In the main event of the boxing evening at the Vitality Stadium in Bournemouth, England, Chris Billam-Smith (18-1, 12 KOs) won by a majority vote over the previously undefeated Lawrence Okoli (19-1, 14 KOs) and took away the WBO belt in the first heavyweight from him.
Billam-Smith, after a weak start in the fourth round, was able to send the champion to the floor, and from that moment on, the picture of the battle changed dramatically. It is worth noting that the referee of the fight was clearly on the side of Billam-Smith and did not allow Okoli to go into clinches too often. For such actions, the champion lost points in the fifth and seventh rounds.
In the tenth round, Okoli knelt down, and the referee mistakenly considered this a knockdown, although it was more like a push. Having four "removal" points on his account, Okoli had to go into frontal attacks, for which he paid with another opening of the score in the eleventh round, and also slightly controversial. Ultimately, after the final bell, the judges scored 116-107, 115-109 in favor of Billam-Smith and 112-112.
