Despite nine successful defenses of the WBA light heavyweight title and the status of a favorite according to bookmakers, Dmitry Bivol's victory in the duel with Gilberto Ramirez did not seem to be a settled matter.
On the contrary, this fight promised to be for him, if not the most difficult in his career, then at least extremely difficult.
And there were several reasons for this.
The Mexican not only could boast of an ideal record and was noticeably larger than the Russian, but also worked in a left-handed stance.
And the current belt holder has not faced such opponents for a very long time - since June 2017.
For an orthodox fighter, fighting a left-hander is traditionally considered a difficult test, and in those years, the promoters of the Russian clearly tried to provide their client with the necessary experience in such battles.
In less than four months, he faced three left-handed opponents and knocked out each of them in the fourth round.
And although Cedric Agnew, Samuel Clarkson and Robert Berridge have repeatedly fought for championship belts and shared the ring with such famous boxers as Sergey Kovalev and Eleider Alvarez, their level was not too high.
At least compared to Ramirez.
And although the vast majority of experts still bet on Bivol, there were those who preferred Ramirez.
And one of them was the famous coach Abel Sanchez, who worked with Gennady Golovkin for many years.
He compared Dmitry with his former ward and admired his talent, but still sided with Gilberto.
He assumed that the Russian would repeat the fate of his former opponent Saul Alvarez and would feel extremely uncomfortable in a battle with a taller Mexican.
And for the first minute and a half it might have seemed that Sanchez's predictions would come true.
Bivol was not at ease, could not find his distance.
And although he himself went forward, he was not able to find a gap in the opponent’s defense, while regularly missing his stinging right jab.
But already in the second half of the three-minute period, Dmitry got used to it and began to overtake Gilberto over and over again.
And although the Mexican managed to use his main weapon once and deliver a blow to the body, the spectacular combinations of the Russian looked more impressive.
At the start of the fight, several curious moments could be noticed at once.
Firstly, the pressure was exerted mainly by Bivol, which was fundamentally at odds with the assumptions of many experts, because it was from the larger Ramirez that they expected to work as the first number.
However, the Mexican looked too passive and often found himself pressed with his back to the ropes.
From this position, it was extremely difficult for him to create problems for a Russian who was maneuverable and instantly returned to the distance he needed for himself.
Secondly, Ramirez generally did not use his advantage in anthropometry.
Instead of keeping Bivol at a distance with a jab, he sought his fortune up close and constantly sat down under his opponent.
And Dmitry very quickly noticed this.
After one of these “dives”, Zurdo received a powerful uppercut to the jaw, and subsequently repeatedly fell under a hail of blows from the champion.
In fact, of the first four rounds, Ramirez could count on winning only in the third.
Then for the first time he tried to move away from the ropes and move the fight to the center of the ring.
And it immediately paid dividends.
Under these conditions, it became much more convenient for him to hit with his front hand and avoid Bivol's attacks.
In the last seconds, Gilberto completely caught Dmitry in the oncoming traffic.
True, he failed to develop success.
In each of the next four segments, Bivol was, albeit slightly, better than Ramirez.
He did not always manage to dominate for all three minutes, but bright flashes in the endings invariably helped tip the scales in his favor.
10-20 seconds before the gong, the Russian invariably "exploded" with a powerful combination and removed all the questions from both the audience and the representatives of the judiciary.
Moreover, even the hematoma that formed under the left eye did not interfere with him, which made it clear that although the Mexican rarely hit the target, he hit quite bitingly.
As the mentor of the champion Gennady Mashyanov said after the seventh round, only two segments ended not in favor of Bivol.
Surely this was understood in Ramirez's corner, as a result of which it was logical to expect a sharp surge in the applicant's activity.
But that did not happen.
Yes, at times he managed to get to the opponent's head, and sometimes even to carry out branded hooks on the body.
True, they did not carry a serious danger.
Dmitry moved superbly, dodged great attacks and instantly responded with series.
At certain moments, the Mexican looked helpless and looked more like a pear on which the Russian is working out blows.
Of the remaining five rounds, Ramirez could only give two, and even then with a strong desire.
In the eighth and tenth, Zurdo went ahead and at times even briefly pinned Bivol at the ropes, but he did not create real difficulties for him.
What can not be said about Dmitry, who periodically planted combinations of seven to ten accurate hits into the opponent's head.
There was no semblance of a finishing spurt.
The Russian kept everything under control.
This time, the not super popular Saul Alvarez was standing opposite Bivol, so the judges' assessments corresponded to what was happening in the ring as much as possible.
Two gave him the victory with a score of 117:111, and the third was even more supportive - 118:110.
The Russian inflicted the first defeat in his career on the Mexican and defended the WBA title for the tenth time, taking another step towards the status of an absolute champion.
After the fight, he once again announced his desire to measure his strength with compatriot Artur Beterbiev.