• Undefeated light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol, left, is putting his title on the line against Gilberto 'Zurdo' Ramirez at Etihad Arena on November 5. All photos: Victor Besa / The National
    Undefeated light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol, left, is putting his title on the line against Gilberto 'Zurdo' Ramirez at Etihad Arena on November 5. All photos: Victor Besa / The National
  • Left to right: Dmitry Bivol, Eddie Hearn, Zurdo Ramirez, Saleh Mohammed Al Geziry and Eric Gomez in front of the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi.
    Left to right: Dmitry Bivol, Eddie Hearn, Zurdo Ramirez, Saleh Mohammed Al Geziry and Eric Gomez in front of the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi.
  • Russia'a Dmitry Bivol with his WBA light heavyweight belt in Abu Dhabi.
    Russia'a Dmitry Bivol with his WBA light heavyweight belt in Abu Dhabi.
  • Left to right: Dmitry Bivol, Eddie Hearn, Saleh Mohammed Al Geziry and Zurdo Ramirez.
    Left to right: Dmitry Bivol, Eddie Hearn, Saleh Mohammed Al Geziry and Zurdo Ramirez.
  • The press conference on Wednesday, August 31, 2022, for Dmitry Bivol v Gilberto Ramirez at the Etihad Arena.
    The press conference on Wednesday, August 31, 2022, for Dmitry Bivol v Gilberto Ramirez at the Etihad Arena.
  • Left to right: Eddie Hearn, Dmitry Bivol, Saleh Mohammed Al Geziry, Zurdo Ramirez and Eric Gomez during the press conference.
    Left to right: Eddie Hearn, Dmitry Bivol, Saleh Mohammed Al Geziry, Zurdo Ramirez and Eric Gomez during the press conference.
  • Undefeated light heavyweight champ Dmitry Bivol with Eddie Hearn.
    Undefeated light heavyweight champ Dmitry Bivol with Eddie Hearn.
  • Left to right: Eddie Hearn, Dmitry Bivol, Saleh Mohammed Al Geziry, Gilberto Ramirez, in front of the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi.
    Left to right: Eddie Hearn, Dmitry Bivol, Saleh Mohammed Al Geziry, Gilberto Ramirez, in front of the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi.
  • Saleh Mohammed Al Geziry and Mexico's Zurdo Ramirez during the press conference.
    Saleh Mohammed Al Geziry and Mexico's Zurdo Ramirez during the press conference.
  • Undefeated light heavyweight champ Dmitry Bivol.
    Undefeated light heavyweight champ Dmitry Bivol.
  • Promoter Eddie Hearn during the press conference in Abu Dhabi.
    Promoter Eddie Hearn during the press conference in Abu Dhabi.

Tickets go on sale for Dmitry Bivol v 'Zurdo' Ramirez title clash in Abu Dhabi


John McAuley
  • English
  • Arabic

Tickets for the WBA light-heavyweight title bout between undefeated duo Dmitry Bivol and Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez in Abu Dhabi in November went on sale on Thursday.

The fight night, the first of the new “Champions Series” partnership between the Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi and Matchroom, takes place at Etihad Arena on November 5 and features three championship bouts already. It represents the capital's move into staging major boxing events.

Tickets, available at https://www.etihadarena.ae/en/event-booking/wba-bivol-ramirez, begin at Dh295.

Bivol, whose record reads 20-0 (11 knockouts), makes the ninth defence of his WBA crown following his marquee victory against Saul “Canelo” Alvarez in May.

Ramirez, meanwhile, sits as the mandatory challenger having reeled off five victories since moving from super-middleweight – he previously held the WBO belt at 168 lbs - to light heavyweight. The Mexican’s overall record stands at 44-0 (30 KOs).

To this point, the card includes an IBF junior lightweight title bout between champion Joe Cordina and Shavkatdzhon Rakhimov, while WBC and IBF women’s junior welterweight title-holder Chantelle Cameron will defend against undisputed welterweight champion Jessica McCaskill.

Speaking last month at the launch event for Bivol-Ramirez, Matchroom Sport chairman Hearn said: “This is an historic moment for Abu Dhabi and DCT, and for Matchroom Boxing as well, as we build a long-term partnership here of global, high-profile world championship fights.

"I believe November 5 to be the start of such an exciting future in what has become the global sports hub here in Abu Dhabi. This is an iconic moment. For us as a business this is just the start of a new world of boxing here in the Middle East and Abu Dhabi.”

The Uefa Awards winners

Uefa Men's Player of the Year: Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool)

Uefa Women's Player of the Year: Lucy Bronze (Lyon)

Best players of the 2018/19 Uefa Champions League

Goalkeeper: Alisson (Liverpool)

Defender: Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool)

Midfielder: Frenkie de Jong (Ajax)

Forward: Lionel Messi (Barcelona)

Uefa President's Award: Eric Cantona

The schedule

December 5 - 23: Shooting competition, Al Dhafra Shooting Club

December 9 - 24: Handicrafts competition, from 4pm until 10pm, Heritage Souq

December 11 - 20: Dates competition, from 4pm

December 12 - 20: Sour milk competition

December 13: Falcon beauty competition

December 14 and 20: Saluki races

December 15: Arabian horse races, from 4pm

December 16 - 19: Falconry competition

December 18: Camel milk competition, from 7.30 - 9.30 am

December 20 and 21: Sheep beauty competition, from 10am

December 22: The best herd of 30 camels

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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.

Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.

Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.

“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.

Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.

From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.

Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.

BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.

Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.

Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.

“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.

“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.

“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”

The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”

TV: World Cup Qualifier 2018 matches will be aired on on OSN Sports HD Cricket channel

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