Chris ‘The Gentleman’ Billam-Smith 18-1 (12) handed previously undefeated Lawrence ‘The Saude’ Okolie 19-1 (14) his first loss and picked up the WBO cruiserweight championship in the process with a majority decision victory at Vitality Stadium in Bournemouth, England on Saturday night.
In what could best be described as a scrappy affair, the 32-year-old Billam-Smith dropped Okolie, 30, three times in the bout, once in the fourth and again in the 10th and 11th rounds.
It wasn’t pretty to watch as Okolie frequently initiated clinches in a bid to get him out of trouble. This brought about the ire of referee Marcus McDonnell, who docked him one point for this infringement in the fifth and another in the seventh.
Even without the knockdowns and the loss of points, Okolie still would have come up short on the cards.
Judges Diana Drews Milani and Bob Williams both saw the fight for Billam-Smith by scores of 116-107 and 115-108 respectively, while judge Benjamin Rodriguez had it even at112-112.
“I have no idea what’s just happened. My whole life has gone so quick and come to this moment, it’s just perfect. There’s nothing more,” said Billam-Smith, who was cut over the left eye from a punch during the fight.
“Against a great champion and a close friend in Lawrence, who has never looked close to getting beaten, he’s given me a very, very hard 12 rounds. I believe I did enough to win it, I believe the scorecards show that.”
He added: “I was sick in bed all week, I didn’t eat from Tuesday to Thursday, I managed to put on a brave face, I just want to dedicate this to my mum who has breast cancer at the minute. Mum, this is for you, I love you so much.”
Okolie was making the fourth defence of the title he won against Polish veteran Krzysztof Glowacki by sixth-round knockout in London in March 2021. He went of to successfully defend the belt against Dilan Prasovic by third-round knockout and Michal Cieslak and David Light, both by decision.
The light bout took place just two months prior to his contest with former sparring partner Billam-Smith.
Whether the short turnaround time affected Okolie is a matter of debate, but the one thing he does know is that he wants to get a chance to become a two-time cruiserweight champion.
“I love being the winner and the champion, I have to take my hat off to him, he did very good work. We’re going to run it back,” Okolie said.
“I trained really hard because I know what Chris is made of. Today is his night, I might be down but I’m definitely not out.
“This was Chris at his very best.
“I can adapt to a loss, I’ll be back again.”
