WBO cruiserweight titleholder Chris Billam-Smith has accepted a challenger’s mentality going into his second title defense.
The Bournemouth, England, star takes on old foe Richard Riakporhe, the only man to beat him in the professionals, on Saturday behind enemy lines, at the home of Crystal Palace FC, the team Riakporhe is said to support.
Billam-Smith’s most recent fights have been at home in front of his adoring fans. He won the title from Lawrence Okolie, making a dream come true at Bournemouth AFC’s Vitality Stadium. He made his first defense at his fortress, the Bournemouth International Centre, defeating long-time contender Mateusz Masternak, but now he boxes on away soil.
Boxxer promotes both Billam-Smith and challenger Riakporhe, who defeated him on points over 10 rounds five years ago, but Billam-Smith was not bitter that his promoter has not secured him home advantage this time.
“No, I’m not. It made sense,” he said of making this week’s trip to Selhurst Park. “We wanted the show at Bournemouth. Bournemouth won’t do it because it’s June 15, and it’s too near the start of the season and they’ve got to sort their pitch out. I spoke to the CEO Neil Blake myself. He said, ‘We just can’t do it. The notice was too short. We just can’t do it.’ This sort of stuff takes months and months to plan, and Neil just said they can’t.”
Part of Billam-Smith, however, wants to keep the Okolie fight from last year unique, time-capsuled, as it is an experience he is not sure he will ever be able to better.
“To be honest, I don’t really want it back in the stadium,” Billam-Smith said. “That night was never going to be beaten. Even beating Richard there isn’t going to beat it. I like that it sits alone. I need a new dream, a new goal, a new motivation. Now there’s that siege mentality, going to someone else’s backyard. And the mindset is like that underdog, challenger mindset, and I think that’s much better for me.”
The 33-year-old Billam-Smith is 19-1 (13 KOs), has had his last four in Bournemouth and wants to climb fresh mountains. He has spoken often of unification, but travelling to face Riakporhe is a challenge he said he is more than ready for at this point in his career.
“If you look at the Masternak [fight], [the build-up] was just talk about my next fight and stuff like that, and I didn’t perform great back at home.
“I got the job done, still the best anyone had done against him. But at the same time, I feel I needed that new challenge, and it’s great it’s gone this way. It’s a huge fight. I’m a football fan, I’m at another football stadium. When I finish my career, I’ll be able to say I won a world title in Bournemouth, defended it at Selhurst Park – that’s pretty special for me. That gives me goosebumps. There’s that siege mentality. Let’s go. I love it, because I’ll be the underdog heading into this fight as well.”
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