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Chris Billam-Smith will fight Cheavon Clarke on November 7 at Copper Box Arena in London live on Sky Sports

Chris Billam-Smith and Cheavon Clarke will box in the headline event of Zuffa Boxing 12 at the Copper Box Arena in London on November 7, live on <em>Sky Sports</em>; Billam-Smith and Clarke put themselves on a collision course with their epic victories over Ryan Rozicki and Jack Massey

· 451 words· updated September 25, 2026 at 03:18 PM

The British rivals clash in the headline event of Zuffa Boxing 12 at the Copper Box Arena in London.

Former world champion Billam-Smith is looking to fight his way back to the summit of the cruiserweight division, while Clarke launched himself into the upper echelons of the weight class with a stirring comeback victory over Jack Massey in June.

Billam-Smith headlined that event in Bournemouth when he won a fight of the year contender with Ryan Rozicki.

Those victories have put the two on a collision course.

Billam-Smith and Clarke have a past. A decade ago as amateur boxers, Clarke defeated Billam-Smith in the national elite championship finals.

That snuffed out Billam-Smith's hopes of a place on Team GB, while Clarke went on to box for Britain at the Olympic Games.

Billam-Smith did subsequently come into his own as a professional boxer. He won British, European and Commonwealth championships, before dethroning Lawrence Okolie on a memorable night at the Vitality stadium in his Bournemouth hometown to become the WBO cruiserweight world champion.

Regularly in exciting fights, he defended his title against Mateusz Masternak and Richard Riakporhe before losing a ferocious unification battle with Gilberto Ramirez.

Clarke has also featured in action-packed fights. He knocked out Ellis Zorro to win the British championship and challenged for the European title, when he was edged out by unbeaten champion Leonardo Mosquea.

Viddal Riley outpointed him at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium but Clarke restored his status when he twice rose from the canvas to take out Massey in his most recent fight.

Zuffa's newest signee, rising cruiserweight Lucas Roehrig , 9-0 (5), will fight Scotland's Connal McDonald, 5-1 (1), in an eight-rounder.

Scottish middleweight phenom Sam Hickey , 6-0 (3), and American heavyweight destroyer Da'Mazion Vanhouter , 13-0 (10) will face opponents to be named in eight-rounders. Vanhouter had an eye-opening performance on the Garcia vs Benn card earlier this month, demolishing Raphael Akpejiori in the first round.

British light-heavyweight contender Zach Parker will face unbeaten puncher Umar Dzambekov . Parker, 26-2 (18), a former British super-middleweight champion, makes his Zuffa Boxing debut following a controversial decision defeat last November to Olympic bronze medallist Joshua Buatsi.

Dzambekov (14-0, 10 KOs) is a southpaw knockout machine who grew up in Austria and now trains out of Los Angeles. He has stopped five of his last six foes, and in February, he delivered a crunching second-round KO over Ahmed Elbiali on Zuffa Boxing 03.

Additional information on the event will be announced in the coming weeks.

Fans are encouraged to register their interest early for the best chance to secure tickets via ZuffaBoxing.com .

Watch Chris Billam-Smith vs Cheavon Clarke on November 7 live on Sky Sports .

Gathered from external sources. Rights to this text belong to whoever originally published it.