By Sean Jones: Dmitriy Bivol says that challenger Gilberto ‘Zurdo’ Ramirez has been talking too much about his belief that he’s been ducking a fight against him for a long, long time.
On Saturday night, Bivol (20-0, 11 KOs) will defend his WBA light heavyweight title against the unbeaten mandatory Ramirez (44-0, 30 KOs) on DAZN in Abu Dhabi.
Not only has the former WBO super middleweight champion Ramirez talked of being avoided by Bivol, but he’s also mentioned wanting to avenge Canelo Alvarez’s loss for Mexico by beating Dmitry.
Last May, Bivol took Canelo to school, giving him a boxing lesson in winning a surprisingly easy 12-round decision in front of a bunch of shocked Alvarez fans at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
The question is, who will avenge Ramirez’s loss if Bivol beats him as badly as he did Canelo? Who is out there that can avenge his loss next Saturday?
You can argue that the skills that Bivol showed on that night are ones that Canelo can only wish that he had as a fighter.
Many casual fans have touted Canelo’s boxing ability, saying he is talented. Still, in reality, he’s always been a flawed fighter who has gotten by with his counter punching & hand speed.
Yeah, Canelo mimicked some of the things that Floyd Mayweather Jr did in beating him in 2013, but he still has always been deeply flawed.
Ramirez, 31, is getting his wish to fight Bivol after all this time, but unless he shows more talent than what we’ve seen of him lately, he will wind up getting shut out.
Ramirez has looked very, very slow with his hand speed and movements. You can tell from watching Ramirez that he belongs at cruiserweight because he’s far too big and slow to fight at 175.
For Ramirez’s last fight at light heavyweight, he rehydrated to 203 lbs, which tells you that he doesn’t belong in the 175lb division.
Cruiserweights are generally slower than light heavyweights, and that obviously explains why Ramirez is slow for the 175-lb division.
“Of course, I deserve it, but I think I could make more,” said Dmitry Bivol to Matchroom Boxing about his win over Canelo Alvarez last May.
The fight that Bivol needs & wants to become the undisputed light heavyweight champion is with IBF, WBC & WBO 175-lb champion Artur Beterbiev. Bivol wants that match-up in 2023, but it will likely need to wait until after a potential rematch with Canelo next May.
“It’s not the main fight which I wanted since I became a pro boxer,
said Bivol about his win over Canelo. “It’s just good big step for my goal to be undisputed champion. I think the main thing in every profession is that you should love your job.
“Zurdo, Zurdo, he loves to talk too much,” said Bivol in reaction to him saying that he wants to avenge Canelo’s loss for Mexico.
“I see it as an opportunity for me. I don’t care if he’s confident or not. I will take everything that he has,” said Gilberto ‘Zurdo’ Ramirez about his match against Bivol on November 5th.
“He knows it’ll be a tough fight for him. I’m looking forward to getting the title on November 5th to become a two-time world champion. I can’t wait for this fight. At one point, I was thinking, ‘It won’t happen,” said Ramirez.
“Of course, every fight, I was ducking him,” said a laughing Bivol when asked if he’d been ducking Ramirez. “He told about this many times, but it’s not true. I know that he knows it’s not true. Everyone knows. My team and his team too, but he told it.
“Not him, but maybe his team because, as a fighter, we want to fight. We fight with anyone; that’s what we do,” said Ramirez continuing his belief that he was ducked by Bivol for a long, long time.
