Gilberto ‘Zurdo’ Ramirez will need to apply constant pressure on WBA light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol for him to have a shot at winning on Saturday night, November 5th, in their bout live on DAZN in Abu Dhabi.
Ramirez (44-0, 30 KOs) needs to focus on throwing to the body and making the most of his opportunities to land his shots against the fleet of foot Bivol (20-0, 11 KOs) in their 1:30 p.m. ET card at the Etihad Arena, Abu Dhabi, UAE.
Bivol is going to stay on the move because he’s basically going to be fighting a heavyweight on Saturday night. It’s believed that Ramirez will rehydrate 25 to 30 lbs overnight after making weight and will set inside the ring weighing over 200 lbs.
“This weekend, we have a big fight. Dmitry Bivol, unbeaten, the light heavyweight champion, fresh off a win over Canelo Alvarez. He takes on his mandatory challenger and former 168-lb champion Gilberto Ramirez,” said Chris Mannix to DAZN’s JABS.
“Bivol is going to be the favorite going into this fight. Do you give Ramirez a chance to win?”
“Of course, I give him the chance to win. He has the size; he has the championship pedigree,” said Sergio Mora. “If he can hurt Bivol to the body if he can make it an aggressive fight, fight Mexican style, switch it up and fight behind that long jab.
“You are going to have the size advantage, the reach advantage, but he’s going to have to dig downstairs because Bivol keeps that distance. He has that power jab, and he has that shotgun jab. He sticks you to the body as well.
“So you’re going to have to get respect. You’re not going to outbox Dmitry Bivol, but you can out-fight him,” said Mora.
“Gilberto Ramirez has looked phenomenal since he moved up to 175 pounds, but he has fought, let’s be frank, C or D-level competition up to this point. It’s not his fault.
“He was put in this position by the WBA, which said, ‘In order to get your mandatory challenge, you have to fight and beat these guys.’ Dmitry Bivol is a different animal altogether.
“We’re going to see; I don’t know if it’s a completely different Gilberto Ramirez, but a 100% version of Gilberto Ramirez. He’s going to have to pressure Bivol the entire fight. He’s going to have to put his punches together.
“Bivol, not only am I looking at the Canelo fight, but I’m at the Joe Smith fight. When Joe Smith tried to apply on Dmitry Bivol and wound up on the wrong end of a lopsided decision. That’s how I kind of see this fight going.
“Gilberto Ramirez trying to apply pressure, but Dmitry Bivol winning these rounds,” said Mannix.
“It was a lopsided decision with Joe Smith, but remember, Joe Smith did hurt Bivol at the end of that fight [by hitting him after the bell]. So all it takes is one punch to change the trajectory of how this fight can play out.
“Ramirez has the power, has the experience, and has the size, but he’s going to have to land that punch and execute if he does land it because Bivol will be able to hold on and get through the rounds,” said Mora.
“So how does he use that size advantage because we’ve seen Gilberto rehydrate 25+ pounds going into these fights. Dmitry Bivol, he’ll probably go five, maybe ten pounds. Gilberto Ramirez will be a heavyweight by the time this fight starts.
“How does he use that to his advantage?” said Mannix.
“Well, he can take a page out of what Canelo attempted to do that didn’t work. So avoid that,” said Mora. “Ramirez can actually use the jab and let Bivol come to him because Bivol is really good at fighting off the backfoot and really keeping that distance and maintaining that real responsible and disciplined behind that jab.
“If he can make it, so he’s coming towards you and getting out of that element, maybe you can catch him coming in with some countershots and concentrate on this part of the body. It’s going to be very hard to penetrate the guard and get a good headshot on Bivol,” said Mora.
“I like to point out that Sergio Mora’s strategy is to use a strategy that didn’t work,” said Mannix. “Are we clear on that?”
“No, you can actually pick the things that did work and not use them,” said Mora.
