 according to CompuBox. But it was Bivol who landed more shots with a higher connect percentage.
“I did my job, I went to the body,” Ramirez said. “I thought I did enough to win. The judges, they did their job. Congratulations to (BIvol).”
Bivol explained his game plan for Ramirez.
“He has good timing but he’s slow,” he said. “He’s slower than me. I could see his punches coming. When I landed he countered to the body. That was it. He’s slow but he has good timing. In sparring session, I tried to push forward. He throws a lot of punches, which tells me you are not strong. When your opponent is not strong, you can push forward.”
In his previous fight in May, Bivol gave Mexican superstar and undisputed super middleweight champion Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez 58-2-2 (39) his first loss in nine years when he won a unanimous points decision. The only other boxer to defeat Alvarez is Floyd Mayweather Jr.
There has been talk of a rematch with Alvarez, who remains one of the biggest draws in the sport. But Bivol is more focused on collecting more belts. The only way to do that would be to face undefeated WBC, WBO and IBF champion Artur Beterbiev 18-0 (18) in what would be a tantalising match-up between two undefeated fighters.
“It’s a business,” Bivol told FightHubTV. “I have my goal. I want to move forward. I said it before, I don’t have too much time in my career. [I am] 32 years soon. I want to move forward. But it could happen. It’s not the best option if I fight Canelo again, but my priority is for another belt.
“Money is good, but legacy, I think, is better,” Bivol continued. “I love money too. Everybody loves money. But money is not the main thing I’m thinking about when I came to boxing. When I box, I want to make history. If I thought about money I would never be here.”
