Shane McGuigan has told Chris Billam-Smith of the importance of convincing the judges throughout Saturday’s fight with Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez.
Billam-Smith enters his biggest fight, for his WBO cruiserweight title and Ramirez’s from the WBA, at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, aware that victory could lead to an even bigger contest with Jai Opetaia in 2025.
When the 34-year-old dethroned Okolie in May 2023 in a largely one-sided fight, he endured the injustice of one of the three judges inexplicably scoring a draw. When he recorded his only defeat, via split decision against Richard Riakporhe in 2019, McGuigan believed that a split decision was the incorrect call.
Ramirez’s promoters Golden Boy, and not Boxxer – who guide Billam-Smith – are overseeing Saturday, which has been labelled “Latino Night”. McGuigan regardless isn’t just wary of the perception that professional judges can favour the relevant promoter’s fighter – he also recognises that the way he expects Billam-Smith and the 33-year-old Ramirez to gel as fighters could lead to numerous close rounds.
“What annoys me is all of his opponents know what he does well, but a lot of the judges don’t see it,” McGuigan told BoxingScene. “You had a draw in the Lawrence Okolie fight; a split decision against Riakporhe. Everyone knew that that was a one-sided fight.
“This is the only annoying thing with going on an away day to Saudi on a Mexican night – the promoter is favouring our opponent. We’re the away fighter, and with guys that load up, like Richard Riakporhe, you can make it telling. When guys don’t load up, and they’ve got good punch output and volume like [Ramirez], the rounds that he’s doing well – even if it’s 60 per cent in favour of Chris, they can mark the other way, so we’re going to have to put a dent in this guy throughout the fight.
“[Ramirez is] a very good fighter. You can’t win a world title at cruiserweight if you start out at super middleweight [without being a very good fighter]. If Chris had turned pro at 19, 20, he would definitely have been a light heavyweight. Chris is probably a little bit bigger of a man than he is, but not too big. He’s a good fighter. You don’t box and hold your own in three weight divisions at world level if you’re not. He’s only got one loss on his record, against [Dmitry] Bivol.”
The controversy – whether just or otherwise – that followed the scorecards in favour of Artur Beterbiev against Dmitry Bivol at the same venue in October may have contributed to McGuigan’s perception.
He ultimately still believes that Billam-Smith possesses the abilities required to defeat Ramirez, provided he complements his recognised attributes with a more “strategic” edge.
“[Ramirez] takes a shot well, and he keeps throwing back,” explained the trainer. “He doesn’t load up when he gets hit with a good shot; his punch output’s good, and he’s tough, and consistent. He doesn’t really have one outstanding trait, but most of the time those are the ones that you can take for granted.
“[Jai] Opetaia’s got great feet and great power. ‘Zurdo’s’ feet are probably underrated – they look quite slow but he’s got a good adjustment of distance, and he’s doing it at the top level with good, skilful fighters, and making them fall short a little bit, and when they do load up – like against [Arsen] Goulamirian – he was able to pick him off afterwards. He’s really consistent.
“But that’s one of the good traits that Chris Billam-Smith has. He fights like a smaller man in a big frame; he fights at a good tempo, so that asset Chris has is going to be nullified, because he’s used to being in there with guys at a higher tempo, so we have to be strategic.
“His speed – I don’t think his speed’s all that. Maybe he leans in and falls in a little bit when he does go on the front foot. He loves the fight being taken to him so he can drop back, but when he has to go looking for it he isn’t that explosive and doesn’t transition that quickly.”
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