Chris Billam-Smith Stops Ryan Rozicki In Seven As Bournemouth Gets Its Winner

Chris Billam-Smith got the result the Bournemouth crowd wanted, but it was far from straightforward. Ryan Rozicki came to fight, picked up a point deduction for headbutting in round two, and refused to go away. It took seven hard rounds before the Canadian’s corner decided enough was enough and pulled their man from the fight.

Elsewhere, Cheavon Clarke survived two knockdowns to stop Jack Massey in a wild cruiserweight battle, while several prospects on the undercard made quick work of their opponents.

Main Event

Chris Billam-Smith improved to 22-2-0 with a seventh-round TKO victory over Ryan Rozicki, who drops to 21-2-1.

Rozicki was deducted a point in round two for headbutting and never made life easy for the hometown favourite. The Canadian brought exactly the sort of rough, physical fight many expected, but Billam-Smith gradually began to take control as the rounds wore on.

After a punishing seventh round, Rozicki’s corner had seen enough and called the referee over between rounds seven and eight to stop the contest. It was a brave effort from the Canadian, but the damage was beginning to add up, handing Billam-Smith a hard-earned stoppage win in front of his home crowd.

Not always pretty, but handled business when it mattered.

Co-Main / Key Fights

Cheavon Clarke moved to 12-2-0 after stopping Jack Massey in round seven.

This one swung all over the place. Clarke hit the canvas twice in the fourth round and looked in real trouble at times, but turned the fight completely around. Massey was dropped in the seventh before Clarke finished the job with a TKO victory. A huge turnaround and one of the more dramatic fights on the card.

Lee Cutler improved to 16-2-0 with a third-round TKO over Aaron Sutton.

Sutton was dropped in round three and was unable to continue after suffering a dislocated shoulder. An unfortunate ending, but Cutler had already put himself firmly in control before the stoppage.

Ivan Dychko outpointed Harvey Dykes over ten rounds.

Dykes was on the floor in the opening round and spent the rest of the fight trying to claw his way back into it. Dychko stayed composed and banked the decision, improving to 16-1-0 while Dykes suffered the first defeat of his career at 7-1-1.

Undercard

Stephen McKenna wasted absolutely no time against Casey James Streeter. Streeter was dropped in round one before McKenna secured a first-round TKO to move to 16-1-0.

Leon Hughes remained unbeaten, stopping Mario Vergiev in round three. Hughes moves to 5-0-0 with another early finish.

Sam Hickey advanced to 5-0-0 after stopping Todd Tompkins in round two. Tompkins hit the canvas in the second before the fight was waved off.

Alex MacMillan produced another eye-catching performance, stopping Leo Fanthome in round two.

Fanthome was dropped twice in the opening round and again in round two before the referee had seen enough. MacMillan moves to 4-0-0 and continues to build momentum quickly.

Closing

Billam-Smith got the headline win, Clarke somehow came back from two knockdowns to steal the co-main, and several young fighters on the undercard made statements with early stoppages. Bournemouth certainly got plenty of action for its money.

Undercard Live Stream