Chris Billam-Smith, a former WBO cruiserweight titleholder, is prepared to wait for another title shot.
The popular fighter from Bournemouth, UK, dethroned old stablemate Lawrence Okolie for the title a couple of years ago, but he lost the crown to WBA belt holder Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez last November in Saudi Arabia.
Billam-Smith, 34, returned to the win column with an April victory over contender Brandon Glanton in a bout marred by Glanton’s pre-fight talk of inflicting brain damage on the Englishman.
And Billam-Smith has been an interested spectator in recent weeks, with IBF titlist Jai Opetaia, WBO and WBA unified champion Ramirez and WBC belt holder Badou Jack all coming through title defenses.
Billam-Smith is ranked No. 1 by the WBO, No. 4 by both the WBC and the IBF, and No. 9 by the WBA.
But with Jack ordered to fight a rematch with Noel Mikaelyan and Ramirez possibly facing Opetaia, Billam-Smith – who also has a second child on the way – is not in a hurry to fight.
He is still training with coach Shane McGuigan and always stays in shape, but the Glanton contest allowed him to get back on the horse after Ramirez, and now he may have to wait his turn for a title fight.
“Potentially,” Billam-Smith replied, when asked whether he might be facing a period of inactivity.
That is only underscored by Boxxer, which has promoted Billam-Smith in recent times and has yet to announce a broadcast deal since its previous relationship with Sky Sports expired.
“’Because, look, I feel like I’m in a good position with all the governing bodies, where I could get a world title shot, and that’s what I want,” he said. “I also have another baby on the way in September. So I’m not entirely sure I want to be having a keep-busy fight. But [against] a good-level, fringe-world-level guy, a keep-busy fight and then missing time with the newborn and the current toddler [his young son], but also not being able to support [wife] Mia – because postpartum is a difficult period. I want to help her out as well.
“So it’s a difficult thing to juggle, but it might come at a perfect time, where the world champions sort themselves out and have whatever fights they need – whether, obviously, there’s Zurdo and Jai potentially fighting each other and then you’ve got Badou Jack and Mikaelyan. More than likely, if them fights happen, they’re going to happen around the end of this year, sort of between October and December, so I’m happy to wait until maybe next year and keep ticking over, keep learning, keep training, and then if an opportunity comes after that, then that’d be great and I could fight for a title then. But you just don’t know. I have to wait and see. And if an opportunity comes up, I might have to take it – but I only want a big fight and a big opportunity.”
Jack and Mikaelyan have been instructed to fight again after Jack won a narrow majority decision in Riyadh, and Billam-Smith caught up with that fight a day after it happened.
“I watched it,” he said. “It was a close fight. It’s a close fight. I think Badou Jack puts his shots together quite well, still, and sort of can push you back and had some good spells. But for the majority of the fight, Mikaelyan was outboxing him. I thought it was a nip-and-tuck fight. I thought it wasn’t like anyone won clearly.”
As a consequence, Jack and Mikaelyan will likely fight again later in the year.
“We’ll see what happens there,” Billam-Smith said. “Pretty sure I’m still highly ranked in the WBO as well. Obviously, Zurdo won at the weekend and once again, just sort of like a close fight. But he’d done enough, he won more rounds, especially late on in the fight. There’s opportunities there, but I might have to wait for him.”
It was last weekend when Ramirez defended his belts against Cuban puncher Yuniel Dorticos, on a bill that saw Jake Paul rise to an astonishing No. 14 in the WBA following victory over Julio Cesar Chavez Jnr.
“Well, I’d be disappointed if he got a world title shot before me,” Billam-Smith said of Paul. “I understand it’s a business, but there has to be some sort of integrity. I don’t blame him for it by any stretch, but I would have an issue with the governing bodies if they started putting him in front of me and many other fighters who deserve a shot before him in terms of the resumes that we have against his.”
More likely would be Billam-Smith facing Ramirez in a rematch. Ramirez won a hard fight when they boxed, but did so decisively, and he looked better against Billam-Smith than he did against Dorticos.
“[Ramirez] looked easier to hit, much easier to hit in the fight with Dorticos,” said Billam-Smith. “I don’t mean to talk bad of it and I don’t mean it in that way, but [Dorticos looked] one-dimensional, like he throws select shots. He’s very upright and carries a lot of power. Very, very, very good fighter. He’s slower than I am, but he was able to hit Zurdo a lot easier than I was. It looked like he landed some huge shots in there. He’s got a phenomenal chin, Zurdo, because Dorticos, we’ve seen the power he carries over the years with his knockouts and stuff. And he’s just hitting Zurdo flush. One of the left hooks was just phenomenal for [Ramirez] to just take – that was just incredible.
“So, yeah, he looked a bit flatter. He looked a little bit heavier. I think he got in the ring probably a bit heavier as well – not a huge amount, but he probably got in the ring five, six pounds heavier than he did against me. But also our fight would have taken a bit out of him because, at the time, it took a lot out of me and I’ve kind of used this break since my last fight to sort of recover from that fight, I think both emotionally and mentally and physically. I feel like I’ve had a good break now and I feel much fresher than I did even going into the last camp. It wouldn’t surprise me if Zurdo was the same in terms of taking a little bit out of in that fight. He looked like his movement wasn’t quite there against Dorticos as much as it was against me, but styles do make fights and Dorticos is very, very long, kept the pressure on well. I thought [Zurdo] won the fight, but I don’t think he looked as good as he did against me.”
Tris Dixon covered his first amateur boxing fight in 1996. The former editor of Boxing News, he has written for a number of international publications and newspapers, including GQ and Men’s Health, and is a board member for the Ringside Charitable Trust and the Ring of Brotherhood. He has been a broadcaster for TNT Sports and hosts the popular “Boxing Life Stories” podcast. Dixon is a British Boxing Hall of Famer, an International Boxing Hall of Fame elector, is on The Ring ratings panel and is the author of five boxing books, including “Damage: The Untold Story of Brain Trauma in Boxing” (shortlisted for the William Hill Sportsbook of the Year), “Warrior: A Champion’s Search for His Identity” (shortlisted for the Sunday Times International Sportsbook of the Year) and “The Road to Nowhere: A Journey Through Boxing’s Wastelands.” You can reach him @trisdixon on X and Instagram.
