Cheavon Clarke and Chris Billam-Smith will fight as professionals on November 7 at the Copper Box Arena in London, headlining Zuffa Boxing 12 on Sky Sports. The bout reunites the British cruiserweights a decade after Clarke defeated Billam-Smith twice in the amateur ranks, most notably in the 2016 national elite amateur championships final.
Billam-Smith has stated that Clarke's 2016 victory cost him selection to the Team GB squad. The 36-year-old told Sky Sports: "At the time I thought I had done enough to win it, but he's the aggressor, he hit me with some good shots." He said the loss marked "very much the beginning of the end of my amateur career," noting that Clarke received the GB team spot instead. Billam-Smith acknowledged the result remains difficult to revisit but said it motivates him. "It's hard to watch back but also gives me that fire in the belly," he said.
Clarke did not acknowledge any lingering sentiment from their amateur history. "I haven't got any hook-ups on it," Clarke told Sky Sports. "Maybe he has. We're professionals now and it's a new era." Clarke went on to represent Team GB at the Tokyo Olympics.
Their professional careers have followed different trajectories. Billam-Smith held the WBO world cruiserweight title. Clarke last fought in June, climbing off the canvas twice before stopping Jack Massey. The 36-year-old emphasized the importance of boxing intelligence over toughness in his matchup with Billam-Smith. "Boxing is not a game to be tough. It's not a tough person's sport. It's a smart person's sport, so we'll see," he said, adding: "If you get me down, you got to keep me down."
Billam-Smith acknowledged his amateur style differed from his current approach. "I look so frail and upright" in the 2016 footage, he said. "It's very different to how I box now."