Last night in Wolverhampton, unbeaten cruiserweight contender Richard Riakporhe scored a quick, eye-catching stoppage win over French fighter Dylan Bregeon. Riakporhe showed his power in getting Bregeon out of there in just two rounds, the win quite a statement win considering how the southpaw from France has been the distance with people like Chris Billam-Smith, who currently holds the WBO cruiserweight title.
Riakporhe, now 17-0(13) holds a decision win over “CBS” as he refers to the reigning WBO champion, and now the 33 year old Londoner wants to fight Billam-Smith again. This time, as he said when speaking with Boxing Social, Riakporhe feels he will stop CBS. However, Riakporhe, the WBO mandatory challenger, is somewhat concerned Billam-Smith may be beaten in his next fight, when he will defend against Mateusz Masternak, this on December 10th.
“I have a lot of pressure on me. People talk about me potentially being in big fights, and they want to know if it’s hype or if it’s not, but it’s not hype – it’s for real,” Riakporhe said after last night’s win. “I’ll knock these guys out….if I land. I’m blessed with power. I’m blessed with power from the creator, so I’m definitely gonna use it, trust me. And when it does land, it’s trouble for anyone, it doesn’t matter who they are. For the British boxing fans, there’s nothing better than a domestic world title fight. Everybody’s locked in, everybody wants to see it. Everybody likes a big domestic fight. They loved the first fight, CBS and Riakporhe, they wanna see it again. Obviously, CBS has the pressure now of retaining his title, and it’s not gonna be easy, because I know Masternak, I’ve done two or three camps with him. He’s very tricky, very tough, and he’s a warrior. I’m cheering CBS on, I want him to do it.”
Billam-Smith lost a split decision to Riakporhe back in July of 2019, and he would no doubt like to get revenge. And if CBS can beat Masternak, it seems the rematch with Riakporhe is a natural fight to make next year. Riakporhe does have real power and he is fun to watch. Billam-Smith has never been stopped. Who wins if, or when, these two do meet again?