Chris Billam-Smith exacts his revenge on Richard Riakporhe with flawless unanimous points victory to retain WBO cruiserweight title - five years on from his split-decision defeat

On a cold and soggy Selhurst Park night, Chris Billam-Smith exacted revenge on hometown hero Richard Riakporhe with a unanimous points victory to retain his WBO cruiserweight title.

After 12 rounds in south London, it was the 33-year-old from Bournemouth that was declared the deserving winner with one judge scoring the contest 116-111, while the other two judges gave the nod to Billam-Smith with scores of 115-112.

Their first meeting in 2019 could not have been much closer, with Riakporhe prevailing via split decision. Billam-Smith believed he’d won on that occasion, and this time he left no doubt.

He had vowed to ‘settle the score’ with Riakporhe and entered enemy territory after having home advantage in his previous four fights in Bournemouth.

But he overcame a hostile atmosphere to inflict the first loss of Riakporhe’s professional career, proving he is Britain’s premier cruiserweight in the process.

The champion went straight onto the front foot but had to take two sharp right hands. He didn’t budge.

If the opening round was cagey, the second became scrappy as both men attempted to trade on the inside with very little success.

The clinches continued in the third as Billam-Smith and Riakporhe looked to land the first clean shot to spark the fight into life.

A head clash drew a grimace from Billam-Smith in the fourth before he thudded home a body shot and an uppercut as he started to warm to his task.

The heads came together once more as the fight moved towards the halfway stage, with Billam-Smith looking to the referee for assistance. His mind was straight back on the job as he landed a clipping right hand around the side of Riakporhe’s guard. He had started to take the ascendancy.

Riakporhe, having secured 13 of his 17 wins via knockout heading into the fight, remained dangerous and connected with a chopping right hand to get the crowd briefly to their feet, but Billam-Smith answered back as he finished the sixth round strongly.

Finally, in the seventh round, both men began to find the target with greater frequency. A left hook briefly troubled Riakporhe, but he came firing back, catching Billam-Smith with a right hand on the ropes. Yet it was Billam-Smith getting the better of the exchanges and building a lead on the scorecards.

A right uppercut-left hook combination hurt Riakporhe at the start of the eighth, but the south London star, who survived a stabbing at 15 before changing his life through boxing, bit down on his gumshield and kept going back for more. He refused to go down without a fight.

In the ninth, he went for broke, landing a huge clubbing right hand that wobbled Billam-Smith. Willed on by 15,000 fans, Riakporhe piled on the pressure, but Billam-Smith took his best shots and held his ground. A toe-to-toe war had broken out.

Riakporhe had started to grow in confidence, and he got the better of the tenth as well. With two rounds to go, Riakporhe was working his way back into the fight but was still behind.

Billam-Smith needed to shift the momentum back in his favour, and he did just that in the 11th, outworking his rival on the inside in another scrappy three minutes of action.

Riakporhe needed a knockout to fulfil his dream of becoming world champion, but instead he was deducted a point in the final round for use of the head. As the final bell rang, Billam-Smith was the only man to raise his arms, knowing he had done more than enough.

The judges’ verdict was a mere formality. Revenge is a dish best served cold, and on this chilly June evening, Billam-Smith got his.