Chris Billam-Smith, the WBO cruiserweight world champion, is not any stranger to thrilling fights.
His battles with Isaac Chamberlain and Armend Xhoxhaj had been two of the best contests of final yr and he thinks his conflict with Mateusz Masternak on Sunday, December 10 will high something he is completed to this point.
In truth, he believes it is going to high something seen earlier than in his weight class.
Chris Billam-Smith says he may have his arms full when he faces Mateusz Masternak on December 10 and has unfinished enterprise with Lawrence Okolie
“It makes stylistically for potentially one of the best fights the cruiserweight division has ever seen and that’s saying something,” Billam-Smith informed Sky Sports. “Because the way we both fight is exciting.
“We’re very comparable. We’re each powerful. Put our photographs collectively effectively. We can each punch. We’ve obtained good chins.
“He’s one of the most experienced fighters maybe I’ll ever face because he’s boxed every style. He’s boxed at such a high level,” Billam-Smith defined.
“He’s had more knockouts than I’ve had fights. It’s a hugely dangerous fight. But I’m a world champion. I’ve got to go in there with that confidence and belief, which I always have, and go and do what I do and fight my fight.”
Billam-Smith due to this fact expects this combat with Masternak at the Bournemouth International Centre, dwell on Sky Sports, to be extra demanding than his world title-winning effort in opposition to Lawrence Okolie at the Vitality Stadium final day trip.
Watch highlights of Mateusz Masternak’s convincing factors victory in opposition to Adam Balski
“For me it’s my toughest test,” the champion stated. “I’m expecting that and I’m preparing for that because that’s the type of fighter he is. You prepare for anything less than that against Masternak, you’re doing him an injustice, you’re doing yourself an injustice.”
Billam-Smith is a goal, as a result of different fighters see him as a champion who may be weak. But the 33-year-old guarantees he’s far more durable to defeat than some may suppose.
“I’m not a slickster. I’m no Floyd Mayweather. But what I do is very, very effective and underrated,” he stated.
He makes his first defence in opposition to Masternak. It’s a combat Billam-Smith is extremely motivated to win, not simply because it’s one other return to his hometown.
“I’m scared of being a flash in the pan. I don’t want to be that one-hit wonder,” he stated. “I want to cement my stature as a world champion and eventually move on to unifications and huge fights.”
Okolie searching for revenge
Billam-Smith additionally reckons he may make a rematch with Okolie thrilling. Their first combat was marred by clinching however illuminated by the sequence of knockdowns Billam-Smith scored over the course of 12 rounds.
“I expect Lawrence to be a lot better second time round. I expect him to make improvements. That’s the sort of man he is. He goes away and he works on things and I expect him to come back with more motivation,” the new champion stated.
The bout will be Billam’s Smith’s first defence of his WBO world title
Okolie, he believes, will change his type and tidy up his work. “Now he has been beaten he has to do that. He never lost before so he got away with it. He used to say in the gym: ‘It doesn’t matter, I’m still winning,'” Billam-Smith stated.
“He needs to change his style,” the Bournemouth man continued. “I expect him to. It will make the second fight more intriguing.”
Billam-Smith is adamant that he would be extra harmful too. For a begin, he will not be bothered by a abdomen bug, as he was in their first combat. “I can see things I can do better in there as well. Then at the time I was aware of not wanting to waste any energy levels because I knew I wasn’t really 100 per cent,” he stated.
“That’ll be a fight that will happen next year.”
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