Dmitry Bivol Retains Titles in Dominant Win Over Gilbeto Ramirez!
In the fourth defense of his title, Super WBA light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol (21-0, 11 KO’s) took on Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez (44-1, 30 KO’s). The winner of this high stakes match-up would find themselves just one fight away from being undisputed. In this regard, both Bivol and Ramirez stated that, if victorious, it was their intention to then face IBF, WBC and WBO light heavyweight champion Artur Beterbiev.
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For his part, Bivol, 31, is coming off a sensational win over undisputed super middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez. Despite his moving up to light heavyweight, many in the industry thought the redheaded Mexican would steal away Bivol’s coveted belt. Once in the ring however, Alvarez was thoroughly out-boxed en route to a unanimous decision loss. Despite the glaring light and publicity that the contest shined on him, Bivol has shown extraordinarily little interest in battling Canelo again. Prior to taking possession of the WBA Super title, Bivol held the ‘regular’ WBA title. That match made this his tenth consecutive title fight and defense.
Marching into this affair, Ramirez, 31, was presented with another chance to become a world champion. The Mexican southpaw already held the WBO super middleweight title, which he took from Arthur Abraham back on April 9, 2016. The undefeated boxer would go on to stage five successful defenses of the belt before migrating up to light heavyweight. Since the jump in weight, Zurdo has stacked up five consecutive victories which have all come by way of stoppage.
INTELLIGENT BRUTALITY
The two principal characters wasted little time heating up the action. While neither fighter was careless, by the end of the opening period, both were throwing hard, menacing shots. Over the next couple of rounds, the fight took on a more tactical feel. Bivol set up shop center-ring and tried to make a pure boxing match of the event. It was clear that Ramirez’s size, which was glaringly larger, was causing Bivol some trouble.
By the midway point of the fight, the action was still fairly even. However, it was Bivol who was more consistently landing the eye-catching, head-whipping punches. This was put on dramatic display in the seventh when the champion cranked Zurdo’s head around in one particularly dramatic sequence. By the ninth, Bivol was casually controlling all aspects of the fight, whether operating center-ring, moving or corralled against the ropes.
THE BELTS STAY HOME
The tenth and eleventh rounds saw Zurdo put his foot on the gas and make a great account of himself. Going into the final period however, it appeared that he needed something dramatic to happen to win the overall contest. Instead of getting the big rally that he sought, Ramirez absorbed the most damage in the final three minutes. When the scorecards were read, Dmitry Bivol prevailed by way of unanimous decision with the tally of 118-110 and 117-111 (twice).
In his post-fight interview, Bivol gave Ramirez credit as a dangerous opponent, crediting his body attack the most. When pressed about the matter, Bivol said that he would be open to facing Canelo again at 168 but he was far more concerned with fighting unified light heavyweight champion Artur Beterbiev for undisputed.
By: Bakari Simpson
