By: Sean Crose
On Saturday, WBA light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol will face the undefeated former world titlist Gilberto Ramirez in Abu Dhabi. The DAZN broadcast fight will pretty much be the last major bout of the year aside from Roman “Chocolatito” Gonzalez’ upcoming third match with Juan Francisco Estrada next month in Arizona. It’s fitting that Bivol-Ramirez will be broadcast in America during the afternoon on Saturday, as it’s the exact kind of battle that used to be on broadcast television during weekend afternoons in the glorious 70’s and 80’s.
The 44-0 Ramirez has been working up to a fight like this for a while. At one time, he was close to a fixture on HBO. Once that pay cable network abandoned boxing Ramirez continued to plug along essentially outside the spotlight, winning a super middleweight world title along the way. Should be pull off the win on Saturday, Ramirez will truly move from the margins into the spotlight. There’s no doubt that this bout means a whole lot to the Golden Boy promoted fighter.
The 20-0 Bivol, on the other hand, isn’t exactly resting on his laurels after rattling the fight world to its core when he upset challenger Canelo Alvarez last May. That defining win let the world know just how good the now 20-0 Russian fighter is. With a potential rematch with Canelo on the horizon for next year, Bivol has all the reason in the world want to emerge victorious this weekend. He’s up against the real thing in Ramirez, however…which is what makes this fight so intriguing.
The Dmitry Bivol-Gilberto Ramirez fight is scheduled for 12 rounds.