{"id":2555,"date":"2022-11-15T22:49:29","date_gmt":"2022-11-15T22:49:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kede.com.br\/sport\/chris-billam-smith-cruiserweight-champion-announces-hometown-showdown-with-armend-xhoxhaj-ahead-of-potential-world-title-shot\/"},"modified":"2022-11-15T22:49:30","modified_gmt":"2022-11-15T22:49:30","slug":"chris-billam-smith-cruiserweight-champion-announces-hometown-showdown-with-armend-xhoxhaj-ahead-of-potential-world-title-shot","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kede.com.br\/sport\/chris-billam-smith-cruiserweight-champion-announces-hometown-showdown-with-armend-xhoxhaj-ahead-of-potential-world-title-shot\/","title":{"rendered":"Chris Billam-Smith: Cruiserweight champion announces hometown showdown with Armend Xhoxhaj ahead of potential world title shot"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div data-reactid=\".1izhv0uh7u8.0.0.0.1\">\n<figure class=\"gs-u-mt0 gs-u-mb-alt+ story-body__media story-body__media--figure qa-story-body-media story-body__media--lead\" data-reactid=\".1izhv0uh7u8.0.0.0.1.$image-0\"><span class=\"gs-u-display-block story-body__media\" data-reactid=\".1izhv0uh7u8.0.0.0.1.$image-0.0\"><span class=\"gs-u-display-block gs-o-responsive-image\" style=\"padding-bottom:56.25%;\" data-reactid=\".1izhv0uh7u8.0.0.0.1.$image-0.0.0\"><\/span><\/span><figcaption class=\"gel-brevier gs-u-ph+ gs-u-pv-alt story-body__media__caption story-body__media__caption--image\" data-reactid=\".1izhv0uh7u8.0.0.0.1.$image-0.1\">Chris Billam-Smith (left) could earn himself a major title shot in 2023 with another win in front of home fans<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p role=\"introduction\" class=\"qa-introduction gel-pica-bold\" data-reactid=\".1izhv0uh7u8.0.0.0.1.$paragraph-1\"><span data-reactid=\".1izhv0uh7u8.0.0.0.1.$paragraph-1.0\">British boxer Chris Billam-Smith has announced he is returning to his hometown for his final fight of 2022.<\/span><\/p>\n<div data-reactid=\".1izhv0uh7u8.0.0.0.1.$paragraph-2\">\n<p class=\"\" data-reactid=\".1izhv0uh7u8.0.0.0.1.$paragraph-2.0\"><span data-reactid=\".1izhv0uh7u8.0.0.0.1.$paragraph-2.0.0\">The 32-year-old, European and Commonwealth cruiserweight champion, is scheduled to take on Armend Xhoxhaj of Kosovo on 17 December at the Bournemouth International Centre (BIC).<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"\" data-reactid=\".1izhv0uh7u8.0.0.0.1.$paragraph-3\"><span data-reactid=\".1izhv0uh7u8.0.0.0.1.$paragraph-3.0\">&#8220;We are back,&#8221; Billam-Smith posted on <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/Ck_Jo91o_sY\/?hl=en\" class=\"story-body__external-link\" title=\"\" data-reactid=\".1izhv0uh7u8.0.0.0.1.$paragraph-3.$link-2\"><span data-reactid=\".1izhv0uh7u8.0.0.0.1.$paragraph-3.$link-2.0\">social media<\/span><span class=\"gs-u-ml- gel-icon\" style=\"height:15px;width:15px;\" data-reactid=\".1izhv0uh7u8.0.0.0.1.$paragraph-3.$link-2.1\"><svg viewbox=\"0 0 32 32\" data-reactid=\".1izhv0uh7u8.0.0.0.1.$paragraph-3.$link-2.1.0\"><title data-reactid=\".1izhv0uh7u8.0.0.0.1.$paragraph-3.$link-2.1.0.0\">external-link<\/title><path d=\"M12 0v5h11.5l-5 5H0v22h22V17.5l-2 2V30H2V12h14.5l-7.8 7.7 3.6 3.6L27 8.5V20h5V0H12z\" data-reactid=\".1izhv0uh7u8.0.0.0.1.$paragraph-3.$link-2.1.0.1\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/a><span data-reactid=\".1izhv0uh7u8.0.0.0.1.$paragraph-3.3\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"\" data-reactid=\".1izhv0uh7u8.0.0.0.1.$paragraph-4\"><span data-reactid=\".1izhv0uh7u8.0.0.0.1.$paragraph-4.0\">&#8220;Back in front of the best fans and atmosphere in the world. The last step before the big one next year.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"\" data-reactid=\".1izhv0uh7u8.0.0.0.1.$paragraph-5\"><span data-reactid=\".1izhv0uh7u8.0.0.0.1.$paragraph-5.0\">Billam-Smith, from Bournemouth, successfully defended his titles against Isaac Chamberlain in <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/sport\/boxing\/62295492\" class=\"story-body__internal-link\" title=\"\" data-reactid=\".1izhv0uh7u8.0.0.0.1.$paragraph-5.$link-2\"><span data-reactid=\".1izhv0uh7u8.0.0.0.1.$paragraph-5.$link-2.0\">his first homecoming bout<\/span><\/a><span data-reactid=\".1izhv0uh7u8.0.0.0.1.$paragraph-5.3\"> at the BIC in July.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"\" data-reactid=\".1izhv0uh7u8.0.0.0.1.$paragraph-6\"><span data-reactid=\".1izhv0uh7u8.0.0.0.1.$paragraph-6.0\">He has won his last seven fights and his professional record now stands at 16 wins &#8211; including 11 by knockout &#8211; with one loss.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"\" data-reactid=\".1izhv0uh7u8.0.0.0.1.$paragraph-7\"><span data-reactid=\".1izhv0uh7u8.0.0.0.1.$paragraph-7.0\">&#8220;Christmas is coming early to Bournemouth and I am ready to put on a world-class display for you all,&#8221; he added.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"\" data-reactid=\".1izhv0uh7u8.0.0.0.1.$paragraph-8\"><span data-reactid=\".1izhv0uh7u8.0.0.0.1.$paragraph-8.0\">His opponent Xhoxhaj, nicknamed &#8216;The Bombardier&#8217;, claimed the WBO Inter-Continental cruiserweight title after defeating Roman Fress earlier this year and has won 14 fights, with seven by knockout, and lost two since turning pro.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"\" data-reactid=\".1izhv0uh7u8.0.0.0.1.$paragraph-9\"><span data-reactid=\".1izhv0uh7u8.0.0.0.1.$paragraph-9.0\">Billam-Smith is the older, taller and more experienced fighter who&#8217;s working his way toward a title shot.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"\" data-reactid=\".1izhv0uh7u8.0.0.0.1.$paragraph-10\"><span data-reactid=\".1izhv0uh7u8.0.0.0.1.$paragraph-10.0\">Xhoxhaj is looking to continue his comeback and extend his unbeaten run to three after suffering only the second loss of his career a year ago.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><script async defer src=\"https:\/\/platform.instagram.com\/en_US\/embeds.js\"><\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/sport\/boxing\/63637208?at_medium=RSS&#038;at_campaign=KARANGA\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Chris Billam-Smith (left) could earn himself a major title shot in 2023 with another win in front of home fans British boxer Chris Billam-Smith has announced he is returning to his hometown for his final fight of 2022. The 32-year-old, European and Commonwealth cruiserweight champion, is scheduled to take on Armend Xhoxhaj of Kosovo on [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2556,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[11],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kede.com.br\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2555"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kede.com.br\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kede.com.br\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kede.com.br\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kede.com.br\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2555"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/kede.com.br\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2555\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2557,"href":"https:\/\/kede.com.br\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2555\/revisions\/2557"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kede.com.br\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2556"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kede.com.br\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2555"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kede.com.br\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2555"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kede.com.br\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2555"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}