Bivol vs Zurdo deal done for Nov. 5 on DAZN

Dmitry Bivol and Zurdo Ramirez will meet in early November in a WBA title fight.

Dmitry Bivol and mandatory challenger Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez are set to square off in less than three months, after the WBA recently ordered the fight has to be next, and turned down Bivol’s request to face Joshua Buatsi instead.

Matchroom’s Eddie Hearn says the fight is “done for November 5th,” with full details to come soon.

Those full details should include location and all that, which will be the interesting thing here.

Golden Boy already have a Nov. 5 show on DAZN set at this moment to be headlined by JoJo Diaz vs William Zepeda at the Fantasy Springs in Indio, Calif. Now, Bivol vs Zurdo is not going to go to the Fantasy Springs, but Diaz vs Zepeda could be bumped to a really good co-feature slot if they want to put Bivol vs Zurdo in as the main event and move the fight to a larger venue in the Los Angeles area, maybe Anaheim’s Honda Center or Ontario’s Toyota Arena.

Bivol would have to be comfortable as the pure “road fighter,” but not sure why he wouldn’t be, since he managed to beat Canelo Alvarez so clearly that even the judges admitted he beat Canelo Alvarez by a little.

The fight could also be held in the United Kingdom and be a Matchroom show that goes in the afternoon U.S. time; that may be where the fight is biggest, and may make the most sense overall.

But to be clear, no, DAZN won’t have two separate shows head-to-head on a Saturday night. I suppose they could do a split site show like HBO used to do every now and then, but that seems really dumb in this situation.

Anyway, this is a good fight, and it’s one Bivol (20-0, 11 KO) has to do to not be stripped. Ramirez (44-0, 30 KO) is a top contender at 175, a former titlist at 168, and a good opponent here. If Bivol wins — and Canelo beats Gennadiy Golovkin on Sept. 17 — the expectation is Bivol will rematch Canelo in May 2023.