No. 3 in the rankings, he has been out of action since his April victory over Brandon Glanton at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

After he and his wife welcomed their second child late last year, 35-year-old is back in the gym and lining up his next move as a free agent following the conclusion of his contract with Boxxer.

Billiam-Smith, from Bournemouth, recently told The Ring that a mooted clash with fellow Brit Jack Massey is not on his radar, but he was more positive when asked about a showdown with Opetaia.

The undefeated Australian (29-0, 23 KOs), who stopped Huseyin Cinkara in eight last time out, became Zuffa Boxing’s biggest signing yet in January and plans for his promotional debut are now being laid.

“That is a fight I would definitely be open to exploring next,” Billam-Smith told The Ring.

“But it’s got to be something that works for me. That’s an option for sure so it’s about getting whatever is right for me right now.

“I can't be fitting into other people's plans. I’m at the stage of my career now where I don’t play to other people’s tunes and do things for them. Earlier on in my career I had to do that, but I'm in a position now where I don't have to.

“I have to just do what's right for me and negotiate the best deals. It's not like I want to be paid stupid money and I'm asking for anything ridiculous. It's just got to work for me and what's right for me, my team and essentially my family.”

Opetaia, who holds the IBF title, has made no secret of his desire to eventually claim the WBO title because it was the one he always wanted as a kid. It meant that when Billam-Smith held that belt from May 2023 to November 2024, Opetaia regularly called him out.

But Billam-Smith insists he pursued a unification fight with Opetaia more aggressively, before eventually facing Gilberto "Zurdo" Ramirez for his WBA title on Nov. 16, 2024 in Saudi Arabia.

"Opetaia has gone online and said this, that, and the other and it always seems to be around his fight weeks that he talks about me," he said. "I take it as a compliment because a world champion is asking to fight me, as a man without a title, after saying he wants a unification.

“I think that gets mixed up as well with that whole situation. He says he's been calling me out for years and I'm avoiding him but I originally called him out after I fought Isaac Chamberlain in 2022. His manager was there and we tried to get him in the stadium fight [in Bournemouth], but they didn't do it so I fought Lawrence Okolie there instead and won the world title.

“Then I said I'd fight him in a unification in the November or December of 2024 but he said, 'No, I'm going to fight in October.' So I boxed Zurdo instead in the unification. It's funny how he portrays the situation. It's like he's forgotten that I actually called him out first.

“So now let’s see where we are. It's just about getting whatever's right for me and what works for me.”

“I've always aimed big and that’s why I've managed to achieve what I've achieved. I've always had that mindset. A lot of people didn't expect me to win a British title, but I've always believed I can win a world title and that’s what I did.

“The plan for me now is to become undisputed, if that means going through Opetaia then that’s what I’ll do.”