Okolie vs Billam-Smith: Fight Date, UK Time, TV Channel, Tickets, Ring Walks
– Lawrence Okolie Defends His World Cruiserweight Title Against Ex-Gym Mate Chris Billam-Smith
– Okolie vs Billam-Smith Expecting 15k Crowd At Bournemouth’s Vitality Stadium
– Domestic Rival Richard Riakporhe Eyes Winner
Chris Billam-Smith (17-1 12KOs) challenges for the WBO Cruiserweight Championship against his former stable mate unbeaten Brit, Lawrence Okolie (19-0, 14 KOs) this Saturday, May 27th at the 15,000-capacity Vitality Stadium in Bournemouth live on Sky Sports.
Okolie captured British, Commonwealth and European titles within two and a half years of turning professional before a dominant display against Poland’s Krzysztof Glowacki to win the WBO world title in March 2021.
The Brit has made three defences of his title since including a third-round KO of unheralded Dilan Prasovic, an unimpressive points win over popular Michal Cieslak at the O2 last February and a laboured decision win over David Light this March.
Billam-Smith has made huge strides in his professional career. With not much hope for the Bournemouth fan favourite after losing to Richard Riakporhe in 2019, he has bounced back impeccably, also winning the British, Commonwealth, and European titles, and headlining 2 shows in his hometown along the way to establishing himself as a top 10 cruiserweight in the world.
CBS wanted a world title stadium fight, Okolie craved a big domestic, and the latter had left Shane McGuigan – the fight that neither man thought would ever happen became the obvious fight to make.
The hometown hero goes in as a big underdog but trainer McGuigan who coached Okolie to all his successes is confident he can come up with a game plan to beat his old charge.
Okolie vs Billam-Smith UK Time, Ticket Information, And Ring Walk Times
A 9-fight card which features British Welterweight contender Michael McKinson, 2020 Olympian Karriss Artingstall and multiple domestic clashes is scheduled to begin at 5:00 pm BST (12:00 pm ET, 9:00 am PT) on the Sky Sports Boxing YouTube channels with the main card a little while later at 7 pm BST (2 pm ET, 11 am PT) live on Sky Sports Action in the UK and FITE + in select int markets including the US.
Main Event Ring Walks will occur at approximately 10:00 pm BST (5:00 pm ET, 2:00 pm PT). Stay tuned to NoSmokeSport.com for more details about the undercard, running order, and fight week updates as they happen. Tickets for this event are still available to purchase.
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Lawrence Okolie vs Chris Billam-Smith – WBO World Cruiserweight Title – Sat, May 27– Vitality Stadium, Bournemouth – Live On Sky Sports
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