Dmitry Bivol vs Gilberto Ramirez: what do we know about the fight ordered by the WBA?

The World Boxing Association ordered 175-Ib champion Dmitry Bivol to defend his light heavyweight title on Monday against his number 1 challenger Gilberto ‘Zurdo’ Ramirez next. The two sides have until August 10 to come to terms to avoid a purse bid hearing.

This order doesn’t come as a surprise after Ramirez’s 4th round knockout win over Dominic Boesel earlier in May. Ramirez (44-0, 30 KOs) has touched on the topic in the past, saying that he thinks Bivol is avoiding a fight with him.

Bivol (20-0, 11 KOs), on the other hand, doesn’t seem to care if he fights in front of a huge pro-Zurdo crowd next, as he’s demonstrated in his recent victory over pound-for-pound king Canelo Alvarez in Vegas that he’s not affected by his opponents’ fans or cheering.

Why does Bivol have to fight Ramirez?

Chairman of the WBA Championship Committee, Carlos Chavez, wrote in a letter to both parties explaining why the battle between the two is due. “Bivol’s champion period is conditioned to a term of 24 months and his last mandatory fight was on March 3, 2018. His next one was to be after March 2020. For that reason, he must face Ramirez.” He proceeded that the WBA will have the right to call the fight a purse bid if both, or either, parties refuse to do so.

Bivol, 31, is coming off the biggest victory of his career over ‘Saul’ Alvarez. The Kyrgyzstan-born, Russian-based champ fatigued the Mexican favorite and won by unanimous decision with matching 115-113 scores from all three judges.

Bivol did not only beat the No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter in the world, but he also had the best performance posted by any other boxer in 2022, remaining undefeated through 20 bouts. Following the bout, Alvarez made it clear publicly that he intends to face Bivol again, provided he prevails over Gennadiy Golovkin (42-1-1, 37KOs) on September 17.

That requires Bivol to defeat Mexican Ramirez, who signed with Golden Boy Promotions last year with the intention of running his record to at least 52-0 and winning titles all the way up to heavyweight.

The two 31-year-olds have a month to make up their minds for their next fight.