Solanke delivers double knockout blow in honour of world champion Billam-Smith

Firing frontman Dom Solanke was delighted to deliver two knockout blows against Newcastle United, with a goal celebration dedicated to Bournemouth’s world champion boxer.

With regular man on the mic Mike Botto unavailable for duty at Vitality Stadium on Saturday, Cherries drafted in WBO world cruiserweight champion and lifelong fan Chris Billam-Smith as his replacement.

And with the Dorset fighter watching on, Solanke netted twice as Andoni Iraola’s men saw off Eddie Howe’s Magpies 2-0.

Following his first goal, Solanke sprinted to the corner flag before throwing a couple of punches in Billam-Smith’s honour.

Speaking about the goal celebration to afcbTV, the England international said: “I owed Chris that boxing one for a while now!

“He did my one on Soccer AM, so shout out to him for that.

“I saw him before the game and he reminded me, so I was happy to do that in front of him.”

Victory saw AFC Bournemouth move on to nine points from their opening 12 league games, sitting 17^th in the league table.

Appreciating another @DomSolanke improvised finish ?? pic.twitter.com/9HOLCznrCC

— AFC Bournemouth ?? (@afcbournemouth) November 13, 2023

Reflecting on the victory over the Tynesiders, Solanke said: “Before the game, we knew it was a big one for us. We needed to get the three points.

“Obviously, Newcastle are a great side, everyone knows that so we knew it was going to be difficult.

“We knew we had a game midweek as well, so we wanted to kind of beat them physically and I think we did that.

“Right from the first whistle we were at it and we had a lot of chances, it was a great performance.”

Bournemouth make the trip to Sheffield United following the international break on Saturday, November 25