Chris Billam-Smith’s trainer, Shane McGuigan, has described the night that the Bournemouth man was crowned WBO cruiserweight champion as ‘the proudest moment as a coach.’
In May 2023, Billam-Smith condensed years of determination and desire into 12 gritty rounds of concentration and hard work to upset Lawrence Okolie and complete his remarkable rise.
Rather than allowing that special night to become the pinnacle of their partnership, the pair have continued to press forward. After defending his title against Richard Riakporhe at Selhurst Park in June, Billam-Smith set his sights on unifying the 200lb division.
For a long time, IBF champion, Jai Opetaia, seemed likely to be the opponent but, instead, Billam-Smith, 20-1 (13 KOs), will face WBA champion, Gilberto ‘Zurdo’ Ramirez in Saudi Arabia on Saturday night.
A fighter who has had to scrap his way to prominence now finds himself taking business class flights to Los Angeles for press conferences and will have the attention of the boxing world when he fights this weekend.
Speaking to Steve Bunce on the BBC boxing podcast, McGuigan reiterated just how hard Billam-Smith has had to work for his success.
“I feel that every fight at this stage of Chris Billam-Smith’s career is a massive fight and a massive outing. We’ve had two stadium fights, two world title fights,” he said.
“For a guy that came to me with not much of an extensive amateur career, he was a relative unknown so we didn’t really put any boundaries, limitations or expectations on what we believed he would achieve. Now, he’s boxing in a unification fight in Saudi Arabia.
“He’s taken it in his stride, but he’s doubled down extra hard to get to this position and he’s worked more than anybody in professional boxing to achieve what he’s achieved. He’s worked harder than all of them to get to where he’s got to.
“He didn’t have the gifts that everyone else had. He didn’t have an excelling trait. His excelling trait is his mindset and his ability to dedicate himself to his craft. Yes, he’s got great athleticism and he’s a big athlete, but he’s doubled down and worked really hard so for him to be in this position of turning left when he gets on a plane. It’s earned, not given.”
The brilliant Dmitry Bivol offset and outboxed Ramirez in a light heavyweight title fight in 2022 but, since moving to cruiserweight division, Ramirez has looked at home.
The former WBO super middleweight champion dipped his toe into the water by pounding out a one-sided decision victory over Joe Smith and, in March, he put in an impressive showing to outwork and outfight the previously undefeated Arsen Goulamirian to win the WBA title.
As comfortable as Ramirez looked against Goulamirian, the heavy-handed Armenian had been inactive and was untested at world level. Things will be different against Billam-Smith. On Saturday night, Ramirez will have his credentials thoroughly tested by a hardened, rugged cruiserweight, who is well versed in negotiating the championship distance and manages to maintain his composure and keep the end goal in sight regardless of how difficult things get.
Ramirez’s hand speed and combination punching could cause Billam-Smith issues but if Ramirez is planning on outworking a man who has got to where he is through force of will and grim determination, he might be in for a shock.
McGuigan is impressed with the way Ramirez’s skills have translated to the cruiserweight division and acknowledges that they need to come up with the perfect strategy if Billam-Smith’s cream run is to continue.
“It just shows that ‘Zurdo’ has been pro a long time and started at a lighter weight but he’s really filled into the weight category,” McGuigan told Bunce. “He’s not a massive 200lber but he’s gonna be solid. The thing is, he fights at a higher tempo than most guys at 200lbs. He’s got a granite chin because he’s Mexican and he’s used to being in there with decent punchers. He’s never been stopped – he’s been hurt a few times but he recovers well – and he’s been in there with a bigger puncher than Chris Billam-Smith in his last fight with Goulamirian.
“We have to have a little bit of what Bivol did with him and also mix it in with Goulamirian. Goulamirian had success, he just got hung up on his power. It’s down to us to fight at a slightly higher tempo. That’s something that Chris has always favored in his fights against the bigger guys. He’s always outworked them. That’s gonna be nullified a bit against a guy who’s coming up from 175lbs so we’ve gotta be really on point for this one.”
John Evans has contributed to a number of well-known publications and websites for over a decade. You can follow John on X @John_Evans79
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