Chris Billam-Smith wants to avenge the one loss on his record against Richard Riakporhe - and believes one of them will be world champion when the rematch happens.
The Commonwealth and European champion is laser-focused on defending his belts against Isaac Chamberlain this Saturday night in Bournemouth, with a packed crowd expected for his homecoming fight. The bout will be broadcast on Sky Sports and is Billam-Smith's biggest opportunity to show off his world-title credentials to date.
His recent wins over Tommy McCarthy, including a classic Fight Camp war and his stoppage victory in Manchester, have confirmed his place towards the top of the division. But Chamberlain will prove another step up; arguably his biggest since narrowly losing out a split decision to Riakporhe in 2019.
"Isaac's a great fighter," Billam-Smith told Mirror Fighting in an exclusive chat ahead of their showdown on Saturday night. "We sparred years ago but we were both quite a bit younger, I'd either just had my debut or I was about to have it.
"Since then he's obviously had a lot of fights, he's improved a lot and he's good in all areas. He's got good hand speed, good punch power, a solid variety of shots and he's slippery. There's definitely a lot of threats that he poses and that's why I've got to be on my A-game for this fight.
"This is a European title fight and at this level one mistake can cost you the fight. Isaac is definitely one of those fighters and he deserves that respect in the build-up. But then I've got to go and show him no respect in the ring, understand what he does offer and negate all of his strengths."
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Despite insisting that he doesn't obsess over that fateful night at The O2 arena when he lost to Riakporhe, it's still a win he wants back. Having watched the likes of Mairis Briedis lose his world title to Jai Opetaia and heard the rumours of Lawrence Okolie leaving his belt to move up to heavyweight, he sees possible title bouts for the pair, and perhaps one between them.
"That's the level I'm at now, you're watching the world champions and trying to figure out ways to beat them," he explained. "You try to see what they do well and don't do well. That's the level I'm at and where we're aiming towards, it's world titles so guys like that are the target. You have to be thinking like that.
"Richard and I had a close fight and I think that rematch makes sense for a world title. I think that's the correct thing to do for both of our careers, have a world title fight down the line and make it even more exciting... Maybe he doesn't want the fight, I don't know. It's obviously a dangerous fight for him, they're building him."
