Chris Billam-Smith exclusive: I considered retirement... now I'm ready to conquer the world again

What do you do once your childhood dreams have been realised? More than a decade ago, Chris Billam-Smith was lying next to his girlfriend - now his wife - when she asked what his lifetime goal was. The one thing he craved above all else.Becoming a world champion was the answer. Three years ago, in front of his home fans in Bournemouth against former sparring partner and friend Lawrence Okolie, Billam-Smith did just that. But then what?“I struggled during the Riakporhe camp," he says in an exclusive interview with Standard Sport. "I really missed home. And for Zurdo as well."Billam-Smith had started a family, adding to the strain of travelling up to London for his camps with trainer Shane McGuigan. Injury niggles were also building for the 36-year-old."The Glanton camp was the worst," Billam-Smith reflects. "I was coming off the back of a defeat, not headlining. I was so used to headlining shows.Chris Billam-Smith beat Brandon Glanton last year following a difficult campGetty“It was a lot to process, losing my world title and my headline status. That was a difficult time for me."Did he consider hanging up his gloves? “Yeah," he admits. "I had conversations with my wife about it. I was saying, ‘I don’t know how much longer I can do this for.’ "Now I feel the opposite, so time is a great healer. There’s been some change with promoters and landscape and I’m really enjoying that. "I’m enjoying where my body is at. I’ve ironed out some niggles that had been going on for years. I’m back enjoying it. I’m grateful I stuck it out and got to this place.”That is not to say that leaving his family behind has got any easier.“It’s the hardest thing," Billam-Smith says. "I’ve missed a lot during camps. I missed both my boys’ first steps.“That becomes really difficult to compartmentalise and try and deal with. They’re never going to know, but I’ll know. "I’ve got a four-year-old now and he hates when I go away."Billam-Smith - who dramatically stopped Ryan Rozicki in June on Zuffa Boxing’s UK debut - intends on making that all worth it when he fights Cheavon Clarke in London on Saturday night. The pair know each other well, having shared the ring in sparring. They also fought twice as amateurs, with both of those bouts won by Clarke.I know I can beat Jai Opetaia... it’s a big reason why I joined ZuffaChris Billam-Smith"It really motivates me and gets the bit between my teeth," Billam-Smith says. "Chev has improved but there’s a lot of similarities.“With me, I'm a completely different fighter. Against domestic opponents, I’ve cleaned up over the years."At this stage, every fight is must-win and therefore a potential career-ender. There is surely no appetite for further rebuilds."Oh yeah, for sure," Billam-Smith says. "I need to keep stamping my authority on this cruiserweight scene."Does he have an end point in his mind for when he will walk away from the sport?“Yeah, I have one," he says, laughing. "Me and my wife have an idea... we’ll keep that to ourselves.”Not yet is the answer for now. Victory over Clarke, and Billam-Smith will be eyeing a return to the world stage in 2027.Billam-Smith is confident that he would beat two-time cruiserweight champion Jai OpetaiaGettyA showdown with unbeaten cruiserweight Jai Opetaia is top of the wishlist, even if Billam-Smith expects the Australian to step up to heavyweight to fight Deontay Wilder later this year."That’s one of the big reasons I signed with Zuffa, to fight him," he says. "That’s a fight I know I can win."The aim, then, is to return to the summit of a mountain he has already climbed. Do so and he will become Britain's first-ever two-time cruiserweight world champion.“I'm very confident I will," Billam-Smith says. "I haven’t changed the mindset and diligence that got me there. Keep pushing and it will come.”