Chris Billam-Smith extended his arms and soaked in the ambiance as he stepped off the scale ahead of his second straight hometown headliner.
The reigning WBO cruiserweight title clocked in at a finely-tuned 199 pounds ahead of his maiden title defense. It comes versus Poland’s Mateusz Masternak, who was 198 pounds ahead of their scheduled twelve-round main event Sunday evening from the Bournemouth International Center in Billam-Smith’s hometown of Bournemouth, England.
The bout headlines a full telecast on Sky Sports in the UK beginning and on NBC’s Peacock streaming service beginning at 6:00 p.m. local time and 1:00 p.m. ET.
Billam-Smith (18-1, 12KOs) claimed the WBO title in his most recent bout, a career-best, twelve-round points win over unbeaten Lawrence Okolie on May 27 at nearby Vitality Stadium. The 33-year-old local hero scored three knockdowns over his former training stablemate but had to settle for a strangely scored majority decision to win his first major title.
Sunday’s headliner will mark Billam Smith’s fourth consecutive hometown appearance.
Masternak (47-5, 31KOs) surprisingly enters the first full title fight of his 17-year pro career.
The well-traveled 36-year-old from Wroclaw, Poland has won his last six starts to earn the opportunity. It came about after passing on another offered title fight, when he stepped down as mandatory challenger to lineal/IBF cruiserweight king Jai Opetaia to instead proceed with this matchup.
The show also features 2020 Olympic Gold medalist Lauren Price, who faces Italy’s Sivia Bortot in a schedule eight-round welterweight contest. Wales’ Price (5-0, 1KOs) was 146 pounds, while Bortot checked in at a career heaviest but fighting fit 142.3 pounds.
Price made history earlier this year as the first female boxer in history to win a British title. The Welsh southpaw is now keen on a world title run in 2024, particularly the winner of the January 20 Natasha Jonas-Mikaela Mayer IBF welterweight title fight in Liverpool. BOXXER presents that event and directly promotes Jonas (14-2-1, 9KOs) and Price. Mayer (19-1, 5KOs) is promoted by Top Rank but will fight on her second straight BOXXER card.
Bortot is coming off a ten-round defeat to Mayer on September 2 just above the junior welterweight limit in Manchester.
UNDERCARD WEIGHTS
Ben Whittaker (4-0, 3KOs), West Bromwich, 174 pounds vs. Stiven Leonetti Dredhaj (11-2-1, 3KOs), Milan, Italy, 176 pounds—8 rounds, light heavyweight
Lee Cutler (13-1, 7KOs), Bournemouth, 153 pounds vs. Kingsley Egbunike (8-2-1, 1KO), London, 152 pounds—10 rounds, junior middleweight
Michael McKinson (25-1, 4KOs), Portsmouth, UK, 146 pounds vs. Musah Lawson (11-0, 9KOs), Accra, Ghana, 143 pounds—10 rounds, welterweight
Francesca Hennessy (1-0, 1KO), Sevenoaks, UK, 120 pounds vs. Lucrecia Belen Arrieta (6-5, 0KOs), Cordoba, Argentina, 119 pounds—6 rounds, bantamweight
Lewis Edmondson (7-0, 3KOs), Southampton, UK, 180 pounds vs. Dmytro Fedas (8-4-2, 5KOs), Prague, Czech Republic via Nataline, Ukraine, 181 pounds—8 rounds, light heavyweight
Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. X (formerly Twitter): @JakeNDaBox