Gilberto Ramirez vs Chris Billam-Smith betting tips: Who comes out on top in cruiserweight unification battle?

By Simon Head

Gilberto Ramirez vs Chris Billam-Smith full fight card

• Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez vs Chris Billam-Smith – for unified WBA/WBO cruiserweight titles
• Jose Carlos Ramirez vs Arnold Barbosa Jr – super lightweight
• Oscar Collazo (c) vs Thammanoon Niyomtrong – for WBO minimumweight title
• William Zepeda Segura vs Tevin Farmer – lightweight
• Oscar Duarte Jurado vs Botirzhon Akhmedov – super lightweight

Rival world champions will touch gloves as Mexico’s Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez and England’s Chris Billam-Smith go head-to-head in a cruiserweight title unification bout.

The event, which will take place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia is the latest boxing event to take place as part of Riyadh Season as the two world champions will face off in a bid to walk away as a two-belt champion at 200 pounds.

It’s a bout between two of the top three cruiserweights on the planet in a matchup that will move one man closer to the goal of becoming an undisputed champion; but who will emerge victorious on fight night in Riyadh? 

Tale of the tape: Gilberto Ramirez vs Chris Billam-Smith

Gilberto Ramirez: Can the Mexican star move one step closer to undisputed glory?

Ramirez is no stranger to world title fights, having held the WBO super middleweight title from 2016 to 2019. But after a short stint at light heavyweight, 'Zurdo' moved up to cruiserweight and captured world championship gold to open a new chapter in his career.

After turning pro as a teenager, Ramirez was prolific early in his career, with his first 12 fights coming within the space of a year. The WBC Youth middleweight title soon followed and he added the NABO, NABF and WBO international super middleweight titles to his growing resume.

His rise culminated in a shot at the WBO super middleweight title held by Arthur Abraham. Ramirez outpointed the Armenian-German veteran at the MGM Grand Garden to capture the 168-pound title in Las Vegas. Ramirez then went on to defend the title on five successive occasions before announcing a move to light heavyweight in early 2019. 

“Zurdo” continued his stellar form at 175 pounds, but with the added edge of increased stopping power as he reeled off five successive victories, all inside the distance, to earn a shot at WBA light heavyweight king Dmitry Bivol in November 2022. 

That fight showed the difference between world level and pound-for-pound greatness as he was outclassed over 12 rounds by Bivol, who took the victory by a wide margin on the scorecards, 118-110, 117-111, 117-111.

Chris Billam-Smith: Can ‘The Gentleman’ prove he’s the man at 200 pounds?

At the age of 34, Billam-Smith is just starting to hit his peak. The Bournemouth native was considered a future cruiserweight world champion long before he edged Lawrence Okolie on the scorecards in May 2023 to capture the WBO 200-pound title. 

But now, as a bona-fide world champion, he’s levelled up with two key victories to cement his status as one of the world’s premier 200-pound fighters.

Following his emotional title-winning performance over Okolie at Dean Court, home of his beloved AFC Bournemouth, Billam-Smith took on Polish contender Mateusz Masternak and stopped the 50-fight veteran in the eighth round to register the first defence of his title.

While that performance was important to confirm his status as a legitimate champion at 200 pounds, his most recent defence against Richard Riakporhe was arguably even more telling.

The fight was a rematch of their July 2019 meeting, where Riakporhe edged a split decision at The O2 Arena to hand Billam-Smith his first and so far, only pro defeat. But if their first bout was closely contested, Billam-Smith made sure the rematch was anything but, as he dominated his former nemesis over the 12-round distance to earn a unanimous decision victory with scores of 116-111, 115-112, 115-112.

That fight showed Billam-Smith’s durability as he took Riakporhe’s best shots and continued to push the pace. In a fight between two much-improved world-ranked fighters, Billam-Smith showed just how far he had evolved as a fighter as he demonstrated why he’s considered one of the best cruiserweights on the planet.

Now he faces the toughest test of his career against a fighter whose only career defeat came at the hands of one of the best pound-for-pound fighters on the planet. 

Gilberto Ramirez vs Chris Billam-Smith: The key factors

For much of his career, Ramirez has had things his own way, but that won’t be the case against Billam-Smith. 

The Mexican’s huge ledger of wins looks impressive on paper, but once you narrow your view down to fights at a decent level, he and Billam-Smith look much more even. Then, when you weigh up their experience at cruiserweight, that experience factor swings heavily in the favour of the Brit. Ramirez is clearly a world-class fighter. But the truth is almost everything he’s accomplished so far has been at a lighter weight class, with much of it coming two weight classes below where he’ll be fighting on November 15. 

By contrast, Billam-Smith is a natural 200-pounder, who has been plying his trade against natural 200-pounders for his entire career. He’s taken the best shots the likes of Riakporhe, Masternak and Okolie had to offer and come through victorious. He’s also shown that he can finish legitimate 200-pounders with his power, too.

With just one win to his name at cruiserweight, “Zurdo” currently can’t say the same. While he brings the WBA belt to Riyadh, he does so as a divisional newcomer, with his only fight at 200 pounds coming in his last outing, where he outpointed Goulamirian to capture the title. 

He came through that fight well, but there are still plenty of question marks over Ramirez at the weight class. How will his gas tank hold up against a high-pressure approach? How will he cope with a seasoned body puncher? Does he have fight-changing punch power at 200 pounds? Looking through his record, the only fighters he’s stopped have either been below world title level or have been stopped previously. 

For Billam-Smith, Ramirez’s defeat to Bivol could hold the key to victory, as we saw the Mexican outboxed and outclassed by a slicker striker. Who, paired his smart boxing with increased pressure and a higher-than-usual output, with multi-punch combinations, rather than simple two-punch salvos.

Billam-Smith is capable of employing a similar strategy, with the added benefit of being taller than his opponent. His boxing overall isn’t as smooth as Bivol, who is one of the elite pound-for-pound boxers in the sport. But the Englishman certainly has the tools to fight a high-pressure, high-output fight to push Ramirez onto his back foot and out of his comfort zone.

FIRST’s top tip for Gilberto Ramirez vs Chris Billam-Smith

As is so often the case when two well-matched fighters face each other, the fighter that leads the dance often takes charge of the contest, and I think that’s going to be the case here. I think Billam-Smith’s comfort at the weight class and ability to push the pace for the full 12 rounds will be crucial. 

It’s also impossible to avoid the elephant in the room regarding the weight class. While Billiam-Smith is battle-tested at cruiserweight with the entirety of his 21-1 (13 KOs) record coming in the 200-pound class, Ramirez is just 1-0 (0 KOs) at cruiserweight.

With that, and his proven durability against legitimate 200-pound opposition, makes the 7/2 (10Bet, BetVictor) available for the Brit to claim victory on the scorecards a very attractive value pick here.

PICK: CHRIS BILLAM-SMITH TO WIN BY DECISION

Extra tips

Continuing from my assessment above, and given Ramirez’s largely unproven ability to hang with a high-pressure world-class 200-pound fighter for 12 hard rounds, the odds on a late stoppage victory for Billam-Smith look very tempting for a cheeky side bet or two.

Paddy Power and Betfair’s respective round group betting options offer odds of 13/1 on Billam-Smith to win in Rounds 9-12. Or, if you’d like a little more leeway, they also offer 9/1 on Billam-Smith to get the victory in Rounds 7-12.

If Billam-Smith keeps his foot on the gas and invests in the body through the middle rounds, I think a late stoppage could be a real possibility for the Englishman.

Odds correct at the time of writing.