As images emerged of Chris Billam-Smith in the days that followed his courageous display versus the talented Mexican Gilberto ‘Zurdo’ Ramirez; left eye closed shut, the signature white tape clinging to the stitches on his brow and a bandaged hand with broken digits, it was hard to suppress growing admiration for his performance – despite the clear defeat he suffered. The pictures served as another reminder of the damage accrued in punishing, distance fights both in the conspicuity of the short term but also stored deeper for those days beyond the lights when retirement and middle age come to collect on the debt of punches taken.
Billam-Smith, like illustrious predecessors Cooper, Farr and a legion of others, won new fans and deepened the respect with which he is held via his toughness between the ropes as well as his conduct and demeanour in defeat. The Bournemouth favourite is a throwback to fighters who punched for pay long before most of Saturday’s paltry crowd in Saudi Arabia were born.
The fight proved an enthralling one, moments of high quality with lashings of the type of gruel served up on the inside; arms interlocked, foreheads pressed together, that many modern fighters find unpalatable. At longer range the quicker hands and eye-catching footwork of Ramirez proved decisive and were probably the defining factors in the outcome. As a spectacle it was a welcome antidote to the grubby hysteria of the previous night in Texas when Mike Tyson was cast as the goat in the newest instalment of the Jurassic Park franchise.
It would be unjust to characterise Billam-Smith’s performance as merely one of a plucky loser. He was in the fight for almost the entire distance and entered the ring on equal terms as a Champion – and ‘Zurdo’ Ramirez is neither the Muhammad Ali or Joe Louis tackled by Henry Cooper and Tommy Farr – but it was nevertheless his courage against the odds and his honesty in the aftermath of defeat that further endears him to viewers.
On the night Billam-Smith lacked sufficient wallop for the individual power shots he landed to make the breakthrough he craved or the speed and guile to land the combinations that might have done the trick. Ramirez deserves credit for being unflinching when those blows were landing – he had, after all, begun his career at Super-Middleweight – but the zing Billam-Smith carried faded as the fight progressed. The freshness and intensity beaten out of him.
By the middle rounds, Billam-Smith was fighting to stay in the contest. Ramirez won the 4th through to the 8th on this observer’s scorecard and it wouldn’t be unreasonable to make a case that he won all twelve but for the first. But it was the middle rounds when Ramirez’s ability to pivot around Billam-Smith, leaving the proud Brit facing the wrong way as punches reigned in was most conspicious and where the fight was won.
By the end of the 8th it was hard to summon a way Billam-Smith could alter the course of the fight and Shane McGuigan struggled to conjure a way too with his charge seemingly dazed in the corner on a couple of occasions and the Doctor visiting after the 7th. Billam-Smith continued to march forward, but struggled to close the gap effectively. When he did, and could punch on the inside it was more competitive but the extended periods where Ramirez landed hard body shots from the outside, one-twos before moving to his right as Billam-Smith, mouth wide open, bleeding from his right eye, plodded forward, swinging and missing, were a glaring demonstration of the difference in skill level.
Miraculously, given the damage he’d accrued by the championship rounds, Billam-Smith forced himself forward plunging into dark reservoirs of belief and determination precious few sportsman are able to access. A change of outcome never looked likely but how the Englishman tried. Generously, I found 3 rounds and a drawn round for Billam-Smith, but acutely aware of regional bias and a tendency to find the underdog narrative that required. Any score from 8-4 to 10-2, and plausibly 11-1 for Ramirez entirely reasonable.
Ramirez goes on toward interesting fights at the top of a Cruiserweight division with advantages of hand-speed over some, a tricky southpaw stance with good footwork and growing confidence in his own ability to absorb heavier shots in the bigger division. He remains fleshy at 200 pounds but providing confidence doesn’t overwhelm him, he can continue to develop in to the weight class.
Billam-Smith will doubtless also continue and has lucrative possibilities. A defeat needn’t be the end of a boxer as a contender or an attraction. He remains entertaining to watch, too often short-hand for ‘takes a lot of punches’, and as I grow older and the wider awareness of the cumulative effect of tough fights grows – his future as a prizefighter probably should be shorter rather than longer. However his remianing fights unfold, his fortunes in the ring will be best served by the energy of a packed arena to fuel him – the atmosphere typically associated with a title fight depressingly absent in Saudi Arabia on Saturday night. Some things simply can’t be bought.
The idea of a shorter future for Billam-Smith is a wisdom not subjected to the temptations of the pay days he will be offered and a fighter’s insatiable appetite for combat and the roar of the crowd of course.
BOXINGWRITER.CO.UK 
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