With unified cruiserweight champion Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez out of commission for the immediate future as he recovers from shoulder surgery, WBO president Gustavo Olivieri announced that he’s ordered no. 1 Chris Billam-Smith to meet no. 2 Roman Fress for an interim title.
The two have 20 days to negotiate.
Billam-Smith (21-2, 13 KO) took the belt from Lawrence Okolie in a 2023 upset and successfully defended against Mateusz Masternak and Richard Riakporhe before running afoul of Ramirez last November.
He kept his stock high despite the loss with a decision over the always-dangerous Brandon Glanton in April, putting himself right back in the title picture.
Fress (23-1, 13 KO) has spent his six-year pro career mulching weak competition on the European scene, almost exclusively in his native Germany. His biggest fight to date saw him drop a 2022 split decision to Armend Xhoxhaj, who went on to get sparked by Billam-Smith seven months later.
Not a good fight by any stretch of the imagination, but the WBO’s cruiserweight rankings are pretty dire at the moment; hell, they’ve still got Sergey Kovalev at no. 8.
