Via Dan Ambrose: Dmitry Bivol owes his win over Gilberto ‘Zurdo’ Ramirez last weekend as his way of breaking the bigger boxer spirit with pressure, coordinated punching and defensive ability.
With all the hype about Ramirez going into the bout, he turned out to be the rather restrained person and not what some boxing fans had thought he was.
WBA lightweight champion Bivol (21-0, 11 KOs) started slowly for the first four innings, seemingly giving up two of them to Gilberto, but starting in the fifth round, he ran away with the fight.
As pointed out by Paulie Malignaggi, Ramirez (44-1, 30 KOs) failed to impose his massive size advantage over Bivol physically. That’s what Ramirez, 31, should at least try to do because he clearly fell behind in the second half.
Ramirez looked like he stopped trying to win the following rounds, as he seemed to lack the confidence to try different things.
“This is one of the most anticipated battles of the year for die-hard fans. For cash, this might have gotten off the radar,” said Paulie Malignaggi Paulie TV about the fight between Dmitry Bivol and Gilberto Ramirez last Saturday.
“Invincible vs. undefeated, this is a match we are really looking forward to, especially as Bivol enhances its reputation by beating Canelo in a remarkable way.
“Zurdo Ramirez is known as a petty thief. 44-0, undefeated. A guy that a lot of the top light heavyweights see as avoidable.
“The bettors rated Bivol as a strong favorite, and the results of the fight showed they were right. Zurdo has never been in a major battle, not even with his undefeated record and outstanding victories. There’s always a question mark about him too.
“Bivol has always been very good with his basics and fundamentals, but he doesn’t really complicate things. He throws a lot of straight punches, he likes to be first, and he likes to control the ring.
“That’s another thing about Eastern European fighters. They like to mentally command in a fight. They like to fight at the pace they command and fight in a style they are comfortable with where they command.
“They weren’t always the most talented guys, but they were the most disciplined. It’s hard to break them even if you may be more gifted than them.
“I soon realized that Zurdo, who was bigger, was much bigger than Bivol. I thought, ‘How is this going to happen?’ Bivol has stood its ground from the very beginning.
“He hasn’t given up on many defensive sides, and he has gone down to the bigger Zurdo Ramirez all the time. It’s a hint of what so many Russian and Eastern European fighters do.
“They will try to impose that mental block on your head, and in this case, Zurdo Ramirez is a greater man. A lot of guys might be surprised how big he is. I think Zurdo did a great job of leveling up sometimes, throwing shots up from below and trying to throw some top lane.
“Bivol wasn’t intimidated and wasn’t really that much flustered. I was 2-2 after four innings, and then Bivol just wanted to run away with it. In the beginning of the fight, you start to wonder if Zurdo, through that slight confusion, has taken on different appearances.
“Bivol, about him, he took a look at me. He seems like a simple boxer. Bivol doesn’t do a lot of crazy animated stuff. He is a simple warrior. Lots of straight punches, but clustered, that bell, that motionless.
“He goes first, and he has the mentality of the boss. In this fight, he didn’t give much. He’s actually taking down Zurdo Ramirez, and that might pop into your head if you have a fighter that does it regularly. No matter what you’re doing, your opponent is still facing you and still dangerous.
“Bivol likes to be at the top and he likes to throw combinations. If he’s in range of punches and punches you in the face, you always have to be on the lookout. This guy is constantly looking for ways to take shortcuts and constantly has a bad day. He is looking to control the fight in any way possible.
“The biggest concern is that he’s playing the mental game of facing you the whole time, and he’s been facing Zurdo the whole time. He didn’t make it sloppy, but he did face Zurdo the whole time.
“As the fight goes on, he can do more synergies. The number of punches in his combinations becomes larger. In the beginning, it was ones and one.
“He was able to get Zurdo out of position because when the punches and combinations came in, Zurdo was a bit tired and he was putting himself back into position.
“Bivol combinations, though simple, quick straight punches, start to become, instead of one and two, it starts to become three, four, punch and six. And, of course, that began to arise in Zurdo’s mind.
“He didn’t go that much. He didn’t even try at one point to regain control of the fight with a bit of physical strength. I think Zurdo could have been a bit more physical and tried to impose himself on Bivol and tried to push him back in another way.
“Bivol backing Ramirez removes all the positives that Zurdo has in his style. I think if Zurdo is not supported and he is comfortable. I think he’s someone who can get into more creative modes.
“He has a good coach at Julian Chua who I know will come up with good combinations and things to do. I think being backed up took away a lot of Zurdo Ramirez’s capabilities.
“That’s credit to Bivol. When a boxer does it and commands a fight. No matter how dangerous his opponent is, if he supports him, a lot of guys are a completely different fighter.
“Bivol did this. He throws combinations in beams and remains the boss of the fight. Zurdo was never really in control of the fight, and after the first four or five innings, it didn’t seem like Zurdo would be involved in the fight.
“He let Bivol lead the fight. I don’t think anyone was ever actually injured in battle, but you probably know that Bivol got into Zurdo’s head. He didn’t fold, but he did fold the advantages for Bivol.
“He has accepted the fact that Bivol will command the speed and command the way this fight plays out. Since then, the war has been non-competitive. It is interesting to see.
“You’re wondering if Zurdo, with all these big light heavyweights, is a nampaw and will find a way to make this match competitive once Bivol is in the early game. But he never did that,” said Bivol.
