Published
5 months agoon
By
Michael WoodsA Dmitriy Bivol v Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez fight booked a couple years ago would not have created the same lil buzz which exists today. BC, before Canelo, the Russian Bivol (20-0, 11 KOs; age 31) had a rep as a workmanlike performer, skilled, yes, but not scintillating. His handling of Canelo brought him tons of respect and a large batch of new fans.
Zurdo (44-0, 30 KOs; age 31) had a long run as a Top Rank standout. Too many competent but hardly electric scraps colored him as a fighter who’d reached his ceiling. Timing is everything— Bivol is now the Canelo killer and Zurdo re fashioned himself into a fan friendly battler after parting ways with Top Rank.
Many are thinking that the Mexican Zurdo, a full fledged 175, and a southpaw, will present a more difficult test for Bivol than that other Mexican did.
These timings could change due to the length of the undercard fights.
Editor/publisher Michael Woods got addicted to boxing in 1990, when Buster Douglas shocked the world with his demolition of the thought to be impregnable Mike Tyson. The Brooklyn-based journalist Woods has covered the sport since then, for ESPN The Magazine, ESPN.com, ESPN New York, RING, and he was editor of TheSweetScience.com from 2007-2015. Woods is also an accomplished blow by blow and color man, having done work for Top Rank, DiBella Entertainment, EPIX, and for Facebook Fightnight Live since 2017. He now does work for PROBOX TV, the first truly global boxing network.