Chev Clarke Stops Chris Billam-Smith in Stunning Fashion

Chris Billam-Smith walked into the Copper Box as the former world champion with the sturdier résumé. He left having been dropped and stopped for the first time in his professional career, undone by a ruthless Chev Clarke who finally turned a slow-burning grudge into a brutal finish.

The Londoner, roared on in his home city despite banks of empty seats in the upper tier, produced the kind of clinical surge every contender craves. One right hand at the start of the seventh round changed everything.

Billam-Smith had looked out of rhythm from the opening bell. The early rounds were messy, full of clinches and grappling, the sort of start that suits a veteran looking to settle. Instead, it was Clarke who grew sharper as the fight wore on, finding his range and his confidence while the former cruiserweight champion searched in vain for his timing.

Clarke’s intent first truly cracked through in the second. He whipped a big overhand right to the side of Billam-Smith’s head, a shot that drew a murmur from the crowd and a first real sign that the Bournemouth man’s famed durability might be tested. The pattern held in the third: a thudding uppercut, then another overhand right that snapped Billam-Smith’s head back and underlined who was dictating the exchanges.

Billam-Smith tried to answer. Still struggling to get any real rhythm, he absorbed another uppercut before finally landing something of his own – a short, tight right hook that made Clarke stumble back toward his corner. It was a reminder that pedigree does not vanish overnight, that power and experience can still turn a fight in a heartbeat.

That moment, though, proved a flicker rather than a turning point.

By the seventh, Clarke had read the former champion’s movements and begun to walk him down with real purpose. The pressure finally told. A huge right hand crashed home early in the round, sending Billam-Smith to the canvas for the first knockdown of his professional career. He beat the count, rose on unsteady legs and tried to convince both referee and crowd that he was ready to go on.

Clarke did not give him the chance to settle. He poured forward, unleashing a barrage that drove Billam-Smith back and put him down again. The referee allowed it to continue, but the signs were ugly: heavy legs, delayed reactions, a proud fighter trying to fight on instinct.

Two more clean blows landed and this time the referee stepped in, waving it off as Clarke stood in the centre of the ring, almost bemused, shoulders shrugged while Billam-Smith immediately protested the stoppage.

At ringside, heavyweight Johnny Fisher, Traitors personality King Kenny and strongman Eddie Hall watched on as Clarke moved to 13 wins with two defeats, adding the most significant name yet to his record. For Billam-Smith, it was a third professional loss, following defeats to Gilberto Ramirez earlier in 2024 and Richard Riakporhe back in 2019 – but this one will sting differently. This was the first time he had been broken down and halted.

Clarke, who also beat Billam-Smith in the amateurs a decade ago, did not hide his satisfaction.

“I do what champions do,” he said, folding this latest win into a rivalry that has quietly simmered for years. “I’m happy. Arsenal won and I won. My training camp was good and you saw that in the ring. I’ll take all-comers going forward.”

The arena itself told a slightly different story: only the lower tier open, gaps in the crowd, the sense of a card that hadn’t quite captured the wider public’s imagination. Inside the ropes, though, Clarke fought like a man auditioning for much bigger stages.

Not everyone agreed with the timing of the stoppage. Promoter Dana White suggested afterwards that the referee might have jumped in a little early, echoing the frustration of Billam-Smith, who wanted one more chance to ride out the storm. But the damage had been done in those two knockdowns, and the momentum was all one way.

Clarke now owns two wins over Billam-Smith, one in the vest and headguard, one under the lights as a professional. The question is no longer whether he belongs at this level. It’s how far, and how fast, he can climb from here.