Chris Billam-Smith emerged as the unlikely hero from an extraordinary weekend of fights in British and Irish rings.
On Saturday night, Billam-Smith fought outdoors, under the stars at the Vitality Stadium in front of a capacity crowd of 15,000 in his beloved Bournemouth, and he shocked the boxing world by dropping Lawrence Okolie three times and winning the WBO cruiserweight title. Okolie had been unbeaten in 19 fights and the heavy favourite.
Several hundred miles away in Manchester, there was sweet revenge for Leigh Wood in his WBA featherweight rematch with Mauricio Lara, the fearsome Mexican; just 98-days before the first bell, Lara stopped Wood in round seven, but in Manchester, Wood won clearly on all three scorecards. Lara was given a boxing lesson on the night.
However, there was old-fashioned heartache for Michael Conlan in Belfast when a capacity crowd was not enough, the hopes of a boxing city were not enough, and he was dropped and stopped in round five by Luis Alberto Lopez for the IBF featherweight title. Lopez was brilliant and the final punch was perfect.
The backstory to the Billam-Smith glory was exceptional; Okolie and Billam-Smith shared a gym and a trainer and had sparred in excess of 200 rounds together. Then Okolie, after winning the WBO title, left Shane McGuigan and switched trainers.
McGuigan insisted that the split was amicable, made necessary by geography and the different demands of training camps. McGuigan also insisted that Billam-Smith could beat Okolie, which looked like a long, long shot before the fight. The romance favoured Billam-Smith, with his hometown hero credentials, but boxing is not about romance.
In round four, Okolie was dropped heavily; he was over again in rounds 10 and 11 and twice had points deducted for persistent and ugly holding in rounds five and seven. It was still a gruelling fight to both watch and be involved in. At the bell, the scores were collected: one judge went for a very odd draw, the other two favoured Billam-Smith. It was sweet revenge for McGuigan, a dream for Billam-Smith and Okolie immediately invoked the rematch clause. It will happen again.
Back in February in Nottingham, Wood was leading Lara on points before a left hook dropped him heavily and his trainer, Ben Davison, climbed the ring steps and threw in a towel of surrender. Wood was not happy, but it was the sensible thing; Wood got to fight another day, as they say. On Saturday, he boxed a calm and smart fight to control Lara in a rematch that was viewed as extremely dangerous. Lara never really got started, Wood was just too clever. Lara had failed to make the championship weight and was stripped of his title before the first bell, which might have been a contributory factor. Wood was also more focused, determined and, unlike Lara, had a solid plan. The scores were wide. It was also a night of vindication for Davison, who was unfairly and heavily criticised for stopping the first fight.
Perhaps the fighter with the best chance of pulling off an upset on Saturday night was Conlan. Instead, the Belfast idol was dragged into a brawl from the opening bell in front of 10,000 in his home city. Rounds one and two were amazing, but they took their toll on Conlan; Lopez had won the title as an underdog in a hard fight with Josh Warrington in Leeds last December, but against Conlan, the Mexican looked like a transformed boxer.
Conlan was dropped heavily by a short right uppercut in round five and before he had a chance to struggle up, a towel came in from his corner. Adam Booth, his trainer and friend, had seen enough. It was the right decision, Conlan was beaten, and it will probably be the end of his career. As an amateur he won the European and World championship and an Olympic bronze medal. He was a genius in the ring, but the pro game is different - it is bloody and savage and unforgiving.
It was a unique night in the British boxing calendar, and it could lead to a few other great nights; Billam-Smith in a rematch, Wood in a defence against his great rival, Warrington, and then the winner to meet Lopez in a featherweight super-fight. That would be nice.
