A chin nobody has cracked
Chris Billam-Smith has never been floored or stopped as a pro, and Cheavon Clarke walks into the Copper Box Arena in London tonight believing he is the man to change that. The cruiserweights headline Zuffa Boxing 12, with the main event scheduled for the evening.
Clarke is called “C4” for a reason. He is an explosive puncher, and he did not dodge the question when Sky Sports asked about a knockout. “What I can say is I have it in me,” he said, and he pointed to Billam-Smith’s last fight against Ryan Rozicki, where he said Billam-Smith hit the man as hard as he could and Rozicki was still sitting there at the final bell.
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The underdog tag does not sit well
Clarke bristles at being the outsider. “You can’t ever count somebody out. It’s incredibly arrogant, or incredibly ignorant. Or both,” he said. “I’m already world class.”
The two know each other well. Billam-Smith has sparred with Clarke and boxed him as an amateur, and he lost those amateur meetings. He says that history is fuel. “I can finally get one over Chev,” he said, adding that he is fighting for the version of himself that was heartbroken back then.
What a win is worth
Billam-Smith, a former world champion, is chasing another belt and does not hide the pressure. “Every fight’s a must win, especially at this stage in my career,” he said. A defeat could close the door on that plan, while a win would open a path to the biggest names at cruiserweight, a division he says changes day by day.
Billam-Smith respects what is across the ring. “I’d argue that every time he’s been down, he’s come back and he’s either won or performed really well in the fight,” he said of Clarke. “He carries a lot of danger.”
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