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WBO cruiserweight champion Chris Billam-Smith says David Haye is someone he “looks up to” as the last Briton to unify world championship belts in the division.
Haye claimed the WBA and WBC titles in November 2007, and Britain’s Billam-Smith wants to emulate him when taking on WBA cruiserweight champion Gilberto Ramirez on 16 November.
“It’s a fight I’m really excited for and a big opportunity for me,” Billam-Smith told BBC Sport.
“I’m just glad it’s a unification fight. The last Brit to unify at cruiserweight was David Haye, who is someone I looked up to massively in terms of fighting style and how he dismantled his opponents.
“It would be an honour to be a British unified world champion.”
‘The Gentleman’ puts his WBO title on the line for the third time after defences against Mateusz Masternak and Richard Riakporhe.
Ramirez, 33, is set for his third fight at cruiserweight following success at super-middleweight and light-heavyweight. He became the first Mexican to win a cruiserweight title when he defeated Arsen Goulamirian for the WBA belt in March.
The only defeat on ‘Zurdo’s’ record is at light-heavyweight, by current WBA and IBO champion Dmitry Bivol.
“Zurdo is a southpaw and that brings its own problems,” Billam-Smith added.
“I’m confident in fighting him but I’m not that experienced in fighting southpaws. He brings lots of different attributes, he’s super-tough and has a really good punch output.
“I’d say I have more of an advantage being settled at the weight, but he has his advantages too as he’ll be used to faster guys as he’s come up through the weights.
“It makes for a really intriguing fight and it’s a massive challenge for me. [Trainer] Shane [McGuigan] and I are already working on a gameplan. People saw a different side of me in my last fight but this time there will be even more surprise in what people see.”
Billam-Smith won his WBO title in a memorable night in his hometown at Bournemouth’s Vitality Stadium when he defeated Lawrence Okolie in front of a packed crowd.
He recently faced Steve Bunce and the BBC Radio 5 Live Boxing podcast to reminisce and talk through some of the stories around that night.
Cruiserweight unification a ‘long time coming’ – Ramirez
This will be the first time Bournemouth’s champion fights in Saudi Arabia, headlining a co-promotion with Boxxer and Oscar de la Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions called ‘Latino Night’.
Ramirez has a stunning 46 professional victories to his name, more than double the 20 of Billam-Smith despite being one year younger.
He has won by knockout 30 times and previously held the WBO super-middleweight title.
“I’m excited to make this fight happen with Chris Billam-Smith,” Ramirez said.
“It’s been a long time coming, and I’m looking forward to becoming the unified champion in this division. I’ve always said this was my division [cruiserweight] and I’m happy for the opportunity to showcase my skills.”
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