SELF-CONFESSED “control freak” Chris Billam-Smith admitted he focused on boxing to dictate his own destiny.

The Bournemouth cruiserweight balanced playing football alongside stepping in the ring when he first started fighting as a teenager.

Before that, the Cherries fan’s focus was primarily on turning out for local youth sides in a bid to capture trophies.

Now, the 27-year-old is determined to be the proud owner of title belts under the watchful eye of trainer Shane McGuigan.

Billam-Smith is hoping to extend to six victories his perfect professional record when he fights at the O2 Academy on Saturday, June 16.

He told the Daily Echo: “I guess it's a bit of a control freak thing. I like to be in control and with individual sports you have that. It is a lot more strain mentally but I can deal with it.

“I played team sports my whole childhood and played a lot of football as a kid.

“I played for King's Park Rangers as a youngster and Christchurch and Poppies at under-18 level. Originally I was a central midfielder. I used to score goals from there so got stuck up top.

“I started boxing at 16 and did both for two years. When I was 18, I stopped playing football apart from a few Sunday league games.

“There is something in team sports which is very rewarding. You can get 11 blokes in football to work together to achieve something.

“But for me, I was so caught up in winning that I couldn't have 10 people let me down. I could have the best game of my life and lose.

“At least in boxing you know all the blame is on you and the way you prepare. Win or lose it's on you and I can deal with that.

“I cannot be dealing with putting in the best performance of my life and still not getting the result I want.”

‘The Gentleman’ is set to step up to an eight-round contest on Steve Bendall’s ‘The Dawning’ show in his home town next month.

With a potential title shot in mind later in the year, the former Poole ABC man reflected on his previous hopes as youngster.

“Everyone is in it to win titles. When people first start a sport you dream of being a champion,” he added.

“For me it was all about scoring goals in the back garden, pretending you are David Beckham and lifting the World Cup.

“That transfers to boxing. You are in it to win belts and that is the aim and my natural progression.”

Victory for the former Stourfield Junior School pupil would be his third in Bournemouth as a professional.

Billam-Smith overcame Russ Henshaw in the first round of his professional debut at the same venue.

He also stopped durable Romanian Gheorghe Danut after five rounds at the Bournemouth arena in March.