Gilberto Ramírez and Chris Billam-Smith to Headline Riyadh Season Event

Gilberto Ramírez (46-1, 30 KOs) and Chris Billam-Smith (20-1, 13 KOs) will look to unify titles when they soon clash.

A press release confirmed that the two cruiserweights will headline a Riyadh Season card billed as “Latino Night” in Saudi Arabia on November 16. The main event is a co-promotion between Golden Boy Promotions and BOXXER. An exact venue for the card was not mentioned, though BoxRec currently lists it as The Venue Riyadh Season.

Giberto Ramírez  vs. Chris Billam-Smith Unification Confirmed

Oscar De La Hoya Reacts to Event Confirmation

The bout will see Ramírez’s WBA and Billam-Smith’s WBO cruiserweight titles at stake. Ramírez won his belt with a unanimous decision win against Arsen Goulamirian in March this year. Billam-Smith won his title with a majority decision win against Lawrence Okolie in May last year. He has since made two defences.

“[Turki Alalshikh] and I have the exact same vision — to match the best versus the best for the fans of our sport,” said Golden Boy Promotions chairman and CEO Oscar De La Hoya. “From a world championship unification fight, to battles between former champions and on-the-rise contenders to a stacked undercard of prospects, this show will feature everything great that boxing has to offer.”

“Riyadh Season continues to deliver the very best matches at the top of the sport, and we are delighted to be working with…Turki Alalshikh and Oscar De La Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions to present another epic fight as co-promoters of this huge cruiserweight world title unification battle,” said Ben Shalom, founder and CEO of BOXXER. “Gilberto Ramírez is a great champion but Chris Billam-Smith will be coming full of confidence and ready to unify the division.”

Ramírez vs. Billam-Smith is part of Riyadh Season, a Saudi Arabian state-funded entertainment and sports festival. The Saudi Arabian General Entertainment Authority is responsible for its organization.

Gilberto Ramírez vs. Chris Billam-Smith Undercard

An additional four fights will also be part of the card. They are as follows:

A super lightweight clash between José Ramírez (29-1, 18 KOs) and Arnold Barboza Jr. (30-0, 11 KOs). The WBO has sanctioned it as an official eliminator for their world title currently held by Teófimo López.

A lightweight contest between William Zepeda (31-0, 27 KOs) and Tevin Farmer (33-6-1, 8 KOs, 1 NC).

A minimumweight fight between Oscar Collazo (10-0, 7 KOs) and Edwin Cano Hernández (13-2-1, 4 KOs). Collazo will be defending his WBO title for a fourth time. This particular bout is a co-promotion between Golden Boy Promotions and Miguel Cotto Promotions.

Opening the card is a super lightweight clash between Oscar Duarte (27-2-1, 22 KOs) and Kenneth Sims Jr. (21-2-1, 8 KOs). The WBA are sanctioning it as a final eliminator for their world title currently held by Jose Valenzuela.