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REVANT against Chris Billam-Smith is “the only way” for Lawrence Okolie, according to his trainer Sugar Hill.
The two cruiserweights met at AFC Bournemouth’s Vitality Stadium last weekend in front of 15,000 fans, mostly in support of Billam-Smith. A hard and tough 12 rounds ended with a majority decision for the crowd favorite.
A rematch clause was already in place for Okolie if he lost, and his corner said Boxing news they want another fight.
“Yes, that’s the only way. You don’t want to wait and try to get a rematch. You want to get it now. He obviously knows he was (wrong) by the statements he made and wants to correct those things. He wants to write his mistakes and he wants to win.”
What unfolded between the two fighting friends was a messy contest full of incidents, points being deducted and Billam-Smith going through everything Okolie had to offer. Is Hill confident the result can be turned around in the return?
“I am very sure of it,” he replied.
“I was confident in this fight. I will be confident in every fight. That will be something me and Lawrence will talk about and want to discover for him. Maybe he would go back to the way he did in training camp and not be so anxious if I said “peekaboo” or something. I don’t know. I’m a crazy thinker so sometimes you have to think outside the box to make things work.”
The neighborhood told itself BN in his locker room afterward that a rematch is what he wants next.
“Must be. I’m not the type of person to let these two guys fight each other. We’re bringing him back.”
Billam-Smith agreed that Okolie would want nothing more than a chance at redemption.
“He is a proud man. He’s a winner at heart and I think that makes sense for him, and why shouldn’t he. You have a shot at the world title again, it’s not like I pulled it off. So yes, I would expect him to want a rematch.”
