Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez and Chris Billam-Smith will unify their WBA and WBO cruiserweight titles on Nov. 16. Ramirez vs. Billam-Smith headlines a five-fight card dubbed “Latino Night” in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Turki Alalshikh, the chairman of Saudi Arabia’s general entertainment authority, announced the five-fight card on Tuesday. The event is promoted by Oscar De La Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions and will “be broadcasted for free” globally, Alalshikh wrote on Twitter.
“This card features some of the best Latino fighters around and continues our drive to deliver top-tier boxing events by giving fans throughout the world the fights they want to see,” Alalshikh said in a press release.
A junior welterweight fight between former unified champion Jose Ramirez and Arnold Barboza serves as the co-main event. Rounding out the card is William Zepeda — who prepares for a February title fight against WBC lightweight champ Shakur Stevenson — vs. Tevin Farmer, WBO strawweight champion Oscar Collazo defends his title against Edwin Hernandez and Oscar Duarte vs. Kenny Sims.
Ramirez (46-1, 30 KOs) defeated Arsen Goulamirian in March to claim the WBA cruiserweight title, his second consecutive win since suffering his lone career loss to WBA light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol.
Billam-Smith (20-1, 13 KOs) looks for a dozen straight wins in the third defense of his WBO title. He defeated Lawrence Okolie in May 2023 to win the belt before successfully defending it against Mateusz Masternak and Richard Riakporhe.
