After twice scoring upset decisions over former cruiserweight champion Chris Billam-Smith in their amateur days, former British Olympian Cheavon Clarke added an upset stoppage victory Saturday over his rival in the pro ranks at Zuffa Boxing 12.
Clarke (13-2, 10 KOs), a native of Jamaica who trains out of the U.K., took out the nearly 5-to-1 betting favorite in Billam-Smith (22-3, 14 KOs) during the main event of the Zuffa-promoted card inside Copper Box Arena in London. Nicknamed "C4," Clarke twice dropped Billam-Smith in the seventh round before referee Lee Every stopped the bout at 1:24 of the round while CBS was pinned against the ropes.
Billam-Smith, a 36-year-old from the United Kingdom, lost a pair of 2016 amateur bouts to Clarke, including in the final of the British national championships and later that year in the English Title Series.
"It has been 10 years, but I don't have no beef with Chris," Clarke said. "He has been the world champion, so give him his credit. I'm not going to be someone I'm not [and disrespect him]. Shout out to Chris."
After Billam-Smith lost his WBO cruiserweight title via decision to Gilberto Ramirez in 2024, he won his next two fights, including an all-action slugfest with Ryan Rozicki in June that marked his Zuffa debut as "CBS" scored a 7th-round TKO.
The fight against Clarke, 35, was physical from the jump, with both boxers looking to establish themselves on the inside, which led to a series of clinching throughout the first half of the scheduled 10-round bout.
Billam-Smith began to work the body aggressively before Clarke turned the momentum in his direction in Round 5 when he worked from long distance and hurt CBS with a clean right cross.
"[Billam-Smith] is a strong guy," Clarke said. "Look, he's bigger than me. Most of these guys are bullying me, but I've never been bullied. My mom wouldn't have condoned it, so there you go.
"I don't need to prove anyone right other than myself. I believe in me and believe in my team," Clarke said. "I don't believe anybody trains as hard as me. They can try, but they don't."
Clarke opened Round 7 by scoring a clean knockdown on another right hand. Billam-Smith regained his feet but went down a second time on another right hand. Even though "CBS" regained his feet, his legs began to wobble and Clarke let his hands go enough to force the stoppage.
"I'm fine, it was a good shot, obviously," Billam-Smith said. "I made a mistake, but I felt like I was winning the fight, but fair play to Shep. We have had three fights and he has won them all, but I would love to run it back and get him eventually."
Clarke won his third straight fight since dropping a pair of decisions to Leonardo Mosquea and Viddal Riley. In June, on the CBS-Rozicki undercard, Clarke stopped Jack Massey in a 7th-round TKO.
Former middleweight titleholder Denzel Bentley wins Zuffa debut
Bentley, who was stripped of his WBO middleweight title late last month after signing on for his Zuffa Boxing debut, held off a gritty effort by veteran Shane Mosley Jr. to claim a unanimous decision on scores of 96-93, 95-94 and 96-94 over a competitive 10 rounds.
Mosley (23-6, 13 KOs), the 35-year-old son of Hall-of-Famer Shane Mosley Sr., got up from a crushing right hand that dropped him in Round 2 and survived a further barrage of punches to work his way back during the same round.
"I cracked [Mosley's chin], but he got up," Bentley said. "I thought he was gone. I thought if I put a lot of shots on him, he wouldn't hold up, but he came back."
Bentley (23-3-1, 18 KOs), a 31-year-old who was fighting in his home city, held Mosley off down the stretch and, after the win, called for a shot at Carlos Adames, the WBC middleweight title who makes his Zuffa debut next week in Saudi Arabia, or a showdown against Conor Benn, who was seated ringside.
"I was fighting more than just Shane Mosley Jr. out here; I felt like I was fighting the whole of boxing for some of the decisions I had recently made," Bentley said. "It would've been even sweeter if the belt was on the line and I could've defended my title."
Young heavyweight Da'Mazion Vanhouter continues red-hot start with knockout
At just 21 and appearing on his fourth Zuffa card of 2026, Vanhouter (14-0, 11 KOs) remained unbeaten with a first-round knockout of Ivan Balaz (9-2, 7 KOs). Vanhouter recorded a trio of knockdowns – all on body shots – before the fight was stopped at 2:04 by referee Kieran McCann.
Vanhouter scored his eighth consecutive knockout since a 2024 split-decision win over Cristian Rodriguez and improved to 4-0 with four stoppages inside of three rounds since signing with Zuffa Boxing.
After the fight, UFC president and CEO Dana White, who ringside in London, said he hoped to bring Vanhouter back for a fifth fight this year on Dec. 11 in Wales on the undercard of the long-awaited British heavyweight clash between former champions Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua.
