Chris Billam-Smith is looking for another world title fight after his loss to Zurdo Ramirez.
Chris Billam-Smith is looking to land another world title fight, and has his sights set on Badou Jack and the WBC cruiserweight title following his November loss to Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez.
It’s not so simple a situation, though, as is often the case with boxing.
Jack is actually the current WBC “champion in recess,” while Norair Mikaeljan (27-2, 12 KO) is recognized as WBC champion at cruiserweight.
Ryan Rozicki had been Mikaeljan’s mandatory challenger and left waiting to fight him, which fell through repeatedly. The WBC approved an interim title fight between Rozicki and Yamil Peralt, which ended in a draw on Dec. 7 in Canada.
Meanwhile, Jack (28-3-3, 17 KO) actually hasn’t fought in just under two years since beating Junior Makabu for the belt. Mikaeljan, for that matter, hasn’t fought since Nov. 2023, when he also beat Makabu for what was then a vacant title.
It’s really a great situation and one of the reasons boxing has such a strong reputation for being easy to follow and welcoming to potential new fans, and not at all a political hellscape that gatekeeps its own chances to grow at all.
At the moment, WBC rankings still list Mikaeljan as champion, Jack as champion in recess, but Jack is the one whose photo is shown as “cruiserweight champion” on the WBC’s web site, from the page where you can access those rankings.
Good organization. Well-run and logical.
How much Billam-Smith (20-2, 13 KO) understands or even knows about the current WBC cruiserweight situation is unclear, but it should be said that fighters often don’t pay that much attention to this stuff, which is probably nice for them on some level because it’s all very stupid and annoying to think about.
Billam-Smith, 34, lost his WBO title to Zurdo in Riyadh on Nov. 16, out-pointed over 12 tough rounds, a fight where he admits he simply lost to the better man.
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