WBO officials did not have to search very far to find two willing participants for a proposed secondary title fight.
BoxingScene has confirmed that the Puerto Rico-headquartered sanctioning body has instructed the teams for Chris Billam-Smith and Roman Fress to enter talks for a WBO interim cruiserweight title fight. Both sides were notified on Tuesday of the official ruling, as unified WBA/WBO titlist Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez continues to recover from shoulder surgery earlier this summer.
England’s Billam-Smith, 21-2 (13 KOs) – a former WBO titlist – is promoted by BOXXER. Germany’s Fress is represented by Ulf Steinforth’s SES Boxing. Both boxers are the two highest rated challengers in the most current WBO cruiserweight rankings.
“Please be advised that the Championship Committee orders the commencement of negotiations for the subject matter bout,” WBO Championship Committee chairman Luis Batista-Salas stated in a ruling obtained by BoxingScene. “By virtue of this order, the parties have twenty (20) days from the issuance of this letter to reach an agreement.
“Failure to do so, will result in the committee ordering purse bid proceedings in accordance with WBO Regulations for World Championship Contests.”
The involved parties will have until September 9 to reach a deal. In the absence of an agreement, the matter will then be subject to a purse bid hearing. The minimum bid for a sanctioned WBO cruiserweight fight is $300,000.
Tuesday’s ruling came just days after WBO president Gustavo Olivieri confirmed that the committee was leaning in that direction. The organization is normally reluctant to crown more than one titlist per division, unlike other sanctioning bodies.
However, the need arose once it was learned that Mexico’s Ramirez, 48-1 (30 KOs) will not be available for the next several months.
Billam-Smith, who previously captured the WBO title in a May 2023 upset over unbeaten champion Lawrence Okolie in Bournemouth, went on to make two successful defenses before losing a unanimous decision to Ramirez in their WBA/WBO unification clash last November in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia—a major highlight in boxing news today.
The boxing artist commonly known as “CBS” has fought just once since then. It came on the April 26 Chris Eubank Jnr-Conor Benn undercard, where he outpointed hard-hitting Brandon Glanton over twelve rounds in North London.
It marked his first win since he defeated unbeaten Richard Riakporhe last June 15 to retain his WBO belt and avenge his lone career defeat at the time.
Fress (23-1, 13 KOs) has never before fought on the major title stage, not even for a secondary belt or in a sanctioned eliminator. Such an opportunity would mark his first scheduled 12-round contest.
The Kazakhstan-born boxer – now based in Magdeburg, Germany - has won seven in a row since a May 2022 split decision defeat to Armend Xhoxhaj. Fress’ most recent victory came in a ten-round, unanimous decision over Michael Seitz on a May 17 in Magdeburg that commemorated SES Boxing’s 25th anniversary.
Ramirez will be required to face the existing interim titlist once he is medically cleared to return to the ring.
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