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.
(Credit: Golden Boy/Chris Esqueda)
Ramirez (47-1, 30 KOs) outpointed Billam-Smith (20-2, 13 KOs) to win a 12-round unanimous decision in the main event on DAZN.
In the first round, Billam-Smith had a slight lead in punches landed. In the opening minute of the second round, Ramirez gained a chin-deep lead. In the final minute, Billam-Smith landed a solid right to the chin. In the third round, Ramirez defeated Billam-Smith.
In the final minute of the fourth round, Ramirez landed some solid leads to the chin, and Billam-Smith took them well. His age and size are similar, with Billam-Smith having a small cut on his left eyelid.
Both had their moments in the fifth, with Billam-Smith landing uppercuts and Ramirez landing a big left hand to the chin at the bell. Ramirez had a big round with blood from Billam-Smith's left eyelid streaming down his face in the sixth. The ring doctor checked the eye between rounds.
In the seventh round there's another good one for Ramirez who lands Billam-Smith to the body, and Billiam-Smith's left eye is partially closed. It was all Ramirez in the eighth to final minute, with Billam-Smith landing three short rights to the chin.
Ramirez must be wondering what's holding Billam-Smith back in the ninth. He continued to come forward, taking punches from Ramirez. A 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 they looked exhausted at the bell.
The scores were 116-112, 116-112 and 116-113.
Arnold Barboza Jr. defeated Jose Ramirez
In the co-main event, former 2012 Olympian and former WBC and WBO Light Welter champion Jose Ramirez (29-2, 18 KOs) lost a close decision to WBO Intercontinental Super Light champion Arnold Barboza, Jr. (31-0, 11 KOs). ) with a 10-round unanimous decision.
In the first round it was like a chess match. Barboza's stronger finish may have won him the round. In the second and third rounds, Ramirez continues to come forward in another close fight. In the fourth round, Ramirez may have pulled away with a stronger finish.
In the fifth round, at the end of the minute, Barboza landed a solid right to the chin after controlling his jab. Things continued in the sixth and seventh rounds, with Barboza's jab making the difference. On both bells, Barboza landed the jab and a right hand to Ramirez's chin.
In the eighth and ninth rounds, Ramirez continued to come forward, possibly taking the rounds from Barboza. In the tenth and final round, Barboza landed good left hooks to the body, countering Ramirez in a close fight.
Referee Ricky González. Scores were 97-93, 96-94 and 96-94.
William Zepeda Edges Tevin farmer
Ranked No. 1 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 KOs), coming off the canvas for the WBC Interim Light title.
In the second round, Zepeda finished strong with a series of punches. In the fourth round, Farmer dropped Zepeda with a left counter after a miss to the chin midway through the round for an 8 count from referee Harvey Dock. In the fifth round, Zepeda came back and landed more punches, while Farmer landed the harder punches.
In the sixth round, Zepeda came back well and landed Farmer, who put a lot of pressure on him. In the seventh round, Zepeda continued to come forward, but Farmer countered him well enough to make it a close round.
In the eighth and ninth rounds they each had their moments, with Zepeda coming forward and Farmer countering him, each completing a lap. In the tenth and final round, Farmer lands jabs, while Zepeda does not. Zepeda throws punches in bunches, but Farmer knows how to tie him up, stopping him from moving. The farmer may have caused a big shock. The knockdown could make the difference.
Scores were 95-94 Zepeda, 95-94 Farmer and 95-94 Zepeda.
Oscar Collazo stops CP Freshmart Niyomtrong
WBA Minimumweight World Champion Thammanoon 'CP Freshmart' Niyomtrong (25-1, 9 KOs) was stopped by southpaw WBO Minimumweight Champion Oscar 'El Pupilo' Collazo (11-0, 8 KOs) in a unified title fight at 1:29 of the seventh round of a planned 12 rounds.
For the most part, in the first five rounds, left-hander Collazo had the busier of the two. CP Freshmart seemed to be loading up for a large counter, but that didn't happen.
In the sixth round, CP Freshmart landed a solid right to the chin after a minute. With 30 seconds left, a right hook from Collazo went to the chin and down to CP Freshmart for an 8-count from referee Ricky Gonzalez.
In the seventh round, CP Freshmart went with a double right hook from Collazo to the side of the head and down to the canvas for an 8-count from referee Gonzalez just over a minute into the round. Shortly later a boundary line went left, followed by a left uppercut to Collazo's chin and down he went, with referee Gonzalez immediately waving him off.
Oscar Duarte defeats Bortirozhon Akhmedov
Super lightweight Oscar “La Migrana” Duarte (28-2-1, 22 KOs) defeated 2016 Southpaw Olympian (over 100 fights) Botirzhon “The Shark” Akhmedov (10-4, 9 KOs) in ten rounds. Durate lost the early rounds, but came back well enough to take the decision.
In the first round, late sub and two-time world title challenger left-handed Akhmedov appeared to have the edge. Before this match, they played many rounds against each other. In the second through fifth rounds, Akhmedov had a lead while Durate wasn't as busy, and some punches fell short.
In the sixth and seventh rounds, Durate was able to land more because Akhmedov was now more in the lead. In the eighth round, Durate landed a flush on Akhmedov's chin in the first minute, catching his attention. He came right back, but as the fight continued, Durate seemed to have an answer.
In the ninth round, Durate landed many rights to the chin. There hasn't been a single clinch in the fight so far, making it easy for referee Robert Hoyle. In the tenth and final round, Durate supported Akhmedov throughout the round, countering for the first time. At the end, a small cut on Durate's forehead.
Scores were 98-92, 97-93 and 96-94.
Welter Ziyad “Zizo” Almaayouf (6-0-1, 1 KO) finished in a six-round draw with Juan Carlos “Demoledor” Garcia (5-6-1).
In the first round, Almaayouf controlled it with his jab. In the final seconds, Garcia finished strong with left hooks. In the second round, the late sub Garcia took out Almaayouf's mouthpiece. Instead of taking the ball to the corner, referee Robert Hoyle puts it back in. Garcia had a big round to the body.
In the third round, Almaayouf ended the round by rocking Garcia with a left hook and snapping Garcia's head back. In the fourth and fifth rounds both had their moments. In the closing seconds of the fourth inning, Garcia drew blood from Almaayouf's nose.
In the sixth and final round, Garcia won the war, but will he get the decision over the local opponent? No, it ended in a draw.
The scores were 58-56 Almaayoug, 57-57 and 57.
The Ring announcers were Thomas Treiber and Michael Buffer in the main event.
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