By: Sean Crose
Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez may have oozed confidence leading up to this weekend’s light heavyweight title bout against defending WBA champion Dmitry Bivol in Abu Dahbi, but mere self assurance wouldn’t be nearly enough for Ramirez to pull out a win. Suffice to say that when the bell sounded at the end of round twelve on Saturday there was little to no doubt that the likeable Ramirez had come up short in his quest.
Although both fighters were undefeated walking in (Ramirez was 44-0 while Bivol was 22-0) it was Bivol who controlled the tempo of the fight right from the very beginning. At first Ramirez appeared to be almost hesitant to engage. When he decided to finally throw in combinations, however, Bivol was able to employ his impressive defensive skills to keep himself out of trouble.
The reality is that the fight was essentially a boxing lesson. While big and strong, Ramirez was unable to adjust to Bivol’s deceitfully simply hit and don’t get hit style. The defending champion’s footwork may well have been the most impressive part of his performance on Saturday. When all was said and done, Bivol walked out of the ring in Abu Dhabi with the WBA title still in his possession, courtesy of a unanimous decision nod from the judges.