BOURNEMOUTH cruiserweight Chris Billam-Smith will put his social life on hold in order to ring fence his Commonwealth title eliminator challenge, writes Geoff Sweet.

The 28-year-old faces Romford's Robin Dupre at London's York Hall on Saturday and will not see girlfriend Mia on the night before the fight.

While interior designer Mia loves the boxing game and will be cheering on her man in only his seventh professional contest – Billam-Smith will sleep solo in a bid to fine-tune his preparation.

The avid Cherries fan said: "I'll sleep on my own the night before so won't stay with my girlfriend. It means I won't get kicked in the night!

"I need to relax as much as I can and get as much sleep as I can.

"I'm very lucky to have Mia at my side. She was into boxing before we met and loves it. We watch fights together, in fact.

"At first she didn't realise how serious I took it and the longer it went on she got more and more nervous because she realised it was a job – my career."

Dupre is a step up for Billam-Smith, who knocked out his first five opponents before going the distance with Michael Plesnik at Bournemouth's O2 Arena in June.

The East Londoner has lost just once in 14 bouts to Luke Watkins when he challenged for the vacant Commonwealth cruiserweight title last year.

All bar three of his fights have been at the York Hall and Billam-Smith knows he has to fend off what promises to be vociferous home support.

The former Poole ABC star said: "I know this is a step up for me. I watched Dupre lose against Watkins and he's a tricky customer, a fast starter who had a lot of success that night.

"But I believe I'll do the business. I really wanted this eliminator and would love to fight for the title and move on to the British title.

"I'm ready for any opportunities that crop up. I'm always looking to do my best all the time along the way."

Billam-Smith is with Barry McGuigan's Cyclone Promotions stable and is trained by Shane McGuigan. He is in good hands, having also trained with world class fighters like George Groves.

"I'm in the early stages of my career and am lucky to be able to train full-time in a world class gym and get by financially," he said.

"I learned a lot in my last fight against Michal Plesnik. It was nice to go eight rounds and I felt fit throughout. It was nice to know I had that in the bank.

"A good cornerman can change a fight for you so I listened to Shane and not all the people in the crowd urging me to knock him out.

"There will come a time when I am in crisis and Shane's help will be invaluable."

Billam-Smith's eliminator will be live on Channel 5's 5Spike.

"It's all a bit surreal," he added. "This is my third fight on Spike and it's a nice feeling being able to show off all the hard work you've put in on television.

"And who knows, one day I could be televised in a title fight at Dean Court. That's the dream."