CHRIS Billam-Smith insisted he was happy for his fights to be brief affairs and admitted his early success had surprised even him.

The Gentleman will aim to extend to five wins his professional record when he steps into the ring for Time to Shine at Bournemouth's O2 on Friday, March 9.

Former Poole ABC star Billam-Smith made his pro debut at the venue in September when he stopped Ilkeston's Russ Henshaw in the first round.

The 27-year-old cruiserweight then secured first-round knockouts of Aleksandar Todorovic and Laszlo Ivanyi, either side of a second-round stoppage of Jan Hrazdira.

And Billam-Smith does not feel he needs bouts to last longer because gym work is already helping him find out about his fighting capabilities.

He told the Daily Echo: "You find that out in the gym, that's where all the hard work is done and then on the night it's the fruits of your work.

"Ideally, fights don't go long because it makes it harder for me.

"There will be a time when it comes because not everyone is going to be put over, so I will make sure I'm ready for that time.

"I can't complain with four wins and four knockouts. I've surprised myself a bit."

Billam-Smith, who is part of Barry McGuigan's Cyclone Promotions stable, has no confirmed opponent for his upcoming outing.

But the former Stourfield Junior pupil is delighted to be back in his home town for his maiden six-round fight.

He said: "I've had some really good sparring over the past few weeks and I'm really looking forward to pushing on and boxing back in Bournemouth.

"The atmosphere on my debut was phenomenal and this time there's going to be 300 more people in there so it will be unbelievable.

"Some people followed me all the way to Edinburgh when I boxed there and people came to Leicester so it's important to me to box back home. I love it, it brings out the best in me.

"People are paying money so it's nice to be able to box back home."

Topping the bill at Time to Shine will be Bournemouth's Matty Legg, who will take on Tey Lynn Jones over 10 rounds for the vacant Southern Area middleweight title.

Legg was outpointed by Danny Butler when fighting for the Southern Area crown in October. But trainer Steve Bendall reckons the 25-year-old can go one better this time.

Bendall said: "After Matty's good performance in his title challenge, he is going up against a kid with a similar record and it's a very winnable fight.

"Butler was a very experienced fighter and everyone knew it was going to be tough. The performance Matty put on got him another shot and if he can win this, we can go on to bigger and better things.

"Now he has got more belief in his fitness, he is only going to grow."