By: Sean Crose
“I really had a big dream to win this belt and I don’t want to leave it,” stated WBA mild heavyweight titlist Dmitry Bivol on the eve of his title protection towards the undefeated Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez. “I will fight for this and I want to keep it. I want more. I feel I have something inside of me which I need to realize so I can be happy at the end of my career.” Bivol shocked lots of people final spring when he defeated the one and solely Canelo Alvarez in decisive vogue. Now, nonetheless, he has to face a 44-0 fighter who has not solely beforehand been a world champion himself, however who – not like Canelo – as operated solely as a lightweight heavyweight for a while.
“I had it in three locations,” Bivol stated of his coaching camp in the course of the remaining press convention earlier than the battle, which matches down Saturday at Abu Dhabi’s Etihad Arena. “I had a great camp everywhere. The last location was Abu Dhabi. I have been here since September 27th. I feel like I had everything that I needed for training. When I thought about resting, I had everything for resting here. When I met people in the gym or the mall everyone was really happy. People have been very welcoming to me and my team. People are welcoming to every tourist here. It’s good.”
Indeed, Bivol additionally took a second in the course of the press convention to go with the host nation of the battle. “I’m looking forward to Saturday night,” he stated to the media. “I believe it will be an exciting fight. Abu Dhabi will make more boxing fights and maybe boxing will be the main sport in Abu Dhabi. I hope it will be because this is my favourite sport in the world. I want to be everywhere, and people know the sport. It’s great. Thank you everyone.”
As for many who consider he peaked when he bested Canelo final spring, Bivol made it clear he didn’t like listening to such issues. “When people tell me that I have achieved everything it’s like they pour water on my fire,” he stated. “I try to only think about my dream, to realize my full potential. I try to be hungry and angry every time and be focused on training and my opponents. I try to think about how this Saturday night will be the hardest fight of my career. It makes me more focused on the night.”
