When he first stepped into the punishing and intimidating surroundings of an amateur boxing gym, the primary aim for Chris Billam-Smith was merely to supply himself with an impressive playground story.
‘My brother Ben was always into boxing,’ the European and Sports News Commonwealth cruiserweight champion tells Sportsmail. ‘He took me a handful of times when I was a teenager, but I was sort of just going so I could tell my mates at school the next day that I went to boxing last night to sound cool.
‘Then when I went to college I met a mate of mine, Dean, and Sports News I started training with him.I went to watch him fight and everyone was there chanting his name. I just remember stopping and thinking, “that must be amazing, having everyone there and your friends and family chanting your name. What a feeling that must be.”‘
Chris Billam-Smith is set to take on Isaac Chamberlain in Bournemouth on Saturday night
Chamberlain (centre) will provide a stern test for the 31-year-old on his big homecoming
Billam-Smith is fighting back in his home town for the first time in a number of years
A late starter in the sport, Billam-Smith, 31, Top News began chasing the same euphoric high as Dean when he bit down on his gum shield and embarked on his own fighting career at the age of 16.