How strong is the current cruiserweight division?

By Daniele D’Alessio

CHRIS Billam-Smith vs Gilberto Ramirez is set to be the first unification fight in this era of the cruiserweight division.

According to Dan Rafael, the Brit and the Mexican are finalising a deal to headline the Riyadh Season Latino Night card on November 16 and battle for the WBA and WBO belts in Saudi Arabia.

With four current world title holders, no boxer has definitively proven they are the man at 200 lbs yet.

The winner of Billam-Smith-Ramirez will edge the boxing world closer to the answer. Still, there are more unification bouts to be had, especially as Jai Opetaia is the consensus champion in the eyes of many.

The undefeated Australian has two wins over Mairis Briedis and looked sensational against the likes of Jordan Thompson and Ellis Zorro. Yet it’s fair to say his recent performance against Briedis last May was not his best.

Regardless, Opetaia has not shied away from the prospect of unifying the world titles, even accusing Billam-Smith of ducking him a couple of months ago. 

Instead, Opetaia will appear on the undercard of Artur Beterbiev vs Dmitry Bivol against Jack Massey, who is coming off the best victory of his career with a decision over Isaac Chamberlain.

As for Billam-Smith, his underdog story is inspirational. When ‘The Gentleman’ suffered his one and only professional defeat to Richard Riakporhe in 2019, few predicted he would become a world champion.

However, he went from one fairy tale to another by capturing the WBO strap against former sparring partner Lawrence Okolie in his home city of Bournemouth before avenging his loss to Riakporhe last June.

Billam-Smith was the underdog against Riakporhe, but he proved a lot of people wrong once again.

His next opponent, Ramirez, won a world title at super-middleweight in 2016 by outpointing Arthur Abraham.

However, Ramirez’s sheer size conveys how he was always a cruiserweight and was just boiling himself down in weight to gain a physical advantage in the ring.

Ramirez (L) became a two-weight champion after beating Goulamirian (R). (Photo by Frederic J. Brown / AFP).

Still, when fighting the formerly unbeaten Arsen Goulamirian in his first cruiserweight contest, he showed he had skill as well as size to capture the WBA title.

The last world champion to mention is Norair Mikaeljan, who destroyed a past-his-prime Ilunga Makabu in three rounds to claim the WBC strap last year.

Mikaeljan’s record shows two losses—one to Briedis and another to Krzysztof Wlodarczyk. His next fight against the hard-hitting Ryan Rozicki will show whether he has improved since then.

Outside of the champions, you have the likes of Riakporhe, Aleksei Papin, and Michal Cieslak all ranked in the top 10 by Ring Magazine.

Riakporhe was seen as a top cruiserweight before losing to Billam-Smith and scuppering his chance to become a world champion. Meanwhile, Papin and Cieslak have also both failed to win a world title.

Indeed, this cruiserweight crop is a mixed bag of talent and commercial value. The question is, how does this era compare to past generations?

The last era belonged to Oleksandr Usyk, who beat Marco Huck, Mairis Briedis, Murat Gassiev, and Tony Bellew in their respective backyards to become undisputed before repeating the feat at heavyweight.

Usyk cemented his status as one of the best cruiserweights of all time and after beating Tyson Fury he might go down as one of greatest boxers of all time, particularly if he wins the rematch.

Pre-Usyk, there were fighters such as David Haye, Jean-Marc Mormeck, and Enzo Maccarinelli battling for world titles.

Dan Rubin

And if you delve even deeper into history, Evander Holyfield established himself as a legend by defeating Carlos De Leon to become the first undisputed cruiserweight champion of all time.

This was before he became the first boxer to be undisputed in both cruiserweight and heavyweight with a third-round knockout of James ‘Buster’ Douglas in 1990.

In a nutshell, when you look at the fighters who came before in the cruiserweight division, it’s easy to assume the current generation isn’t that strong.

However, some of the greatest fighters ever competed at 200 lbs, including those who started their careers at lower weights, like Roy Jones Jr and James Toney.

So, it’s up to the present champions and contenders to unify all the belts and create their own legacy, which could result in fans remembering them more fondly as time passes.

The boxing world can only hope that the winner of Billam-Smith-Ramirez will decide to unify against another world champion next.