Chris Billam-Smith Wins a Barnburner in Bournemouth; Josh Kelly Wins in Newcastle

Two important boxing cards went head-to-head today in England. Chris Billam-Smith’s domestic cruiserweight titles were on the line in Bournemouth on a Ben Shalom promotion televised on Sky Sports. Meanwhile, 350 miles to the North in Newcastle, former Olympian Josh Kelly opposed Argentine import Lucas Ariel Bastida in a 10-round super welterweight contest that aired on U.K. Channel 5.

Billam-Smith (pictured) successfully defended his belts with a hard-fought, 12-round unanimous decision over spunky Isaac Chamberlain. The fight shaped up as a closely-contested, entertaining scrap and more than lived up to its advance billing.

Billam-Smith, who had the home-field advantage, landed the harder punches and prevailed by a 117-111 score on all three cards. There were no knockdowns, but Chamberlain was hampered by a damaged left eye which was swollen shut and bled profusely as the fight wended to its conclusion.

Isaac Chamberlain, raised in one of the most crime-ridden neighborhoods in London, lost for the second time in 16 pro starts. Both of his defeats have come against fighters trained by Shane McGuigan. His previous loss was a setback on points to the formidable Lawrence Okolie, Billam-Smith’s stablemate.

It was the seventh straight win for Bournemouth’s Billam-Smith (16-1, 11 KOs) who may have won a date with Australia’s newly-crowned IBF cruiserweight champion Jai Opetaia.

Also

In another fight of note, U.K. KO artist Joe Pigford (20-0, 19 KOs) stopped Ghana’s heavy-handed Raphael King (15-2-1) in the third stanza. The jury is still out on Pigford who has never gone beyond five rounds. For some odd reason, this was the walk-out fight.

Newcastle

Former Olympian Josh Kelly, who hails from nearby Sunderland, worked his jab effectively against Bastida on route to winning a unanimous decision. The judges had it 99-92, 98-92, and 96-95.

It was the second fight back for Kelly (12-1-1) who took 16 months off after being TKOed by the noted spoiler David Avanesyan. Bastida, who declined to 18-2-1, was unbeaten in his last 16 heading in and his only defeat was controversial; the result of a bad cut caused by a clash of heads, a result that could have been ruled a “no-contest.”

The victory may have earned Kelly a shot at British title-holder Troy Williamson. Joe Pigford is also angling for that fight.

Co-Feature

Junior welterweight Harlem Eubank, the nephew of Chris Eubank and cousin of Chris Eubank Jr, advanced to 15-0 (6) at the expense of Mexico’s Eliot Chavez (11-5-1) who was disqualified in the ninth round. Eubank was seemingly comfortably ahead on points when the bout was halted.

In round seven, Eubank was knocked to the canvas and hurt by three quick blows that landed after the referee had ordered the men to break. Eubank recovered nicely and when Chavez committed the same infraction in round nine, the referee disqualified him.

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