Dmitry Bivol and Gilberto 'Zurdo' Ramirez make weight for light heavyweight title bout

Dmitry Bivol isn't taking the easy route following the biggest win of his career.

The reigning WBA "Super" light heavyweight champion is set to collide with unbeaten southpaw Gilberto 'Zurdo' Ramirez.

Both fighters made weight for their scheduled 12-round clash in the main event of a stacked DAZN-streamed show that airs Saturday (1:30 p.m. ET) presented by Matchroom Boxing in its 'Champion Series' debut from Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

Bivol (20-0, 11 KOs), of Russia, tipped the scales at 174.7 pounds as he attempts to make the fifth defense of his WBA "Super" light heavyweight title. Ramirez (44-0, 30 KOs), a former 168-pound titleholder, was a hair lower at 174.6 pounds ahead of his bid to become a two-division world champion.

There is some confusion regarding how many defenses of the "Super" title Bivol has made. We'll clear it up for you.

The 31-year-old Bivol fought for the WBA interim title in his ninth pro bout, which he won via fourth-round TKO over Robert Berridge in February 2017. Following another fourth-round stoppage victory over Cedric Agnew in June of that year, Bivol was elevated to WBA's “regular” champion. After making five defenses of that belt, the sanctioning body promoted Bivol a second time to “Super” titlist leading up to his October 2019 unanimous decision win against Lenin Castillo. He has held the honor ever since. Some believe Bivol is making 10th defense of the belt on Saturday. That is not true.

Bivol fights for the first time following a dominant 12-round unanimous decision win over four-division champ and then-pound-for-pound king Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez in their May 7 DAZN Pay-Per-View main event in Las Vegas.

All three judges scored the fight 115-113 in favor of Bivol. However, a majority of ringside observers gave Canelo no more than three rounds.

Ramirez won the WBO super middleweight title in an April 2016 unanimous decision over Arthur Abraham. He made five defenses of the title before moving up to light heavyweight beginning with an April 2019 knockout win over former contender Tommy Karpency.

After leaving Top Rank, the 31-year-old Mexican signed with Golden Boy Promotions in February 2021, scoring three straight knockouts since joining forces with Oscar De La Hoya. Since moving up to 175-pounds, Zurdo is 5-0 (5 knockouts). His fourth-round KO of Dominic Boesel on May 14 solidified his place as Bivol's mandatory challenger.

In the chief support bout, Jessica McCaskill (12-2, 5 KOs) moves down in weight in her quest to become a two-division undisputed champion, a mark that would tie her with Claressa Shields as the only fighters, male or female, to become undisputed in multiple weight classes.

McCaskill, the undisputed welterweight queen, weighed in at 139.4 pounds in her return to the junior welterweight division. She challenges two-belt unified titlist Chantelle Cameron (16-0, 8 KOs), of England, who checked in at 139.6 pounds for their undisputed bout, which also comes with the vacant WBA/WBO straps at stake.

The Chicago-based lineal/WBC/WBA/IBF/WBO welterweight queen was 139.4 pounds in her return to the junior welterweight division. McCaskill challenges WBC/IBF champion Chantelle Cameron, who weighed 139.6 pounds for their undisputed junior welterweight championship which also comes with the vacant WBA/WBO titles at stake.

Other Bouts On The Card:

Shavkat Rakhimov (16-0-1, 13 KOs), Bokhtar, Tajikistan, 130 pounds vs. Zelfa Barrett (28-1, 16 KOs), Manchester, England, 130 pounds—12 rounds for vacant IBF junior lightweight title.

Galal Yafai (2-0, 2 KOs), Birmingham, UK 111.9 pounds vs. Gohan Rodriguez (12-1-1, 1 KO), Durango, Mexico, 111 pounds—10 rounds, flyweight

Khalid Yafai (26-1, 15KOs), Birmingham, 120 3/4 pounds vs. Jerald Paclar (16-5-3, 9KOs), Cebu City, Philippines, 117.6 pounds—10 rounds, bantamweight

Majid Al Naqbi (7-0, 4 KOs), Dubai, 137.7 pounds vs. John Lawrence Ordonio (7-4-1, 4 KOs), 138.9 pounds—6 rounds, junior welterweight