Billam-Smith eventually put a stop to the worryingly tough Ryan Rozicki at Bournemouth International Centre in his Zuffa Boxing debut.

Rozicki, a Canadian puncher, was pulled out by his corner at the end of the seventh round after taking much punishment at the hands of the local favorite. By the time the end came he was cut around both eyes from Billam-Smith’s composed counterpunching performance.

But there would be no big celebration for The Ring's No. 3 cruiserweight after such a successful homecoming show. Instead it was back to his house round the corner from the venue for some much-needed sleep.

However, his baby son Bear refused to wilt and eventually needed far longer than the 21 minutes it took for Billam-Smith to see off Rozicki.

“I was literally straight back to dad life as soon as I walked through the door,” the father-of-two tells The Ring.

“Me and my wife Mia got back around 1am and the babysitter was up with Bear. I took over and sat with him until he went to sleep, but he woke up 20 minutes later. In the end we were together until 3 a.m.

“That was only a few hours after I’d been in the ring, but it was nice, just sat in his room, going through things. I wouldn’t have wanted to do anything else in that moment.

“It was a bit different from trying to put Rozicki to sleep though; one of them I was trying to knock unconscious and the other one was snuggling into me while I kissed him on the cheek.”

His eldest son Frank, meanwhile, was fast asleep but was surprised to see his dad in the morning. Billam-Smith relocates to London for much of his training camp, leaving his young family back in Bournemouth, and feels the sacrifice of time away from his family.

“Frank came into our bed about 5 a.m. I think,” he added. “I got to sleep about half 3 in the end.

“I took him down stairs and he said, 'This is really weird that you’re the one taking me down stairs ... it’s really different having you here.' I’m glad to be back with the job done.”

But Rozicki proved to be no easy task as he continued to stomp forward throughout the clash regardless of what Billam-Smith was hitting him with.

Their fight was so brutal while it lasted that Zuffa boss Dana White insisted that they go straight to hospital without undertaking any media activity. Once there, the pair shared a brief moment.

“He got pushed past my room on a bed,” said Billam-Smith, who caught up with The Ring during his Monday morning school run.

“The curtain was slightly open and we kind of waved at each other. Then the next day when I picked up my stuff I saw him in the hotel and had a chat. He was very respectful. In the ring he had said that he was glad that I was the man to stop him because I’m a great fighter.

“It wasn’t a bad build-up, but a few things were said so it was nice to have that respect between us and the two teams. Even the Canadian fans have messaged me saying congratulations, you beat our boy but we all respect you. They get it.

“Overall I’m happy with the performance. It wasn’t near my best and there’s plenty I need to work on, but that was my first fight for 14 months so I have to be happy with that.”