Billam-Smith Confident Ahead of Ramirez Unification Bout – ‘He’ll Bring The Best Out Of Me’

November 13, 2024

3 weeks

Billam-Smith Confident Ahead of Ramirez Unification Bout - 'He’ll Bring The Best Out Of Me'

WBO Cruiserweight Champion Chris Billam-Smith is confident of beating WBA Champion Gilberto Ramirez in their November 16 unification clash.

The pair will headline Riyadh Season’s Latino Night as Billam-Smith makes the third defense of his title. He picked up the belt with an upset win against Lawrence Okolie. An unconvincing win against Mateusz Masternak followed that up, as the latter retired after initially outboxing the champion. Billam-Smith came back to his best to avenge the only loss of his career against Richard Riakporhe in his last fight.

Ramirez is 46-1 with 30 KOs to his name. His only defeat came against Dmitry Bivol as he missed out on the WBA Light Heavyweight Title. However, he has won his last two fights. He beat Joe Smith Jr. and then Arsen Goulamirian in his last bout to become the WBA Cruiserweight Champion. The win made him a two-weight world champion after he picked up the WBO Super Middleweight Title against Arthur Abraham.

Billam-Smith Vs. Ramirez

This is by far Billiam-Smith’s biggest test. Ramirez has fought on the big stage, facing off against Bivol even if he came up short. The fight took place at the Etihad Arena, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. While Ramirez will box in Saudi for the first time, like Billam-Smith, the Mexican has the experience of fighting in the Middle East. This is a completely new venture for Billam-Smith. But the Brit has boxed at his home ground at Bournemouth City’s Vitality Stadium. That will stand him in good stead for this fight, as he backed himself.

“I think he’s the best fighter that I’ve faced and that’s how it should be for a unification fight. He doesn’t have any glaring weaknesses, his only loss is to Dmitry Bivol, in 47 fights which is a phenomenal record. “He’ll definitely bring the best out of me, and I’ll have to be the best version of myself to beat him,” Billam-Smith said

Ramirez’s Mindset

As for Ramirez, he has been criticized for not having faced elite-level opposition despite his 46-1 record. The only time he stepped up was against Bivol, where he was comprehensively outclassed as Bivol won on the scorecards: 18-110, 117-111, 117-111. Ramirez also made the decision to move up rather than prove his stock at the weight class. He even failed to make weight for his 175-pound fight with Gabriel Rosado. Ramirez hit the scales at 182.6 pounds as the fight was canceled. But he was ready to prove his doubters wrong come fight night.

“Yes, this is an opportunity. People will definitely talk, no matter what I do. “At this point in time, I’m very happy with my career, I’m very satisfied with my results, so nobody is going to hold me accountable but myself,” Ramirez stated