One of Chris Billam-Smith’s first significant ventures to the Bournemouth International Centre came when he should have been at school. At 16 years old, the hometown teen was drawn to the arena by Arctic Monkeys, as Britain’s most captivating guitar band since Oasis enthralled fans while touring their debut album, Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not. It’s therefore fair to say that the venue carries a certain romance for Billam-Smith.
“I skipped school to queue early,” he tells The Independent, reminiscing on that evening from April 2006. “I fell in love with going to gigs and I’ve been to many there since – Stereophonics, Oasis, Dave. Oasis were there two nights, I bought my first guitar the day we queued for tickets, and I went both nights.”
The ‘BIC’, as Billam-Smith says, “is the heart of the town”. It is there that the 31-year-old will headline on Saturday night, defending his Commonwealth and European cruiserweight titles against compatriot Isaac Chamberlain.
“All my friends and family will be there, the whole town is supporting. That for me is the pinnacle,” Billam-Smith says, sat at the back of a cafe across the road from Shane McGuigan’s gym in Leyton, where he trains. The AFC Bournemouth fan still dreams of fighting at his team’s ground, and “The Gentleman”’s relationship with the club’s chairman, players and staff may yet ensure that dream materalises.
“It’s a lot more pressure and a lot more fun [fighting in Bournemouth],” Billam-Smith says. “Fight night is the moment everything comes together for me. That’s why I do it. I went and watched my mate have an amateur fight when I was younger, and everyone – by that I mean 20, 30 of us – was chanting his name. I remember thinking: ‘What a feeling that must be.’
“Training can be brutal, horrible at times, but I’ve learnt to enjoy the journey more, because that winning feeling is pure elation but lasts probably two weeks max. I think that’s the issue boxers have when they retire; they miss that high and chase it through coming back, drugs, or doing another sport.”
Billam-Smith is still in his prime, entering his fight with Chamberlain – a bout labelled ‘Battle on the Beach’ – on the back of a knockout of Tommy McCarthy in a rematch this April, nine months after the pair’s split draw. Yet the 31-year-old already ponders life after boxing.
“I’m all in, but life’s a game of chess and you’ve got to know your next move,” he says, his Perfect Athlete podcast and ambassadorial role with The Dorset Children’s Foundation being examples of his work outside the ring. “I have to be involved in sport in one way or another, whether that’s coaching, agency work or management. I don’t want to stay in boxing too long; I want to win a world title, earn some good money, and then set up the next thing.
“My dad never really wanted me to box, always called it a barbaric sport. I understand that more as I grow up and even now as a dad. There’s a book by Tris Dixon – a great boxing writer and historian – called Damage. It’s about CTE, brain damage in boxing. I read that and it opened my eyes even more. There’s positives and negatives to take from the book for me, because I don’t drink or do drugs, and a lot of people who end up with CTE and brain trauma... it’s partly because they do that.”
Billam-Smith’s journey through fatherhood is still in its infancy, his wife Mia – an interior designer – having given birth just two months ago.
“It’s been magical really,” Billam-Smith says. “You just mature and become wiser, and life and what it’s about suddenly made sense [when I had a child]. As a kid I didn’t really think about getting married or having kids – probably not even up until my early 20s. But I met my wife when I was 24 and, for me, that sort of changed things.
“I didn’t really understand the concept of marriage; my idea was that if you love someone, you don’t really need marriage, but my wife was like: ‘Even if you do get divorced 30 years later, at least you’ve experienced it.’ I thought, ‘Life’s about experiences,’ and devoting yourself to someone in a marriage made sense the way she put it. As stubborn as I am, she opened my eyes.”
Mia has taken on as many responsibilities as possible since the birth of the couple’s son, allowing her husband to prepare as best as possible for Saturday’s main event.
“She loved boxing before she met me,” Billam-Smith explains. “When I first told her I loved boxing, I was an amateur and had an injury. I didn’t box the first year we were together, it was 53 weeks after our first date that I had my first fight back. I spoke about boxing all the time, but I don’t think she understood. She came and watched my first fight back and I lost. I remember stepping out of the ring and her going: ‘That was amazing!’ I was like: ‘What? I lost.’ But she loved the experience. Now there’s a lot more on the line; it affects her and the little one. More and more nerves have crept in, but she’s supported me throughout. I’m so fortunate to have her.”
The fears that Billam-Smith’s father had about his own son boxing have crept into “The Gentleman”’s attitude towards the future. On the prospect of his son boxing, Billam-Smith says: “I wouldn’t mind him training – boxing teaches a lot of good life principles – but I don’t think I’d want him sparring until he was a lot older. At the same time, the older people are, the harder they punch... It’s sort of a catch-22 situation.
“I’d like him to just stay away. There’s easier and more fun ways to make money. The highs are the highest highs, but the lows can be really low, and probably less than one per cent of boxers get out unscathed.”
When the sun goes down over Bournemouth seafront on Saturday, Billam-Smith’s toughest challenge to date will stand across from him, between the local lad and the highest of highs. His aspirations of fighting for a world title depend largely on whether he can navigate the test posted by Chamberlain, who makes the trip from Brixton with five straight stoppage wins in his last five bouts.
It’s time to find out whether Billam-Smith is really what people say he is, or not.
