Dmitry Bivol comfortably outpointed Gilberto Ramirez in Abu Dhabi
(Picture: Getty Images)Dmitry Bivol outclassed Gilberto ‘Zurdo’ Ramirez to retain his WBA light-heavyweight title in style in Abu Dhabi on Saturday night.
Fighting for the first time since his stunning upset win to halt Canelo Alvarez’s charge through the weight divisions in Las Vegas back in May, the Russian produced a latest masterclass despite a considerable size disparity to comfortably defeat another feared Mexican opponent and further underline his credentials for Fighter of the Year and top pound-for-pound billing.
It was another mesmerising display of speed, ring intelligence and pure skill from Bivol, who appeared to remain open to a rematch with undisputed super-middleweight champion Canelo in 2023 after being awarded a unanimous decision triumph with judges scores of 118-110, 117-111, 117-111.
The boxing world will be desperate for a showdown for all the belts at 175lbs against formidable compatriot Artur Beterbiev, but the WBC, IBF and WBO champion first has to face Britain’s Anthony Yarde in the New Year after a mandatory defence in October in London was postponed due to injury.
Bivol moves to 21-0 after his latest boxing clinic, while Ramirez is now 44-1 after losing for the first time as a professional as the hulking former super-middleweight world champion ponders another weight jump.
On Saturday’s undercard, Northampton’s Chantelle Cameron deservedly outpointed an out-of-sorts Jessica McCaskill to become the UK’s first undisputed female champion, in the light-welterweight division.
However, there was no such victory for Manchester’s Zelfa Barrett, who cruelly missed out on the chance to claim a first world title despite a superb start as an unfortunate injury appeared to precede an emphatic ninth-round stoppage from Shavkat Rakhimov in a battle for the IBF super-featherweight gold stripped from Joe Cordina.
Olympic gold medalist Galal Yafai produced a third professional victory and retained his WBC International flyweight belt despite a below-par performance against spirited Mexican Gohan Rodriguez Garcia, while earlier brother Kal recovered from a shock early knockdown by Jerald Paclar to win his first fight for more than two-and-a-half years.
There were also further wins for up-and-coming British duo Campbell Hatton and Aqib Fiaz, while local favourite Majid Al Naqbi suffered a surprise first pro defeat against Filipino John Lawrence Ordonio. However, there were victories for two other local Emirati fighters in Sultan Al Nuaimi and Fahad Al Bloushi.
