WHILE this may not be the 12 months Chris Billam-Smith wins “British Fighter of the Year”, one class for which he’s actually in rivalry is “Most Improved Fighter”, owing to the three wins he has to date registered in 2022 and the method in which these wins have been secured.
Once a cruiserweight simple to overlook, the 32-year-old Billam-Smith has this 12 months become a can’t-miss attraction, forcing a complete division pay shut consideration to his progress. Better than that, he has, given the nature of his latest kind, additionally began to draw quite the following, notably at house in Bournemouth the place his subsequent combat takes place on Saturday (November 17).
The final time Billam-Smith was there it was July and significantly hotter than it’s now. That evening, in opposition to Isaac Chamberlain, Billam-Smith needed to dig deep following an unsure begin to ultimately take over and overwhelm his opponent, beating him in the finish pretty comfortably on factors. He did, in the course of, present each weaknesses and strengths, although much more of the latter than the former, it has to be mentioned. Moreover, in beating Chamberlain the approach he did, thrilling his followers all through, Billam-Smith made a case for being considered one of the fittest and most relentless fighters in the nation; somebody who appears to own the capacity to get stronger with every passing spherical.
In many ways in which efficiency versus Chamberlain was a career-best exhibiting for Billam-Smith, 16-1 (11). His largest win previous to that one additionally arrived this 12 months when, in April, he beat Ireland’s Tommy McCarthy for a second time, this time stopping him inside eight rounds. That, once more, was an indication of each Billam-Smith’s speedy charge of enchancment and in addition his capacity to adapt his fashion and method relying on the opponent and movement of a specific combat.
In fact, Billam-Smith has been getting higher and higher for 3 years now, which makes his sole professional loss in opposition to Richard Riakporhe (a cut up choice in 2019) not only one onerous to recall however one he will certainly be eager to avenge at some stage. Before that, although, he should cope with the risk of German-based Kosovan Armend Xhoxhaj this weekend and accomplish that with the professionalism and consistency for which he’s now identified.
On the face of it, Xhoxhaj seems a banana pores and skin of an opponent – if, in fact, allowed to become that. He is, on paper, a 28-year-old with a modest report of 14-2 (7) whose finest win to this point is his final one, a 10-round choice win over Roman Fress, then 15-0, in May. Other than that, he has overwhelmed primarily a number of journeyman to construct his report, with the two different key outcomes on his ledger each defeats: the first, a third-round KO loss in opposition to Dzemal Bosnjak in 2019, and the second, a fourth-round TKO in opposition to Mateusz Masternak, a former Tony Bellew opponent, in 2021.
Those outcomes don’t precisely scream sturdiness, nor bode nicely when going up in opposition to a person like Billam-Smith, who, whereas maybe not a one-punch KO artist, is somebody whose bodily energy and grit is usually sufficient to interrupt the coronary heart and can of an opponent. Should this tendency proceed this weekend, one can simply see “The Gentleman” ending the 12 months with one other stoppage win – what could be his twelfth as a professional – someplace round the eighth spherical.
Also going down in Bournemouth on Saturday is an intriguing British and Commonwealth light-heavyweight title combat between the unbeaten Dan Azeez, 17-0 (11), and former British and Commonwealth super-middleweight champion Rocky Fielding, 30-2 (18).
Of the two, Azeez, the present British champion now vying for the vacant Commonwealth strap, is actually the man with kind and momentum. Two years youthful than Fielding at 33, he has fewer miles on the clock, clearly, and has additionally been on a very good run in 2022, beating first Reece Cartwright inside eight rounds in March after which, in September, Shakan Pitters by way of 12-round choice. He has, since turning professional in 2017, developed a knack for taking testing challenges – typically in opposition to fellow prospects or contenders – and rising from these exams with each his unbeaten report intact and his fame enhanced.
In Fielding, he faces his most skilled opponent to this point, of that there’s little question. The 35-year-old from Liverpool has in any case shared the ring with a variety of high quality operators over the years, together with the likes of Saul “Canelo” Alvarez, Callum Smith, John Ryder and Tyron Zeuge, whom he famously stopped inside 5 rounds in Germany in 2018. He received his British super-middleweight title, in the meantime, in opposition to Ryder, whom he outpointed by way of cut up choice in 2017, a win that appears higher and higher with the passing of time.
Speaking of which, Fielding not has time on his aspect and subsequently this combat in opposition to Azeez might nicely be his final roll of the cube. Indeed, since dropping in opposition to Alvarez in 2018, he has boxed simply 3 times, stopping Abdallah Paziwapazi in two rounds in 2019, Emmanuel Danso in two rounds in 2021, and Timo Laine inside three earlier this 12 months. Those wins helped Fielding get again in the swing of issues, no query, however it’s onerous to see how they put together him for a British and Commonwealth title combat at light-heavyweight. Nor is it doubtless they are going to be sufficient to organize him for an on-song Dan Azeez, who, offering he maintains his good latest kind, could be anticipated to win this one by choice.
Further down the Bournemouth invoice is a well-matched heavyweight combat between Steve “Drago” Robinson, 5-1 (3) and Nick Campbell, 5-0 (5), in addition to appearances from Caroline Dubois, 4-0 (3), Viddal Riley, 7-0 (4), Lee Cutler, 11-1 (7), Mace Ruegg, 7-0 (0), and the returning Michael McKinson, 22-1 (2), final seen giving his all in opposition to Vergil Ortiz Jnr in August.
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