WHILE Chris Billam-Smith had been left to lick his wounds following his first professional defeat – he insisted: “I would love the rematch at any point of my career.”

The Bournemouth cruiserweight found himself on the wrong end of a controversial split decision setback against unbeaten Richard Riakporhe.

The outcome went to the judges’ scorecards after a 10-round war for the WBA Inter-Continental title between the pair at the O2 Arena in London on Saturday.

Despite Terry O’Connor scoring the bout 96-93 to challenger Billam Smith, the other two judges made the decision in favour of the defending champion.

The former Poole ABC man was adamant he won the contest.

He also believes a knockdown awarded to Riakporhe in the latter stages of the seventh round - which proved pivotal on the cards – should never had been the case.

But the Shane McGuigan-trained star, nicknamed ‘The Gentleman’ was keen to pick himself up following the defeat – and stressed his desire to come back stronger.

Speaking to the Daily Echo following the bout, Billam-Smith said: “I will take a lot of learning from it and it goes to show I belong at that level when a lot of people just wrote me off.

“He (Riakporhe) is never going to admit that he thought he had lost. He is just not going to do that.

“I spoke to him after and he said he definitely underestimated me. He said ‘look, you’d beat everyone else in the country’.

“I would definitely take the rematch next but, if I was him, I probably wouldn’t because he knows what a hard fight it was. I understand that he is going to want to move on.

“I would love the rematch at any point of my career. It will definitely happen again in the future. I just don’t think it will happen next because he is not going to want to have another fight like that.”

He added: “What’s done is done. They are not going to go and change the decision.

“I thought I won the fight. I didn’t think it was a knockdown – he probably could have had a point taken off for persistent holding as well.

“It’s hard to take your first loss as a professional. I did think I deserved the win.

“At the midway stage I was thinking I was about 4-1 up in rounds, maybe that switched me off a little and I took my foot off the gas a bit when I should have pressed on a little more. That’s the way it goes.”

Billam-Smith earned a heap of praise on social media for his grit and desire throughout the contest – as well as the strength of his chin to take some heavy shots during the latter stages.

Another person to express his respect to the 28-year-old could soon be the heavyweight champion of the world.

“Dillian Whyte came up to me at the after-party upstairs in the hotel,” said Billam-Smith.

“Riakporhe is part of his team and he made his way across the bar. I spoke to him and to David Price and it’s nice to get the advice from people who don’t really know who I am ¬- they took the time out to say I would come again and build off the back of it.

“It’s nice that a lot of people who are doing well in the sport I earned respect from, but unfortunately it doesn’t give me the win.”

Asked what was next for the Dorset fighter, Billam-Smith replied: “I am not going to be boxing until late October.

“I am going to have a few weeks off. I have my birthday coming up as well as (fiancée) Mia’s birthday. I want to be able to enjoy those.

“We will then see what sort of fight I will be in and on what stage.

“As much as I lost my record, the journey is still the same. I can take a lot of confidence from it, build on it and prove my worth again in the future.

“I will rebuild and be straight back in there in the domestic mix. I believe I proved I am well up there and one of the best in the country.”