Promoter Oscar De La Hoya has hinted the winner of Gilberto Ramírez and Chris Billam-Smith on Saturday could put themselves in line for a fight against heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk.
Ramírez (46-1, 30 KOs) will put his WBA cruiserweight title on the line against WBO champion Billam-Smith (20-1, 13 KOs) in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, with the winner also moving one step closer to claiming the undisputed crown.
De La Hoya said he believes the victor could have a chance to fight Usyk, who has talked of moving back down to cruiserweight after his rematch against Tyson Fury in December.
“The winner obviously can move on to bigger and better things. There’s been talks about Zurdo [Ramírez] fighting Usyk for instance,” De la Hoya told ESPN. “Usyk is considering fighting at cruiserweight, and I strongly feel that the winner of this Saturday night can maybe hit the sweepstakes and get a shot at Usyk after this victory.
“It is very viable that Usyk comes down to [the] cruiserweight division and challenges the winner of Saturday night. So yeah, it’s exciting times for the cruiserweight division, exciting times for boxing and exciting times for Ramírez and Billam-Smith.”
In June, Usyk told the “3 Knockdown Rule” podcast: “I think maybe after the rematch, I am going to go down in weight to cruiserweight. I want more [fights at] cruiserweight. Maybe I can be undisputed for a second time in the cruiserweight division, it’s my plan.”
Ramírez, whose only professional defeat came against Dmitry Bivol at light heavyweight in 2022, said he wants to be undisputed champion at cruiserweight, and would welcome the chance to fight Usyk.
“Yeah, of course that’s a fight people want to see, and I’m interested too because [Usyk’s] undisputed champion,” he told ESPN.
Billam-Smith has long been linked with a fight against undefeated IBF champion Jai Opetaia, but both Ramírez and De La Hoya warned that the Mexican is ready to throw a spanner in the works on Saturday.
“That fight won’t happen because I will take that belt this Saturday night and that’s the fight that I want too. I want to be unified champion and that’s my goal and that’s why I need to pass through this guy this Saturday,” Ramírez said.
De La Hoya, meanwhile, said he thinks the fight will be tight contest.
“Mexico vs. the UK inside the ring is going to be fireworks and it’s really going to be an exciting, exciting fight. The winner obviously can move on to bigger and better things,” the former world champion said.
“It’s a big mistake if you’re overlooking Ramírez. I understand that there are unifications, there are more world championship belts up for grabs, there’s a lot of potential great matchups in the UK, but Zurdo Ramírez is a fighter who has been in there with the very best.”