This Friday was far different from the last time Gilberto Ramirez was supposed to weigh in.

Six-and-a-half months after he was so overweight that his fight against Gabe Rosado was canceled, Ramirez met his contractual obligation for his bout with Joe Smith Jr. on Saturday night in Las Vegas. Ramirez, a former WBO super middleweight champion, came in at a career-high 191.6 pounds for their 12-round cruiserweight fight.

Smith stepped on the Nevada State Athletic Commission’s scale at 191.8 pounds, also the highest weight of his career.

Prior to Friday, Mexico’s Ramirez had not weighed in at more than 175 pounds for any of his 45 professional fights. Smith’s previous high was 180 pounds.

DAZN will stream Ramirez-Smith as a main event worldwide from The Chelsea inside The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas. The streaming service’s undercard coverage will begin at 8 p.m. EDT and 5 p.m. PDT in the United States.

Ramirez, 32, and Smith, 34, both lost light heavyweight title fights in their most recent outings.

The 6-foot-2, left-handed Ramirez (44-1, 30 KOs) hasn’t fought since unbeaten Russian Dmitry Bivol beat him by unanimous decision in their 12-round, 175-pound championship match last November 5 at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi. Ramirez was supposed to box Rosado in another light heavyweight fight March 18 at Walter Pyramid in Long Beach, California, but he was at least seven pounds over their contracted limit on the day they were supposed to weigh in and their fight was canceled.

Ramirez committed to fighting at cruiserweight after missing weight for the first time as a pro. His WBA elimination match against Smith (28-4, 22 KOs) will be contested seven pounds below the cruiserweight ceiling of 200 pounds.

Smith will end an even longer layoff than Ramirez. The former WBO 175-pound champion hasn’t fought since Russian knockout artist Artur Beterbiev (19-0, 19 KOs) knocked him to the canvas three times and stopped Smith in the second round of their 12-round light heavyweight title unification fight in June 2022 at Madison Square Garden’s Hulu Theater in New York.

DAZN

8 p.m. EDT; 5 p.m. PDT

Bektemir Melikuziev (12-1, 9 KOs), Shoimbek, Uzbekistan, 167.6 pounds vs. Alantez Fox (28-4-1, 13 KOs, 1 NC), Upper Marlboro, Maryland, 167.2 pounds, 10 rounds, super middleweights.

Darius Fulghum (7-0, 7 KOs), Houston, 170.2 pounds vs. Alan Campa (18-8, 12 KOs), Hermosillo, Mexico, 168.8 pounds, 8 rounds, light heavyweights.

Eric Tudor (9-0, 6 KOs), Fort Lauderdale, Florida, 153.4 pounds vs. Jose Luis Sanchez (13-3-1, 4 KOs), Albuquerque, New Mexico, 153.8 pounds, 8 rounds, junior middleweights.

Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for krikya360.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.