Oscar De La Hoya, CEO of Golden Boy Promotions, shared his perspective on WBA cruiserweight titleholder Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez’s upcoming unification battle towards WBO cruiserweight champion Chris Billam-Smith.
The matchup, scheduled for November 16 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, headlines the “Latino Evening” card, broadcast on DAZN, and promoted by Golden Boy Promotions.
Ramirez, 33, enters the bout with momentum, holding a 46-1 (36 KOs) document. The Mexican southpaw Ramirez rebounded strongly from his one profession defeat to former gentle heavyweight titleholder Dmitry Bivol, a loss De La Hoya believes was pivotal for Ramirez’s development. Since then, Ramirez claimed the WBA cruiserweight belt by defeating Arsen Goulamirian in March.
Talking to DAZN, De La Hoya mirrored on the affect of Ramirez’s expertise towards Bivol. “I feel Bivol actually taught him a superb lesson. Having an undefeated document getting into towards somebody like Bivol, who can field and punch, we noticed what he did to numerous nice fighters. He’s a superb boxer. So having to cope with that and having to cope with adversity made [Ramirez] a greater, extra full fighter.”
De La Hoya highlighted the significance of adaptability, noting that Ramirez now understands tempo and handle a battle. “He now is aware of he has to modify up gears that means he cannot simply battle [in] first gear, second gear, [he has to] flip it up, [and go to the] third, fourth, fifth gear,” De La Hoya stated.
Billam-Smith, 34, steps into the ring on an 11-fight win streak, together with a June 2023 victory over Lawrence Okolie to seize the WBO title and a subsequent win over Richard Riakporhe, to avenge his lone skilled profession defeat. Regardless of the problem Billam-Smith poses, De La Hoya sees Ramirez’s expertise because the deciding issue. “This battle with Billam goes to be powerful for each guys, however I severely assume Zurdo has the expertise to take Billam to the later rounds and probably cease him,” De La Hoya stated.
