In a hard-fought duel between the cruiser champions, Gilberto Ramirez unites the WBA and WBO world championship belts.
Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez has won a tough and hard-fought twelve-round title fight in Riyadh (Saudi Arabia). At the “Latino Night”, the WBA (Super) cruiserweight champion defeated rival and WBO world champion Chris Billam-Smith unanimously on points with 116-112, 116-112 and 116-113. For the 33-year-old from Mazatlan (Mexico), it was only his third fight ever in the cruiserweight division. On March 30, Ramirez had defeated Frenchman Arsen Goulamirian and won his WBA title .
With a fighter’s heart and a cut
Ramirez (47-1-0, 30 knockouts) put in an outstanding performance, but the southpaw had to repeatedly fend off the resilient Billam-Smith (20-2-0, 13 knockouts). The “Gentleman” from Bournemouth fought back to the last bell and showed a real fighter’s heart in the ring. Billam-Smith also had to put up with a cut to his left eye from the fourth round onwards.
“I feel great, I’m a real champion and everyone saw that,” cheered “Zurdo” after his triumph. “I knew he was a tough fighter. It was an honor for me to fight Chris and get his belt.”
Ramirez, who fought at super-middleweight until 2018 and took the WBO title from Arthur Abraham, now wants to unify further titles, which is his main goal. The other world championship belts in the limit up to 90.72 kilograms are currently held by the German Noel Mikaelian (WBC) and the New Zealander Jai Opetaia (IBF).
Text: Frank Schwantes
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