Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez defeated Chris Billam-Smith to become a two-belt unified cruiserweight champion. The pair battled it out atop the “Latino Night” card live from The Venue in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on November 16.
Mexico’s Ramirez (47-1, 30 KOs) bested British Chris Billam-Smith (20-2, 13 KOs) by unanimous decision. After 12 rounds, the scores were 116-112, 116-113 and 116-112. With the victory, the Mazatlan, Sinaloa native retained his WBA 200-pound title and claimed the WBO strap from his opponent of the UK.
“Hard training and I tried to enjoy the night,” Ramirez said post-fight. “I told everyone I would represent Latino Night very well.”
“Me and my team were prepared, we knew that he’s a tough fighter and a strong guy. It was an honor for me to fight him and get the belt.”
“I tried to use my distance as much as I could. He’s tough, he comes forward all the time and he’s a strong fighter. I just have respect for him, he’s a great champion. Of course, I want to unify with all the champions. That’s the main goal for me and other champions.”
In the co-main event, unbeaten Arnold Barboza Jr (31-0, 11 KOs) of Long Beach, CA earned a unanimous decision against former unified champion Jose Ramirez (29-2, 18 KOs) of Hanford, CA. After 10 rounds at super lightweight, scores were 97-93, 96-94 and 96-94.
Among other Zurdo vs Billam-Smith results, Mexican William Zepeda (32-0, 27 KOs) took a split decision against former champion Tevin Farmer (33-7-1, 8 KOs) of Philadelphia. In the fourth round the latter landed a knockdown from a left hand. The scores were 95-94, 94-95, 95-94.
Puerto Rico’s WBO flyweight champion Oscar Collazo (11-0, 8 KOs) claimed the WBA strap against Knockout CP Freshmart (25-1, 9 KOs) of Thailand and unified a pair of 105 belts. The latter went down once in the sixth and twice in the seventh round. The official time of stoppage was 1:29 into the seventh round.
Mexico’s Oscar Duarte (28-2-1, 22 KOs) defeated Uzbekistan’s Botirzhon Akhmedov (10-4, 9 KOs) by unanimous decision in 10-rounder at super lightweight. The scores were 98-92, 97-93, 96-94.
In event opener, representative of the country-host Ziyad Almaayouf (6-0-1, 1 KOs) and Juan Carlos Ramirez Garcia (5-6-1) of Mexico fought to a majority draw. After six rounds at welterweight, the scores were 57-57, 58-56 and 57-57.