Ramirez: 'I've always considered myself the best light heavyweight in the world'

Gilberto Ramirez admits that his victory over Dmitry Bivol not predetermined. However, Zurdo views their upcoming clash as a long-awaited coronation.

“I always thought I was the best light heavyweight and Bivol was second in the world,” Ramirez told BoxingScene.com. “That's how I see it. That's why I asked for this fight. People want to see the fight because he beat one of the best Mexicans. Everyone wants to see this fight."

Ramirez's persistence has paid off, and now he will challenge Bivol and try to take the WBA light heavyweight title from him. The fight is scheduled for November 5 at the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

The opportunity to become a two-division champion will come almost four years after Ramirez last defended his WBO super middleweight title. The unbeaten Mexican southpaw held the 76kg world title for more than three years before leaving it vacant in May 2019. At the same time, Ramirez has not participated in a major title fight since December 2018, when he defeated Jesse Hart again.

After moving up to light heavyweight, five victories followed, all of them ended ahead of schedule and convinced Ramirez (44-0, 3 KOs) that there was no fighter in this weight whom he could not defeat.

The bookies disagree with him and consider Bivol (20-0, 11 KOs) as the favorite and give him preference in his tenth defense of the WBA light heavyweight title, which he has held since 2017. That being said, as Bivol himself proved, the bookies are sometimes wrong when the Russian got his most significant win in the pro ring by beating Saul “Canelo” Alvarez this May in Las Vegas.

The outcome of this fight only strengthened Ramirez's motivation to win his second big title, confirming his many years of belief that he is the best light heavyweight on the planet.

“I am the best and I want to prove myself,” said Ramirez. — I want to prove that Zurdo Ramirez will soon become a legend. I want to win this title and break all the records after that."