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Tempers are simmering ahead of Chris Billam-Smith’s next cruiserweight clash, with opponent Brandon Glanton publicly questioning the Briton’s character after an alleged snub during a past encounter.
The friction reportedly stems from a brief meeting in Bournemouth ahead of Billam-Smith’s WBO title showdown with Lawrence Okolie in 2023. At the time, Glanton was aligned with Team Okolie and claims Billam-Smith refused a simple gesture of sportsmanship.
Brandon Glanton On Chris Billam-Smith Rivalry
“I didn’t know him other than being a fighter. Maybe he didn’t like the fact that I was part of Team Okolie at the time, I don’t know what it was,” Glanton told reporters. “But a man extends his hand, in respect you shake it. That’s it.”
He didn’t stop there. While Billam-Smith has built a reputation as a respectful and humble champion, Glanton isn’t buying into the image.
“Billam-Smith, as far as I’m concerned, is no gentleman,” Glanton said. “He acts like he is. The cameras don’t see everything. Reality TV ain’t reality. We’ll see him for what he is.”
“It says what type of person he really is outside of boxing. What kind of man he is.”
Billam-Smith, however, flatly denied any recollection of the incident.
“I have no recollection at all of him ever offering me a handshake or seeing him before yesterday,” he told Sky Sports. “What I will do is once I’ve beaten him, I’ll shake his hand, if he’ll accept it — who knows after how much it hurt him.”
Billam-Smith returns after his second career loss, and only loss he has not avenged, against Gilberto Ramirez.
With personal tension now adding an edge to the contest, what was once a straightforward title defence has taken on a grudge-match energy.
