On November 5, Abu Dhabi will host the WBA World Light-Heavyweight Championship bout between Dmitry Bivol and his challenger Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez.
Taking place at the Etihad Arena, Department of Culture and Tourism Abu Dhabi and Matchroom have partnered up to host the first of a new “Championship Series”.
Both boxers are undefeated
Defending champion Bivol is currently undefeated with a record of 20-0 with 11 of them being via knockout. This will be his ninth title defense since winning the title in 2017. The Russian is considered to be one of the top pound-for-pound boxers in the world.
His opponent, Ramirez is on an even longer undefeated streak as he is 44-0 with 30 of them being via knockout, so the world will soon find out which man will suffer his first loss in the upcoming bout.
The UAE capital city has hosted major boxing events such as the Abu Dhabi Unity Boxing event earlier this year which saw Floyd Mayweather compete in an eight-round exhibition fight against Don Moore.
Usyk v Fury in Saudi Arabia?
Another huge fight coming to the Middle East could be Oleksandr Usyk vs Tyson Fury.
The British boxer has said that he’ll come out of retirement to face Oleksandr Usyk for a championship unification fight if they can come up with enough money in 7 days.
Fury announced his retirement only a couple of weeks ago. He was the reigning WBC and The Ring Champion and held the title for two years when he defeated Deontay Wilder in 2020.
The Gypsy King announced the news on social media and tagged promoter Frank Warren, Top Rank Boxing and the World Boxing Council in the post.
He also said that he’s having a blast being retired so it would absolutely have to be a big money match.
According to promoter Frank Warren, facing off against The Gypsy King is “the only fight” that the Ukrainian Usyk is interested in right now.