Chris Billam-Smith


Chris Billam-Smith is an English professional boxer who has held the Commonwealth cruiserweight title since 2019.

Amateur career

After training on and off as a youngster, Smith began to take boxing seriously at the age of 16. During a career in which he compiled a record of 32–11 while representing Poole ABC, he fought in several ABA Championships, reaching the finals in 2013 and 2016; losing out to Jack Massey at 86kg and Cheavon Clarke at 91kg respectively.

Professional career

Smith made his professional debut on 16 September 2017 under the tutelage of Shane McGuigan, scoring a first-round technical knockout victory over Russ Henshaw at the O2 Academy in Bournemouth, Dorset.
After compiling a record of 9–0, he faced fellow undefeated British prospect Richard Riakporhe for the WBA Inter-Continental cruiserweight title on 20 July 2019 at the O2 Arena in London. The fight was televised live on Sky Sports Box Office as part of the undercard of Dillian Whyte vs. Oscar Rivas. Smith suffered his first professional defeat via split decision over ten rounds. Two judges scored the bout in favour of Riakporhe with 97–92 and 95–94, while the third scored it 96–93 to Smith.
On 23 November 2019, he fought Craig Glover at the M&S Bank Arena, Liverpool, with the vacant Commonwealth cruiserweight title on the line. The fight was televised live on Sky Sports in the United Kingdom and streamed live on DAZN in the United States as part of the undercard for Callum Smith's world title defence against John Ryder. Billam-Smith won the fight to capture the Commonwealth title by fifth-round TKO. The first-round saw both fighters engage at close-quarters, with Glover suffering a cut above his left eye in the first minute of the bout from an accidental clash of heads. In the second-round, Smith stayed at range behind the jab, landing hooks and straight right hands to bloody Glover's nose. Round three was much of the same, with Smith landing counter hooks as Glover tried to work on the inside. Glover had more success in the fourth, with both fighters landing solid jabs and hooks to the head. In the final 10 seconds of the round, Smith hurt Glover with a straight right hand and followed up with a four punch combination culminating with a left hook which dropped Glover to the canvas seconds before the bell sounding. Less than a minute into the fifth, Smith began to land a variety of heavy punches to the head of Glover, scoring a second knockdown with a powerful left hook to the jaw. Glover was able to get to his feet before the referee's count of ten, only to be met by more heavy shots from Smith, who landed two straight right hands to the side of Glover's head, causing referee Mark Lyson to wave off the contest as Glover was knocked down for a third time.

Professional boxing record

No.ResultRecordOpponentTypeRound, timeDateLocationNotes
12 Nathan Thorley– 7 Aug 2020Brentwood, England.png" />Defending Commonwealth cruiserweight title
11Win10–1 Craig GloverTKO5, 1:4523 Nov 2019Won vacant Commonwealth cruiserweight title
10Loss9–1 Richard Riakporhe1020 Jul 2019For WBA Inter-Continental cruiserweight title
9Win9–0 Yassine HabachiRTD3, 3:0010 May 2019Motorpoint Arena, Nottingham, England.png" />
8Win8–0 Kent KauppinenTKO6, 0:4515 Dec 2018Bournemouth, England.png" />
7Win7–0 Robin DupreRTD5, 3:0013 Oct 2018York Hall, London, England.png" />
6Win6–0 Michal Pleanik816 Jun 2018
5Win5–0 Gheorghe Danut5, 3:009 Mar 2018
4Win4–0 Laszlo IvanyiKO1, 2:172 Dec 2017Leicester Arena, Leicester, England.png" />
3Win3–0 Jan Hrazdira2 11 Nov 2017Royal Highland Centre, Edinburgh, Scotland.png" />
2Win2–0 Alexandar TodorovicTKO1, 2:4314 Oct 2017Wembley Arena, London, England.png" />
1Win1–0 Russ Henshaw1, 2:0116 Sep 2017