Chris Billam-Smith

Chris Billam-Smith (born 2 August 1990) is an English professional boxer who has held the Commonwealth cruiserweight title since 2019.

Chris Billam-Smith
Statistics
Nickname(s)The Gentleman
Weight(s)Cruiserweight
Height6 ft 3 in (191 cm)
Reach75 in (191 cm)
NationalityEnglish
Born (1990-08-02) 2 August 1990
Epsom, Surrey, England
StanceOrthodox
Boxing record[1]
Total fights12
Wins11
Wins by KO10
Losses1
Medal record
Men's amateur boxing
Representing  England
English National Championships
2012 Liverpool Cruiserweight
2013 Houghton-le-Spring Cruiserweight
2016 Liverpool Heavyweight

Amateur career

After training on and off as a youngster, Smith began to take boxing seriously at the age of 16. During a career in which he compiled a record of 32–11[2] while representing Poole ABC, he fought in several ABA Championships,[3] reaching the finals in 2013 and 2016; losing out to Jack Massey at 86kg[4] and Cheavon Clarke at 91kg respectively.[5]

Professional career

Smith made his professional debut on 16 September 2017 under the tutelage of Shane McGuigan,[6] scoring a first-round technical knockout (TKO) victory over Russ Henshaw at the O2 Academy in Bournemouth, Dorset.[7]

After compiling a record of 9–0 (8 KO), he faced fellow undefeated British prospect Richard Riakporhe (9–0, 8 KO) for the WBA Inter-Continental cruiserweight title on 20 July 2019 at the O2 Arena in London. The fight was televised live on Sky Sports Box Office as part of the undercard of Dillian Whyte vs. Oscar Rivas.[8] Smith suffered his first professional defeat via split decision (SD) over ten rounds. Two judges scored the bout in favour of Riakporhe with 97–92 and 95–94, while the third scored it 96–93 to Smith.[9]

On 23 November 2019, he fought Craig Glover at the M&S Bank Arena (formerly Echo Arena), Liverpool, with the vacant Commonwealth cruiserweight title on the line. The fight was televised live on Sky Sports in the UK and streamed live on DAZN in the US as part of the undercard for Callum Smith's world title defence against John Ryder.[10] The first-round saw both fighters engage at close-quarters, with Glover suffering a cut above his left eye in the first minute of the bout from an accidental clash of heads. In the second-round, Smith stayed at range behind the jab, landing hooks and straight right hands to bloody Glover's nose. Round three was much of the same, with Smith landing counter hooks as Glover tried to work on the inside. Glover had more success in the fourth, with both fighters landing solid jabs and hooks to the head. In the final 10 seconds of the round, Smith hurt Glover with a straight right hand and followed up with a four punch combination culminating with a left hook which dropped Glover to the canvas seconds before the bell sounding. Less than a minute into the fifth, Smith began to land a variety of heavy punches to the head of Glover, scoring a second knockdown with a powerful left hook to the jaw. Glover was able to get back to his feet before the referee's count of ten only to be met by more heavy shots from Smith, who landed two straight right hands to the side of Glover's head which promoted referee Mark Lyson to call a halt to the contest as Glover was knocked down for a third time, handing Billam-Smith the Commonwealth title via fifth-round TKO.[11]

He made the first defence of his Commonwealth title on 7 August 2020, facing Nathan Thorley at the Matchroom Sport headquarters in Brentwood, Essex, live on Sky Sports as part of the undercard for Terri Harper's world title defence against Natasha Jonas. Following a fast start from Smith, he scored a knockdown at the end of the first round after three left hooks forced Thorley to go down on one knee. After trapping Thorley in a corner in the second round, Smith landed a series of right hands to send Thorley to the canvas for a second time. Smith scored a third knockdown with another right hand, with Thorley again making it back to his feet only to see referee Mark Lyson call a halt to the contest, handing Smith a second-round TKO victory to retain his Commonwealth title.[12]

Professional boxing record
Professional record summary
12 fights 11 wins 1 loss
By knockout 10 0
By decision 1 1
No. Result Record Opponent Type Round, time Date Location Notes
12 Win 11–1 Nathan Thorley TKO 2 (12), 2:05 7 Aug 2020 Matchroom Fight Camp, Brentwood, England Retained Commonwealth cruiserweight title
11 Win 10–1 Craig Glover TKO 5 (12), 1:45 23 Nov 2019 M&S Bank Arena, Liverpool, England Won vacant Commonwealth cruiserweight title
10 Loss 9–1 Richard Riakporhe SD 10 20 Jul 2019 O2 Arena, London, England For WBA Inter-Continental cruiserweight title
9 Win 9–0 Yassine Habachi RTD 3 (6), 3:00 10 May 2019 Motorpoint Arena, Nottingham, England
8 Win 8–0 Kent Kauppinen TKO 6 (6), 0:45 15 Dec 2018 O2 Academy, Bournemouth, England
7 Win 7–0 Robin Dupre RTD 5 (10), 3:00 13 Oct 2018 York Hall, London, England
6 Win 6–0 Michal Pleanik PTS 8 16 Jun 2018 O2 Academy, Bournemouth, England
5 Win 5–0 Gheorghe Danut RTD 5 (6), 3:00 9 Mar 2018 O2 Academy, Bournemouth, England
4 Win 4–0 Laszlo Ivanyi KO 1 (4), 2:17 2 Dec 2017 Leicester Arena, Leicester, England
3 Win 3–0 Jan Hrazdira KO 2 (4) 11 Nov 2017 Royal Highland Centre, Edinburgh, Scotland
2 Win 2–0 Alexandar Todorovic TKO 1 (4), 2:43 14 Oct 2017 Wembley Arena, London, England
1 Win 1–0 Russ Henshaw TKO 1 (4), 2:01 16 Sep 2017 O2 Academy, Bournemouth, England
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References
  1. "Boxing record for Chris Billam-Smith". BoxRec.
  2. Daley, Paul J. (4 June 2018). "PROSPECT WATCH | "THE GENTLEMAN" CHRIS BILLAM-SMITH". TOPCLASSBOXING. Retrieved 25 November 2019.
  3. "BoxRec: Chris Billam Smith - Amateur career". boxrec.com. Retrieved 25 November 2019.
  4. "National Elite Championships 2013". England Boxing. Retrieved 25 November 2019.
  5. "National Elite Championships 2016". England Boxing. Retrieved 25 November 2019.
  6. Jay, Phil (12 September 2017). "Barry, Shane McGuigan link up with Chris Billam-Smith". World Boxing News. Retrieved 25 November 2019.
  7. "BoxRec: Bout". boxrec.com. Retrieved 2019-11-24.
  8. "Whyte vs Rivas: Richard Riakporhe and Chris Billam-Smith risk their unbeaten records on O2 bill". Sky Sports. 3 July 2019. Retrieved 24 November 2019.
  9. Gilbert, Peter (21 July 2019). "Whyte vs Rivas: Richard Riakpore defeats Chris Billam Smith on points". Sky Sports. Retrieved 24 November 2019.
  10. Christ, Scott (23 November 2019). "Callum Smith vs John Ryder: Live streaming results and coverage". www.badlefthook.com. Retrieved 25 November 2019.
  11. Donovan, Jake (23 November 2019). "Chris Billam-Smith Drops, Stops Craig Glover in Five". BoxingScene.com. Retrieved 25 November 2019.
  12. Lewis, Ron (7 August 2020). "Chris Billam-Smith Crushes Thorley To Retain Commonwealth Title". BoxingScene.com. Retrieved 8 August 2020.
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