‘The Gentleman’ vs ‘IC’
European and Commonwealth cruiserweight champion Chris Billam-Smith (15-1, 11KO) defends his titles to challenger Isaac Chamberlain (14-1, 8KO) on July 30 in his coastal hometown of Bournemouth.
Ranked as the third and fourth cruiserweights in the UK on BoxRec, this domestic battle to be broadcast live on Sky Sports is being billed by BOXXER as a 50-50 clash for good reason, with both fighters evenly matched and just a single defeat each against top opponents.
Billam-Smith dropped a split-decision to rising star Richard Riakporhe, who is now 15-0 and ranked in the top 10 of all the governing bodies, sitting as high as No.2 with the IBF; and Chamberlain has only been bested by the formidable WBO World champion Lawrence Okolie.
However, CBS is the bookies favourite right now, also for good reason. The defending champion gets the home advantage along the south-west shoreline and has had far greater wins on his record than the challenger. ‘The Gentleman’ has beaten opponents with a combined record of 151-100, which is a lot better than ‘Chambo’s’ lesser comparable number of 100-135.
Billam-Smith has defeated Tommy McCarthy twice, first time edging the Belfast boxer on a split but second time making absolutely sure with a dominant eighth-round KO. He also tested himself against some of the country’s best prospects very early in his career, such as 13-1 Robin Dupre in his seventh contest, who was forced to retire after five rounds. After losing to Riakporhe in 2019, he bounced straight back to win the Commonwealth crown by stopping Liverpool’s Craig Glover in five, then followed up with a second-round stoppage of unbeaten Welshman Nathan Thorley.
Trained by Shane McGuigan, Billam-Smith’s jab is one of his strongest weapons, it’s so accurate, sharp and stinging and he’s great at judging its range. His straight right is also a strong missile in his arsenal. He can fight at distance with his excellent jab or he can be clever and controlling on the inside too, where Chamberlain will have to watch out for his compact, powerful left and right hooks.
He possesses the edge in power too – 68.75% to 53.33% in knockout ratio. However, ‘Chambo’ has stopped his last three opponents in the very first round, but unfortunately the standard wasn’t that high. His last fight was against world title contender Dilan Prasovic, who had just lost his first ever professional fight to WBO ruler Okolie, halted by a left hook to the body in round three.
It was all Chamberlain needed to see to know what to do when they fought in December 2021, less than three months from his defeat to Okolie, where Prasovic never looked on the same level. ‘IC’ took full advantage of that blueprint, after a scrappy start where they clashed a few times, to hurt his man with a body shot, which he followed up on mercilessly to secure yet another first round KO.
That victory, although impressive to watch, isn’t an accurate measuring stick for how well he we get on in this next contest. Prasovic had a padded record, an inflated world ranking, and now with three straight KO defeats – in rounds one, two and three – he has been found out completely.
Chamberlain has a nice, relaxed, fluid style, very loose with quick reflexes for a big guy. He was so brave and tough to get himself off the canvas after a disastrous round one with Okolie, which was such a big occasion at the time, to make it all the way to round 10.
Now, he’s in for the next hardest fight of his career, against the odds from the away corner deep in enemy territory. It will be a hostile environment for the Londoner to deal with, but he has dealt with far worse, coming from the mean streets of Brixton where he was involved in drugs and criminal gangs from an early age. The tragic death of his cousin was the wake-up call for Chamberlain to turn his life around, which begun within the four walls of his local boxing gym where he received encouragement and praise for the first time in his life.
That hardship coupled with his natural talent has shaped the Brixton boxer into a formidable professional that will provide the European and Commonwealth champion with some of his hardest rounds yet.
Betting Odds
The champion is the favourite at 8/15 with Betway, while challenger Chamberlain is placed as the slight underdog at 6/4, with the odds for a draw remarkably low at 14/1.
Verdict
I do believe that Chris Billam-Smith is the better fighter than Isaac Chamberlain in most departments and should be the one that gains early control of the contest. But there's two factors to cnsider, the first being that CBS can be a bit hot and cold; he can look sensational in one fight, then less than his best in the next. The other is that the Brixton boxer is as tough as the come and has been through adversity in and out of the ring, which makes it hard to see him being beaten comfortably or stopped. I'm pretty sure this fight is destined to go the distance. My prediction is that the champion retains his titles via a close points win.