By Dan Ambrose: Dmitry Bivol deserves the fighter of the year award for 2022 for his victories over superstar Canelo Alvarez and previously unbeaten former WBO super middleweight champion Gilberto ‘Zurdo’ Ramirez (44-1, 30 KOs).
There are no other fighters in boxing that can match those two victories on their resume in 2022, which means that Bivol should be a shoo-in for the fighter of the year without question.
With the way that the undefeated WBA light heavyweight champion Bivol (21-0, 11 KOs) schooled Zurdo Ramirez last Saturday, as well as his one-sided victory over Canelo last May, he showed the talent that no one in the upper divisions can match.
It’s amazing the way that Bivol has rocked to the top of the sport after just two victories this year, going from being a fighter that only hardcore boxing fans were aware of to that a guy that is almost a household name.
If Bivol can continue his progress towards superstardom next year by beating Canelo again and potentially IBF/WBC/WBO light heavyweight champion Artur Beterbiev, he could become the face of boxing overnight.
“He was brilliant; it was a brilliant Bivol that we saw on Saturday night. He doesn’t shout & scream, and if there’s one thing he’s lacking, it’s the ability to sell himself,” said Gareth A. Davies to Talksport Boxing about WBA light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol.
“The thing for him is the future pick for him. Eddie Hearn wants him to fight Canelo, obviously, because that’s a massive draw and a big, big fight with Canelo trying to avenge defeat and Canelo feeling he won that first fight.
“It’s good if he does down to 168 because it opens his options,” Davies said about Bivol possibly going down to super middleweight to challenge Canelo Alvarez for his undisputed championship.
“What we’ve seen of Bivol this year, I give him more and more of a chance against Beterbiev, who is quite limited but very powerful. So the key in that fight, and he’s [Beterbiev] a bigger guy, I know they’re in the same weight class.
“The key to Beterbiev is to beat him to the punch, reset and move, which he’s [Bivol] very capable of doing. He can do that for 12 rounds,” said Gareth.
“He didn’t look like he was blowing after 12 rounds. He’s got this almost poker face where even when he’s tagged, you don’t see a reaction to it,” said Ade Oladipo about Bivol.
“It was a good test for him on Saturday. Although Gilberto has campaigned at 168, he was a lot bigger than Bivol, a lot bigger, and he wasn’t afraid to get in there with the bigger man and, at times to start throwing hands and that risk of a counter coming back. He was welcome and warmed to it.
“I asked him on fight week, ‘Why are you so confident,’ and he said, ‘I’ve been doing this since I was six.’ It’s all so natural to you. For him, it was almost like Lomachenko or Usyk, so easy. ‘I’ve been doing it since I was six,'” said Oladipo about Bivol.
“He does make it look easy,” said Davies. “Gilberto Ramirez was the mandatory [for Bivol]. He was the #1 ranked fighter in the WBA.”
“Buatsi was ringside [for Bivol-Ramirez last weekend],” said Oladipo about Joshua Buatsi. “He’s done a lot of interviews, saying, ‘Bivol is good, but I saw a lot of mistakes and openings.’ Yarde is going to take on Beterbiev in February, and we don’t know what’s going to happen with injuries; Beterbiev seems to be picking up injuries.
“Canelo’s hand surgery, and we don’t know if he’s going to be fully ready for May. Could Buatsi be the stop-gap fight? I feel like I’m being disrespectful by saying that because Buatsi deserves a little bit more than being a stop-gap fight.
“Could Bivol think, ‘You know what? Whilst I’m waiting to find out what happens with the Canelo or Beterbiev, I could come to London to fight Buatsi, or I could do Abu Dhabi again,” said Oladipo.
“Yeah, if they could make enough money, and make it a big enough fight, then it is viable,” said Gareth about a fight between Bivol and Joshua Buatsi. “I think Buatsi gives him [Bivol] a very good challenge, as good as anyone in that division apart from Beterbiev right now.
“Yes, because Buatsi is super tough. We don’t know, until he reaches that level, how much he has in him. We don’t know what he has in him yet because Joshua is the exact same size as Bivol. He’s very strong physically and very, very determined.
“We’ll say this about Joshua Buatsi forever, but he’s had a slow burn since the Rio Olympics in 2016, where he won the bronze. It might be his time, and he might get that shout. If Eddie [Hearn] wants to do it, he will, but I know he wants to do the Canelo fight for Bivol. He’s come out publicly and said that.
“He could be heading to the top of the pound-for-pound list. It was a brilliant performance, the timing, and the meticulous stuff with the way he does things,” Gareth said about Bivol.
“Once he settled into a rhythm in that fight, it was a masterclass because Ramirez is a dangerous fighter, and a southpaw, of course. He [Bivol] dealt with all those angles,” said Gareth.
“It was a comfortable victory [for Bivol] in terms of the scorecards, comfortable for Bivol,” said Oladipo. “I think we’re looking at a special fighter. I got to be honest with you; I’ve slept on him. I saw him against Joe Smith, and I saw him against Craig Richards.
“I thought he was good, but I didn’t see special,” Oladipo said about Bivol, with his victories over Richards and Smith. “Now I watch him. His hands are so loose, his feet are great, and he’s got respectable punch power.
“I saw Gilberto Ramirez at times have him on the ropes, and I was thinking, ‘Go on, Gilberto. This is your chance.’ He was scared to unload for the fear of the counter. He [Bivol] can do everything; he’s a complete boxer. I don’t know what he can’t do, and I like that going forward.
“Going forward, it’s pound-for-pound #1, undisputed at either weight class [168 & 175]. The future is bright for Bivol,” said Oladipo.
