CHRIS BILLAM-SMITH completed a dream Bournemouth double by defending his WBO cruiserweight world title against Mateusz Masternak.
A day after The Cherries thumped Manchester United 3-0 at their old Trafford home – the 33-year-old turned his local International Centre into his Theatre of Dreams.
After taking a handful of punishing rounds, CBS battered the Pole’s ribs in round seven and he refused to start the eighth for a sensational comeback win.
Billam-Smith had A-list fans like Harry Redknapp and Top Boy star Kano at ringside supporting him.
But it was the pals in the cheap seats that made the crazy racket when he made the short walk to the ring.
CBS took the centre of his ring instantly and slashed a couple of hooks into the challenger’s ribs when he was pinned on the ropes.
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In the first clinch CBS lifted the visitor briefly off of the floor and in the second he landed a whipped uppercut, a clever counter right hand also landed a couple of times for the Englishman.
In the second Billam-Smith gave us our first big scare when he was whacked by two punishing one-two combinations.
Both two-punch attacks landed flush and seemed to briefly stiffen the Brit’s legs but he coped and made it to the bell, but definitely lost the round.
The third had a nightmare start too, Masternak was landing his left jab easily and then a rapid combination rocked CBS’ head back.
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The masochist laughed it off and then launched his own assault, clipping the veteran with a combination that made him stumble backwards.
The champ landed a promising right hand early in the fourth but Masternak regained control again with faster, harder punches that landed and must have impressed the judges. It felt horribly like Billam-Smith was letting this slip away.
The fifth was another hard-to-watch session as the Dorset father-of-one shipped repeated blows and looked laboured and hurt.
In his 53rd professional fight, Masternak was supposed to wilt in the second half of the fight but by the sixth he was still solid and spiteful, catching shots on his gloves and returning fire.
Instead it was the younger and fresher man showing signs of exhaustion in the seventh and gazing over to his red corner looking short of ideas and inspiration.
But a raft of slashing bodyshots slowed Masternak down at the end of the session and got the home crowd cheering again for the first time in an age.
And then out of nowhere the fight was stopped when Masternak failed to start the eighth.
Source: Boxing - thesun.co.uk
