Crystal Palace fan Richard Riakporhe goes for world title glory this weekend at Selhurst Park, as he goes for the WBO cruiserweight title currently held by his old rival, Chris Billam-Smith.
Boxxer promote Billam-Smith vs Riakporhe 2, and the bill is live on Sky Sports in the UK.
This one will be a repeat of a 2019 meeting at the O2 Arena, London, which took place over ten rounds. On that occasion, a seventh round knockdown in Riakporhe’s favour helped the Londoner to a split decision win, but both have matured and grown since that evening.
Billam-Smith (19-1, 13 KOs) has won ten on the spin since, taking the Commonwealth title in his next outing, before adding the British and European crowns in July 2021 with a split verdict win over Tommy McCarthy, who the Bournemouth man would knock out in eight in a rematch nine months later.
Two further wins earned ‘The Gentleman’ a world title shot, and he took that chance with both hands, dropping Lawrence Okolie three times on the way to a majority decision victory.
Billam-Smith defended last December, forcing Mateusz Masternak to retire after eight rounds, where he was behind on two cards at the time of the conclusion.
Riakporhe (17-0, 13 KOs) has also remained unblemished, but the 34-year-old has chosen a different path, slowly building his world ranking.
‘The Midnight Train’ is on a run of five straight early wins, and the last three have all come inside four rounds, beginning with a body shot second round stoppage of Fabio Turchi in June 2022. Former world champion Krzysztof Glowacki was stopped in four at the start of 2023, and Riakporhe was last out in November 2023, stopping Dylan Bregeon in two.
Prediction: This is a well-matched contest on paper, with both different animals to their original clash. Riakporhe will be inspired to achieve in front of his own fans, and I think he can outwork the champion, and outlast him down the stretch to win via late stoppage.
Chamberlain & Massey battle for European honours and the return of Ben Whittaker
The chief support is also at cruiserweight, where Isaac Chamberlain (16-2, 8 KOs) defends his Commonwealth belt against Jack Massey (21-2, 12 KOs). The vacant European title is also up for grabs.
Chamberlain lost a thriller to Chris Billam-Smith in July 2022, but his last outing proved an impressive one, as he win British and Commonwealth titles with a wide points win against Mikael Lawal.
Massey lost to Richard Riakporhe for the vacant British belt in 2019, and lost a competitive decision up at heavyweight against Joseph Parker last January, but has only been out once since, a one round stoppage win against Steve Ntere in January.
Prediction: Chamberlain can use his recent win against Lawal to his advantage, and I think he can walk away with the belts with a points win.
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The flashy and brash Ben Whittaker (7-0, 5 KOs) goes for his first professional belt, and ‘The Surgeon’ can take the vacant IBF International light heavyweight bauble with an inside schedule win over Eworitse Ezra Arenyeka (12-0, 10 KOs).
The dancing begins… ๐บ
An aggressive start for Ben Whittaker, he’s ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐! ๐ i#WhittakerWillings x #WardleyClarke pic.twitter.com/967BKNM9zX
โ Sky Sports Boxing (@SkySportsBoxing) March 31, 2024
Rest of undercard
Dan Azeez (20-1, 13 KOs) returns after defeat to Joshua Buatsi, and the light heavyweight should ease to a points win against Croatia’sย Hrvoje Sep (12-2, 9 KOs).
Fran Hennessy (3-0, 1 KO) goes up to eight rounds for the first time, and the bantamweight should come through clearly on the cards against Dorota Norek (7-4, 1 KO).
Cruiserweight prospect Deevorn Miller (7-1, 5 KOs) can win inside the distance in his scheduled six rounder with Edwin Mosquera (12-4-2, 6 KOs).
