Dmitry Bivol isn’t worried about the huge size of the Golden Boy Promotions promoted challenger Gilberto ‘Zurdo’ Ramirez for their fight in Abu Dhabi.
Bivol (20-0, 11 KOs) will defend his WBA 175lb strap against the hulking 31-year-old Ramirez this Saturday, November 5th, live on DAZN at the Etihad Arena, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
As far as Bivol is concerned, Ramirez is a light heavyweight because he’ll weight-in for the 175-lb division on Friday. However, Bivol might think something different if Ramirez rehydrates to over 200 lbs for the fight like he did in his previous bout against Dominic Boesel last May.
Ramirez (44-0, 30 KOs) has quickly filled out since moving up from 168 in 2019, and he looks nothing like the fighter that held the WBO super middleweight title from 2016 to 2018.
If Ramirez wins, Golden Boy will attempt to arrange a fight with Canelo Alvarez. Unfortunately, that’s unlikely to happen because Canelo has already ruled out fighting any Mexican fighters.
With that fight an impossibility, Ramirez will look to battle IBF, WBC & WBO light heavyweight champion Artur Beterbiev for the undisputed championship.
It would be a tremendous accomplishment for Ramirez if he can become the undisputed champion at 175 next year.
Undercard:
- Shavkatdzhon Rakhimov vs. Zelfa Barrett
- Chantelle Cameron vs. Jessica McCaskill
- Galal Yafai vs. Gohan Rodriguez Garcia
- Khalid Yafai vs. Diego Valtierra
“I’m looking forward to the fight. I can’t say it’s better or worse. It’s different. Every camp is different,” said Dmitry Bivol to Fight Hub TV when asked if his training camp is better than for his fight against Canelo Alvarez.
“Not one better than the other. Just different location, different sparring partners, everything is different. My confidence comes not from my last victories. My confidence depends on my training camps. If I did everything that my coach said in my training camp, I feel confident.
“I know I have good skills. Sometimes you can show your skills; sometimes, you can’t. But if your camp was good, you will show your skills.
“When I was an amateur, I had a lot of fights against southpaws. I got used to sparring with southpaws.
“In boxing, we have weight classes, and he is from my weight class. No problem. He will be the same weight as me on Friday,” said Bivol when asked if he was concerned about the size of Gilberto Ramirez.
“I don’t think about the size. Yeah, maybe he’s a little bit bigger, but we are in the same weight class. When you are bigger, you are slower. When you are taller, you must keep the distance. Some plusses, some minuses.
“I think in the fight, we will change strategy. It’s not from the first to the twelfth round, the same strategy. I think sometimes I will move forward, and sometimes, he will move forward.
“I’m really looking forward to this fight. I want to try my skills against Zurdo. It’s interesting for me. It’s not just beat him. I’m excited to see his skills in the ring in the fight,” said Bivol.
