Cheavon Clarke Shocks Chris Billam-Smith with Brutal Knockout
Cheavon Clarke ripped up the script at the Copper Box Arena, stopping Chris Billam-Smith in brutal fashion and crashing the former world champion to the canvas for the first time in his professional career.
Not once. Twice.
By the time referee Lee Every stepped in with Billam-Smith sagging on the ropes under a storm of right hooks, the upset was complete and Clarke had the marquee scalp he has been chasing.
A decade-old score, settled again
This was more than a ranking fight. It was a rerun of an old story.
Ten years ago, Clarke beat Billam-Smith in a pivotal national amateur final, a defeat that helped drive the Bournemouth fighter from nearly man to elite professional and world champion. He had spoken of payback, of rewriting that chapter.
Instead, a decade on, Clarke slammed the door on him again, this time with far harsher consequences.
Clarke came out like a man determined to seize his moment. The opening round was busy, frantic, messy at times, but it was his energy that set the tone. He winged overhand shots, his head sometimes rushing in too eagerly, yet it was a right hand over the top that made Billam-Smith pause and reset.
When the former champion tried to impose himself, Clarke answered sharply. A left hook caught Billam-Smith as he charged forward. Clarke rolled under a hook, slid away, then threaded a right hand around the guard. Billam-Smith took it, bit down and replied with an uppercut of his own, a reminder of the power and resilience that had carried him to the summit of the division.
They grappled, they mauled, they traded. A right hand crashed in and Clarke instinctively tied his man up, then came back with a crisp right to the jaw. Billam-Smith, as ever, absorbed it with that familiar stoicism.
Clarke’s power begins to tell
By the third round, Clarke’s work started to look more spiteful, more precise. He ripped a superb right uppercut straight between Billam-Smith’s elbows, snapped his head with a left hook and then speared him with a long cross. The shots were cleaner now, the timing sharper.
The clinches became a theme. In close, Clarke worked subtly, whipping a left hook over as they jostled for position. Billam-Smith responded in kind, bulling forward, turning the contest into a rugged, physical fight. He finished the fourth round letting his hands go, swinging hooks and trying to drag Clarke into his kind of battle.
Early in the fifth, Clarke went after him again and the pair traded heavy leather. Neither man was willing to give ground. Both looked irritated by the constant wrestling on the inside, yet neither backed off. Clarke stabbed out a neat jab, but Billam-Smith kept grinding forward on to the front foot, trying to drown him in pressure.
The sixth brought a shift. Billam-Smith finally began to land with the kind of thudding power that has broken many opponents. Clarke exhaled, stepped back and briefly lost his shape, his boxing momentarily untidy under the assault. For the first time, it looked like the former champion might be turning the screw.
Then came the seventh, and everything changed.
Two knockdowns and a ruthless finish
Out of nowhere, Clarke detonated a right hand that sent Billam-Smith crashing to the canvas for the first time in his professional career. The Bournemouth man struggled upright, fighting his way through the count, but his legs told the story.
Clarke smelled the finish.
He surged forward, trapping Billam-Smith near the ropes. As the former champion tried to slide away, another attack sent him down again. Two knockdowns in quick succession, the Copper Box suddenly roaring as the underdog seized control.
Billam-Smith rose once more, defiant as ever, but Clarke did not let him off the hook. He hammered him on the ropes, right hooks flying in. Billam-Smith’s leg stuttered, his body betraying him even as he tried to steady himself, and that was enough for Every, who stepped in with Billam-Smith on his feet but under heavy fire.
The stoppage drew an immediate protest, a shake of the head from the beaten man, yet the damage had been done. Clarke had his statement win.
Respect, rivalry, and unfinished business?
"I'm fine. It was a good shot. He buzzed me, obviously," Billam-Smith said afterwards. "It was a great shot. I made a mistake, but I felt like I was winning the fight.
"Fair play to Chev. We've had three fights now and he's got them all. I'd love to run it back and get him eventually."
Clarke, beaming and defiant, dismissed any talk of him as a long shot.
"Underdog to who? Not us! I don't care about a label. I'm Chev Clarke and that's all that matters."
On a night when he floored a former world champion twice and forced the first stoppage defeat of his career, those labels may finally start to catch up with him.
