Chris Billam-Smith vs Gilberto Ramirez Preview November 16th, 2024
WBA Cruiserweight Champion Gilberto Ramirez of Mexico meets WBO Champion Chris Billam-Smith of Bournemouth, England this Saturday, November 16th in a title unification bout. The 12-rounder from Saudi Arabia can be seen live in most nations on DAZN. Ramirez last fought in March when he beat Arsen Goulamirian via a wide unanimous decision to take his belt. Billam-Smith’s last contest resulted in a unanimous decision over Richard Riakporhe in a rematch and in his second title defence.
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Billam-Smith vs Ramirez Betting Odds
Here are the betting odds from online sportsbook BetOnline.ag (full review here).
- Chris Billam-Smith +190
- Gilberto Ramirez -240
My Pick
The 33-year-old Ramirez is a southpaw who became the first Mexican to capture a world super middleweight title when he beat Arthur Abraham via unanimous decision in 2016 for the WBO Belt. He’ll enter the ring with an impressive record of 46-1 with 30 Ko’s with his lone loss coming to Dmitry Bivol by unanimous decision in November, 2022 in a shot at the WBA Super Light Heavyweight Belt. Ramirez stands close to 6-feet-3-inches tall and has a reach of 75 inches. He made his pro debut back in 2009 and has 289 rounds in the bank since.
Ramirez possesses pretty good power in his fists as 65.2 per cent of his wins have been by stoppage, including five of his past seven. He’s a bit of an oddity for such a tall boxer though since he doesn’t always use his height to his advantage. Ramirez often prefers to work his way inside to engage instead of fighting at a safer distance. After beating Abraham, he defended his super middleweight title against Max Bursak and Jesse Hart by unanimous decisions and stopped Habib Ahmed in six rounds.
He then beat Roamer Alexis Angulo by unanimous decision and Jesse Hart by majority decision in a rematch before moving up to light heavyweight to face Tommy Karpency and stopped him after four rounds. He then stopped Alfonso Lopez for the NABF Light Heavyweight Crown and then decided to vacate the 175 lb division and move up to cruiserweight, where he beat Joe Smith by a wide 10-round unanimous decision. Overall, Ramirez has stopped six of his last 11 opponents after going the distance in eight out of 12 at one point.
Some of his other noteworthy wins have been against Sullivan Barrera, Derek Edwards, Fulgencio Zuniga, Junior Talipeau, and Derrick Findley. Ramirez has been successful up to now basically due to a combination of power, skill and aggressiveness but was quite disappointing in his loss to Bivol. He needs to tighten up defensively if he wants to add another belt but has displayed a solid chin up to now. However, he may be more effective if he took better advantage of his height and controlled the distance in his bouts.
The 34-year-old Billam-Smith makes his way to the ring with an impressive mark of 20-1 with 13 Ko’s and has 140 rounds of experience under his belt since turning pro in 2017. Before that he enjoyed a fine amateur career with a reported 32-11 record and fought in several English National Championships, making it to the Final in 2013 and 2016. He measures about the same as Ramirez at 6-feet-3-inches tall with a 75-inch reach and hasn’t lost since 2019.
Since turning pro, Billam-Smith stopped Craig Glover in the fifth round in 2019 for the vacant Commonwealth Cruiserweight Crown and then edged Tommy McCarthy by 12-round split decision to add the European and vacant British Titles in July, 2021. He stopped McCarthy in the the eighth round in April, 2022 in their rematch and also has wins over Isaac Chamberlain, Dylan Bregon, Nathan Thorley and Robin Dupre. Of course, the biggest win was his majority decision upset of Lawrence Okolie in May, 2023 to take the WBO Crown.
The lone defeat on Billam-Smith’s record came at the hands of Richard Riakporhe by 10-round split decision in a shot at the WBA Inter-Continental Cruiserweight title in July, 2019. As far as power goes, he also has pretty good pop in his punches as 65 per cent of his wins have come by way of stoppage but he has gone the distance in six of his last nine fights. Billam-Smith also has a pretty solid chin to go along with the rest of his attributes.
Prediction…
Fans were disappointed in Ramirez’s performance against Bivol as the devastating puncher looked quite timid and lethargic as he didn’t let his hands go nearly enough, but he rebounded quite well against Joe Smith Jr and Goulamirian. He was too cautious against Bivol though and was easily outboxed. Ramirez is most effective when he sticks to his strengths which are aggression and power and simply lets his hands go. He’s got a great chin and may need it against Billam-Smith, who fights more on pure heart than slick skills. This is a fine matchup but I believe Ramirez should be able to handle Billam-Smith’s hardest shots and outwork him for a win.
Ramirez’s power and natural aggression should be the difference.
Play: Ramirez -240 @ BetOnline.ag
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Chris Billam-Smith betting • Gilberto Ramirez betting