Chris Billam-Smith: A Lifetime in the Making

Chris Billam-Smith: A Lifetime in the Making

By Oliver McManus

Chris Billam-Smith’s world title tilt at the Vitality Stadium came not through fortune or fluke but from years of dedication. So often, dreams are flickering glimpses of what could have been. What should have been, perhaps. Miniscule moments that pass us by and exist, for most, entirely in our imaginations. They are not designed to last.

Chris Billam-Smith has made no secret that his dream has always been to win a world title at the home of his beloved Cherries.

This is what his life has been leading to. Ever since he was part of around 20 friends in attendance to cheer on Dean Perkins, a friend from college, in an amateur bout.

Amid the cries of “Deano, Deano”, Chris knew then that it was a feeling he wished to experience for himself.

The lights, the atmosphere, the adulation. This is what dreams are made of. This is what legends are made from.

And so it proved to be. 36 minutes in front of 15,000 adoring fans to preserve his dreams for a lifetime and beyond.

Standing in between him and a place in the history books was the unbeaten WBO cruiserweight world champion Lawrence Okolie.

A friend turned foe. A sparring partner turned rival.

The opening bell sounded shortly after 10.30pm and it was an intelligent start from the Bournemouth man who was to Okolie’s intentions to fight on the inside and smother the work of CBS.

Billam-Smith was light on his feet and stepped out of range with Okolie receiving a finger waggle from the referee on a handful of occasions.

Through two and neither had really stamped their authority on the contest but both men were showing glimpses of their gameplan.

Okolie did what Okolie does – hold and grapple. It’s not eye-catching but it works. Marcus McDonnell, to give him his dues, was keen to get some semblance of fluidity to the fight. But the fight was physical and it was attritional.

The fourth saw Billam-Smith, and the Vitality, roar into life. Okolie was down and baffled. The Gentleman was on him, focussed as he always is, and started to pressure the champion. Okolie looked frazzled – like never before in his career.

With ten seconds to go in the round Okolie looked down to his corner almost beyond belief at what had happened. Make no mistake he was caught clean by a perfectly timed hook.

More frustration in the fifth for the champion – a point deducted to the delight of the crowd. And if they didn’t believe in destiny before they certainly did now.

Chris Billam-Smith was boxing the fight of his life. No antics. Nothing show. Just calm, composed, and to a tee.

Okolie sprung out of the traps in the sixth but, even so, was unable to really muster any noticeable advantage over the challenger.

Dreams edged closer to reality with the passing of every round as an increasingly agitated Okolie was simply unable to come up with a Plan B. The frustrater had become the frustrated. And it was showing. Another point deducted in the seventh.

Shane McGuigan’s charge stuck to his guns masterfully – he refused to get annoyed by Okolie’s antics – and, somehow, was the calmest man in the stadium.

Round 10: another knockdown. And Okolie’s reign as a world champion was in tatters. Into the eleventh and CBS bagged himself another knockdown: at this point I had stopped making notes and simply started screaming my lungs out. I’ll make no apologies for the lack of impartiality – this had become the greatest night of my life.

This is what dreams are made of. This is what legends are made from.

Chris Billam-Smith – champion of the world. Soak it in. History has been made.

Photo Credit: Lawrence Lustig/Boxxer