By Robert Segal: WBA light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol could have a mental disappointment against contender Gilberto ‘Zurdo’ Ramirez in their fight Nov. 5 on DAZN, warns Roy Jones Jr.
Roy notes that Bivol (21-0, 10 KOs) is coming off a career-best win over Canelo Alvarez earlier this year on May 7, and may not be as prepared for his defense against his WBA mandatory challenger. , Zurdo Ramírez (44-0, 30 KO).
Jones feels that former WBO super middleweight champion Ramirez has a lot of talent, size and power. In other words, the 31-year-old Ramirez is a totally different fighter than the much smaller 5’9″ Canelo, who was easier to beat for the 6’1″ Bivol due to his size advantage.
Bivol will defend against Ramirez on November 5 in the main event on DAZN at the Etihad Arena, Abu Dhabi in, United Arab Emirates.
What Jones Jr didn’t mention is that there is a lot of pressure on Bivol, 31, as he must defeat Ramirez in order for him to get the lucrative rematch with Canelo.
The Mexican star told the media last month that he will not fight Bivol if he loses to Ramirez. Bivol has to beat Ramírez. Otherwise, Canelo will move on and fight someone else next May.
Ramírez is not a perfect boxer, far from it. What little speed he had when he was fighting at 168 is now gone after moving up to 175 in 2019. To make matters worse, Ramirez is about to break out of the light heavyweight division.
For example, in Ramirez’s last fight against Dominic Boesel on May 14, he rehydrated to 204 pounds, which is an absurd amount of weight for a light heavyweight to weigh after rehydrating.
Ramirez had weighed 174 pounds, meaning he gained 30 pounds back after rehydrating. For Ramirez to be that big for a fight at light heavyweight, it’s a red flag that he needs to move up to cruiserweight because he’s already out of the 175-pound division.
What was noticeable about Ramirez’s performance against Boesel was how slow he was, both on the hands and feet. It was very, very slow, and it can be argued that the only reason Ramirez won was because of how poor a Boesel fighter he was.
Against a quality light heavyweight like Bivol and Artur Beterbiev, Ramirez would have been taking hits all night and likely stopped by the referee or his corner.
During Ramirez’s meeting with Bivol for the initial press conference in Abu Dhabi, he looked considerably larger than himself. Ramirez was as big as a cruiserweight and appeared to be hiding a paunch in the long-sleeved shirt he was wearing. You took out Ramirez’s stomach, and it was clear that he needed to lose weight.
“Hell yes there is, and I’ll tell you why because Gilberto Ramirez is a real problem,” Roy Jones Jr told Fighthype when asked if Dmitry Bivol could have a disappointment after his big win over Canelo Alvarez and could lose. . his next fight against Gilberto ‘Zurdo’ Ramirez on November 5.
“This kid [Ramirez] he can fight. He’s underrated and unknown, and this is his chance to make himself known. He is undefeated; he is a former super middleweight champion,” said Jones Jr.
It seems like Jones Jr is remembering Ramirez more for what he has done at 168 than what he looked like at 175, as he doesn’t look good at light heavyweight.
Even when Ramirez was fighting at 168, he never fought anyone good in the division. The only half-decent fighter Ramirez fought during his years at 168 was Jesse Hart, and he barely beat him.
“There is nothing wrong with this boy. No one has beaten him yet, and the puzzle of him hasn’t been solved. The puzzle of him has not been solved,” Jones Jr said of Ramirez.
“This is a really good fight for Bivol, and Bivol has to be careful not to let this fight be a depressing type of fight for him because he is coming off a big win over Canelo.
“Now, he is fighting a guy who is relatively unknown but a very dangerous guy. So this is going to be a very good fight for Bivol, but Bivol has always shown himself to be a consistent professional.
“I think he will handle it the right way. He just has to be careful not to get caught up in that letdown syndrome because he’s coming off a big fight that he just got out of. [against Canelo]which was the biggest fight of his career against a guy you don’t really know [Ramirez] it’s going to be a bit hard.
“This kid [Ramirez] he is taller than Canelo; he is a different type of fighter than Canelo. He is not a smaller, shorter type of fighter than Canelo was against Bivol.
“He is a completely different process. Canelo, you have to remember, he was 154 pounds and he was approaching light heavyweight. This kid [Ramirez] it’s a 168-pounder who climbs a notch higher. Bivol even mentioned that he could do 168.
“They are probably closer to the same size and definitely closer to the same height. So this could be a bigger problem than Canelo for Bivol due to the height.
“I think it would have been Bivol because he’s hard to wrap his head around and he does some things that are pretty interesting,” Jones said when asked which of the current top light heavyweights would have given him trouble during his career.
“I don’t think he would necessarily have beaten me, but Bivol would have been the hardest to figure out. Artur Beterbiev would have been the most difficult to deal with based on the fact that you have to make sure you hit him before he hits you.
“That’s something he was good at, but you’d better make sure you hit him first because if he hits you, there’s going to be trouble. He would have been a problem.
“Both would have been a problem, but Bivol has speed, power and he can box. Bivol would have been a bit more of a problem than Beterbiev because Beterbiev is somewhat more predictable.
“He’s a power puncher, that’s what he does, and that’s what really makes him live. So being a champion, I take away the best you have. So if I know that power is the best thing, that’s the first thing I’m going to take off,” Jones Jr. said.
