The cruiserweight unification bout featuring Chris Billam-Smith vs. Gilberto Ramirez is officially set for Nov. 16 in Riyadh, part of a show that will also feature a clash between junior welterweights Jose Ramirez and Arnold Barboza, and a bout between lightweight contender William Zepeda and Tevin Farmer.
The show, spoken of in recent weeks, was confirmed in a press release posted by Turki Alalshikh, whose Riyadh Season has been financing various boxing events.
According to the press release, the show “will be broadcast for free globally,” with more details to be announced later.
Billam-Smith (20-1, 13 KOs) holds the WBO world title. The 34-year-old from Bournemouth, England, defeated Lawrence Okolie in May 2023 for the WBO belt. He has since made two defenses, stopping Mateusz Masternak in December and then avenging his lone loss – via split decision to Richard Riakporhe in 2019 – with a unanimous decision over Riakporhe this past June.
Billam-Smith has complimented Ramirez in recent interviews.
Ramirez (46-1, 30 KOs) started his career as a middleweight and then won a world title at super middleweight, topping Arthur Abraham in 2016. He later moved up to light heavyweight, fighting there from April 2019 until November 2022, when he challenged Dmitry Bivol for a world title and lost a wide decision. Ramirez moved up to cruiserweight a year ago, outpointing Joe Smith Jr. last October and then unseating Arsen Goulamirian this April for the WBA belt.
While the main event is co-promoted by Golden Boy Promotions and BOXXER, the four undercard fights that have been announced, including a strawweight title bout, largely feature boxers from Golden Boy’s roster.
Those fights are Jose Ramirez vs. Barboza, Zepeda vs. Farmer, Oscar Collazo vs. Edwin Hernandez and Oscar Duarte vs. Kenneth Sims.
Barboza (30-0, 11 KOs) is a junior welterweight contender whose recent outings brought a unanimous decision over Jose Pedraza, an eighth-round TKO of Xolisani Ndongeni and a split decision over Sean McComb.
Jose Ramirez (29-1, 18 KOs) was a unified titleholder who fell short while challenging Josh Taylor for the undisputed championship, losing a close unanimous decision in 2021. Since then he has won a decision over Pedraza, scored an 11th-round knockout over Richard Commey and taken a unanimous decision over Rances Barthelemy.
Barboza vs. Ramirez is an elimination bout that will establish the winner as the mandatory challenger for the WBO title currently held by Teofimo Lopez.
Zepeda (31-0, 27 KOs) is a lightweight contender on the verge of a title shot. Among his recent knockout victims were Mercito Gesta, Maxi Hughes and Giovanni Cabrera.
Farmer (33-6-1, 8 KOs) held a junior lightweight world title from 2018-2020, when he was unseated by Joseph Diaz Jr. Farmer moved up to lightweight and notched three straight wins, then lost to unbeaten Raymond Muratalla in July.
Collazo (10-0, 7 KOs) stopped Melvin Jerusalem in May 2023 for the WBO world title at 105 pounds and has since made three successful defenses, notching technical knockouts over Garen Diagan and Reyneris Gutierrez, then outpointing Gerado Zapata in June.
His challenger, Hernandez, is 13-2-1 (4 KOs). Hernandez was knocked out in three rounds by David Jimenez in 2021 in a flyweight fight and later lost a majority decision to German Valenzuela Barreras in 2022 at junior flyweight. He has gone 3-0-1 since, knocking out unbeaten Michael Carmona in four rounds in July.
Duarte (27-2-1, 22 KOs) is a junior welterweight who suffered an eighth-round knockout against Ryan Garcia last December but came back in April with a TKO of the aforementioned JoJo Diaz.
Sims (21-2-1, 8 KOs) has now won eight in a row since a 2018 decision loss to Samuel Teah. Among those Sims has defeated along the way: the previously unbeaten Elvis Rodriguez and 2016 Olympian Batyr Akhmedov.
Follow David Greisman on Twitter @FightingWords2. His book, “Fighting Words: The Heart and Heartbreak of Boxing,” is available on Amazon.
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