By Brian Webber: Dmitry Bivol says he didn’t even get out of first gear to successfully defend his WBA light heavyweight title last Saturday night against Gilberto ‘Zurdo’ Ramirez in Abu Dhabi.
Bivol (21-0, 11 KOs) estimates that he fought at 70% capacity against Ramirez (44-1, 30 KOs), and he wasn’t entirely pleased with his performance, even though he won by a lopsided 12 round unanimous decision against the former WBO super middleweight champion.
In hindsight, Bivol says he wished he’d thrown more punches and been more aggressive in the fight. Bivol was overly cautious, giving the slow Ramirez way too much respect, allowing him to go the fall distance.
One got the sense that Bivol could have knocked out Ramirez if he’d let his hands go a lot more because he only threw a handful of shots in each round, and yet he still had the 31-year-old hurt on several occasions.
The judges scored it 117-111, 117-111, and 118-110.
Ramirez looked like he was afraid to throw punches after getting hit with repeated hard counter shots from the much faster Bivol. After a while, Ramirez was unwilling to throw the shots he needed to because he was getting countered so often by Bivol.
When Ramirez was throwing jabs, Bivol was ducking under them charging forward to throw blistering combinations.
“Yes, I’m happy for 70% because I understand that I could have been better,” said Dmitry Bivol to iFL TV when asked if he was happy with his performance against Gilberto ‘Zurdo’ Ramirez. “I could have thrown more punches and could have been more aggressive, but I’m happy.
“I accepted that he would counter-punch me on the body, and he got me many times. He’s slow, but the timing is good. This is why I talked about 70%,” said Bivol when told that he looked like he didn’t get out of first gear.
“Zurdo has 44 victories. I was a little bit careful. I thought the fight is mine, and I control everything, but I didn’t want to take over that extra step,” said Bivol.
“His patience and following the plan is part of the reason we’re here,” said Bivol’s manager Vadim Kornilov in cutting in on the interview.
“No, it wasn’t my best performance. One of them, of course. I beat him, and it was a clean victory, and he was a champion at super middleweight. He is a good opponent.
“He is not just a guy from the streets. He is one of the best fighters in the light heavyweight division. He’s#3, and I beat him in first gear. Almost in every round. I don’t think I won every round because I would try to give him the round but take his energy.
“Of course, fight for belts. I want to be undisputed,” Bivol said when asked to pick between Artur Beterbiev and Canelo Alvarez for his next fight. “But if you’re a good promoter, you will think about money, and we have to find the compromise.
“For legacy, it’s better for belts and then fight Canelo. It’s good? It’s too good options. Of course, it’s great options. Fight against Canelo is good too, but better to fight for another [three] belt.
“Yeah, we will see. Why you ask me?” said Bivol when asked if he’d like to fight Anthony Joshua. “Why Joshua needs to fight me? Maybe Joshua will lose the weight, and we will fight. Why not?”
