By Oscar Pick
Success is perhaps the most ambiguous word in the English language. Whether motivated by title, money or fame, there are always conflicting understandings of what success means.
For Chris Billam-Smith, there is a desire to succeed in defining his legacy, quite simply by making a splash at football stadiums and unified belts in America.
“Fighting at two Premier League stadiums in the space of 13 months is crazy,” he said, reminiscing about winning the world championship at Vitality Stadium while preparing for the match at Selhurst Park this Saturday (June 15).
However, the domestic match taking place at Crystal Palace FC’s home ground is not only about defending the title.
It was, as it happened, an exciting rematch, where the WBO cruiserweight champion’s relentless work rate would meet the incredible knockout power of Richard Riakporhe.
Since their first encounter – which Riakporhe narrowly won on points in 2019 – Billam-Smith has honed his skills in the ring while establishing himself as a good sell on the South Coast.
Just over a year ago, he overtook his former teammate, Lawrence Okolie, on the ground where he once held his AFC Bournemouth season ticket.
But a few days later, escaping the chaos created by the sellout crowd, he discovered that some fans had taken their excitement to extremes.
“One guy I met had to leave before my fight because everyone was warming up,” Billam-Smith recalls.
“He was there with his two sons, about 15 or 16 years old. As expected, they sang Bournemouth songs and I think the opposing team’s fans warmed up.
“The man had part of his ear bitten off – it was terrible. Leave the fighting to the warriors.”
This primitive behavior is never far away from football, but in boxing it is somewhat puzzling that a similar mentality within the group – towards “away fans” – actually exists.
So please remember that this weekend’s match is between Billam-Smith and Riakporhe, not Bournemouth and Palace.
PROMOTIONAL GAMES. CHRIS BILLAM-SMITH TRAINING, McGUIGAN GYM, LEYTON, LONDON. PIC LAWRENCE LUSTIG/BOXXER (FREE PHOTO FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY). WBO CRUISERWEIGHT WORLD CHAMPION CHRIS BILLAM-SMITH PREPARES FOR THE TITLE DEFENSE AGAINST RICHARD RIAKPORHE AT CRYSTAL PALACE’S SELHURST PARK ON SKY SPORTS LIVE PROMOTION ON SATURDAY JUNE 15TH.
Coming back to the world of professional sports, it is often difficult for an athlete to find motivation once they have fulfilled their ambitions.
Making no mistake of looking beyond his next opponent, Billam-Smith has developed a new target since ticking the Vitality Stadium off his bucket list.
“There are only three names left in the hat: the other world champions,” he said. “I don’t understand the reason for the war [with Gilberto Ramirez] cannot happen. He fought in America and for me it was a dream.”
After exchanging Instagram DMs with the newly crowned WBA champion, ‘The Gentleman’ is confident that both sides want the fight to happen.
Ramirez became a two-weight world champion after dethroning Arsen Goulamirian at Youtube Theater, California, on a DAZN card promoted by Golden Boy in March.
Chances are, the unity will create an intriguing clash of styles. However, for Billam-Smith, as long as he can make his US debut it could be any other champion standing in the opposite corner.
“Stayed up until dawn watching Ricky Hatton and seeing Darren Barker and Kell Brook win the world championship [in America] – those fights all stand out for me,” he said.
“I remember watching them all on Sky Sports and thinking: ‘this is amazing.’”
America’s appeal clearly still holds a lot of weight, despite everyone’s unprecedented praise for Saudi Arabia’s emergence as the new home of big-time boxing.
However, until he gets the chance to fly across the ocean, with planes full of his adoring fans following close behind, Billam-Smith must assert his dominance in England.
He say: “[The Riakporhe fight] is a great opportunity to shed light on the domestic context; to be the pinnacle of the great era of British heavy cruisers.”
In becoming Bournemouth’s first world champion since Freddie Mills, the 33-year-old has surpassed what many expected of him.
But fighting at two Premier League stadiums and performing in front of a state audience is in itself a fascinating success story, likely to overshadow any trifles or paychecks.
