Not Beterbiev, WBA Orders Dmitry Bivol Against Gilberto Ramirez
The World Boxing Association ordered the fight between the WBA light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol and former super middleweight titleholder Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez. The bout was formally ordered by the WBA on Monday, July 11th afternoon, with the two sides given until August 10 to come to terms to avoid a purse bid hearing. “Bivol’s champion period is conditioned to a term of 24 months and his last mandatory fight was on March 3, 2018, his next one was to be after March 2020,” Carlos Chavez, chairman of the WBA Championship Committee detailed in a letter to both camps. “For that reason, he must face Ramirez. “In case they do not reach an agreement in the given time period or any of the parties refused to do so, the WBA will have the right to call the fight a purse bid.” Fans wanted to see Bivol battle IBF/WBC/WBO 175-lb champion Artur Beterbiev for the undisputed championship next, but that fight can’t happen now. It was because Beterbiev’s promoter Bob Arum is already planning on having him defend against #1 WBO Anthony Yarde in October in London. The news of the World Boxing Association’s decision to order Bivol (20-0, 11 KOs) to defend against former WBO 168-lb champion Ramirez (44-0, 30 KOs) won’t make Matchroom promoter Eddie Hearn happy. He had hoped to set up a fight between Bivol and #2 WBA Joshua Buatsi next for a battle in the UK. Unfortunately for Hearn, the WBA has chosen Ramirez, so he’ll have to wait until next year to get Buatisi a title shot against whoever holds the belt. Ramirez’s promoter Oscar De La Hoya was overjoyed at hearing about the WBA ordering the fight with Bivol, and he’s already asking fans whether they prefer to travel to Las Vegas or Los Angeles to watch the fight live. “Now that the @WBABoxing ordered Zurdo vs. Bivol, where would you travel to see it? Vegas or Los Angeles,” said Oscar Dela Hoya on Twitter. The tall 6’3″ Ramirez was a good fighter when he campaigned at 168, capturing the WBO super middleweight title in 2016 and successfully defending it five times until vacating it in 2019 when he moved up to 175. In going up to 175, Ramirez has slowed down and lost his little hand speed. At the same time, Ramirez’s power hasn’t improved, and he is just big & slow for the weight class. He was arguably a better fighter at 168. Ramirez had it easy earning his #1 spot at 175 since moving up to light heavyweight in 2019. In Zurdo Ramirez’s five fights in the division, he’s beaten these less than dangerous contenders, Dominic Boesel, Yunieski Gonzalez, Sullivan Barrera, Alfonso Lopez, and Tommy Karpency. Even though some boxing fans complained that Ramirez should have fought Craig Richards, Buatsi, or Callum Smith to earn the #1 spot with the WBA. Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramírez used his tremendous size advantage to stop #2 WBA Dominic Boesel in the fourth round in a WBA light heavyweight title eliminator last May in Ontario, California. Bivol, meanwhile, is represented by Matchroom Boxing and career-long manager Vadim Kornilov. The leading candidate for 2022 Fighter of the Year is coming off the biggest win of his career and the best performance posted by any boxer thus far this year. The unbeaten long-reigning titlist turned away the challenge of four-division champ and then pound-for-pound king this past May 7 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The 31-year old Kyrgyzstan-born, Russian-based champ was viewed as a clear winner by most observers but had to sweat out absurdly close scorecards of 115-113 across the board to retain his title for the ninth defense of the title he has held since 2017. Bivol has previously mentioned Ramirez when discussing a possible fight. “Gilberto Ramirez is one of the top players in the light heavyweight division. We have talked about this fight for a long time. “The time has come to make this a reality. We’ve trained together and sparred as well. He is a professional gentleman and a very good boxer. “He is an ex-world champion who has proven to be one of the best. Fights like this excite fans. This is what boxing is all about, fights that either fighter has a 50-percent chance of being victorious.” That was eighteen months ago. Now is the time to make the fight a reality. Ramirez currently guards an unreal 44-0 record with 30 stoppages. “Zurdo” has powered through two divisions as a pro and is already a super-middleweight world champion. “I appreciate the WBA and believe they will follow the right process,” Ramirez said. “I’m confused about Bivol ducking me. I earned the WBA mandatory challenger position in the ring, not once but twice. “He’s been talking about fighting me for the last two years. It’s the time!” If Bivol comes through Ramirez, we will see who is becoming The Unbeaten King.
