Chris Billam-Smith vs Brandon Glanton Preview April 26th, 2025
Former WBO Cruiserweight Champion Chris Billam-Smith of Bournemouth, England returns to the ring this Saturday, April 26th to take on Brandon Glanton of Atlanta, Georgia. The 12-rounder from London can be seen live in most nations on DAZN pay-per-view while fans in the UK and Ireland can also pick it up on Sky Sports Box Office on the undercard of the Chris Eubank Jr vs Conor Benn fight. Billam-Smith’s last contest in November saw him drop a unanimous decision to WBA Champion Gilberto Ramirez in a title-unification bout while Glanton last fought in June when he stopped Aleksei Agorov in the 11th round.
Billam-Smith vs Glanton Betting Odds
Here are the betting odds from online sportsbook BetOnline.ag (full review here).
- Brandon Glanton -120
- Chris Billam-Smith -110
My Pick
The 34-year-old Billam-Smith makes his way to the ring with an impressive mark of 20-2 with 13 Ko’s and has 152 rounds of experience under his belt since turning pro in 2017. Before that he enjoyed a fine amateur career with a reported 32-11 record and fought in several English National Championships, making it to the Final in 2013 and 2016. He measures 6-feet-3-inches tall with a 75-inch reach and has lost just once since 2019, and that was against Ramirez in his last outing.
Since turning pro, Billam-Smith stopped Craig Glover in the fifth round in 2019 for the vacant Commonwealth Cruiserweight Crown and then edged Tommy McCarthy by 12-round split decision to add the European and vacant British Titles in July, 2021. He stopped McCarthy in the the eighth round in April, 2022 in their rematch and also has wins over Isaac Chamberlain, Dylan Bregon, Nathan Thorley and Robin Dupre. Of course, the biggest win was his majority decision upset of Lawrence Okolie in May, 2023 to take the WBO Crown. He then defended it by stopping Mateusz Masternak after eight rounds and Richard Riakporhe via a unanimous decision in a rematch.
The first defeat on Billam-Smith’s record came at the hands of Riakporhe by 10-round split decision in a shot at the WBA Inter-Continental Cruiserweight title in their first meeting in July, 2019. As far as power goes, Billam-Smith has pretty good pop in his punches as 65 per cent of his wins have come by way of stoppage but he has gone the distance in seven of his last 10 fights. Billam-Smith also has a pretty solid chin to go along with the rest of his attributes.
The 33-year-old Glanton has the same record as Billam-Smith at 20-2 but has more stoppages with 17 Ko’s. He made his pro debut back in 2017 and has 88 rounds of experience to his name since. As an amateur he reached the 2016 National Golden Gloves Quarterfinals and the 2015 USA National Championships Quarterfinals and competed in the World Series of Boxing. He measures 5-feet-11-inches tall with a 79-inch reach so gives up four inches in height but makes up for it with a four-inch reach advantage.
Glanton possesses more power than Billam-Smith as 85 per cent of his wins have been by stoppage, including his past six. His first defeat came at the hands of David Light by 10-round split decision in December, 2022 in a shot at the vacant WBO Global, and WBO International Cruiserweight Titles. He then lost his next fight four months later when he was edged by via a 10-round majority decision by Soslan Abarov. Glanton did win the vacant WBO Global Cruiserweight Belt in 2022 when he stopped Mario Aguilar in the second round. He also captured the vacant WBO International Crown in 2024 by halting Emil Markic in the second stanza as well.
Prediction…
Billam-Smith has taken on tougher opposition over the years but in his last outing against Gilberto Ramirez he reportedly suffered a broken right thumb as well as damaged ribs, a fractured left hand and needed stitches over his left eye, which cuts often. It’s hard to tell how he’s recovered from these ailments and he’s stepping back into the ring with another power puncher in Glanton. Billam-Smith fights more on pure heart than slick skills and he’s going to have his chin tested again. If Billam-Smith can handle Glanton’s hardest shots and outwork him then he has a shot here, but I can also see Glanton being too powerful for him. It’s a tossup but I’m going with Glanton in this one.
Glanton’s power could be the difference.
Play: Glanton -120 @ BetOnline.ag
Check out my recent boxing betting picks to see my current form.
Brandon Glanton betting • Chris Billam-Smith betting