Chris Oliver expects Chris Billam-Smith to begin a new chapter in his career with a convincing win close to home.
Boxing betting tips: Saturday June 6
2pts Chris Billam-Smith to win by unanimous decision at 6/4 (bet365)
1pt Josh Padley to win by stoppage at 15/8 (QuinnBet, 9/5 general)
Chris Billam-Smith begins a new chapter of his career when he finally returns to the ring against Ryan Rozicki on Saturday night.
It has been over a year since we last saw Billam-Smith in action and he begins his new deal with Zuffa Boxing in a big homecoming bout at the Bournemouth International Centre.
Dana White’s new promotional outfit have made big waves in the sport already and the good news for UK fans is that they have partnered up with Sky Sports, who are showing this event.
A former world cruiserweight champion, Billam-Smith (21-2, 13 KOs) hasn’t fought since his unanimous decision victory over Brandon Glanton in April last year and he is a 1/3 favourite to make a winning return against Rozicki, who is available at a best price of 16/5.
Rozicki (21-1-1, 20 KOs) is dangerous, though, having stopped all but one of his 21 victims and 18 of those knockouts have come in the opening three rounds, so he can clearly bang a fair bit.
The Canadian, who likes to fight on the front foot and throw plenty of leather, is promising violence in this showdown and he doesn’t have any ring rust to shake off, having stopped Gerardo Mellado in two rounds just under three months ago.
He could be getting Billam-Smith at a good time after the latter’s lengthy layoff, but the problem for Rozicki is that he has competed at a much lower level than the favourite and has never fought outside of Canada before.
We know what Billam-Smith is all about and that he is proven at world level, having ripped the WBO 200lbs title from former gym mate Lawrence Okolie around three years ago. He defended the title twice, retiring Mateusz Masternak in eight rounds before outpointing Richard Riakporhe, and those three excellent wins are head and shoulders above anything Rozicki has done.
Billam-Smith may have lost the belt to Gilberto Ramirez in late 2024, but there was no shame in losing to a fellow champion and the scorecards weren’t that wide after an entertaining 12 rounds.
The Bournemouth man is expected to secure a fight with the division’s number one, Jai Opetaia, if he comes through this one and he can’t afford any slip-ups with this potential banana skin.
A 5/1 shot to win by stoppage, Rozicki’s power gives him a chance against anyone but the bad news for him is that Billam-Smith has an excellent chin, and he is expected to be able to weather any storm he may face here.
The local man is not flashy and what he does may not be pretty, but he is very effective. Setting a high work-rate, ‘CBS’ is physically very strong and likes to get on the inside to use that strength. He is very good up close, and he can nullify Rozicki’s power by getting on the inside, where he does his best work.
The gulf in class is expected to be too much, and Billam-Smith should justify his short odds to give the fans the result they are hoping for, so the big question then becomes whether he can stop Rozicki or not?
You can get 11/4 for the favourite to win inside the distance and that may seem generous given the much higher level he has competed at. However, he isn’t known for his power and Rozicki proved to be pretty durable in his sole defeat.
Fighting up at bridgerweight against the heavy-handed Oscar Rivas in 2021, Rozicki was wobbled on a couple of occasions but showed a good set of whiskers and pushed the former heavyweight to a hard-fought decision in that 12-rounder.
So, if Rivas couldn’t get rid of Rozicki, then it would be a big result for Billam-Smith if he could so and this is only a 10-rounder, which increases the chances of the latter winning by decision.
That outcome is a best price of evens but, buoyed by his loud fans, I expect Billam-Smith to be pretty dominant after the opening couple of rounds, and I prefer the 6/4 with about the favourite winning by a unanimous decision.
Padley can land knockout blow
There is also action on DAZN, who are screening a very interesting main event from the Sheffield Arena.
Despite Dalton Smith and Galal Yafai having to pull out of their respective world title fights, the show still goes on in South Yorkshire as Josh Padley and Aqib Fiaz do battle for the European super featherweight title.
Padley is the 3/10 favourite to retain the belt he won last time out, and he has mixed in better company than Fiaz, who can be backed at 16/5.
Padley (18-1, 6 KOs) shocked Mark Chamberlain in September 2024 before getting a surprise shot at pound-for-pound star Shakur Stevenson for the WBC lightweight title early last year. Unsurprisingly, Padley was stopped in the ninth round, but he gave a very good account of himself and that performance earned him a deal with Matchroom.
Padley has won three on the spin now and, since quitting the day job to become a full-time boxer and dropping to 130lbs, he has looked a much stronger fighter.
Fiaz (14-1, 2 KOs) is a slick, technical boxer with fast hands and nice footwork, but he doesn’t carry much power on his shots and that was very evident in his sole defeat to Reece Bellotti in October 2023. Fiaz just couldn’t keep Bellotti off that night and, having started well, he capitulated before being stopped in the eighth round.
That is a key piece of form as last October, Padley faced Bellotti and beat him by unanimous decision. It was a fight of two halves as Padley finished strongly on that occasion and the manner in which he picked up down the stretch could be a problem for Fiaz.
The way Fiaz tired very quickly against Bellotti must be a concern for his supporters and that was his only 12-rounder to date, so he is unproven over the championship distance.
He has only boxed twice since and has been out for 11 months, while Padley is on a real roll at the moment and the latter has all the momentum here.
They don’t have too many knockouts between them, and this is just 4/7 to go the distance, with Padley 13/10 to win by decision. Both men can box on the back foot and that could well be Padley’s route to victory, but there are a couple of reasons to believe he could get the stoppage at 15/8.
He won this belt with a career-best performance against Jaouad Belmehdi, who was blown away inside two rounds as Padley defied his lack of knockouts with an early victory at the end of January.
Looking much better down at this weight, Padley picks his shots very well and uses his excellent feet to jump into his attacks and unleash good combinations.
There are concerns over Fiaz’s stamina as well and, with Padley having no issue with doing 12 rounds, the champion could prove dominant enough to hand the underdog his second stoppage loss.
Hailing from just down the road in Doncaster, Padley is sure to have plenty of support here and that could spur him on to another big performance.
Posted at 13:40 BST on 05/06/26
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