Chris Billam-Smith has quite literally walked in David Haye’s shoes before.
But now the Bournemouth bruiser is hoping to follow in his footsteps by becoming the next unified cruiserweight champion from Britain. Billam-Smith, 34, feels his boxing journey has been somewhat intertwined with former gym mate Haye.
That’s because 17 years ago when Haye went to France to beat Jean Marc Mormeck and win the WBC title, Billam-Smith was stepping into the ring for the very first time as an amateur at Weymouth Pavillion.
It’s why he posted the highlights of Haye’s win on social media this week ahead of his clash with Gilberto ‘Zurdo’ Ramirez tonight in Saudi Arabia. Billam-Smith’s opponent that night was Jamie Pinnock from Eastleigh.
Now he’s fighting putting his WBO title on the line against Mexico’s WBA cruiserweight champion Ramirez.
“I remember winning the fight and walking around the ring waving my finger like I had won a world title,” said Billam-Smith. “It was a good feeling. It might feel a bit different tonight. There’s a bit more on the line.”
(Image: PA)
Much like Haye against Mormeck, Billam-Smith is the underdog against 33-year-old Ramirez, who has only lost once in 47 bouts and that was against Dmitry Bivol at light-heavyweight. Haye would go on to beat Enzo Maccarinelli to unify the WBC and WBO titles. No Brit has won two titles in this division since.
“It feels very fitting that he was the last British fighter to be unified cruiserweight champion,” said Billam-Smith. “I started my journey that night he fought Mormeck and now I get to join him as the next unified champion from Britain. It seems like fate.”
Billam-Smith would become friends with Haye as they shared a gym. The Bournemouth boxer’s trainer Shane McGuigan trained the former two-weight world champion in his latter years. McGuigan brought Billam-Smith in to spar George Groves and was so impressed by him they ended up working together.
So when the Bournemouth boxer wanted a specific pair of red Adidas boots for his pro debut in 2017, McGuigan knew where to get them.
“We were trying to find boxing boots for my debut, and we were looking for a certain boot but nowhere had my size and Shane remembered David had a pair, he kindly asked and David gave me them,” he said.
Billam-Smith admitted a few of his Bournemouth faithful were not making the pilgrimage to Las Vegas for tonight’s bout and instead the dry Middle East state of Saudi Arabia is the venue.
But he’s hoping this is far from the final stop on his journey to the top as he looks to surpass Haye and go on to become undisputed champion in the division.
“That is the plan,” he added.
Ramirez v Smith is live on Sky Sports Mix tonight