Chris Billam Smith..

Definitely not retired; he was angling for a fight with Opetaia, before Opetaia signed on to fight Glanton.
https://www.ringmagazine.com/news/c...g-champion-jai-opetaia-5DlifeRWHKARMX9myAMqne
We will see him back this year for sure; I just hope it is against a world level opponent, as lets face it Smith has pretty much cleared out all the domestic Cruisers.

 

Fight Jack Massey then one more bash at a world title.

 

CBS was recently talking about moving up to Heavyweight.

 

35 years old moving up to HW, its a bit late isn't it?

 

I think he said (1) there aren't the fights at CW (2) I'm guessing the money plays a part, sure he mentioned fighting Okolie again at HW.

Scroll down this Sky Sports link below where talks for 1 minute.

https://www.skysports.com/boxing/ne...ys-trainer-joe-gallagher-its-a-matter-of-time

 

Always felt he wanted nothing to do with Opetaia

 

Maybe when CBS held the belt, but now it will be more difficult for him to land the big fights and I'm sure he would fight Opetaia.

 

I always got the same vibe from him, if he was shouting for the opetaia fight it wasnt a very loud shout, more like a very faint whisper

For me, It feels too early to rate opetaia so highly just due to the opponents he’s faced but he would absolutely destroy billam-smith of that I’ve no doubt

 

Opetaia would be a very painful matchup for CBS this stage of his career.

His war of attrition style would only mean a brave but early night in defeat, style wise a very, very bad fight for him.

 

Opetaia is easily hit and has a long way to go before he gets Usyk type homage.

The Mexican boxer Ramirez had a style that was all wrong for Billam-Smith and he may fare better in a shootout.

Billam-Smith is a tough man and we still have to see how Opetaia reacts under pressure.

 

Opetaia destroys every Cruiserweight in the world. Don't know why you're trying to be negative on CBS for his probable loss to the Number 1 Cruiserweight and a p4p fighter.

CBS is a very good fighter, and would beat any Cruiser in the world apart from Opetaia and Ramirez. He's the clear number 3. It's remarkable how he's improved to become a quality, world class fighter.

 

CBS is a good fighter and comes across as a really decent guy, no hate here for him

Also there’s no shame in losing to opetaia as you say

On the flip side I have to be honest and say I’ve never watched CBS and thought “wow” either

 

I still rate CBS. For me he's McGuigan's biggest success story in terms of what he's squeezed out of the talent and the journey, even if Shane's trained bigger names who achieved more on paper. CBS won the title off Okolie (a lad who used to bash him up in sparring), avenged the Riakporhe loss, and got himself a big unification in Saudi. That's a serious career.

But he's started to ship more punishment, and this might actually be the perfect time to call it a day rather than carry on and undo what he's already built. Nearly 12 months out and walking straight into an Opetaia fight is a short route to getting stopped – and that doesn't mix well with longevity or long stretches out of the ring. Plus Frampton's said the sparring at Shane's gym is hard.

 

He’s in a proper state of limbo since the end of Boxxer on Sky. Probably a step above the purses he’d get on the BBC, but post-Ramirez loss isn’t really somebody the Saudis are interested in unless he’ll fight Opetaia.

Agree that he wouldn’t beat Opetaia anyway, but after this long a lay-off I think it could be quite a long, one-sided beat down if it happens.