Chris Billam-Smith was so enraged by Brandon Glanton’s crass threats to give him “brain damage” ahead of their April fight in London that he had to speak to his breathwork coach.
The American cruiserweight contender made the comments at the pre-fight press conference ahead of their bout on the Chris Eubank Jnr-Conor Benn show and Billam-Smith did not hear it at the time, but was incensed when he later listened to what had been said.
“It’s probably the first time in my career I’ve had… I don’t mind a bit of trash-talk, within the lines,” said the former WBO champion from Bournemouth. “But I didn’t actually hear what he said in the press conference because I think the speakers were in front of us, so half the time we couldn’t even understand what he was saying just because of where the speakers were. And then I watched it back on my phone, like later that night on the way back after the press conference, and I was just raging. I couldn’t believe the words he’d said. In a sport where it happens, CTE and brain damage in the sport, and to say you’re going to give us another fighter brain damage is just completely disgusting. He should have been fined. I thought about the possibility of not giving him the fight and pulling out. I had lots of thoughts go through my head, but I thought, ‘Well, he wins in that way,’ he still gets paid, that it’s kind of, it feels like he prevails.
“And I feel like the best way to do it is just go in there and beat him.”
Billam-Smith admits in some ways those words put more pressure on him because he felt he needed to win for the boxing community and society as a whole, so the bad guy was not victorious.
“It’s disgusting behaviour,” he added. “More should have been done. Yes, he [Glanton] said sorry, was told to say sorry at the weigh-in or whatever it was, but it’s just disgusting. That stuff can’t be said. There should be fines in place for comments like that. It’s just unacceptable.”
Billam-Smith, nicknamed “The Gentleman,” has always looked to work with those who can improve him as a fighter, and he has worked with Greg Meehan, a mindset and breath coach who helped prepare John Ryder to walk through walls against Canelo Alvarez in Mexico.
“I had to speak to Greg Meehan, who’s my breathwork coach and does mindset and stuff,” explained Billam-Smith. “And I said, ‘Mate, I need to chill out because I’m angry now. Like, I don’t want to go in there and fight emotionally.’”
“I just needed to have a chat with Greg about it. It wasn’t even necessary for Greg to say anything, but I needed to get it off my chest. And Greg gave me a few things, said a few things, which helped. It was just massively upsetting to hear another fighter say that.”
Billam-Smith is a married father of one, with a second child due later this year. He is a family guy first and foremost.
He and Glanton exchanged words in the ring afterwards, with Billam-Smith having won a unanimous decision and they talked once more backstage.
“The final bell went and I just looked at him and just was like, I’m waiting now for you to apologize for everything,” Billam-Smith recalled. “I’m not happy with you, I don’t really want to embrace you or anything like that, where usually I do with fighters, but I don’t want to. I have a respect for people in the ring and, and stuff like that, but you can’t say things like that. I was just disappointed in it, to be honest.”
Billam-Smith, however, said he didn’t hear what he wanted from Glanton because by then it was too late and the damage had been done.
Glanton’s comments had already gone far and wide, especially given it was on the biggest card in the UK so far this year.
“And there’s a lot of eyes on it. Yes, we’re not headlining, but there’s still a lot of eyes on it. Children are going to be watching. We need to be good role models.”
Boxing is a violent sport and called The Hardest Game for good reason. With that in mind, Billam-Smith is an advocate of discussing boxing as a skill-based sport; in a controlled environment.
In the end, Billam-Smith – who improved to 21-2 (13 KOs) – won well and is now closer to again fighting for a world title.
Glanton’s pre-fight threats amounted to nothing and it was the 34-year-old Englishman who moved on to bigger things. Glanton had not been able to deliver on his own grim predictions.
“Like, don’t be that person just for cameras, trying to make a name yourself just for some clickbait or whatever it might be, especially when you don’t back it up in the ring, which is like embarrassing,” said Billam-Smith. “To me, that’s just embarrassing. And on his part, and it’s not a good look for the sport. So it was massively important that I got the victory.”
