Tommy McCarthy eyes rematch victory and European glory against Chris Billam-Smith
Irish cruiserweight contender Tommy McCarthy was disappointed with his defeat to Chris Billam-Smith last year but he’s hoping to win their rematch this weekend.
McCarthy lost on a split decision at a Matchroom Fight Camp in front of a few hundred people and, having seen the fight back, McCarthy was infuriated by his performance.
“I thought I won it,” said McCarthy, 18-3. “I watched it back once and it was frustrating for me to see all the mistakes I was making. When I watched it back, I was so critical of my performance, but at the same time, I thought I won by two rounds.”
The 31-year-old said his preparation has gone well and that he’s keen to right the wrong of last July.
“I feel good,” McCarthy continued. “Everything’s went well and I’m just itching to get in there. I just need to stick to my boxing and use my attributes. The last time I kind of fell for Chris’s tricks and got dragged into his fight and not made it more physical, a rough, tough fight instead of sticking to my own strengths.”
Tommy thinks he will be better served by making it a pure boxing fight rather than a gruelling antirational battle, which it became last time.
“A hundred percent,” he agreed. “It showed in the fight. Any time I turned my boxing on, he couldn’t live with me. So if he wants to have a boxing match with me, it’s game over for him.”
And despite Billam-Smith taking some big shots last time, including a right hand rocket in the opening round, McCarthy believes he can stop his rival this time.
“I think I can get to him, I’m not going to go looking for it but when it comes, I’ll get the job done,” said the challenger for Billam-Smith’s European title. “I spoke to him after the fight, he’s a nice guy. I don’t have anything derogatory to say about him and the fight was so good last time, there’s no need to try and hype or build it up, so it’s just straight business.”
Billam-Smith has let it be known that he wants a fight in his hometown in Bournemouth and McCarthy was open to fighting there, rather than Manchester where they meet this weekend.
“It never came up,” McCarthy went on. “I told my manager I was open to fighting him and going to Bournemouth and he said no problem… but the fight didn’t actually look like it was going to happen because Chris had a mandatory [Fabio Turchi] so it kind of just came out of the blue for me. I was training, looking for a date but it was a pleasant surprise when the fight came up.”
And this time, there won’t be a few hundred fans at the Matchroom HQ but several thousand fans. McCarthy isn’t bothered by that.
“I’m trying to put all outside distractions to the back of my mind because I want to focus on just what’s going on in the ring and focus on my own performance. The European is the one that I want because I’ve had it before… so to be two-time European champion, that’s legendary.”
While Tommy has goals above and beyond this weekend, Billam-Smith is his central focus. Nothing else matters beyond the popular champion from Bournemouth.
“I need to focus on what’s happening now,” McCarthy said, when asked about world title aspirations. “You get so wrapped up in what’s beyond, you forget about what’s right in front of you, so I really, really just want to focus on this one and getting the title back.”
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