Richard Riakporhe’s fighting nickname is ‘The Midnight Train’. Does that make Chris Billam-Smith ‘The Little Engine That Could’?
After all, even though Billam-Smith is the world champion going into this fight, he is widely considered the underdog against this challenger.
For many he exceeded expectations when becoming a British champion, let alone European and then WBO world cruiserweight titlist.
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Billam-Smith says he will be ready for whatever Riakporhe brings on fight night and believes he will win by knockout
Billam-Smith gives a strained but polite laugh at the analogy. “I don’t know who gave him that nickname,” he said of Riakporhe.
“He likes to come up with lots of different words, and poems, and names for things and metaphors. He’s trying but they’re not the best. He’s no Muhammad Ali, is he? I guess everyone loves a trier.
“But none of that will matter.”
In the days leading up to this fight, Billam-Smith has exuded a calm confidence with his close-knit training team and family all around him.
He has after all been here before. He won the world championship when he beat Lawrence Okolie at the Vitality Stadium in his Bournemouth hometown. He has defended it in a tough fight with Mateusz Masternak and has ambitions of title unifications.
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Riakporhe says he does not play mind games and is excited to get to work against Billam-Smith
Riakporhe does not have that track record. Billam-Smith believes his challenger will be feeling nerves before the first bell chimes on Saturday night.
“I think the closer the fight will get the more he will realise what a big occasion it is and the show’s built around him, isn’t it? That’s going to take its toll for sure if he can’t deal with it,” the champion told Sky Sports.
“He’s coming from boxing on an undercard, quite low down the bill in Wolverhampton, against a low-level opponent to where we’re at now and he hasn’t really had any acid tests. So all that will come to his mind I think.
“It’s another great occasion for me. Which is what I love anyway, otherwise I wouldn’t be in the position that I’m in. It’ll be interesting to see how he deals with it.”
Winning this would mean Billam-Smith will have beaten every man he has faced as a professional. Riakporhe is the only opponent to have beaten him after taking a split-decision victory over him in 2019.
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Billam-Smith got a cold response from Riakporhe when he predicted he will retain his WBO world title by knockout
Billam-Smith, though, is plotting what he considers would be the perfect revenge. When they fight at Selhurst Park, Billam-Smith is planning not only on beating him literally on home turf, but on knocking him out there.
“Here we are at another football stadium, which I’m not going to complain about either. It’s great to be involved in these occasions and for it to be another domestic world title fight is amazing and the fact that I get to avenge a loss is the cherry on top. It’s a great position,” Billam-Smith said.
“I’ll rip the script up again. That’s how it feels. That’s how this whole fight feels. It feels like the Lawrence fight, in terms of he’s getting bigged up in terms of being the favourite or what not.
“I’ve come up against punch power and his punch power before and there’s a lot more to boxing than just punch power, especially in a 12-round fight.
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Don’t miss our latest episode of ‘The Gloves Are Off’ featuring Billam-Smith and Riakporhe
“How he deals with my pace and intensity will be an interesting factor and that will definitely tire him out. We’ll have to wait and see.
“That’s always the game plan, to put on a good performance and get the stoppage. Sometimes it comes, sometimes it doesn’t. I’m feeling very confident.”
He suggests that, even if Riakporhe can land his best shot, he can take it and keep on pressing forward. “I think when someone does that to you it’s very disheartening,” Billam-Smith said.
Riakporhe, naturally, does not expect to unravel. Their first fight was close with the referee ruling a knockdown against Billam-Smith which the latter still disputes.
This time, Riakporhe reckons, he will fully put Billam-Smith down and keep him there.
On a run of five stoppage victories, Riakporhe has been striking with merciless force. Frazer Clarke, a heavyweight and an Olympic bronze medallist, sparred with gym-mate Riakporhe ahead of his outstanding British title fight with Fabio Wardley.
Clarke identified Riakporhe as the hardest puncher he has been in the ring with. That is quite a claim given that Clarke has boxed or sparred some of the biggest hitters in the world, Anthony Joshua and Olympic gold medallist Bakhodir Jalolov among them.
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Ahead of Billam-Smith’s fight with Riakporhe at Selhurst Park, take a look back at some of the biggest stadium fights in British boxing history
Riakporhe considers himself the heaviest puncher in the country, not just at cruiser, heavyweight included.
“I believe that I am. A lot of people say that I do. I have a gift. That’s my gift and all I do is want to show the world it’s a blessing, and it can be a curse if I don’t prepare myself diligently,” he told Sky Sports.
“People say that. To be honest I don’t know anybody that can hit like me. I’ve got a different type of punch.
“The punch doesn’t just hurt. It takes your spiritual energy as well. It zaps you. People wouldn’t understand. The word I would refer to it as is the ‘vim’. The vim. I would say the vim. It’s got that vim on it.
“Once it touches you, it’s sapping your energy, sapping your life out of you.”
He rejects Billam-Smith’s suggestion he is nervous going into the biggest night of his professional career.
“Now we’re here, I’m happy. I knew it was going to come eventually,” Riakporhe said. “The most important thing was not just receiving an opportunity but being prepared for it. I’m prepared for it so we’re ready to go.
“I feel like where I am now in my career, this is perfect timing for me. When people say you’ve been waiting for too long, I think no this is just perfect timing.”
He concluded: “You just have to relax, enjoy the moment and do what you’re trained to do. Simple.”
That last point surely is one Billam-Smith can agree on too. Perhaps the fight will ultimately be simple. It might just come down to who can hit, hurt and take the pain and pressure best.
Billam-Smith is convinced that will be him. Riakporhe is certain it will not.
Which of them is wrong, we will only find out once the bell rings, the crowd roars and the real fight is on.
Watch Chris Billam-Smith defend his WBO cruiserweight world title against Richard Riakporhe at Crystal Palace’s Selhurst Park, live on Sky Sports on Saturday June 15; or Stream with NOW
