Old wounds can still ache. Chris Billam-Smith has achieved more than Cheavon Clarke as a professional fighter. But Clarke still has something Billam-Smith never got.
They fight each other on Saturday in the headline bout at the Copper Box Arena in London, live on Sky Sports.
10 years ago, when they were amateur boxers, Clarke beat Billam-Smith in the final of the national championships.
The result spun their lives in different directions. It led Clarke onto the GB squad, where he excelled and became an Olympian.
Billam-Smith never did win the elites. He eventually turned professional, labouring on small hall shows at first though he rose to win British, Commonwealth, European and ultimately a world title.
But losing to Clarke in that 2016 amateur final, one of Billam-Smith’s two amateur losses to him, hurt.
At the time Billam-Smith craved the national title. He’d reached the final three years before and at that point in 2016 he was favoured to finally win it. It would have been his gateway to the Olympic programme.
Instead Clarke, who’d drifted away from boxing before making an unheralded return, supplanted him as the country’s amateur No 1.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Chris Billam-Smith and Chev Clarke share a first fight week face-off ahead of their Zuffa Boxing 12 clash on Saturday
At the end of that intense three-round encounter, Clarke had his hand raised and danced in the ring as he took his victory.
“I was dancing like a madman,” Clarke recalled. “When I think about, if I didn’t win that, would I have got the opportunity to go on the national team?
“Chev Clarke was not supposed to be in the final. On the way to the final I beat all the favourites that year.”
“I wouldn’t dance as my celebration,” Billam-Smith sighed, “but he won his fight, he can celebrate how he wants.”
What Billam-Smith wants is revenge. It’s not easy beating a fighter who has already beaten you, but Billam-Smith did that with Richard Riakporhe. He is determined to settle the score with Clarke too.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Speaking on Toe 2 Toe podcast, European cruiserweight champion Viddal Riley predicts a close fight between Chris Billam-Smith and Chev Clarke at Zuffa Boxing 12
“Amateur and pro is a different sport and had I not changed enough as a pro and I was still that out-and-out boxer then this fight, and my outlook on it, would be different,” Billam-Smith told Sky Sports.
“But I’m a completely fighter to how I was then, on the backfoot boxing long as an amateur. Now I’m on the front foot punching short. It’s literally the opposite.”
But it’s not just the technical challenge of solving the problems this opponent poses, it’s the emotional satisfaction he wants.
“There’s probably someone better at psychology than me [who can say] as to why I enjoy avenging a defeat,” Billam-Smith said.
“I’ve always had this inner competitive spirit where I want to win and that’s what’s got to me to the stage I’m at. Because I want to win.
“I’ve got that in me. To then lose and then avenge it, that’s a great feeling. Especially when you’ve lost a fight, you’re the underdog going into the next fight, most of the time. This fight will be different because of the scenario.”
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Chris Billam-Smith gives an analysis on his previous amateur encounter with Cheavon Clarke back in 2016
Clarke though showed how dangerous he can be in his last fight, when he picked himself up from the deck twice to take out Jack Massey, a former European champion and world title challenger.
Billam-Smith noted: “With Chev he keeps the speed [when hurt] and that’s why he was able to land that right hand that was the beginning of the end for Jack and that makes him a really, really dangerous fight. Really dangerous.
“At the same time I believe in my own abilities but I’m very aware of the other possibilities and what could happen if I’m not on my game.”
But he added: “I love that feeling, that fear of a big puncher can make you perform well and with Chev it’s definitely that.”
Clarke has something to prove himself in their upcoming fight on Saturday. He’s seen Billam-Smith overhaul and eclipse him as a professional. He’s the underdog in this fight.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Chris Billam-Smith and Cheavon Clarke will box in the headline event of Zuffa Boxing 12 at London’s Copper Box Arena on Saturday, LIVE on Sky Sports
It reminds him of that amateur championship. “I think it’s the same thing, the fact that people wrote me off all the way through,” he said.
“My story is still being written. I come out and I set myself a goal. I’m willing to do whatever it takes with integrity to achieve it.
“Come November 7, he’s got his bitterness and I’ve got my attitude. So you guys are in for a hell of fight.”
‘It affected his life for years’
Current European champion Viddal Riley boxed Billam-Smith as an amateur and Clarke as a pro. He understands Billam-Smith’s grudge. It’s something that lingers.
“It definitely does because it has such a knock-on effect to even what your pro career journey starts off as. Chev starts his pro journey as an Olympian, getting promoted as such, A side,” Riley told Sky Sports.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Chev Clarke recovered from being knocked down twice to stop Jack Massey in the seventh round of their enthralling clash
“Chris would have had to get out the mud. He had to get out the mud. It affected his life for years despite that fight being only nine minutes. So it’s interesting. I think Chris will have that in his heart going into this weekend.
“He’s had that chip on his shoulder and he’s done extremely well with that chip on his shoulder because he’s won every belt you can win.
“Chev will also know that he needs to win to be a force to be reckoned with in the division. Otherwise he’s going to be on the outskirts of the juicy fights.”
Watch Billam-Smith vs Clarke on Saturday November 7 live on Sky Sports. Tickets for ZUFFA BOXING 12 available via Ticketmaster.
Leave a Reply