{"id":299632,"date":"2023-12-12T16:10:23","date_gmt":"2023-12-12T16:10:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tellmysport.com\/?p=299632"},"modified":"2023-12-12T16:10:23","modified_gmt":"2023-12-12T16:10:23","slug":"chris-billam-smith-retains-his-wbo-cruiserweight-world-title","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tellmysport.com\/boxing\/chris-billam-smith-retains-his-wbo-cruiserweight-world-title\/","title":{"rendered":"Chris Billam-Smith RETAINS his WBO cruiserweight world title"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1> Chris Billam-Smith RETAINS his WBO cruiserweight world title after Mateusz Masternak retires with a rib injury in the eighth round &#8211; as champion eyes bout against British rival Richard Riakporhe next to avenge his sole loss<\/h1>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Chris Billam-Smith beat Mateusz Masternak to keep his cruiserweight crown<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><b>Richard Riakporhe, who beat Billam-Smith in 2019, is the mandatory challenger<\/b><\/li>\n<li><strong>Ruthless teenage prospect Moses Itauma is a star in the making &#8211; The Hook<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Chris Billam-Smith held on to his WBO cruiserweight title by beating Mateusz Masternak &#8211; and could now set up a tantalising rematch with Richard Riakporhe.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The 33-year-old fought through a frenzied contest with Masternak and the Pole had him on the back foot for long spells at the Bournemouth International Centre.<\/p>\n<p>However, Billam-Smith found his groove and his body work in round seven paid a sweet reward However, Billam-Smith found his groove and his body work in round seven paid a sweet rewardas Masternak pulled out of the contest two seconds into round eight.as Masternak pulled out of the contest two seconds into round eight.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Billam-Smith had endured a few gruelling rounds, and at times it felt as if the contest was sliding away from him, but he lashed a few powerful blows against his opponent&#8217;s midriff and that was the deciding factor.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>He admitted that a rematch with Riakporhe &#8211; the current mandatory challenger who beat Billam-Smith on points in 2019 &#8211; would be &#8216;amazing&#8217;.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/12\/11\/00\/78801911-0-image-a-6_1702255267476.jpg\" height=\"589\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Chris Billam-Smith beat Mateusz Masternak to retain his WBO cruiserweight title for the first time<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/12\/11\/00\/78801899-0-image-a-8_1702255302412.jpg\" height=\"427\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Masternak pushed Billam-Smith all the way but it was ultimately the Brit&#8217;s bodywork which paid off<\/p>\n<p>Billam-Smith told Sky Sports: &#8216;We&#8217;ll see [if I call him].\u00a0Christmas! I want to be undisputed. I would be very keen for that.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;I never shy away from a fight. Me and Rich [Riakporhe] have boxed before but that was a different me.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;It would be an amazing rematch. He might look at tonight and fancy his chances so bring it on.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>There were some punishing rounds for Billam-Smith against Masternak on Sunday.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>In the second, a duo of two-punch combinations from Masternak landed cleanly and in the third, Billam-Smith&#8217;s head snapped back after a rapid flurry of hits.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>He looked laboured in the fifth round and you wouldn&#8217;t be able to tell that Masternak, all of 36 years, was swanning through his 53rd professional bout.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>But Billam-Smith is a man who has overcome setback after setback in the ring and isn&#8217;t one to let a dream slip through his fingers like sand.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Even while showing signs of exhaustion in the seventh round, he concentrated on the shots that he knew would pay dividends and got his reward in the eighth.<\/p>\n<p>Could a contest with Riakporhe await?\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/12\/11\/00\/78802119-0-image-a-9_1702255346432.jpg\" height=\"423\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Richard Riakporhe is likely to be called as the mandatory challenger, setting up a rematch of their 2019 contest<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/12\/11\/00\/78803455-0-image-a-10_1702255431585.jpg\" height=\"423\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Billam-Smith has now won 19 of 20 career fights and wishes to avenge his loss to Riakporhe<\/p>\n<p>Ben Shalom, Riakporhe&#8217;s promoter, said his man &#8216;can&#8217;t wait&#8217; to get in the ring with Billam-Smith.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>He told Sky Sports: &#8216;He&#8217;s been very, very patient. He deserves his chance. He&#8217;s worked his way up to mandatory positions in multiple governing bodies and he&#8217;ll be confident that he wins a world title next year.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Richard will feel like: &#8216;Why is Chris Billam-Smith world champion? I&#8217;ve beat Chris Billam-Smith, I&#8217;ve done everything I&#8217;ve been asked to do. I&#8217;ve knocked out most of my opponents.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/sport\/boxing\/article-12848627\/Chris-Billam-Smith-WBO-cruiserweight-Mateusz-Masternak-British-rival-Richard-Riakporhe.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Read Full Article<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Chris Billam-Smith RETAINS his WBO cruiserweight world title after Mateusz Masternak retires with a rib injury in the eighth round &#8211; as champion eyes bout against British rival Richard Riakporhe next to avenge his sole loss Chris Billam-Smith beat Mateusz Masternak to keep his cruiserweight crown Richard Riakporhe, who beat Billam-Smith in 2019, is the&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":299631,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Chris Billam-Smith RETAINS his WBO cruiserweight world title - Tell My Sport<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/tellmysport.com\/boxing\/chris-billam-smith-retains-his-wbo-cruiserweight-world-title\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Chris Billam-Smith RETAINS his WBO cruiserweight world title - Tell My Sport\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Chris Billam-Smith RETAINS his WBO cruiserweight world title after Mateusz Masternak retires with a rib injury in the eighth round &#8211; 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