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Chris Billam-Smith Drops Lawrence Okolie Three Times To Secure Fairytale World Title

Written by Tom Eaton on 27th May 2023.

Chris Billam-Smith vs Lawrence Okolie

It was a busy night’s work for referee, Marcus McDonell, but a glorious night’s work for Chris Billam-Smith, who defeated Lawrence Okolie in fairytale fashion in his hometown via majority decision (112-112, 116-107, 115-108).

‘The Gentleman’ scored three knockdowns against his former stablemate and, with the help of a two points deductions, did enough to secure a famous victory.

Lawrence Okolie faced former sparring partner, Chris Billam-Smith, in his own backyard as he travelled to the Vitality Stadium in Bournemouth in an attempt to both make a fourth defence of his WBO cruiserweight world title and get one over on his old trainer, Shane McGuigan.

‘The Sauce’ instead had SugarHill Steward in his corner, who also trains heavyweight king, Tyson Fury. After a below-par display in his first bout under Steward’s guidance, the pressure was on for Okolie to impress his new mentor.

The opening round was as scrappy as the champions’ recent outing against David Light, with an abundance of holding separated by Okolie landing the occasional straight right-hand, much to the annoyance of McGuigan, who was extremely vocal in the corner. In the second, ‘The Gentleman’ attempted to make adjustments to counter his opponent as he stepped in, but instead caught him with an accidental clash of heads.

After two rounds of consistent grabbing, the referee began to get involved and warned the champion, but that didn’t seem to interfere with the ongoing wrestling match.

That was until Billam-Smith finally found the punch that he had been looking for early in the fourth, landing a heavy left-hook that sent Okolie to the canvas for the first time in his career.

It was clear that the 30-year-old had not fully recovered and took further damage, with the referee adding a point deduction to his problems for excessive holding in the next round.

Okolie returned to his controversial style, which won him the sixth but did him no favours in the seventh when he was deducted yet another point and given a final warning from McDonnell. Although, with McDonell reluctant to put an early end to the world title fight, Okolie continued – much to the frustration of Billam-Smith, McGuigan and those in attendance – and picked up the middle rounds.

The hometown fighter dug deep to power through the uncomfortable fight to win the ninth round with some handy work on the inside and found another knockdown in the tenth, clipping Okolie with another left-hook before being wobbled himself but managing to stay on his feet and score a decisive 10-8 round.

With the title hanging in the balance, the bout began to heat up in the championship rounds and, with the fans well and truly behind Billam-Smith, it was he who surged on and landed yet another knockdown with a short left-hand against a desperate Okolie, who knew how costly those deductions would be. Okolie needed a knockout in the twelfth, but couldn’t find it, meaning Billam-Smith was crowned as the new WBO champion. A night to remember in Bournemouth.

Undercard

Sam Eggington (33-8) vs Joe Pigford (20-0) – Super-Welterweight – Eggington TKO Round 5

Joe Pigford stepped up in level to take on the game-as-ever Sam Eggington, although it was unfortunately a step too far for the Bournemouth native. Eggington got off to a slower start than his fans are used to, but stepped on the gas in round four and landed a heavy shot just before the bell. In round five he began to push the pace once more and it proved to be too much for Pigford, who was out on his feet as the referee stepped in to save him from further punishment.

Karriss Artingstall (3-0) vs Jade Taylor (5-0) – Featherweight – Artingstall PTS

Karriss Artingstall was a tad controversial during the build-up on fight week, but there was nothing controversial about her performance, where she met a fellow unbeaten opponent. The Olympic bronze medallist lived up to her amateur pedigree, showing stellar footwork and controlling the fight from the opening bell. The southpaw won almost every round of the clash, landing heavy shots that Taylor took well, stretching her undefeated record to 4-0 with a 79-72 decision.

Lee Cutler (12-1) vs Stanley Stannard (10-0) – Super-Welterweight – Cutler PTS

Bournemouth local, Lee Cutler, came out to a warm reception in his hometown, but an early cut in the bout was far less welcome than the 27-year-old. Cutler banked the early rounds, unphased by the wound, and eased off towards the end, believing that he was further ahead on the cards than he was. Nevertheless, he had done enough to edge out a 97-95 decision and hand Stannard the first defeat of his career.

Michael McKinson (24-1) vs Lebin Morales (19-6-1) – Welterweight – McKinson Round 7 TKO

Michael McKinson continued his form since picking up his maiden defeat to Vergil Ortiz last year. The 29-year-old scored a first-round knockdown to get his outing off to a flyer, with a peach of a counter-left-uppercut to drop the Nicaraguan, before uncharacteristically ending the fight in the seventh-round to claim a fourth stoppage win of his career and his first-back-to-back knockout victory.

Other Results

  • Tommy Welch (10-0) vs Amine Boucetta (7-6) – Heavyweight – Welch Decision (59-55)
  • Lewis Edmondson (6-0) vs Petar Nosic (8-1) – Light-Heavyweight – Edmondson TD R5
  • Alireza Ghadiri (7-0) vs Jonatas Gomes de Oliveira (4-3) – Ghadiri Decision (58-55)