Can Clarke KO Billam-Smith? ‘Incredibly arrogant to count me out’

Chris Billam-Smith has never been dropped or stopped before, but Cheavon Clarke is still a clear and present danger to the former world champion.

The cruiserweights fight at the Copper Box Arena in London in the main event of Zuffa Boxing 12, live on Sky Sports from 7pm.

Clarke is nicknamed “C4” for a simple reason – he is an explosive puncher.

Billam-Smith is renowned for his toughness, that has seen him come through multiple brutal bouts and win a world championship.

But Clarke thinks he could be the first person to knock out Billam-Smith. “What I can say is I have it in me. I think through my career where I’ve done things to fighters that’s never been done before,” he told Sky Sports.

“I’m not going to say I’m going to do this, I’m not going to say I’m going to do that.

“But I’m going to say in Chris’ last fight [against Ryan Rozicki] he had a guy that was standing in front of him and he hit him as hard as he could hit him and the guy was still sitting there till the end of the fight. We shall see.

“I’ve been pushed in ways that I’ve never been pushed before, and I’ve applied things that I’ve never applied before. So the compound effect of that I’m looking forward to seeing.”

Clarke objects to the underdog tag that’s been attached to him for this fight.

“You can’t ever count somebody out. It’s incredibly arrogant, or incredibly ignorant. Or both,” he said.

“I’m already world class. But this will put more eyes on Chev Clarke.

“I don’t need to prove nothing to nobody.”

Billam-Smith, who has sparred with Clarke as well as boxing him as an amateur, knows the threats he poses.

“I know how good Chev is and I know how good he can be. I’m very switched on,” Billam-Smith told Sky Sports.

“I’d argue that every time he’s been down, he’s come back and he’s either won or performed really well in the fight. He carries a lot of danger.”

Billam-Smith is using his amateur losses to Clarke as motivation. “I can finally get one over Chev… I’m doing it for that version of me that was heartbroken,” he said. “It’s nice that I get the opportunity to do and go back to that.

“And also prove that it’s not about where you start, it’s about where you finish and how you improve and how you make progress.”

The stakes are high for Billam-Smith though. He is on a mission to reclaim a world belt. But a defeat at this point could snuff out those hopes once and for all.

“Every fight’s a must win, especially at this stage in my career and especially against Chev. There’s a huge amount of pressure on it,” he said.

Winning, though, would be the gateway to fights with the biggest names in the division.

“You have to see the lay of the land. It seems to change day by day in the cruiserweights at the moment with new information, new news coming out all the time,” he said.

“But huge fights out there.”

Watch Billam-Smith vs Clarke live on Sky Sports from 7pm.

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