Gilberto ‘Zurdo’ Ramirez came out on top, winning a 12-round unanimous decision against a badly cut and fatigued Chris Billim-Smith in their unification clash involving the WBA and WBO belts on Saturday on Latino Night at The Venue in Riyadh.
(Credit: Golden Boy/Chris Esqueda)
Ramirez (47-1, 30 KOs) retained his WBA title and captured the WBO belt from Billiam-Smith (20-2, 13 KOs), who fought with limited vision from the fourth after suffering a cut over his left eye from a clash of heads.
The scores were 116-112, 116-112, and 116-113.
The 33-year-old Ramirez, looking chunky around the waist, used his superior work rate and movement to get the better of Billiam-Smith. It still was far from easy; Ramirez had to take countless headshots and was hurt to the body in round ten.
After the fight, Ramirez said he wanted to fight IBF champion Jai Opetaia in a unification match next. Zurdo Ramirez must improve greatly for him to win that match because the way he looked tonight, he’s going to be a pinata for the Aussie.
Live undercard results
- Arnold Barboza Jr. (31-0, 11 KOs) was too busy and accurate for former unified light welterweight champion Jose Ramirez (29-2, 18 KOs), beating him by a ten-round unanimous decision in a WBO 140-lb title eliminator. The judges’ scores were 97-93, 96-94, 96-94. Barboza Jr was catching Ramirez with shots all night, nailing him with left-right combinations and powerful jabs. Ramirez looked like a desperate man in the eighth, realizing he was losing the fight, and he tried his best to rally for a win. It was no use, as Barboza Jr. continued to catch him with snappy shots to control the remainder of the fight. After the contest, Barboza Jr. told DAZN that WBO light welterweight champion Teofimo Lopez had avoided him for the last two years despite being ranked #1, and he wants his world title shot. Barboza mentioned that fighters have moved up to the 140-lb division and been given immediate title shots while he’s been ignored.
- Lightweight contender William Zepeda (32-0, 27 KOs) cleared the last hurdle for a world title shot by beating Tevin Farmer (33-7-1, 8 KOs) by a 10-round split decision. Zepeda outworked Farmer, 34, throughout the contest. In the fourth, Farmer scored a flash knockdown after catching Zepeda with a left to the head. However, Zepeda got back up and dominated the final six rounds to get the win. Interestingly, the judges scored it a close affair, but it looked like a clear win for Zepeda. Farmer was exhausted from the eighth round and frequently held to neutralize the volume from Zepeda. The judges’ scores were 95-94, 95-94 for Zepeda, and 95-94 for Farmer. After the contest, Farmer was in denial, saying he should have won, mentioning that pressure fighters like Zepeda don’t like being backed up. The instances of Farmer backing up Zepeda were rare, only a small portion of every round. It was 90% Zepeda doing the pressuring and overwhelming an old-looking Farmer with body shots, forcing him to hold.
- WBO minimumweight champion Oscar Collazo (11-0, 8 KOs) used his youth, power, and activity to stop long-reigning previously unbeaten WBA champ Thammanoon “Knockout CP Freshmart” Niyomtrong (25-1, 9 KOs) by seventh-round TKO. Collazo, 27, dropped Niyomtrong, 34, once in round six with a right hook and then twice more in the seventh round. The referee stepped in and waved it off after the second knockdown. The official time was at 1:29 mark.
- Lightweight contender Oscar Duarte (28-2-1, 22 KOs) battled hard to defeat Bortizhon Akhmedov (10-4, 9 KOs) by a 10-round unanimous decision. The 2016 Olympic bronze medalist Akhmedov got the better of Duarte through the first five rounds. Duarte came on in the six, staggering Akhmedov. Duarte continued to get the better of the action in the championship rounds against a tired-looking Akhmedov. Duarte’s punching power was the difference. After the contest, Duarte said he wanted to fight Devin Haney next. The judges’ scores were 98-92, 97-93, and 96-94. “It warrants a rematch, but we’ll move on,” said promoter Oscar De La Hoya about his plans to move Duarte to a bigger fight.
- Welterweight Ziyad Almaayouf (6-0-1, 1 KO) and Juan Garcia (5-6-1) battled to an entertaining six-round majority draw. This was a back-and-forth contest, with both fighters standing in the center of the ring, throwing nonstop punches. The judges’ scores were 58-56 for Zihad, 57-57 and 57-57. Ziyad was connecting with beautiful hooks, thrown with power, but Garcia answered back with activity, throwing nonstop punches. It was a well-scored fight by the judges, as picking a winner between the two was impossible.
Golden Boy promoter Oscar De La Hoya is hopeful that the 33-year-old ‘Zurdo’ Ramirez’s recent string of success can continue because he wants to turn him into a star.
DAZN Card at 12-noon
Gilberto Ramirez vs. Chris Billam-Smith
Jose Ramirez vs. Arnold Barboza Jr
William Zepeda vs. Tevin Farmer
Oscar Collazo vs. Thammanoon Niyomtrong
Oscar Duarte vs. Batyr Akhmedov
Ziyad Almaayouf vs. Juan Garcia
Zurdo (46-1, 30 KOs) is getting to the point where this might as good as it gets with his career. In other words, he’s a paper champion and not viewed as a solid belt-holder after wasting most of his 15-year pro career padding his record with tomato cans.
In the chief support fight, former unified 140-lb champion Jose Ramirez and Arnold Barboza Jr. meet in a WBO light Welterweight title eliminator to determine a mandatory for champion Teofimo Lopez.
Lightweight contender William Zepeda (31-0, 27 KOs) is in an equally important fight against Tevin Farmer (33-6-1, 8 KOs) in a 10-rounder. This is a dry run for Zepeda, 28, to face WBC lightweight champion Shakur Stevenson on February 22nd.
Gilberto ‘Zurdo’ Ramirez faces Chris Billiam-Smith in a cruiserweight unification fight today at The Venue in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The event will be streamed live on DAZN at noon. The winner of the Ramirez-Billiam-Smith clash will likely face IBF champ Jai Opetaia next; it will be interesting to see how they do against the King of the division.
