Riyadh hosts a Latino Night this Saturday, and in the main event, Mexico’s Gilberto Ramirez puts his WBA cruiserweight title on the line against WBO boss, Chris Billam-Smith.
DAZN televise Ramirez vs Billam-Smith live.
Despite having great potential, and reigning as a WBO super middleweight champion, Ramirez (46-1, 30 KOs) had largely been winning against non-descript opposition.
He eventually lost his unbeaten record in November 2022, clearly outscored by Dmitry Bivol in a bid for the WBA (Super) title at light heavyweight.
A move to cruiserweight has seen some of his best stuff, and a wide points win over Joe Smith Jr paved the way for a world title shot, where he took the WBA belt with a ten rounds to two rout of Arsen Goulamirian in March.
After an early career loss to Richard Riakporhe, Billam-Smith (20-1, 13 KOs) worked his way up the rankings, eventually winning the WBO strap in a scrappy majority decision victory over Lawrence Okolie, with Okolie down three times in all.
The Bournemouth man then forced Mateusz Masternak to retire after eight rounds, with Billam-Smith behind on two scorecards at the time, and he last defended in June, gaining revenge on Riakporhe with a points win at Selhurst Park.
Prediction: Ramirez is always big at any weight that he fights at, and he will be the biggest test of Billam-Smith’s career. I think this may be a bridge too far for the Englishman, and Ramirez can score a stoppage in the later rounds.
Chris Billam-Smith is confident he will get the job done on Saturday 😤#RiyadhSeason | #LatinoNight | Live Nov 16 | FREE on DAZN | @Turki_alalshikh pic.twitter.com/ZOY1wHshgj
— DAZN Boxing (@DAZNBoxing) November 12, 2024
Ramirez and Barboza set for war
A massive clash with world title implications heads the undercard, where former unified super lightweight world champion Jose Carlos Ramirez (29-1, 18 KOs) meets Arnold Barboza Jr (30-0, 11 KOs) over twelve rounds.
Since his sole defeat to Josh Taylor in a bid to clean out the division in 2021, Ramirez has fought once a year since, winning against Jose Pedraza (UD12), Richard Commey (KO11) and Rances Barthelemy (UD12) to be number one contender for the WBC title.
Barboza is on a long unbeaten run, with 2024 seeing him box twice, an eighth round retirement win against Xolisani Ndongeni backed up by a close split decision win against Sean McComb last time out. This is his first scheduled twelve rounder, having gone ten rounds on eight occasions.
Prediction: I lean towards the more seasoned Ramirez here to get the job done on points.
No better place than Riyadh Season’s #LatinoNight for the fight he’s been waiting on‼️ Jose Ramirez 🆚 Arnold Barboza Jr. is gonna be an all-out 𝐖 𝐀 𝐑 ⚔️#LatinoNight | #RiyadhSeason | LIVE Nov. 16 | FREE on DAZN pic.twitter.com/6njPFoF05D
— Golden Boy (@GoldenBoyBoxing) November 13, 2024
Farmer has it all to do against Zepeda
The interim WBC lightweight title is up for grabs, with the talented William Zepeda (31-0, 27 KOs) meeting Tevin Farmer (33-6-1, 8 KOs).
Zepeda is one to watch, and has been at championship level for his last five fights. His last four bouts have all ended early, and after forcing Maxi Hughes to retire after four rounds in March, he knocked out Giovanni Cabrera in three in July.
A former IBF featherweight champion, Farmer is coming off a spirited points loss to Raymond Muratalla. Zepeda should be too hot for Farmer here, and can win early.
World honours at minimum weight up for grabs
Another world title bout comes at minimumweight, where Oscar Collazo (10-0, 7 KOs) should defend his WBO belt for a fourth time with a points win over Thammanoon Niyomtrong (25-0, 9 KOs).
Return of Duarte and Ziyad
Oscar Duarte (27-2-1, 22 KOs) can take his super lightweight twelve rounder on points against Botirzhon Akhmedov (10-3, 9 KOs), and welterweight prospect Ziyad Almaayouf (6-0, 1 KOs) should win on the cards over six against Juan Carlos Ramirez Garcia (5-6, 0 KOs).
