By Mark Eisner: Dmitry Bivol will defend his WBA light heavyweight division against Gilberto Ramirez tonight at the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi. DAZN will broadcast the card in the United States, starting at 2:00 p.m. ET / 11:00 A.M. PT.
The unbeaten Bivol (20-0, 11 KOs) is coming off a career-best win over Canelo Alvarez. He has a tough fight ahead of him tonight against former WBO super middleweight champion Ramirez (44-0, 30 KOs) in their 12-round clash.
Boxing News 24 will give live updates and results below of the action for the Dmitry Bivol vs. Zurdo Ramirez card.
Undercard:
Main card:
Chantelle Cameron vs. Jessica McCaskill
Shavkat Rakhimov vs. Zelfa Barrett
Galal Yafai vs. Gohan Rodriguez
Kal Yafai vs. Jerald Paclar
Preliminary card
Sultan Al Nuaimi vs. Sohaib Haque
Aqib Fiaz vs. Diego Valtierra
Campbell Hatton vs. Denis Bartos
Fahad Al Bloushi vs. Irakli Shariashvili
“We have a terrific light heavyweight showdown in Abu Dhabi this weekend. Dmitry Bivol coming off his career-defining win over Canelo Alvarez. Zurdo Ramirez, who has been begging for a 175-lb title. They will meet up, and you can make some real money betting on Zurdo Ramirez,” said Chris Mannix to DAZN’s JABS about tonight’s fight between WBA light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol against mandatory challenger Gilberto ‘Zurdo’ Ramirez.
“It’s going to be a great fight between two undefeated champions, but Bivol has the momentum going on his side,” said Sergio Mora. “It’s going to be a fight that it’s going to come down to footwork. I know people don’t like to hear that, and Bivol has excellent footwork.
“That’s where I think Ramirez is going to fall short. He [Bivol] knows how to be the ring general, move around the ring, and use his jab. Of course, he has the power.
“Ramirez has to get on the inside and dig down to the body and get those vicious uppercuts in there, but if Bivol knows how to stay off the ropes and stay in the middle of the ring, it’s going to be very difficult for Ramirez to pin down and a fighter like Bivol.
“I’m going to say Bivol by a close decision, a very close decision. He’s going to have to fight off the tough Mexican, but I think he pulls it off in the end,” said Mora.
“I had my questions about Dmitry Bivol before the Canelo fight. I don’t have any questions about him now,” said Mannix. “He is an elite pound-for-pound talent, and I think he’s going to be and should be a big favorite in this fight.
“Now Zurdo Ramirez is going to have a size advantage. We know that Zurdo makes the 175 pounds and then rehydrates in the 200 lb range by the time the first bell rings. So he’s going to be able to use that to his advantage, but Bivol is used to fighting guys like that.
“Canelo wasn’t like that. Canelo was a smaller fighter, but I flashed back to another fight that we called on DAZN. That was Bivol vs. Joe Smith.
“Joe was the bigger, more physical fighter, and Bivol just boxed circles around him. He was able to use his jab, keep Smith on the outside and win a lopsided decision,” said Mannix.
