On May 27, 2023, the 30-year-old WBO cruiserweight world champion, Lawrence Okolie (19-0, 14 KOs), faced a 32-year-old English boxer Chris Billam-Smith (17-1, 12 KOs), in a title defense fight.
Okolie came in to the fight on a 19-fight win streak with a 73% KO rate, and was fighting after a gap of 2 months and 2 days. Billam-Smith was on a 8-fight win streak with a 66% KO rate, and fighting after a layoff of 5 months and 10 days.
Chris Billam-Smith defeated Lawrence Okolie via majority decision and wins the WBO title — in his first world-title fight. Billam-Smith improves his record to 18-1, while Okolie adds a loss to his record at 19-1.