CHRIS BILLAM-SMITH will get the opportunity to unify the cruiserweight division on November 16 in Riyadh.
The WBO champion will face WBA title holder Gilberto Ramirez on a card titled ‘Latino Night’ promoted by Golden Boy Promotions, Boxxer in association with Riyadh Season.
Turki Alalshikh, Chairman of the General Entertainment Authority, and Golden Boy Promotions both posted the news from their social media accounts on X (formerly Twitter) earlier tonight.
5 exceptional matchups at “Latino Night” in Riyadh 🇸🇦🏆
featuring a main fight between Cruiserweight champions Ramirez (WBA) and Smith (WBO), along with fights featuring top boxing 🥊🔥🗓️ November 16
📍 The Venue #BigTime#RiyadhSeason pic.twitter.com/tv78GIoYqv— TURKI ALALSHIKH (@Turki_alalshikh) September 10, 2024
The Saudi boxing influencer is the man behind the biggest cards in boxing nowadays and having worked alongside Matchroom and Queensberry is now doing business with Golden Boy and Top Rank.
Billam-Smith is now into his second year as WBO cruiserweight champion having won the title from Lawrence Okolie in May 2023. Two successful defences against Mateusz Masternak and Richard Riakporhe have not put him in a position where the next step is to become unified then undisputed champion.
Ramirez, a former super-middleweight world champion, won his WBA 200lbs strap against Arsen Goulamirian in March. The 33-year-old Mexican will be aiming for a better performance in the Middle East after a one-sided loss to WBA Light Heavyweight champ Dmitry Bivol in Abu Dhabi nearly two years ago.
One man keeping a close eye on the events of November 16 will be IBF champion Jai Opetaia. The Aussie publicly called out Billam-Smith last month but must now focus on his own date in the desert when he defends his world title against Jack Massey next month.
Business is picking up at cruiserweight and on September 28 Noel Mikaelian puts the WBC belt on the line against Ryan Rozicki. By the end of the year four belts will be split between three fighters and in 2025 there is strong possibility that one man will hold all four.