Dana White on Billam-Smith's stoppage loss to Cheavon Clarke: 'I thought it was early'

The Zuffa Boxing promoter sided with Chris Billam-Smith over the seventh-round stoppage, but Cheavon Clarke says his rival was in a worse state than Jack Massey.

Dana White thinks Chris Billam-Smith was stopped too soon in his seventh-round defeat to Cheavon Clarke in the Zuffa Boxing 12 main event at the Copper Box Arena on Saturday night.

Billam-Smith finished the fight on his feet, shaking his head in protest, when referee Lee Every stepped in. He wanted to carry on, and the Zuffa Boxing promoter agreed. "I thought it was early," White said, according to Sky Sports.

But he added: "Only CBS can answer that question."

Clarke had put Billam-Smith down twice in the round, the first knockdowns of the former WBO cruiserweight champion's professional career. Clarke backed the referee's call.

"If he was blocking the shots he wouldn't have been dancing," Clarke said. "If Chris had got more time and Chev does what Chev normally does and Chris got knocked down and was then hurt we'd have then had you guys, the media saying: 'Oh the ref didn't do a good job.' So did he do a good job or did he do a bad job?"

Clarke got up from two knockdowns himself to beat Jack Massey in his last fight, and he said: "Chris was in a worse state than Massey."

Billam-Smith wants a rematch. "We've had three fights now and he's got them all. I'd love to run it back and get him eventually," he said after the fight. Clarke moves to 13-2 and Billam-Smith drops to 22-3.

Sky Sports boxing expert Johnny Nelson said of Billam-Smith: "Chris has achieved everything he can do as a professional fighter, so it's now about appetite and direction." He added: "Does he want to try and get in the ring again with Chev or is Chev his bogeyman for the rest of his life?"

READ NEXTCheavon Clarke drops Chris Billam-Smith twice and stops him in seventh-round upsetRead the next story →

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