Chris Billam-Smith is the new WBO cruiserweight champion of the world after beating Lawrence Okolie via Majority Decision in front of his home crowd in Bournemouth on Saturday night.
Okolie took a 19-0 record into the contest, with Billam-Smith going in as the underdog despite having a passionate crowd roaring him on at the Vitality Stadium.
Okolie was dropped three times during the contest and twice had a point deducted for holding, which eventually cost him.
One judge handed in a card of 112-112, which was bizarre, while Billam-Smith was given the bout 116-107 and 115-108 by the other two judges.
An emotional new champion told Sky Sports: ‘I have no words, this is perfect, there’s nothing more.
‘Against a great champion like Lawrence, a friend, who’s never looked close to getting beat and has given me a very, very hard 12 rounds there.
‘It wasn’t the most entertaining fight, but I believe I did enough to win it and I believe the scorecards showed that.
‘It’s crazy, I was sick in bed all week, I didn’t eat from Tuesday to Thursday, it was easy making weight but I had no energy.’
Okolie started well but it became an increasingly frustrating night for the defending champion over the next 30 minutes as he struggled with both his opponent and the referee.
For the first time as a professional Okolie was put down in the fourth round, leaning to his right and being hit with a left hook from Billam-Smith.
There were two more knockdowns to come for the defending champion in the 10th and 11th rounds, which saw Billam-Smith rack up a points advantage, which Okolie was only adding to with his own tactics.
His physical, ugly style cost him in the 5th and 7th rounds when referee Marcus McDonnell deducted a point in each for holding.
There were other warnings from the referee for holding and using his head, with Billam-Smith doing well to keep his cool and allow his opponent to cause problems for himself.
It was clear that Okolie had little chance of winning on points by the last couple of rounds and he was looking for the knockout blow, but could not find it, or even really come close, despite a wide cut opening up beside Billam-Smith’s left eye.
Okolie had no complaints, asked if he accepts the result he said: ‘100 per cent, he was doing a lot of good work.
‘I’ve got to take my hat off to him. We’re going to run it back.’
MORE : Chris Billam-Smith on world title dream: ‘Time away from my son has been hard, but I know what I have got to do’
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