Chris Billam-Smith brings the WBO World Cruiserweight championship back to Bournemouth after beating Lawrence Okolie by majority decision.
After a trepid start to the fight for The Gentleman, Bournemouth’s emerging star ultimately becomes the newest world champion in the cruiserweight division.
The roar that came out of the Vitality Stadium when Billam-Smith scored the first knockdown, in round four, was immense.
Okolie continued to hold the hometown hero throughout the 12 rounds, and he was deducted two points in total for doing so.
The previous belt holder was giving Billam-Smith problems, not only with his holding, but his awkward style as well. However, the challenger’s chin withstood everything that Okolie threw.
Billam-Smith sat Okolie down on the canvas an extra two times in rounds 10 and 11, and combining that with the belt holder’s original points deductions, that secured the victory for the challenger.
This night will not be forgotten by most, certainly not Billam-Smith, who stated after the fight how much the win meant for him. Not only did he dedicate the fight to all his fans, but his mother too, who is currently battling against cancer.
A main event for the ages was also accompanied by some great fights beforehand.
The highly anticipated evening began with a featherweight bout containing Razor Ali versus Jonatas Rodrigo Gomes de Oliveira. Despite being the first fight on the card, the opening round showed this to be a very skilful matchup.
Ali exhibited some good footwork and head movement, as well as landing the cleaner shots throughout the fight. However, his Brazilian opponent was able to endure all of his punches.The Iranian-born fighter continued to pick some fantastic body shots, but the crowd were surprised when De Oliveira landed a sweet left hook to score the first knockdown of the evening, in just the second round.
Oliveira ended the fight strongly, but after six rounds, it was Ali who won by decision, with the scorecard at 58-55.
Next up was a clash of two heavyweights, Tommy Welch against Amine Boucetta.
The Belgian struggled to land anything significant on Brighton’s heavyweight, and it seemed to be one-way traffic for the entire six rounds. Welch was switched on for the entire fight, unphased by Boucetta, and that resulted in the Brit winning the bout 59-55.
Lewis Edmondson looked to continue his unbeaten professional career against Petar Nosic – the Croat had only fallen short one time in his professional career, and that was against the hype-train, Ben Whittaker.
The 27-year-old from Southampton used his snappy jab and lengthy frame to keep Nosic at bay, until he was able to stop his opponent in the fifth. A clash of heads, followed by a right hook, opened up a cut beneath Nosic’s eye – resulting in a stoppage win for the British light heavyweight, taking him to 7-0.
Michael McKinson was entering the ring for his 26th professional bout against the experienced Nicaraguan, Lebin Morales.
McKinson dropped Morales seconds before the bell in the first, and it was a promising sign of what was to come for the British southpaw, as he continued to stun his opponent in the rounds after.
Aligning with his 12% knockout percentage, McKinson struggled to staple Morales to the canvas a second time. However, McKinson was able to secure a technical knockout victory in the seventh round, after the referee intervened due to Morales eating a multitude of shots without reply.
Bournemouth’s own, Lee Cutler, was out to make a statement in his English championship eliminator bout against a 10-0 Stanley Stannard.
The first round had both fighters feeling each other out very cautiously, but Stannard’s height and reach looked like it could be an obstacle for Cutler.
It was in the third round where Cutler was able to find a way through and he began to land on Stannard. ‘Chaos’ gained much more confidence after the fifth round, as Stannard started to look tired and absorbed multiple overhands from Cutler.
As the final rounds approached, Stannard appeared to catch a second wind and all of a sudden Cutler was under the cosh.
Ultimately, the decision was down to the judges. As Cutler said at the press conference,“pressure makes diamonds”, and overall, that was a crystal performance. Bournemouth’s boy came out on top, with the judge scoring the contest 97-95, meaning Cutler will now go on to fight for the English super-welterweight title.
Someone’s O had to go in the next fight, as Karriss Artingstall and Jade Taylor locked horns in the women’s lightweight division. Both women showcased plenty of skill and a lot of heart, leaving it all in the ring. But it was Artingstall’s punches which had the most bite behind them, accompanying her reach advantage, allowing her to reap the greatest amounts of success.
Once again, we went to the judges scorecards for a decision, and Artingstall moved to 4-0 with a 79-72 victory over Taylor.
As we got closer to the main event, a fight that would certainly produce fireworks was Sam Eggington versus Joe Pigford. The vacant WBA International Super-Welterweight championship was on the line, and you couldn’t be sure who was going to earn it.
Eggington began as the aggressor, keeping Pigford on the outside and cutting off the ring when possible. The man from Smethwick maintained his composure throughout and looked the more confident in there, though, neither fighter had landed anything of any significance after the first three rounds.
As the lights came on in between rounds due to crowd troubles, Eggington blitzed Pigford in the fifth to win by technical knockout, and that made him the new WBA super-welterweight champion.
Finally, we reached the fight everyone was waiting for. Words cannot provide any justice for the atmosphere. All the pressure was on Chris Billam-Smith.
Courtesy of Okolie’s ‘hugging’ and all three of Billam-Smith’s knockdowns, he was able to sling that belt over his shoulder at the end of what was the most eventful night.
So what next for The Gentleman? His hometown fans will be hoping for another night like this one at Dean Court, very soon.