Zurdo surprised Bivol turned down offer

Light heavyweight Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez (42-0, 28 KOs) has been matched against Yunieski “The Monster” Gonzalez (21-3, 17 KOs) on December 18 in San Antonio in the official WBA title eliminator. The winner will become mandatory challenger for WBA champion Dmitry Bivol.

“I was surprised when Bivol turned down the fight we offered because it was something I thought he wanted. I know he’s a tough warrior and aspires to be the best, which is why I was surprised. He publicly called me out and said that he was ‘ready.’ But unfortunately, that doesn’t seem to be the case on his end. Again, in boxing, this seems like a common scenario where a fighter barks and barks, but he can’t back it up when it’s time to fight. With this fight (vs. Gonzalez) in place, Bivol has nowhere to run, and he will eventually have to face me.”

Bivol’s promoter Eddie Hearns has said he plans to put Bivol against John Ryder and then target Canelo Alvarez at either 168 or 175 pounds.

“I’m not sure why Bivol thinks Canelo will face him in the near future,” said Zurdo. “The probability of that happening within the next three fights is very, very low for him. Sadly, I think he’s just the cannon fodder for this scenario.”

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  • It does not look good for Bivol to pass on Zurdo for John Ryder who is decent but hasn’t had a significant fight at 175. It seems like he’s REALLY confident that they’ll get the Canelo fight if he just plays it safe and doesn’t lose.

    • Did you read the article. It was Ramirez who
      passed on the Bivol fight. What is Bivol to do? Wait on Ramirez to grow some balls or
      seek another fight. He choose to fight
      another fight. Give Bivol credit for looking
      for another fight and not playing it safe. Fighters fight, bull shitters make excuses
      for not fighting.

      • Errrr… I reread the article. It doesn’t say that Ramirez passed on the Bivol fight.

    • Watch the Callum Smith, Ryder won that fight..
      Horrible name for boxing but can fight!

  • Well Ramirez, when you’re the Challenger Who has fought nobody but because you are Mexican you think that you can offer short money to The Undefeated Champion, then you’re going to get turned down. It’s called pricing yourself out of a fight while running your mouth to the media. Anyway, you’ll beat the shot and super slow Gonzalez and then Bivol will beat the hell out of you for the Lion’s Share of the purse, as he deserves.

  • Of course Ryder isn’t even ranked at 175 in Bivol’s division and yet people talk about Canelo. Bivol should be defending his belt against people in his top 10 let alone worrying about Canelo.

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