The 31-year-old fighter defended his strap once more as he came up against unbeaten Mexican Gilberto ‘Zurdo’ Ramirez.

Ramirez had 44 wins from 44 fights, but now has a stain on his record after a comprehensive drubbing from his opponent.

Bivol had already impressed this year, putting himself into pound-for-pound consideration with a huge victory over Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez in May.

While that win was an upset, it was a deserved judges’ decision, and he put on a similarly dominant display on Saturday in Abu Dhabi.

One potential opponent for Bivol next up could be a rematch with the undisputed super middleweight, but in the aftermath of the fight he made it clear that he had someone else in mind.

That is the other champion at 175lbs, the unified light heavyweight fighter Artur Beterbiev.

Speaking on DAZN’s Twitter account, Ak praised Bivol’s efforts, with a hint of disappointment from Ramirez’s showing.

“Bivol is the winner tonight, I expect the fight to be way more competitive. Phenomenal performance from Bivol,” he said.

“I mean, Ramirez tried but he wasn’t quick enough, too slow, [Bivol had] great counterpunches, technically a better fighter.”

He then acknowledged that Bivol had more than one option in boxing as he moves up in reputation.

“But what’s next? Who do you want to see Bivol fight next?” he asked.