Chris Billam-Smith’s fighting moniker may be “The Gentleman”, but the calm, even-tempered Englishman outside of the ring flips a switch when he steps through the ropes, where he turns from a mild-mannered man to one of the toughest cruiserweights in the world. That ability to turn it on and go into the trenches with the best fighters on the planet has already taken him to a cruiserweight world title. Now he’s targeting more success in Zuffa Boxing, where he is hunting down a potential title clash with Zuffa's champion, Jai Opetaia. Billam-Smith watched from afar as Opetaia captured the inaugural 200-pound Zuffa title with victory over Brandon Glanton, who Billam-Smith himself defeated in his last outing. “Yeah, I think it was a solid performance,” he said. “I think he did what he had to do, just outboxed him all round, every round. I thought Glanton looked quite slow and ponderous at times, but it might have been Jai forcing him to.
“A lot of people are saying that Jai could have picked up the pace and stopped him, but why would you when (Glanton’s) only chance is getting lucky with a shot? So no, I think it made sense to box him the way he did. I've seen loads of chinks in Jai’s armor over the years, so hopefully we can get that fight eventually.”
The first step towards that fight comes Saturday night in Billam-Smith’s hometown of Bournemouth, England, as Zuffa Boxing goes on the road for the first time. As one half of the main event, Billam-Smith is excited to kick off a new chapter in his career on home soil. “It’s a real honor to fight in my hometown,” he said. “The support I've had since we first started fighting here four years ago now, it's just been so special. That first one was super special, and really sort of set the standard for the shows down here, and that feeling for me of walking out and having my home support there is just phenomenal. I was talking to someone earlier, I’ll probably know half the people in there by name, to be honest with you, because it's a fairly small town and community, quite a good community. So, yeah, it's a real honor to fight in front of them.”
It’s a huge night for Billam-Smith, who hopes to continue the surging sporting momentum already present in his hometown, after their football club, AFC Bournemouth, finished sixth in the Premier League to secure UEFA Europa League qualification next season. Seeing the whole town embracing the football club’s success has only inspired Billam-Smith further as he has prepared for his fight on Saturday night. “Yes! Everyone’s a Bournemouth fan down here now,” he smiled. “That wasn't the case when I was a kid. Everyone (supported) Bournemouth and, most of the time, a Premier League team, or just a Premier League team. But now, just going around and seeing young kids in Bournemouth shirts is amazing. As kids, we never really did that. Even if we were supporters of the club, we never really had the kits and stuff. But now everyone’s got a Bournemouth shirt, everyone’s a Bournemouth fan, and the support the club have given me, and in turn the fans from the club have given me, has been exceptional, and I’m forever indebted to them for all the support they showed me.”
The town has given Billam-Smith some memorable nights during his career. He made his professional debut in the town, and has fought there seven times, including once at AFC Bournemouth’s stadium, Dean Court, where he dropped Lawrence Okolie three times en route to capturing world championship gold in front of his hometown fans. Saturday will be his fourth appearance at Bournemouth International Centre, and he hopes to channel the energy from the stands once again as he looks to deliver another home win against dangerous Canadian contender Ryan Rozicki. “I don't know if science will ever be able to prove it, but there's got to be something to be said for that energy, and it transferring, or you getting absorbed by it,” he suggested. “Because even if you were in that atmosphere and you didn't know anyone in there, and you didn't even want to be there, I don't think you could not get amped up by it. It's such a special energy. To experience that as someone who got into sport because of the atmosphere and has always loved atmospheric occasions, whether that's music gigs or football games or boxing nights, I'm absolutely so privileged and honored to have that.”
Billam-Smith will make his Zuffa Boxing debut in Saturday night’s event, and he revealed what convinced him to make the decision to make a change and embark on a new adventure as a Zuffa Boxing athlete. “Just how valued I've felt,” he explained. “I felt so valued from the start of the conversations, and then arriving on fight week, I think all the fighters are really valued, and see what the setup is, and see how huge the whole machine is. You've got everything provided for you. We have nutritionists here, therapists here, which is just unheard of in boxing. For the promotion to put that on, it's a real special feeling to feel that and feel valued as a fighter – not just me on my own, but I know all the other fighters will feel that as well. And especially if you're starting out and you haven't got that because you can't afford a nutritionist and a therapist and stuff like that. So, for the guys starting their careers and early on in their careers, it's amazing for them, so good.”
Rozicki brings a 21-1-1 record and a reputation as a relentless power puncher, but Billam-Smith said he’s prepared for a hard-hitting pressure fighter before – in his last contest against Glanton – and plans to put that experience to good use against Rozicki on Saturday night. "I had a similar thing in my last fight,” he explained. “I boxed Brandon Glanton in my last fight. He comes forward, aggressive, doesn't know how to take a backward step, big puncher, got punch power in all his shots, so yeah, it's taking bits from that fight. But I've improved a lot since then as well, and I think you've got to be smart in there. There’s no point in me just standing and trading with him and hoping I come out on top, because that gives him a much bigger chance of winning. But I'm also not going to be running the whole fight, and just looking to not get hit at all, you know? It's going to happen at some point. So it's just about being in the right positions at the right time, then picking my moments.”
It’s a stylistic matchup that looks set to deliver a cracker of a main event contest on England’s South Coast. Billam-Smith has already played out the fight in his mind several times and said he’s ready to put Rozicki under the sort of pressure the Canadian contender hasn’t experienced before. “I've envisioned a lot of me landing a lot of shots,” he said. “I think it will be interesting to see how he deals with the speed, because I don't think he's been in there with anyone anywhere near as quick as me. He's obviously been in there with a decent opponent in Oscar Rivas, but he was pretty slow and ponderous, but a powerful puncher and a tough guy. But I'm different to that, and it’s one of those things you can't see from outside the ring. I think, once you're in there and you feel it, it's very, very different. So, we'll see how he adapts to that.”
Victory could put Billam-Smith in line for a shot at Opetaia and the Zuffa Boxing cruiserweight title. Professionally, that’s the goal, but with the 35-year-old welcoming a new arrival into his young family a few months ago, he’s also got another important job to return to – being a husband and father. “Boxing-wise, hopefully we can get the Jai Opetaia fight, and that’s it,” he said. “But yeah. A little holiday planned first. I need to spend some time with the family and be a dad and husband for a bit.”
