The outstanding career of Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramírez reached its highest point on Saturday night. The Mexican boxer, as he announced in a conversation with La Opinión, offered a brilliant performance to beat the British Chris Billam-Smith and unify world cruiserweight championships, something that an Aztec fighter had never achieved.
“Zurdo” Ramírez, 33 years old, obtained a fair unanimous decision (116-112, 116-112, 116-113) in a great fight in which he took his WBO belt from Billam-Smith. With this, the native of Mazatlán, who was defending the WBA crown, is placed in an excellent position to receive the opportunity to try to unify all the 200-pound titles.
The question after Ramírez’s victory was how his rival remained standing for the 12 rounds. Billam-Smith not only completed the route, but finished strong with competitive rounds despite being injured and with cuts above his left eye and also on his cheekbone.
“This is for Mazatlán, Sinaloa, Mexico. I told everyone that I was going to represent Latino Night very well,” said Ramírez, who put his professional record at 47-1. “Up with Mexico, bastards. Egg!”
The fight between the two fierce champions crowned a good performance of “Latino Night” presented by Golden Boy Promotions in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia. The function was broadcast on DAZN.
In other fights, Puerto Rican Óscar Collazo knocked out Thai Thammanoon Niyomtrong in round 7 to dethrone him at strawweight, while Mexican William “El Camarón” Zepeda took a split decision over American Tevin Farmer in a close 10-round fight to retain his interim WBC lightweight title.
“Zurdo” Ramírez was more aggressive and more technical than Billam-Smith
After a slow first round and a half by “Zurdo” Ramírez, in which he looked very slow, the Mexican began to get going with body shots. His volume then increased in round 3 with some jabs and good left hands that the Brit felt immediately.
Ramírez began to clearly dominate in the mid-fight rounds with greater aggressiveness, but also with his mobility. The footwork he showed was outstanding, rolling to his right and throwing punches on the way out, many of which found their destination. That ability to find angles was one of the keys to the fight against a man who has fought much more than Ramírez in the division.
Billam-Smith began bleeding from the left eye area in round 4 and in the 5th, although he had some moments, he once again succumbed to the greater power of the Mexican, who also assimilated very well the blows of the then world champion.
In round 7, Ramírez landed a very hard left hand to the area of the Briton’s liver, who felt the blow, and in the eighth it felt like the knockout was close, especially after three consecutive blows from the Sinaloan.
But Billam-Smith showed a lot of heart, he withstood the best blows of the night and despite being very injured, he fought the rest of the fight. At times he controlled the actions in the center of the ring only to then receive two or three bombs from a “Zurdo” Ramírez in his best form and who shone on the other side of the world.
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