Chris Billam-Smith put in the performance of his career so far to dethrone undefeated cruiserweight world champion, Lawrence Okolie, in Bournemouth.
The fight had many intriguing threads to it. Billam-Smith would fight at the stadium of his beloved AFC Bournemouth as the challenger, and the man in the other corner was a former stablemate and sparring partner.
Okolie’s switch to SugarHill Steward is likely what made the fight feasible in the first place, and he went into the ring as the favourite to retain his WBO belt using his distinctive and often frustrating smash and grab style.
After a messy start, the hometown boy gave his crowd cause to roar when he dropped Okolie in the fourth. Okolie would survive the round at great effort before being knocked down again in the tenth and eleventh rounds.
He was also – to the crowd’s delight – deducted two points for excessive holding.
Judge Benjamin Rodriguez scored the bout 112-112 despite the above, and although ‘CBS’ won by majority decision with the other two cards of 115-108 and 116-107, fans were furious.
Plenty called it the worst scoring they had seen, which is saying something given recent controversies in America.
Others demanded a ban for Rodriguez, failing to see how Okolie’s work in the fight paired with the points deducted and knockdowns could arrive at such a score. There were mentions of corruption and a key theme of atrocity throughout the reaction.
Those working in the sport joined in on the criticism, with analyst Al Bernstein saying Okolie ‘couldn’t possibly have earned a draw’, boxing manager Sam Jones calling it one of the worst cards he’s ever seen and cruiserweight contender, Richard Riakporhe, joking that the judge was on his phone playing chess.
As of writing, the official scorecard hasn’t been made available so the round breakdown can be explored. According to BoxRec, this was Rodriguez’ second time scoring a world title fight – the first being a strawweight bout that lasted all of two rounds – with the majority of others on his record being four rounders.
Okolie congratulated Billam-Smith and made no excuses in defeat. He’s expected to exercise his contractual rematch clause for a second fight later this year.