By: Sean Cross
On Saturday, WBA light heavyweight champion Dimitri Bivol will face undefeated former world champion Gilberto Ramirez in Abu Dhabi. The DAZN telecast will be Roman “Chocoletito” Gonzalez’s last major fight of the year aside from his third bout against Juan Francisco Estrada in Arizona next month. It’s only fitting that Bivol Ramirez, a fight that was aired on broadcast television in the glorious 70s and 80s on weekend afternoons, aired on Saturday afternoons in the US.
Ramirez, 44-0, has been working toward a fight like this for some time. At one point, he was close to a match on HBO. Once that pay cable network abandoned boxing, Ramirez continued to plug out of the spotlight, winning the super middleweight world title along the way. With Saturday’s victory aside, Ramirez will truly step from the sidelines into the spotlight. There is no doubt that this fight means a lot to the golden boy fighter.
The 20-0 Bivol, meanwhile, isn’t exactly resting after taking the fight world to the mainstream when he upset rival Canelo Alvarez last May. That decisive win let the world know just how good the now 20-0 Russian fighter is. With a rematch with Canelo on the horizon next year, Bivol has every reason in the world to want to come out victorious this weekend. He’s going against the real thing in Ramirez, but… that’s what makes this fight so exciting.
The Dimitri Bivol-Gilberto Ramirez fight is scheduled for 12 rounds.
