There's big fight action on Sunday night, with WBO world cruiserweight champion Chris Billam-Smith defending his title – Chris Oliver previews the action.
Boxing betting tips: Sunday December 10
2pts Chris Billam-Smith to win by decision 13/10 (Paddy Power, Betfair)
Sky Sports and BOXXER dip their toe into the Sunday evening market with a show at the Bournemouth International Arena, where local boy CHRIS BILLAM-SMITH tops the bill against Mateusz Masternak.
This is Billam-Smith’s first defence of the WBO world cruiserweight title he won by upsetting heavy favourite Lawrence Okolie with a points victory on a memorable night at the Vitality Stadium in May.
A 7/2 underdog on that occasion, Billam-Smith dropped his former gym-mate three times en route to a famous victory and achieved something very few thought possible at the start of his career - winning a world title.
Billam-Smith improving under McGuigan tutelage
For all the things the highly-acclaimed Shane McGuigan has achieved already as a coach, guiding Billam-Smith to world honours must be his greatest accomplishment and ‘The Gentleman’ has massively exceeded expectations.
Unlike Olympic bronze medallist Okolie, Billam-Smith turned professional to little fanfare after a moderate amateur career and has improved markedly in recent years, especially since his sole loss (in 19 fights) to Richard Riakporhe by split decision in July 2019.
That progression is reflected in the odds this weekend as he starts as a 2/7 favourite against a much more experienced opponent in Masternak, who is a 10/3 shot for his second outing in the UK.
Fans on these shores will remember Masternak (47-5) giving Tony Bellew a very tough night’s work when losing a close decision in December 2015, and he only just came up short again when pushing the talented Yuniel Dorticos all the way (UD) three years later.
The 36-year-old has won all six outings since, but against opposition well below world level and he hasn’t ventured outside of his native Poland during that period.
The visitor is a tough, durable veteran who has only been stopped once and that was over 10 years ago by the highly-talented Grigory Drozd, who couldn’t drop the Pole but forced the referee’s intervention in the penultimate stanza of their 12-round clash. Masternak is technically sound and comes to fight, while he is busy and likes to let his hands go.
All of that will be music to the ears of the champion, who was prevented from going to work on the inside by the ‘jab and grab’ tactics of Okolie in the summer. As good as a night that was for Billam-Smith, it was a hard watch for the fans and Okolie can count himself lucky not to have had more than just two points deducted.
In dealing with all of that wrestling and holding, Billam-Smith displayed what great stamina he has for a big man, and it will be needed here, as the challenger is relentless and has always done 12 rounds well. However, whether Masternak can do the full distance at the pace he once did is the big question here.
Ageing Masternak has it all to do
The version of Masternak that gave Bellew and Dorticos all sorts of trouble would have a huge chance here, but those performances were eight and five years ago respectively, and his level of opposition since hasn’t told us too much about what he has left at world level.
An aggressive boxer-puncher, Billam-Smith likes to press the action and isn’t afraid to take one to give one. This should make for a much more entertaining contest than his one with Okolie and one in which his youth and freshness could win the day.
Masternak might still be capable of giving the local lad plenty to think about but the miles on the clock and lack of quality opponents in recent years are serious negatives for the underdog.
There is the chance that Masternak is more shop-worn than anticipated and the champion overwhelms him for the stoppage at 15/8, but five of Billam-Smith’s last seven victories have come on the scorecards and that is how I see it going again here. The Bournemouth man is more about work rate and physicality than punching power, so him winning another decision looks pretty solid at 13/10.
Posted at 1120 GMT on 08/12/23
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