Chev Clarke stops Chris Billam-Smith in seventh at Copper Box Arena
Former cruiserweight world champion Chris Billam-Smith was knocked down and stopped for the first time in his career as Chev Clarke won their all-British non-title fight at the Copper Box Arena on Saturday. Clarke landed a heavy right at the start of the seventh, forced two knockdowns and the referee halted the contest after Billam-Smith appeared unsteady.
Clarke, who beat Billam-Smith in the amateur ranks a decade ago, celebrated in the ring and offered a post-fight verdict: "I do what champions do," he said. "I'm happy. Arsenal won and I won. My training camp was good and you saw that in the ring. I'll take all-comers going forward." Ringside spectators included Johnny Fisher, Traitors star King Kenny and strongman Eddie Hall, with the arena operating with only its lower tier open for fans.
The decisive sequence arrived in round seven when Clarke landed a big right hand at the interval; Billam-Smith rose from the first knockdown but was floored again shortly after following a barrage. The referee allowed the fight to continue briefly, but when Clarke landed two further blows and the Bournemouth fighter looked unsteady, the official stepped in and waved the contest off. Billam-Smith immediately protested the stoppage while Clarke stood in the centre of the ring shrugging his shoulders.
Earlier rounds had been scrappy, with periods of holding before Clarke began to find his range and land cleaner shots. In the second, Clarke connected with a heavy overhand right to the side of Billam-Smith's head, then in the third landed a large uppercut followed by an overhand right that snapped Billam-Smith's head back. Billam-Smith was later caught by another uppercut, then answered with a short right hook that made Clarke stumble back to his corner.
Fight promoter Dana White said after the contest that he felt the decision to stop the fight might have been a little premature. The stoppage handed Clarke the victory inside the ring after the sustained pressure he applied in the seventh.
On the undercard, Britain's Denzel Bentley defeated Shane Mosley Jr by unanimous decision after out-boxing the American across 10 rounds. Bentley scored a big second-round knockdown with a straight right that staggered Mosley and followed with another right that sent him to the canvas; Mosley beat the count and continued, but Bentley repeatedly found success, drawing blood over Mosley's right eye in the fifth and finishing strongly. The judges scored the bout 96-94, 96-93 and 95-94 in Bentley's favour, and the 31-year-old then pointed at Conor Benn in the audience, suggesting a potential future match-up between the two.
Clarke moves to 13 wins with two defeats, while the loss was the third professional defeat for Billam-Smith, who had previously lost to Gilberto Ramirez in 2024 and Richard Riakporhe in 2019. Bentley, meanwhile, had been stripped of his WBO middleweight title in late October after agreeing to fight Mosley instead of facing his mandatory challenger; his interim title had earlier been elevated to a full world belt following Janibek Alimkhanuly's decision to move up to super-middleweight.