Chris Billam-Smith fighting for his legacy – and the reputation of the cruiserweight division

Chris Billam-Smith considers his “legacy” on the line on Saturday against Gilberto Ramirez.

The 34-year-old has proved himself the finest British cruiserweight of his generation, having won the WBO title from Lawrence Okolie and defended it against Richard Riakporhe on an evening when he avenged his only defeat. 

In “Zurdo” Ramirez at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia he enters his biggest fight against his highest-profile opponent, and knows that the outcome of their unification contest – the Mexican is the WBA champion – could not only determine Jai Opetaia’s next match-up, but how Billam-Smith’s career is reflected on in years to come.

Regardless of his stoppage of Mateusz Masternak in the first defence of his title, Billam-Smith recognizes that his greatest successes have come against domestic opposition. In the 33-year-old Ramirez he fights not only an opponent established in another continent, he is travelling overseas – and he knows that victory could secure the showdown with Australia’s Opetaia that would prove the biggest at cruiserweight that could be made.

“The fights I’m in now are legacy-defining, in terms of unifications – it’s either you’re a unified champion or you’re not a champion anymore,” he told BoxingScene. “[If I lose] it’d feel like I’d only beaten a couple of Brits. Masternak’s not a Brit, but in terms of the big fights with Lawrence and Richard it’s a couple of Brits, and it doesn’t feel as big – but when you beat a Mexican who’s come up and it’s unified, and the plan for me is to move on and fight Jai Opetaia… win those two and that’s a pretty solid legacy that I can really be proud of. 

“‘I’ve got to beat ‘Zurdo’, because one, you’re unified, and two, you’ve beaten an overseas fighter who’s a big name.’ It makes it feel more relevant. That’s the motivation.”

Billam-Smith also recognises his good fortune in being at his peak at a time when big fights in the cruiserweight division are increasingly sought after.

His weight division is typically neglected in the US and yet Ramirez is promoted by Golden Boy; Opetaia is Australia’s finest fighter; the domestic scene in the UK is the strongest in the world.

Where traditionally it is difficult for cruiserweights to earn the money on offer to those in other more celebrated weight classes, the investment from Saudi Arabia has presented them with opportunities to secure their futures – the winner of Saturday’s fight can also be almost certain that their biggest purse is still to come.

“We’ve got so much depth in Britain, and around the world – the depth is great,” he said. “We’ve got an Aussie in Jai Opetaia; a Mexican in Zurdo; myself; [Noel] Mikaelyan is an Armenian; Arsen Goulamirian who is French-Armenian. [Ilunga] Makabu. So many talented fighters. All around the world there’s a lot of depth in the division, and that gets overlooked because of the name of the division, because it’s a newer division. Where it’s a young division, it gets overlooked. 

“That depth has been really good in Britain for many years, and it’s been really good to come up through that, with the fights I’ve had. Riakporhe; [Craig] Glover; the Tommy McCarthy fights; the Isaac Chamberlain fight, and then the Lawrence fight on the world stage, and then the Richard rematch. I’m very, very grateful we’ve got all that talent, and there’s still depth there now – Jack Massey’s just boxed for a world title, beating Isaac for the European. Lawrence had domestic clashes with some really good fighters; Richard did the same with Deion Jumah and Sam Hyde. There was a lot of depth and it’s been crucial to help my development. It wasn’t a deep division. We’re having bigger fights now, and I’m very, very grateful. 

“The heavyweight division has the marker on it. When it comes down to a level of skill and knockouts, I think the cruiserweight division’s the best fight for that, and there’s some great fights to be made.

“David Haye glamorised the division in the sense that he was so good at talking, and building the fights for the right or wrong reasons, some of the things he said. But he made that, and then made the jump to heavyweight, but he was a huge, huge name because of his character. But he probably didn’t have as much depth in his division then as we do now, to a certain degree.”