'It's always been his dream," Mia Billam-Smith says on a tranquil morning in Bournemouth as she describes the motivation she and her husband, Chris, will feel on Saturday night in their home town. Chris BillamSmith fights Lawrence Okolie for the WBO world cruiserweight title in a fascinating yet dangerous clash between two boxers who worked alongside each other for years under their joint trainer Shane McGuigan. Okolie has since left McGuigan's gym and, at last, Billam-Smith has the chance to fight for a world title.
"We were lying in bed around four in the morning, when you have those silly chats," Mia says as she remembers how she and Chris first shared their deepest hopes soon after they met in 2014. "I asked him: 'If you were on your deathbed, what would be the one thing in your life you would want to have achieved?' For me my No 1 goal was to be a mum. I was desperate to start a family. Chris said: 'I want to be world champion. If I've done that, then I'm going to be happy on my deathbed"."
Mia is 32, like her husband, and that memory blurs with the reality racing towards them at the Vitality Stadium this weekend. "The fact that we're here now, nine years on, is crazy. Chris is so focused on his goal but, a couple of times, he has said: 'I can't quite believe this is happening and we're actually here?' The stadium increased its capacity from 12,000 to 15,000 people and the fact that they're all going to watch him is amazing."
Amid the hype and intensity of boxing it is easy to forget the people who matter most to the fighters themselves. But an hour with Mia is a valuable reminder of how much the partners of professional boxers endure in their lonely role on the safe side of the ropes. They are there to support the fighter they love while trying to control their own fear and worry. It can be fraught but, as Mia says, it works best when they express their conflicted emotions to each other.
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