Richard Riakporhe hopes to realise his dream in becoming a cruiserweight world champion at his beloved Crystal Palace’s football stadium this weekend, much like defending champion and former foe Chris Billam-Smith realised 13 months earlier on the south Coast. Five years after their first fight plenty has changed for both – is now the perfect time for history to repeat itself or not?
Riakporhe promises fans will be entertained by rematch
- Who has evolved more since? Riakporhe (17-0, 13 KOs) scored a SD10 win at Billam-Smith’s expense when both were 9-0 pros back in July 2019
- Constant tweaks! WBO mandatory challenger told me the biggest thing he’s learned under head trainer Angel Fernandez is his boxing IQ, a deeper understanding of his fighting style and how to better utilise his attributes
- On achieving his dream to box at Selhurst Park: “I was on holiday in Dubai and got a call from Crystal Palace last year, wanting to do something for the 100-year celebration and asked who do we speak to… that’s crazy. When two parties push for something, things happen. I want to be part of history, no-one has ever brought a world title fight here so as a fan? Humbling.”
Chris Billam-Smith (c) vs. Richard Riakporhe 2
WBO world cruiserweight title fight at Crystal Palace’s Selhurst Park stadium
Main event ringwalks expected around 10pm BST on Saturday night
RICHARD Riakporhe can be a difficult man to read, and that’s by design. Beneath all of the pomp and ceremony borne from his successful modelling work away from the ring, the 34-year-old loves this sport too much to have pursued another discipline.
Raw and reflective, he questioned boxing at a younger age when not getting the acclaim he does now, having loved football and describing himself as an adept striker in yesteryear – a mix of Usain Bolt and Lionel Messi – precisely the bold combo you’d expect from a world title challenger living his dream this weekend.
“I could’ve done track-and-field, football, been a wide receiver or quarterback in the NFL but here I am now,” he declared during a roundtable media huddle with journalists hours before last month’s first press conference in London.
“I fell into a different career path, said maybe I should’ve done football.
There wasn’t a lot of attention or hype on me then, nobody cared, they did about footballers… then we [boxers] became so popular, the way they act and treat you is unbelievable and I will always mention the past, no-one cared. I’m really happy to be part of boxing now.”
His rematch with WBO world cruiserweight champion Chris Billam-Smith has long been spoken about, particularly over the last two years as it appeared both were weighing up their options on the world scene while then-titlist Lawrence Okolie represented Britain’s only world titleholder at 200lbs. How times have changed.
There’s needle between Billam-Smith and Riakporhe, especially having shared ten rounds together during a competitive and close encounter half-a-decade ago. It’s not the same dynamic as friend-turned-foe, nor longtime local rivals like Riakporhe and Okolie remain, but the challenger promises an entertaining second act.
As far as he’s concerned, it’s got to be a destructive display from him too on home soil against the man he knocked down in 2019. Allow Billam-Smith to keep the fight up close, box on the inside and showcase the improved intangibles which caught Okolie by surprise 13 months ago though, and he’s leaving things out of his control.
We know about the suggestion Riakporhe dines out on his power – he accepts this was an issue earlier in his career – but what has he learned since their first fight?
“I feel like I needed time to learn the trade, I was ranked high as a novice, was like #3 with the WBA after my 11th fight [beat Jack Massey to win British honours]. The reality is if I stepped up against certain opponents, elite fighters, who knows what would’ve happened. I wouldn’t have been ready, but now is the perfect time. I had to be a student of the game and learn who I am as a fighter, what works for me and how I box in the ring, we’re actually there now.”
BOXXER’s Selhurst Park card, is as follows…
Main event: Chris Billam-Smith (c) vs. Richard Riakporhe for WBO world cruiserweight title, 12 rounds
Co-main: Isaac Chamberlain vs. Jack Massey for Commonwealth, vacant EBU European cruiserweight titles, 12 rounds
Light-heavyweight: Ben Whittaker vs. Eworitse Ezra Arenyeka for vacant IBF International title over 10 rounds
Light-heavy: Dan Azeez vs. Hrvoje Sep, 8 rounds
Women’s bantamweight: Francesca Hennessy vs. Dorota Norek, 8×2-minute rounds
Middleweight: Mitchell Frearson vs. Marco Simmonds, 8 rounds
Cruiserweight: Deevorn Miller vs. Edwin Mosquera, 6 rounds
Picture source: Lawrence Lustig / BOXXER
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