Chris Billam-Smith not looking to entertain ‘no-win’ fight with Anthony Yarde
Dec 31, 2024 • 6:30 AM ET
Former WBO cruiserweight champion Chris Billam-Smith doesn’t believe his road to another world title will go through Anthony Yarde.
London-born light heavyweight Yarde and his trainer, Tunde Ajayi, have previously mentioned fighting Billam-Smith, but that was before Billam-Smith lost his WBO belt to Gilberto Ramirez.
Billam-Smith, trailed by Shane McGuigan, is now looking to take the WBC route to a title but the Bournemouth-based and Boxxer-promoted fighter is not looking at Yarde, even though Yarde’s last fight was on a Boxxer bill.
“That’d be a big fight but if I go in there and stop Anthony Yarde, which is the best outcome for me, right? But what accolades am I actually going to get? I’m not going to get any respect,” Billam-Smith explained. “‘Oh, he’s a light heavyweight coming up and he’s got beaten for the British title [by Lyndon Arthur in a loss Yarde avenged]. And a weight below, 25 pounds lighter,’ so it’s like, what do I gain out of that?”
Billam-Smith believes he will be boxing for another year or two. The 34-year-old, now 20-2 (13 KOs), is looking for big fights but also meaningful ones that will further his career.
“I would never fight solely just for money,” he added. “Obviously, money is a by-product. I won’t go, ‘oh yeah, but you're getting paid this much.’ And he’s a good fighter. He’s a good fighter, and he’ll be able to punch, and he’s got fast hands. So it’s like, I know I’d beat him, but it’s almost like that risk versus reward. Like any fight, there’s risk there, but I don’t see what I can gain out of that fight.
“Personally, other than my stock will rise and all that stuff in terms of, he brings eyes, people know him, that kind of thing. But I’m not going to get anything for stopping Anthony Yarde. I’m not going to get any praise. If I stopped him, it would be, ‘Oh, he was just a light heavyweight. He’s going to stay down there.’
“And if I stopped him in the 12th round, for example, which is, after a really good fight, after 10, 11 rounds and stopped him, or I battered him for 12 rounds and win on points, then what do I gain out of that? If you have a tear up with him, and it’s a 50-50 fight, and you win, [it’s] ‘He’s only a light heavyweight.’ Either way, you can’t win. I’m not going to win in that situation.”
Tris Dixon covered his first amateur boxing fight in 1996. The former editor of Boxing News, he has written for a number of international publications and newspapers, including GQ and Men’s Health, and is a board member for the Ringside Charitable Trust and the Ring of Brotherhood. He has been a broadcaster for TNT Sports and hosts the popular “Boxing Life Stories” podcast. Dixon is a British Boxing Hall of Famer, an International Boxing Hall of Fame elector, a BWAA award winner, and is the author of five boxing books, including “Damage: The Untold Story of Brain Trauma in Boxing” (shortlisted for the William Hill Sportsbook of the Year), “Warrior: A Champion’s Search for His Identity” (shortlisted for the Sunday Times International Sportsbook of the Year) and “The Road to Nowhere: A Journey Through Boxing’s Wastelands.” You can reach him @trisdixon on X and Instagram.
