Chris Billam-Smith cultivates a remarkable habit of turning his dreams into reality.
When he turned professional, he wasn’t touted as a future champion. Yet he managed to win the Commonwealth, British and European titles.
Last year, at the Vitality Stadium in his hometown of Bournemouth, he dethroned Lawrence Okolie to win the WBO cruiserweight world championship.
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Billam-Smith wants to fight in America and is aiming for a unification of Gilberto Ramirez’s world title after Richard Riakporhe’s triumph at Selhurst Park.
On Saturday he beat the only man to ever beat him as a professional, edging out powerful puncher Richard Riakporhe at Selhurst Park, south London, to defend his world title.
“The kid in me that loves football so much. I can box in two Premier League football stadiums, it’s crazy. It was beyond my wildest dreams at one point and now I have managed to do two, it’s just crazy,” he said. said Aerial sports.
But he’s not done with dreams yet. He believes he can now beat any of his world champion rivals.
“(Jai) Opetaia is a great fighter, they are all great fighters. (Gilberto) ‘Zurdo’ Ramirez is probably the most underrated champion I would say. What he did with (Arsen) Goulamirian was fantastic (He is) really a strong, durable southpaw, able to counter punches, with quick hands, a very good fighter,” he said.
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Andy Scott and John Dennen give their verdict on Chris Billam-Smith’s victory over Richard Riakporhe and question how far he can go in the sport.
But that’s what he wants next: world title unifications. “It’s crazy. That’s what we’re looking at now. Nothing else really interests us, other than the other champions,” Bilam-Smith continued.
Riakporhe was a dangerous challenger, but Billam-Smith answered his doubters with his performance on Saturday night.
“They don’t see everything else. They see the (Mateusz) Masternak fight. They see the (Armend) Xhoxhaj fight and me getting cut and the Isaac (Chamberlain) war and they don’t see the props and the outs of the gym and I can turn it on when I need it,” he said.
“Xhoxhaj wasn’t a great performance, so everyone supported Lawrence. Masternak wasn’t a great performance, so everyone supported Richard, but mentally I can turn it on.
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Chris Billam-Smith has praised his “master” trainer Shane McGuigan after he stuck to the game plan to beat Richard Riakporhe.
“The Masternak fight was tough, all around, the massive high (against Okolie) before that fight, going to a smaller venue, everyone expects you to win.
“No one really cares about this fight, everyone wants to see me and Richard. All the talk was about Richard. And the same for the Xhoxhaj fight, everyone is talking about what’s next. Nobody has heard about him before. We’re only humans, you can shut down, but I can have big fights every time.”
Despite the humble beginnings of his professional career, Billam-Smith can now dare to dream of becoming undisputed at cruiserweight.
If he keeps winning, he might be able to win the biggest fight of all, if undisputed heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk decides to return to his old division.
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Sky Sports’ Johnny Nelson is not convinced that Oleksandr Usyk will return to cruiserweight in the near future.
Usyk has publicly stated that he would consider returning to the division he previously unified.
“If he comes back down, it’s crazy. I told Shane (McGuigan, his trainer) when I first joined the gym, we were talking about Usyk, (saying) he’s a fighter special I was saying, ‘You’re going to train me to beat him. I told him that (in) 2017. I think I was just making my debut,’ Billam-Smith laughed.
“He’s a special fighter, it would be an honor to share the ring with him like it would be ‘Zurdo’ Ramirez, like it would be Opetaia. I’m enjoying my career.
“I’m not saying it’s an easy fight by any stretch of the imagination.
“What a special fighter. To share the ring with someone like him would be phenomenal. And as fighters, we go into every fight believing we can win it.”
