CHRIS Billam-Smith has vowed to use Olympic hopeful Iain Weaver as an inspiration when he goes in search of ABA senior championship glory this weekend.

Christchurch fighter Billam-Smith faces a semi-final clash against 86kg defending champion Deion Jumah in Sudbury on Saturday.

If the 21-year-old can see off his experienced rival, who fights out of the renowned Dale Youth club in London, he would progress to the final at York Hall, Bethnal Green, on April 13.

Billam-Smith is looking to emulate Ferndown star Weaver, who claimed the ABA title at 57kgs in 2009, before joining the Great Britain podium squad ahead of this year’s Olympics.

Billam-Smith told the Echo: “I have loads of newspaper cuttings of Iain to remind myself that boxers from here can do well in these competitions.

“I follow Iain really closely and he has shown that these titles can be won.”

Billam-Smith, who fights out of Poole ABC, added: “Deion boxes out of Dale Youth, which is where James DeGale (Beijing gold medallist, European super-middleweight champion) and George Groves (British super-middleweight champion) came from, so it’s another good London club, like Repton.

“I have never fought him before, but I have been wanting to for a long time.

“He is in the top-four in the country at my weight and has been on the Great Britain team, so he is very good.

“But I feel good. I’m not doing too much sparring because there are only a few days between these fights, so it’s just a case of staying fit and fresh.

“This is my final, because if I lose on Saturday, there will be no final.”

Billam-Smith works alongside Poole’s former English middleweight champion Steve Bendall at the star’s Fighting Fit gym in Bournemouth and is a former ABA senior novice champion.

He added: “Hopefully, following the ABAs, I can progress to box for England and, possibly, the GB squad.

“There is no GB place at my weight, just at 81kg, but I think I could try for that weight as I weighed in at around 84kgs for my last fight.

“In the long term, I’m looking at the Commonwealth Games, but it is one step at a time at the moment.”