LONDON -- Chris Billam-Smith has said he would rather chase big fights than world titles at this stage of his career as he eyes a clash with Jai Opetaia
The former cruiserweight world champion will headline Zuffa Boxing's first UK show in his home town of Bournemouth on Saturday against Canadian Ryan Rozicki.
The bout will also be his first fight under the Zuffa banner after he decided against re-signing with Ben Shalom and Boxxer.
Billam-Smith, who has had more than a year out of the ring, wants only the biggest fights possible as he enters the tail end of his career and accepts that could mean turning down world title opportunities.
"They've [Zuffa] made some moves in boxing already, which have sort of startled a few people and surprised a few people, but it shows an intent of the business they want to do," Billam-Smith said.
"I think the way I look at it is, if I beat Viddal Riley, for example, for the IBF or I beat Jai Opetaia for no belt, what's going to satisfy me more and also realistically, which is a better win?
"In my eyes beating Jai is a bigger win. So, I would love it to be for all the belts, but that doesn't look likely to be the case, so you have to play the card you're dealt."
The IBF stripped Opetaia, ESPN's No. 1 200 pound fighter, of their title after he fought for the inaugural Zuffa cruiserweight title against Brandon Glanton in March. Zuffa co-founder Dana White has been heavily critical of boxing's governing bodies but Billam-Smith is confident he can still get big fights.
"I think if you take the belts away, the best fights and the big fights are still the biggest fights. The best names are the best fighters with or without the belts," Billam-Smith said.
"Maybe it would be different if I hadn't won a belt, maybe I would have gone down a different route first, but I have and I've been a world champion. So I just want to prove that I'm the best in the world."
Billam-Smith won the WBO title in May 2023 before he lost it the following November. While he is now rejuvenated and ready for the next chapter of his career, the Brit concedes he wasn't really "bothered about boxing" following his last fight in April last year when he beat Brandon Glanton on the Chris Eubank Jr. vs. Conor Benn undercard in London.
In what was supposed to be the start of his comeback after he lost his world title to Gilberto 'Zurdo' Ramirez, Billam-Smith won, but didn't feel the same passion for the sport he once had.
"I went back to the hotel at about [8.30 p.m.], had a burger and chips and drove home," Billam-Smith said. "So that was kind of where I was in my life where I wasn't bothered about boxing as much as I am now, but also nowhere near as much as I had been before."
Losing his world title and being away from his young family, who stayed in his hometown of Bournemouth on England's south coast while he trained in London, took a toll on Bilam-Smith, who took a year out the ring.
"I am a boxing fan. I got a chance to have a decent enough seat for that legendary fight in Benn and Eubank and I was like: 'I just want to go home and be there for my boy when he wakes up in the morning.'
"And I think I still wouldn't change that, but that's just from where I was at that time."