THE RUNDOWN: DMITRY BIVOL VS. GILBERTO RAMIREZ

By: Jay Calderon

INTRO: Just a year ago, few boxing fans would have suggested that a showdown between Light-Heavyweight titlist Dmitry Bivol and unbeaten former Super Middleweight titlist Gilberto Ramirez was all that intriguing. Yet, in 2022, that's exactly the situation in which we find ourselves.

For a number of reasons, this fight smacks of being appealing, and that's outside of the obvious circumstances which pits two solid, undefeated professionals against one another in their respective primes. For starters, there's the underlying Canelo Alvarez factor.

Bivol is coming off the back of the biggest win of his pro campaign, which happened in May of this year, when he soundly defeated the aforementioned Alvarez at 175 pounds. A win for Bivol might suggest that another lucrative contest with Canelo could soon be in the works. Meanwhile, Ramirez might like his chances of getting the Alvarez fight for himself if he were to dethrone the man that beat the man.

We also have to respect a solid, relatively evenly-contested fight at a time when many big bouts have simply not materialized for boxing thus far. While not the biggest of the calendar year, a decent scrap nonetheless for Q4 -- and one that deserves a closer look.

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TALE OF THE TAPE

DMITRY BIVOL || GILBERTO RAMIREZ

31 - AGE - 31

Russia - NATIONALITY - Mexico

6'0" - HEIGHT - 6'2½"

72" - REACH - 75"

Orthodox - STANCE - Southpaw

Joel Diaz - TRAINER - Julian Chua

NOTES: In terms of their numbers above, the biggest figures to jump out are the height and reach of "Zurdo" Ramirez. He will certainly be the naturally bigger man, coming in more than two inches taller and with three inches more in regards to reach. This helps explain why Bivol has stated he feels he could make 168 pounds if interested and why Ramirez struggled to stay in the Super Middleweight division.

The other interesting component is the stance of Ramirez. While he isn't a slippery lefty by any means, he is a southpaw nonetheless. The last time Bivol faced a southpaw was Cedric Agnew back in 2017, whom he defeated via fourth round technical knockout. Still, with his solid amateur pedigree, one tends to believe Bivol should have the skills and knowledge to handle a left-hander.

FIGHT STATS

DMITRY BIVOL || GILBERTO RAMIREZ

11/28/2014 (W Jorge Olivera, 6TKO) - DEBUT - 08/21/2009 (W Jeseth Magallanes, 1KO)

20-0-0 (11KOs/55.00%) - RECORD - 44-0-0 (30KOs/68.18%)

160 - TOTAL ROUNDS FOUGHT - 255

8.00 - AVERAGE ROUNDS PER FIGHT - 5.79

10-0-0 (3KOs/30%) - RECORD IN PREVIOUS TEN - 10-0-0 (6KOs/60%)

9-0-0 (2KOs/22.22%) - CHAMPIONSHIP RECORD - 6-0-0 (1KOs/16.66%)

NOTES: Their careers started quite differently, with Bivol beginning at a more advanced age after a long, quality amateur background. Bivol eventually turned professional at 23, while Ramirez was in the paid ranks at the age of 18.

However, one could make the argument that, even with a later start and less professional fights, Bivol has quite possibly accomplished more. While both have captured gold once, Bivol has defended his crown more times and has done so against the better opposition.

One thing you could gather from these numbers is the power disparity that favors the Mexican. Overall, Ramirez has a higher stoppage percentage by about 12%. He's also managed to retain much of his power in recent fights, though he does seem to have struggled with stopping opponents during his 168 pound title reign. That could possibly be due to weakening himself to make the weight; he might also just struggle to stop foes when he's facing higher ranked contenders that have more overall experience.

The other number of interest might be the difference between the amount of rounds either man has fought, with "Zurdo" having boxed nearly 100 more professional frames. Ramirez usually makes his fights end quicker, but has also fought double the times as Bivol. Depending on your opinion, that could mean Bivol is the fresher man or Ramirez the more experienced fighter.

LAST THREE OPPONENTS

DMITRY BIVOL

W Canelo Alvarez, 12UD (05/07/2022)

W Umar Salamov, 12UD (12/11/2021)

W Craig Richards, 12UD (05/01/2021)

GILBERTO RAMIREZ

W Dominic Boesel, 4KO (05/14/2022)

W Yunieski Gonzalez, 10TKO (12/18/2021)

W Sullivan Barrera, 4KO (07/09/2021)

NOTES: The clearest, strongest name for either fighter is Canelo Alvarez, the biggest win in the career of Bivol. Effectively, that will trump much of what Ramirez has accomplished thus far as a professional. That said, when you strip away Alvarez, the chasm between their resumes diminishes greatly.

Still, even excluding Canelo, Bivol has the edge in terms of quality of opposition. Bivol has faced more former world titlists (at 2 vs. 1, again, excluding Canelo), and has faced more top ten fighters in general. As an example, three of Bivol's wins over highly-rated fighters were with guys still currently in the top ten at 175 pounds, including: Jean Pascal, Joe Smith, Jr., and Craig Richards.

When looking specifically at their last three opponents and taking into the entirety of their resumes, it's clear to see Bivol has simply taken on the tougher tests between himself and his counterpart.

BETTING ODDS

DMITRY BIVOL || GILBERTO RAMIREZ

-550 - STRAIGHT LINE - +350

-410 - OVER/UNDER: 10.5 - +260

NOTES: Bivol is a strong favorite in most sports books, coming in at the five and a half mark. One could argue there is little value in such a selection. Bivol's fights tend to go the distance, and Ramirez does have some power. When you're thinking a fight might last the whole twelve frames, and the underdog can pop, you always have to keep in mind that said puncher will likely have the full 36 minutes to land something meaningful.

If you're a Ramirez believer, those odds should encourage a bet of some sort as they are fairly attractive for what many consider a live 'dog. I wouldn't bet the farm, personally, but I could see laying a small-to-medium sized bet on Ramirez, simply based on the value. When you couple that with Gilberto having some power and Bivol having been stunned before, it's not the worst option at all.

The over/under at 10.5 is a reflection of the belief that Bivol wins this one via decision. If you're a Ramirez guy but want to somewhat hedge your bet, an under wager might be your move. You still get fairly attractive odds, but you're covered in the event of Bivol catching Ramirez and finishing him inside the under as well. You could also increase value by picking Ramirez by stoppage (+600), which would allow you to risk less for similar straight up rewards. That might make some sense since most picking Ramirez expect him to earn the stoppage victory.

BIGGEST QUESTIONS

In the case of Bivol, the two major questions are fairly obvious to me. For starters, you have to wonder whether or not Bivol can deal with the size and dimensions of Ramirez. If Ramirez is able to use his numbers well, Bivol may be troubled trying to get in and out with his combination punching. I also wonder if he may be looking beyond such an underdog. With a rematch with Alvarez looming and a potential unification bout with Artur Beterbiev, perhaps he could have his sights set further down the road.

As far as Ramirez is concerned, you have to wonder whether he will be able to crack the underrated defense of Bivol. The Russian is a hard man to pin down and hit, and he's also faster than Ramirez. Gilberto must expect to be hit quite often as he's trying to crack the Bivol code. I also wonder if Ramirez has enough power to make it count when he does land. He certainly isn't feather-fisted, but he's also not a single punch KO artist. Can he find a home for his shots enough times that it matters?

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Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed. You can leave any and all comments down below, I would love the feedback. For my prediction for Dmitry Bivol vs. Gilberto Ramirez, you can click here.