Chev Clarke stops Chris Billam-Smith in seventh round in London
Chev Clarke stopped former cruiserweight world champion Chris Billam-Smith in the seventh round on Saturday night at the Copper Box Arena in London. It was the first time Billam-Smith had been knocked down or stopped in his professional career.
The fight was an all-British cruiserweight bout, which means both men were from Britain and fought in the division for boxers up to 200 pounds (about 90.7 kilograms). No belt was on the line, so the result changes the standings rather than the title picture.
The end came quickly. At the start of the seventh round, Clarke landed a big right hand that sent Billam-Smith to the canvas. He got up and beat the count, but moments later a barrage of punches put him down again. The referee stepped in after Clarke landed two more blows while Billam-Smith looked unsteady, according to the BBC.
For Clarke, the win takes his professional record to 13 wins and 2 defeats. It also settles an old score of sorts. The pair had met as amateurs a decade ago, and Clarke won that bout too.
For Billam-Smith, it is his third professional defeat. He lost to Richard Riakporhe in 2019 and to Gilberto Ramirez in 2024, and now to Clarke.
The build-up had its own tension. At their final face-off on Friday, Clarke turned down Billam-Smith's offer of a handshake, Sky Sports reported. The fight was promoted as Zuffa Boxing 12, the boxing arm of the UFC mixed martial arts company, and both fighters were competing in Zuffa Boxing's cruiserweight division.
The evening also included a main support bout. Denzel Bentley beat Shane Mosley Jr on a unanimous points decision, meaning all three judges scored the fight for him rather than the referee stopping it early.
A stoppage is the referee ending a fight before the scheduled rounds are complete. It usually happens when one boxer is no longer able to defend himself, and it is one of the sport's most sudden outcomes. Boxing bouts can end in an instant like this, which is why the closing seconds of a round matter so much to casual viewers and seasoned fans alike.
Clarke's win is the headline, but the moment that defined the night was that seventh-round right hand. Billam-Smith had never been down in a professional fight before, and he was not able to recover from the second knockdown before the referee intervened.
