Ahead of what could be a great “Latino Night” of boxing, Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez is keen on making history against Chris Billam-Smith.
Mexico’s Ramirez, 33, will have his WBA cruiserweight title on the line when he takes on WBO titleholder Billam-Smith of England. The cruiserweight unification bout is scheduled for Nov. 16 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Ramirez believes his decision to move up to cruiserweight has paid off.
“I think it was the best decision to move up in weight, and, obviously, I won the title versus [Arsen] Goulamirian,” Ramirez told BoxingScene. “And I now have the chance to fight Billam-Smith for another title. I mean, that’s the best choice that I made. It was kinda struggling the last time, and I couldn’t make weight. That’s why I decided to move up.”
Ramirez defeated Armenian Goulamirian with a unanimous decision in March to win the WBA 200-pound title a year after moving up from the light heavyweight division. Prior to moving to light heavyweight, Ramirez had held the WBO belt from 2016-2018 before vacating the title to move to 175 in 2019.
Following five consecutive wins at light heavyweight, Ramirez challenged then WBA 175-pound beltholder Dmitry Bivol, losing a 12-round unanimous decision. According to Ramirez, that defeat taught him to be patient.
Ramirez said his struggles with making the 175 pounds forced him to move up to cruiserweight.
“Well, the cruiserweight division is really good right now. I mean, they have me, obviously, and they have Jai Opetaia. They have other champions too. I don’t remember the other names, but, I mean, all the champions, we’re good.”
On the other hand, 34-year-old Billam-Smith (20-1, 13 KOs) is set to make a third defense of his WBO title he won from Lawrence Okolie in May last year. Billam-Smith is coming off a decision win over Richard Riakporhe in June.
When asked about his preparation for the Englishman, Ramirez said “Oh, well, I don’t know him really well, but I’ve been watching a couple videos, and I’ve been working so hard in the gym. We’ve a plan that we’ve been doing for him.
“I mean, it’s been really good right now with all the training camp and what we’ve been doing. I think he will get really prepared for the fight. He will try to do anything. It’s been in his hands but I know what to do because I will take that night.
“I think Billam-Smith moves forward all the time, and I think that will be the key. It will be a Latino night, and I will represent all the Latino people and all the facts.”
Bernard Neequaye is a sports journalist with a specialty in boxing coverage. He wrote a boxing column titled “From The Ringside” in his native Ghana for years. He can be reached on X (formerly Twitter) at @BernardNeequaye, LinkedIn at Bernard Neequaye and through email at [email protected].
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