Bivol vs Ramirez Launches Matchroom’s Champion Series In Abu Dhabi
Light Heavyweight world champion Dmitry Bivol (20-0, 11 KOs) makes the tenth defence of his WBA strap against mandatory challenger Gilberto ‘Zurdo’ Ramirez (44-0, 30 KOs) in a must-see clash of top five fighters live on DAZN.
Britain’s Joshua Buatsi was supposed to land the Bivol clash on this card instead but the WBA called Ramirez as mandatory and despite exemption requests, Bivol was forced to take care of championship obligations.
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The Kyrgyzstan native notably upset one of boxing’s biggest bona fide stars, Canelo Alvarez, back in May which has surged interest in Bivol and allowed him to capitalise on a major middle east payday. a
Should he successfully defend his WBA title, there will be two major fights looming. One is a rematch with Alvarez, one that the Mexican has explicitly stated he wants and would be the biggest fight available for Bivol. The other is the undisputed clash with Artur Beterbiev which is much more complicated due to mandatory obligations and promotional situations.
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Bivol vs Ramirez Fight Card
In a clash of division #1’s, unified 140-pound champion Chantelle Cameron (16-0, 8 KOs) meets undisputed welterweight champion Jessica McCaskill (12-2) for all the marbles. McCaskill vs Cameron pits two top 10 pound-for-pound fighters against each other in a mouth-watering 50-50 fight.
Cameron looks to achieve her lifelong dream of being undisputed on Saturday night whilst McCaskill attempts to repeat it in a second weight class. Both strive towards a fight with women’s boxing’s biggest star Katie Taylor, craving the opportunity to step in as the opponent at Croke Park should it not be Serrano.
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Manchester’s Zelfa Barrett (28-1, 16 KOs) faces Tajikistan’s Shavkatdzhon Rakhimov (16-0-1, 13 KOs) for the vacant IBF super featherweight world title. Barrett is coming off back-to-back impressive performances showing significant improvements to win an IBF eliminator and then claim the EBU title.
Rakhimov, who is Ring Magazine’s #3 rated 130-pounder, has had just one tune-up since his majority decision draw with Joseph Diaz Jr in Feb 2021. Rakhimov’s best win is in the form of South Africa’s Azinga Fuzile which has come under scrutiny for use of ‘smelling salts‘.
Former champion, Wales’ Joe Cordina (15-0, 9 KOs), injured his right hand whilst in training camp and was controversially stripped of his title as a result. However, Cordina has been contractually guaranteed the winner of Barrett Rakhimov in 2023 once he recovers from injury.
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2020 Olympic gold medalist Galal Yafai (2-0, 2 KOs) defends his WBC International Flyweight title against Mexico’s Gohan Rodriguez Garcia (12-1-1, 1 KOs) in a third consecutive, significant step-up of competition from his debut.
Yafai will be looking to secure multiple top 15 world rankings with this fight, he is currently ranked #20 with the WBC whilst Garcia is the #12 rated challenger with the same organisation and #15 with the WBO. Should Yafai win on Saturday, Eddie Hearn would look to match him for the British Flyweight title.
Kal Yafai (26-1, 15 KOs) returns to the ring for the first time since his 9th-round stoppage at the hands of boxing legend Roman ‘Chocolatito’ Gonzalez in February 2020. Yafai takes a warm-up against Jerald Paclar (16-5-3) over 10 rounds before jumping into big fights at Bantamweight in 2023.
Other Fights
- Sultan Al Nuaimi (8-0) vs Jerome Baloro (6-2) – 8 Rounds Super flyweight
- Aqib Fiaz (9-0) vs Diego Valiterra (6-5-2) – 8 Rounds Super featherweight
- Campbell Hatton (8-0) vs Denis Bartos (9-5) – 6 Rounds Lightweight
- Fahad Al Bloushi (10-1) vs Giorgi Gotchoshvili (10-23-2) – 6 Rounds Lightweight
- Majid Al Naqbi (7-0) vs John Lawrence Ordonio (7-4-1) – 4 Rounds Super lightweight
Bivol vs Ramirez Ring Walk Time, TV Channel, PPV, Start Times,
Bivol vs Zurdo will be live on DAZN around the world (excluding Russia, South Korea and MENA regions)
The main card action begins at 5:30 pm BST (1:30 pm ET, 10:30 am PT). The preliminary action, shown on the Matchroom and DAZN YouTube channels, is scheduled to begin at 2:45 pm BST (10:45 am ET, 7:45 am PT).
Bivol vs Ramirez main event ring walks are expected at approximately 9:15 pm BST (5:15 pm ET, 2:15 pm PT)
Bivol vs Zurdo Running Order
Before The Bell
- Fahad Al Bloushi (10-1) vs Giorgi Gotchoshvili (10-23-2) – 6 Rounds Lightweight
- Campbell Hatton (8-0) vs Denis Bartos (9-5) – 6 Rounds Lightweight
- Aqib Fiaz (9-0) vs Diego Valiterra (6-5-2) – 8 Rounds Lightweight
- Sultan Al Nuaimi (8-0) vs Jerome Baloro (6-2) – 8 Rounds Bantamweight
Live on DAZN
- Kal Yafai (26-1) vs Jerald Paclar (16-5-3) – 10 Rounds Bantamweight
- Majid Al Naqbi (7-0) vs John Lawrence Ordonio (7-4-1) – 4 Rounds Super lightweight
- Galal Yafai (2-0) vs Gohan Rodriguez Garcia (12-1-1) – WBC International Flyweight Title
- Zelfa Barrett (28-1) vs Shavkatdzhon Rakhimov (16-0-1) – IBF Super Featherweight World Title
- Chantelle Cameron (16-0) vs Jessica McCaskill (12-2) – Undisputed Super Lightweight Titles
- Dmitry Bivol (20-0) vs Gilberto Ramirez (44-0) – WBA Light Heavyweight Title
By Darshan Desai – Follow for Dmitry Bivol vs Gilberto Ramirez Round By Round Updates
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