Chris Billam-Smith has revealed that he expects to run it back with Lawrence Okolie before the year is out.
Back in May, ‘The Gentleman’ ended a chapter of a fairytale boxing story by beating former stablemate Okolie at his hometown stadium in Bournemouth to become WBO World Cruiserweight Champion.
Okolie’s fourth defence of the title saw him lose it to the busier Billam-Smith over twelve rounds, suffering three knockdowns and two point deductions in a performance to forget.
Speaking to Boxing Social, Billam-Smith revealed that the procedure has been followed to force a second fight.
“He activated the rematch clause I believe, so I’ve left it to my team. As far as I’m concerned, he’s activated it and they’re working. I tell them not to tell me too much. They keep me updated with little bits and pieces here and there, but I’m not really interested until it comes to signing the contract or we’ve got a date in stone.”
“I’m back in the gym now training anyway, so I’m there if anything else unfolds. If that’s what’s next, I always thought it would be, Lawrence messaged me after the fight saying ‘congratulations … I’ll be seeing you soon.'”
That’s always been in my mind, [even] before the fight, that I’ve got to beat Lawrence twice in the next six to eight months. That’s always been my mindset. That’s the focus.”
Billam-Smith entered the ring recovering from sickness during fight week, making his title win in front of a 15,000 strong crowd all the more impressive.
Being completely fit has him confident he can repeat the result by doing the same with more energy, and it’s Okolie who he believes has to switch it up after suffering the first loss of his pro career.
“I can, touch wood, be 100% for the second fight. I know that I’ll make it more entertaining, give more energy.
I think for Lawrence, he’s got to really change because of the way he boxed in that fight. Like you said, he could’ve been disqualified. Obviously I’m very glad he wasn’t because you don’t want to win a world title by disqualification.”
There is currently no news of the rematch timeframe or where it might land.