Former champion explains his decision to sign with Zuffa.
Former WBO cruiserweight world champion Chris Billam-Smith officially signed with Zuffa Boxing a few days ago.
Dana White’s new boxing promotion has been steadily raising its profile, making several big-name signings within the last few months.
Having signed the likes of Conor Benn, Jai Opetaia, Edgar Berlanga, and Richardson Hitchins, the signing of Chris Billam-Smith itself wouldn’t have come as a surprise were it not for the position that he was in at the time.
Two weeks ago, Viddal Riley defeated Mateusz Masternak on the Derek Chisora vs. Deontay Wilder undercard.
The European cruiserweight title fight was also an IBF title eliminator, which set the winner up for a shot at the vacant belt. With Riley’s victory, he was being linked to a fight with the highest available contender for the championship.
Because Riley was ranked #2 and Billam-Smith was ranked #3 (with the #1 spot vacant), an all-British matchup for the IBF title was expected to be made.
However, with Billam-Smith’s signing with Zuffa, that is probably not going to happen.
Zuffa’s plan is to get rid of the organisations’ titles and introduce their own Zuffa Boxing championship, something which saw IBF champion Jai Opetaia stripped of his belt after his win over Brandon Glanton.
That was the belt Riley and Billam-Smith were likely going to fight for, but it is now looking probable that Riley will instead challenge for the strap against #5 contender (Opetaia is #4) David Nyika.
On the topic of why he chose to sign with Zuffa when he had a championship opportunity right in front of him, Billam-Smith had this to say to BoxingScene, “If I go and beat Viddal, that wouldn’t make me the number one in the world, but beating Jai Opetaia would make me the number one in the world.”
He continued, “People would argue, obviously, having lost to ‘Zurdo’ [Gilberto RamĂrez], but then I get the opportunity to be back in that top-two conversation, and then we could fight ‘Zurdo’ to see who is the number one in the world.
“Obviously, it’s an ever-evolving door when it comes to stuff like that, because there’s always people coming through. But in this time, in this era we’re in, Opetaia and ‘Zurdo’ are the best two. And I’ve obviously boxed one of them and came up short, but I want to get that rematch, and I want to fight Opetaia, as well.
“So, for me, that’s what it’s about. It’s about proving to myself, but also just pushing myself to the max and fighting the very best, and that’s how I’ve always been–even as an amateur–and belts don’t guarantee that, as we’ve seen recently with strippings and whatnot.”
So, in short, “The Gentleman” would prefer to beat the man viewed as the best instead of become a two-time world champion by beating a man who isn’t viewed as the best.
That is the type of mindset that fans would likely wish for every fighter to have.
Chris Billam-Smith has explained his reasoning for signing with Zuffa Boxing 🥊
Billam-Smith was in line to face Viddal Riley for the IBF cruiserweight title but that now looks unlikely.
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— BoxingScene.com (@boxingscene) April 14, 2026
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