In a sport full of glorious highs and devastating lows, Chris Billam-Smith knows what it’s like to be at both ends of the spectrum when it comes to boxing.
Just weeks on from beating former stablemate Lawrence Okolie to fulfill his dream of becoming a world champion, Billam-Smith is riding the crest of a wave.
But it hasn’t always been like this. In fact, his journey to the top could have ended almost before it even began.
Having not started to take boxing seriously until he moved into his twenties, Billam-Smith made impressive progress in the amateur ranks and was invited for a series of assessments by Great Britain to get onto their squad ahead of the 2016 Olympics.
He advanced through the first two stages, but was knocked back at the final hurdle, leaving him ‘heartbroken’.
Chris Billam-Smith was crowned world champion last month after beating Lawrence Okolie
But he has also had difficult moments in boxing, and considered quitting as an amateur
Yet the popular cruiserweight has revealed that it was another incident in the amateurs that really made him think about packing the sport in altogether.
‘Towards the end of my amateur career I had the three assessments for the Great Britain squad and on the third one I didn’t get in. And I was heartbroken and absolutely devastated,’ Billam-Smith admitted exclusively to Mail Sport.
‘After that assessment it was really tough to take because I thought I’d done enough to get on the squad and I think some coaches voted yes for me and some didn’t. It was hard to take for sure, so I was very disheartened. It was like a week before Christmas as well so Christmas wasn’t very enjoyable for me.
‘I was a bit in limbo, not knowing what I was going to do with my life because in my head I’d planned for years to be up on the Great Britain squad and train up there in Sheffield.
‘And then another time in my amateur career where I had a bad spar and got dropped, I thought about quitting then.’
Billam-Smith’s doubts about his future came at a difficult time for the Bournemouth-based boxer, as he had a fight booked the following week.
He decided to give the sport another shot, and emerged victorious that night to put the setback behind him.
‘I had a fight scheduled eight days later and ended up having that fight and winning it. But that was probably the closest I’ve come (to quitting), when I got knocked down in sparring,’ Billam-Smith explained.
‘That was just hard to take at the time, but then I just thought I’d regret not taking the fight the week after, and I took that and won it and that quickly erased the memory of getting dropped in sparring.’
Even after getting his amateur career back on track, Billam-Smith was still uncertain about putting a team together to start his professional career.
He reached out to highly-regarded trainer Shane McGuigan after previously sparring numerous rounds with his charge George Groves, but admitted he half-expected to be turned down by a coach that has tended to deal almost exclusively with world-level fighters.
McGuigan agreed to take Billam-Smith on due to him being a ‘nice kid’, and he started to build some momentum by winning his first nine fights as a professional.
Billam-Smith has been guided throughout his professional career by trainer Shane McGuigan (left), but admits he was only taken on in the first place due to being a ‘nice kid’
Billam-Smith lost his tenth professional fight against Richard Riakporhe, and was left questioning his place in the gym after that defeat
His tenth bout saw him suffer his first loss, though, as he dropped a razor-thin split decision against domestic foe Richard Riakporhe.
That defeat came at an incredibly difficult time for the McGuigan family, with Shane’s sister Danika passing away from colon cancer just three days after the fight. Once again, Billam-Smith was left with doubts as to where his career was heading.
‘It was difficult because I’m in a gym full of winners,’ Billam-Smith said.
‘If anyone lost in the gym, it was at the very top level, fighting for world titles or that sort of level so to lose at that level was a lot to take. I sort of felt like I maybe didn’t deserve my place in the gym at that point.
‘It was a tough time for the family as well, the McGuigan’s, Danika was ill and sadly passed away three days later so they obviously didn’t see Danika that night, they left the hospital to come to my fight. So during that time it was very difficult to take all of that in.’
Having been beaten at domestic level, it would have been easy for Billam-Smith to be demoralised, believing that his chances of making it to world level had gone up in smoke.
But sitting with the 32-year-old, it is clear that he is a level-headed and thoughtful individual, and that comes across with his measured answer on how he felt he actually performed in defeat.
‘Performance-wise I was pleased,’ he added.
‘I sort of won in defeat, and I think I knew on the night that I’d won in defeat in terms of I’d proven that I was worthy of that level and worthy of more opportunities, and obviously they came.’
They certainly did.
In Billam-Smith’s very next fight, he won the Commonwealth title by stopping Craig Glover inside five rounds, and over the course of his next four bouts he would add the British and European straps to his collection.
Billam-Smith had to come through some tough moments against Okolie, but upset the odds to pick up a points win
Billam-Smith was very emotional after the win, and revealed his mum had been diagnosed with breast cancer in the build-up to the Okolie fight
He revealed his mum’s illness and his son’s birthday fuelled him to put in a career-best display
Then the big one arrived – Billam-Smith got his shot at a world title against Okolie.
Billam-Smith acknowledges that fighting against a man he knows better than most was a major advantage, but his preparation was far from ideal.
Since picking up the victory, he has revealed that he was ‘sick in bed’ during fight week, while he also found out during the build-up that his mother is battling breast cancer.
For many, these would be legitimate reasons to deliver a below-par performance, but Billam-Smith rose to the occasion in front of 15,000 of his own fans at Bournemouth’s Vitality Stadium, insisting that he refused to be denied on the night.
‘I remember doing the ringwalk and it just being a very special moment. Just looking around and nodding to myself and soaking up the atmosphere but not getting overwhelmed by it,’ Billam-Smith said.
‘I was laser-focused on fight night in terms of staying relaxed and calm, not letting anything overwhelm me, and the crowd have been fantastic to me in Bournemouth for the last year. We had the Chamberlain fight, then the Xhoxhaj fight and now 15,000 in your home team’s stadium, it just doesn’t get better than that.
‘And then all the other things, my son’s birthday on the Friday – the day of the weigh-in – and then my mum battling cancer. There was so much to fight for, so many reasons to win, and I think all those reasons added up fuelled me.’
Billam-Smith’s mindset has evidently played a major role in his rise to the top of the cruiserweight division. He was never tipped to achieve world honours, and openly admits he has had doubts about his own career at various stages of his development.
Billam-Smith wants a shot at Canelo Alvarez (above) in the future, as he continues to chase the biggest challenges
But he has overcome adversity both in and out of the ring to achieve his goal of winning a world title. And he is not done yet.
Billam-Smith is already eyeing future fights with Riakporhe and Mexican superstar Canelo Alvarez.
Riakporhe has also gone from strength to strength since his first meeting with Billam-Smith, winning each of his last four fights by knockout, while Canelo is widely regarded as one of the finest boxers of his generation.
Both are dangerous fights, but Billam-Smith has never shirked a challenge. Having bounced back from losses and moments of self-doubt to reach the pinnacle of the sport, he has proven that he simply cannot be written off.
Lorton Entertainment’s “STABLE”, a four-part documentary series covering Shane McGuigan’s work with his fighters, will be released this Autumn.
