Chris Billam-Smith may finally get his chance at redemption
Chris Billam-Smith (19-1, 13KOs) and Richard Riakporhe (17-0, 13KOs) first shared the ring in 2019, with the latter coming away with a split-decision victory after 10 enthralling rounds.
Riakporhe still remains the only man to have beaten the current WBO World cruiserweight champion.
Rumours of a rematch have been circulating since the meeting was first announced in January, though with no further progress, it appeared that the clash may have been dead in the water.
However, it looks like there is light at the end of the tunnel. It has recently been revealed that the showdown could take place as part of a co-headline with light heavyweight contenders Joshua Buatsi and Anthony Yarde.
Speaking on the prospects of the highly anticipated rematch, Billam-Smith’s trainer Shane McGuigan has relayed that they are currently waiting on confirmation of the light-heavyweight showdown.
“We are waiting on Buatsi vs. Yarde,” McGuigan revealed.
“If it was going to be on [the] Buatsi-Yarde [bill], it would be a co-headline, but we’re sitting and waiting and we’re getting things pushed back a week and another two weeks, so we’re putting our foot down and saying, ‘This is the latest date,’ and it might mean that Chris is headlining and Buatsi and Yarde has to get pushed to another date, so it’s not really our problem.
“The most important thing is keeping momentum and keeping his career going forward. I don’t want him to get stale in the gym. He’s been in the gym a while, so we will have a couple of deloading weeks, then we will ramp it up again.”
McGuigan shows no concern over the lack of certainty towards the proposed bout. Stating that Billam-Smith’s excellent professionalism takes away any risk of problems making weight and fine-tuning fitness.
“He’s also always within a certain percentage of his weight, which is great, and that means we’re always there and thereabouts, in striking distance of six weeks or less than six weeks, like we had against Isaac Chamberlain.
“That just shows that keeping and holding form and holding discipline when you’re just ticking over is really important.”