Former WBO World Super Middleweight Champion and current WBA Super World Cruiserweight Champion Gilberto ‘Zurdo’ Ramirez defeated WBO World Cruiser Champion Chris Billam-Smith on Saturday night at Latino Night at The Venue in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Ramirez (47-1, 30 KOs) outlasted Billam-Smith (20-2, 13 KOs), winning a 12-round unanimous decision in the main event on DAZN.
In the first round, Billam-Smith had a slight advantage in punches landed. In the opening minute of the second round, Ramirez landed a lead left to the chin. In the final minute, Billam-Smith landed a solid right on the chin. In the third round, Ramirez landed Billam-Smith.
In the final minute of the fourth round, Ramirez landed some solid lead to the chin, and Billam-Smith caught him well. Their ages and sizes are similar, with Billam-Smith having a small cut on her left eyelid.
Both had their moments in the fifth, with Billam-Smith landing uppercuts and Ramirez landing a big left on the chin at the bell. Ramirez had a great round with blood from Billam-Smith’s left eyelid running down his face in the sixth. The ring doctor checked the eye between rounds.
In the seventh round, another good for Ramirez out-landing Billam-Smith to the body, and Billiam-Smith’s left eye is partially closed. It was all Ramirez in the eighth until the final minute, with Billam-Smith landing three short straights on the chin.
Ramirez has to wonder what keeps Billam-Smith in the ninth. He kept coming forward, walking into punches from Ramirez. One round later, Billam-Smith had his best round of the fight.
In the eleventh round, Billam-Smith showed a lot of heart, matching Ramirez punch for punch. Both had moments in the twelfth and final round, and looked tired at the bell.
The scores were 116-112, 116-112 and 116-113.
In the co-main event, former 2012 WBC and WBO Light Welterweight champion Jose Ramirez (29-2, 18 KOs) lost a close decision to WBO Intercontinental Super Light champion Arnold Barboza, Jr. (31-0, 11 KOs). ) by a 10-round unanimous decision.
In the first round it was like a chess match. Barboza’s stronger finish may have won the round. In the second and third rounds Ramirez continued to advance in another close fight. In the fourth round, Ramirez may have pulled out the round with a stronger finish.
In the fifth round, at the end of the minute, Barboza landed a solid right on the chin after controlling his jab. In the sixth and seventh rounds, he continued with Barboza’s jab making the difference. At the two bells, Barboza landed the jab and a right hand on Ramirez’s chin.
In the eighth and ninth rounds, Ramirez continued to push forward, possibly taking rounds from Barboza. In the tenth and final round, Barboza landed good left hooks to the body against Ramirez in a tight fight.
Referee Ricky Gonzalez. The scores were 97-93, 96-94 and 96-94.
No. 1 ranked in all four sanctioning bodies, WBA Continental Americas Light southpaw champion William ‘Camaron’ Zepeda (32-0, 27 KOs) won a 10-round split decision over former IBF Super Feather southpaw champion Tevin ‘Two Time’ Farmer ( 33-7-1, 8 KO), comes off the canvas for the WBC Interim Light title.
In the second round, Zepeda finished strong with a flurry of punches. In the fourth round, Farmer dropped Zepeda with a left counter on a chin midway through the round for an 8-count from Referee Harvey Dock. In the fifth round, Zepeda came back, landing more punches, while Farmer landed the harder punches.
In the sixth round Zepeda came back well off landing Farmer put a lot of pressure on him. In the seventh round Zepeda continues to come forward, but Farmer is against him well enough to take a close round.
In the eighth and ninth rounds, each had their moments, with Zepeda coming close and Farmer countering, each taking a turn. In the tenth and final round, Farmer lands jabs while Zepeda does not. Zepeda lands a flurry of punches, but Farmer knows how to tie him up, applying the momentum. The farmer may have made a big mess. Abatement could make a difference.
The scores were 95-94 Zepeda, 95-94 Farmer, and 95-94 Zepeda.
WBA Minimum Champ Thammanoon ‘CP Freshmart’ Niyomtrong (25-1, 9 KOs) was stopped by southpaw WBO Minimum Champ Oscar ‘El Pupilo’ Collazo (11-0, 8 KOs) in a unified title fight at 1:29 of the seventh round of a scheduled 12 round.
Through the first five rounds, the southpaw Collazo was the busier of the two for the most part. CP Freshmart seemed to charge for a large counter, but it did not happen.
In the sixth round, after a minute, CP Freshmart landed a solid right on the chin. With 30 seconds remaining, a right hook against Collazo on the chin and down CP Freshmart for an 8 count by Referee Ricky Gonzalez.
In the seventh round, a double right hook from Collazo to the side of the head and dropped CP Freshmart to the canvas for an 8-count by Referee Gonzalez a little over a minute into the round. Shortly after, a boundary line left followed by a left uppercut to the chin from Collazo and went down with Referee Gonzalez immediately stopping him.
Super Lightweight Oscar ‘La Migrana’ Duarte (28-2-1, 22 KOs) defeated 2016 Olympian (over 100 bouts) Botirzhon ‘The Shark’ Akhmedov (10-4, 9 KOs) in ten rounds. Durate lost the first few rounds but came back well enough to take the decision.
In the first round, the underdog Akhmedov, a late submission and two-time world title challenger, appeared to have an advantage. They shared a lot of rounds against each other before this match. In the second to fifth rounds, Akhmedov had an advantage while Durate was not as busy, and some punches were short.
In the sixth and seventh rounds, Durate was able to land more due to Akhmedov now leading with his head more. In the eighth round, Durate landed a right in the first minute to Akhmedov’s chin, getting his attention. He came right back, but as the fight continued, Durate seemed to have an answer.
In the ninth round Durate landed several rights to the chin. There was no clinch in the fight so far, making it easy for Referee Robert Hoyle. In the tenth and final round, Durate backed up Akhmedov throughout the round, making him counter for the first time. At the end, a small cut on Durate’s forehead.
The results were 98-92, 97-93 and 96-94.
Welterweight Ziyad ‘Zizo’ Almaayouf (6-0-1, 1 KO) finished in a six-round majority matchup with Juan Carlos ‘Demoledor’ Garcia (5-6-1).
In the first round, Almaayouf controlled with his jab. In the final seconds, Garcia finished strong with left hooks. In the second round, the late under Garcia slammed Almaayouf’s mouth. Instead of taking him to the corner, Referee Robert Hoyle puts him back. Garcia had a great turn to the body.
In the third round, Almaayouf finished the round by finishing Garcia with a left hook and knocking Garcia’s head back. In the fourth and fifth rounds, both had their moments. In the final seconds, Garcia drew blood from Almaayouf’s nose in the fourth.
In the sixth and final round Garcia won the war, but will he take the decision over the local opponent? No, it ended in a draw.
The results were 58-56 Almaayoug, 57-57 and 57.
Ring announcers were Thomas Treiber and Michael Buffer in the main event.
