Chris Billam-Smith and Ryan Rozicki pretty much promised a great fight at Zuffa Boxing 7 today in Bournemouth, England, and they delivered. Billam-Smith managed to out-last Rozicki in a war of attrition, with Rozicki’s corner pulling their fighter after seven rounds.
Rozicki (21-2-1, 19 KO) did what he said he would do, coming in with reckless abandon throwing loaded-up power shots. And though some were landing, he was also walking onto more carefully-chosen left hooks and right hands from Billam-Smith
(22-2, 14 KO), who may not have the tattooed tough guy look and grimacing posture of Rozicki, but is every bit as tough a man.
The story of the fight, though, was that both of these guys are genuinely, extremely tough, no matter how different they may seem aesthetically. Rozicki got the choice to charge in and make this the near-street fight he wanted, and just as importantly, Billam-Smith met him on that level. He didn’t try to make it something else. He was comfortable with that style and did damage.
Rozicki was penalized a point in the second round for using his head on the inside, and was rocked exceptionally hard in the third, but just like the rest of his career, he never did go down. At the end of the seventh round, which really had been a pretty good one for Rozicki, the Canadian brawler was getting rocked around again by Billam-Smith. Rozicki returned to the corner with cuts on both eyes, and his team called it.
Post-fight, the respect between the two warriors seemed genuine. Nobody knows any better than those two guys how tough the other one really is.
Billam-Smith vs Rozicki highlights
Chev Clarke rallies from the brink, stops Jack Massey
In another compelling cruiserweight battle, Chev Clarke got off the canvas twice in the fourth round, survived, and rallied to drop and stop Jack Massey in the seventh round.
Clarke (12-2, 9 KO) was basically fighting for his career in that fourth round, getting up on instinct and trying to get back to the corner for a chance to recover. Sure, he would have had more fights if he’d wanted them, but the hopes of really getting into the cruiserweight race would have been badly damaged, with Clarke at age 35 and having come up lacking twice already.
There was a real thought that Clarke’s corner maybe should have pulled him. Massey was in control, doing damage, and Clarke just looked like maybe he doesn’t truly have it at the higher levels of the pro game. Clarke, though, basically pulled his career from the fire with the inspired comeback, and what looked like it was going to be his worst night as a pro became his best.
Both fights showed us the drama boxing can produce, and Zuffa may have a real opening with the cruiserweight division, which has forever been under-valued in the United States while quite often providing good and great fights over the decades.
