The boxing world gets treated to a pivotal cruiserweight world championship unification bout Saturday night when Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez (46-1, 30 knockouts) puts his WBA title against WBO titleholder Chris Billam-Smith (20-1, 13 KOs) in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and live on DAZN.
With the Riyadh Season Latino Night main event carrying high stakes, DAZN lists the keys to victory for both Ramirez and Billam-Smith.
Gilberto Ramirez’s keys to victory
Make early deposits to the body
Watch Ramirez’s victory over Joe Smith Jr. from October 2023 and his win over Arsen Goulamirian this past March and you’ll see 'Zurdo' make early deposits to the body with his left.
Those are blunt shots that softened up and slowed down his opponents and will likely be a tactic that Ramirez deploys against an active Billam-Smith.
Turn straight left hand into combinations
Ramirez likes to assert his straight left hand with some pop to the punch. Once he does, he tends to start rhythmically turn that punch into combinations with his footwork aiding his cause.
These combinations are smoothly weaved together in bunches and 'Zurdo' uses them to bank rounds and stay atop of his opponents in scoring — which is the uphill battle Billam-Smith will be up against.
Crank the volume up
The aforementioned body shots and turn-keying that straight left into combinations frequently allows Ramirez to crank up his punch output.
Against an aggressive Billam-Smith, Ramirez should look to drive his punch volume way up and negate the English fighter’s chances.
Chris Billam-Smith’s keys to victory
Pressure, close the gap early
From the opening bell, Billam-Smith has got to pressure Ramirez and make the WBA champ move around the ring.
For his size, Ramirez moves smoothly but Billam-Smith can change that if he applies that pressure and keeps his foot on the gas with that front-wheel drive movement.
Time that inside left hook
If Billam-Smith can close the gap early, he’s got to look for that lunging inside left hook. It did real damage in a signature win over Lawrence Okolie in May of last year and can be a potent weapon against Ramirez, too, if it’s detonated with timing, whether forcing the action or via counterpunch.
Keep 'Zurdo' out of rhythm with growing confidence
Point blank: Billam-Smith can’t allow the southpaw Ramirez to use his footwork and get in rhythm with his left hand. This rhythm has to be upset and Billam-Smith can do that with a combination of pressure, that inside left hook and round-to-round growing confidence that he can derail 'Zurdo.'
Watch Gilberto 'Zurdo' Ramirez vs. Chris Billam-Smith free on DAZN on Saturday
Gilberto 'Zurdo' Ramirez vs. Chris Billam-Smith and the whole undercard will be broadcast live and for free on DAZN in over 200 countries across the globe.
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