Gilberto ‘Zurdo’ Ramirez leaves Chris Billam-Smith with gruesome eye injury as Mexican beats Brit in world title unification

Gilberto 'Zurdo' Ramirez was simply too good for Chris Billam-Smith on Saturday night.

The WBA champion Brit travelled to Riyadh to take on the WBO champion Mexican in a cruiserweight world title unification fight but was comfortably beaten by unanimous decision.

The fight began with an excellent opener for Billam-Smith.

The Brit went on the front foot in round one and landed a number of clean shots which clearly surprised the Mexican.

In the second, Ramirez responded well and began to land hooks with consistency himself.

Billam-Smith attempted to increase his offensive output in round three but was tagged by Zurdo's southpaw left hand on multiple occasions.

The WBO champion's crisp counters troubled the WBA champion, with the Brit staggered by a hook he didn't see coming and cut from a headbutt towards the end of the fourth.

CBS battled back valiantly in round five, though seemed simply overmatched.

As they hit the halfway point, the Mexican was clearly in control as he was simply the more consistently accurate of the pair.

Billam-Smith's face looked busted up and his eye injury was checked over by the doctor due to the continued bleeding and swelling at the start of the seventh.

The fight was allowed to go on.

Unfortunately for him though, the pattern continued though rounds eight and nine with the Brit bravely marching forward despite being outpunched, outboxed and outlanded.