02 June 2023 , 14:34
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It tells you how much Chris Billam-Smith captured the imagination of the Bournemouth public, football legend Harry Redknapp left Poole for the night to attend a fight for the first time since I won my world title at Loftus Road 38 years ago.
Harry told me that his mates dragged him along to top London nightclub Stringfellows after I beat Eusebio Pedroza. He never went back there either.
Billam-Smith is on a well-earned holiday before deciding his next steps. For a lad like him, who never expected to win a national title never mind beat Lawrence Okolie for the WBO cruiserweight belt, there is a lot to take in.
It was a difficult week for him. He went home for one night to baby sit son Frank, who had a bug. Chris caught it and had the runs all week. He felt terrible. Only on Thursday did he start to revive. At least it helped him make the weight.
A lot of fighters would have pulled out. His physical condition compounded his concerns over his mum, who is having cancer treatment just a couple of years after a stroke. But what a performance.
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Okolie always felt he got the better of the many sparring sessions they shared when Lawrence was in our stable.
There are plenty who look unbelievable in sparring yet when they fight the magic isn’t there. Then you have boys who look pedestrian in sparring who come alive on the big night. Billam-Smith is of the latter variety.
The fourth round changed everything. Tactically, he was perfect in the first three, throwing long and short hooks from an upright position to catch Okolie on the chin.
Lawrence Okolie is knocked down by Chris Billam-Smith (Getty Images)Okolie couldn’t read him. I was sitting beside Joshua Buatsi. He must have needed treatment to his left ear after listening to me screaming all night. Chris slipped to the left and threw a long upward left hook, hit Okolie on the cheekbone and dropped him.
That changed the fight. If Okolie was conscious of getting hit beforehand it was far worse from that point forward, grabbing the whole time.
Referee Marcus McDonald was brilliant. He warned Okolie repeatedly. He could have thrown him out, but he wanted to give the fight every chance.
Okolie is so strong and stops you working because he is so concerned about what is coming back. And it then becomes and ugly fight. But Chris coped well and after the first knockdown he made Okolie’s legs dip at least five times.
The dream now is Las Vegas and, as we know, Billam-Smith makes dreams come true.
Follow Barry on Twitter at @ClonesCyclone @mcguigans_gym