There are many bitter pills one has to be willing to swallow in order to make it in the sport of boxing. Veteran contender Ishe Smith knows this all too well as despite coming off of an outstanding effort against undefeated middleweight Fernando Guerrero last month, he is currently dealing with the reality that he was on the losing end of the judges? verdict that night. The Guerrero-Smith brawl was a rugged, back and forth fight that elevated the status of each pugilist in certain ways and Smith is slowly looking to regroup while eyeing a return to 154 pounds, a much more natural domain for the Las Vegas fighter.
Smith?s 21-5 record with 9 knockouts beguiles the fact that many of his best qualities as a fighter seem to be blooming late in his career. Having fought the likes of David Estrada, Sergio Mora, Randall Bailey, Joel Julio, and Sechew Powell between 147 and 154 pounds, Smith?s last two efforts saw him rise to 160 pounds and play the role of the opponent against Guerrero most recently and Brooklyn?s Danny Jacobs last August. Despite failing to secure a victory against either undefeated prospect, Smith competed at a high level and was competitive every step of the way both times out, leaving much hope for the 32-year old?s future ring endeavors.
Leading into his bout with Guerrero, Smith could be found sparring rigorously with one of the world?s premier Light Heavyweights, Chad Dawson. After Smith?s fight he would return to Nevada to continue sparring with Dawson to help him get ready for his clash with WBC champion Jean Pascal this Saturday night. Seeing Smith go to war with Dawson in the trenches, it?s easy to get a first hand view of how much craft he truly possesses.
Following yet another daily grind at the Tapout gym, Smith would speak to the Examiner about a myriad of topics. While still disappointed about his recent loss, Ishe is extremely ambitious when eyeing the future and spoke about his personal future as well as several fighters and fights near his weight class.
In his own words this is what Smith had to say?
His fight with Fernando Guerrero? ?I wanted to go out there and put my best foot forward. In a couple fights I didn?t feel like I did that. I didn?t feel that I left it all in the ring with Sechew Powell or Danny Jacobs. I thought against Guerrero I left it all in the ring and that I did enough to win. It was just unfortunate that we had incompetent judges and an incompetent ref that thought otherwise. It diminished how great of a fight it was.?
More hurt than anything else? ?When you feel that you have done enough and you feel that you have left it in the ring and the decision is rendered like that, I don?t think the average fan would know how that feels. I was hurt more than anything because I have kids and a family and people to support through my career. It hurts because you train so hard to get this point and to have it taken form you. I would rather lose outright than have it taken like that.?
Working with Chad Dawson? ?Chad is a great guy. Whenever you can spar one of the best guys in the world, pound for pound, you are going to learn. I definitely learned a lot and sparring him has gotten me ready to fight a southpaw with experience. He was one of the best in the world; I would put him in the top 5. He?s a great fighter that has beaten a lot of quality fighters in the sport of boxing. I haven?t gotten too know him too well out of the ring. I mean we talk but I have a job to do and that is to get him ready to fight Pascal. We hang out a little bit and I know he is a good guy. He has a great wife and three beautiful boys so it?s been great just getting to know him as a person.?
Late bloomer? ?I know the importance of putting on exciting fights. I had a lot of down time in my career. People problems and stuff like that. I was only fighting once or twice a year. I haven?t the wear or tear on my body as a lot of these kids so I definitely felt that I am a late bloomer. I feel like it?s all coming together. I felt like that for this last fight and was telling people it was going to be my best performance. If you look at my fights throughout my career that was definitely one of my best performances. At 32 I feel that he best is yet to come. I?ve been thinking about the future and I?m going to go back down to 154 and explore my opportunities there.?
Thoughts on Miguel Cotto and his June 5th victory over Yuri Foreman? ?I wasn?t surprised at all because Miguel Cotto is a terrific fighter. There aren?t a lot of guys I like watching fight but he is the heart and soul of boxing. He is the definition of heart and skill. He works behind the jab and he is just a terrific fighter. I thought he was superb in beating Yuri Foreman. He is definitely one of the guys I like to tune in to watch just to see what he brings to the table as far as our sport.?
Too much skill for Alfredo Angulo? ?Angulo has been fighting the kind of guys that he should beat. Angulo is like a new product that just came out. Like ?as seen on television?. Everybody seems to notice but after a while those ?as seen on television? products seem to die out. To me I don?t really think that he has crossed over yet. He hasn?t really gotten that marquee fight yet. He?s supposed to beat Alcine. He was supposed to beat the other guys. You want to see him against someone other than those guys but he?s doing what he has to do. I would love to fight him. I think it would be a great fight. I think I would definitely beat him. Too much skill and too much sauce for him. I don?t want to hear any excuses that he was sick against Cintron, because the same thing would happen to him in the rematch. He?s a very limited guy and he can only fight one way. When you have guys like myself they can beat guys like that.?
Matching up with Andre Berto? ?I think Andre Berto is a terrific fighter. He may not have the marquee name that he wants, he had Shane but that fell out. I would like to see him fight a marquee name but that hasn?t come to him. I thought the [Luis] Collazo fight was a good test for him. A lot of people felt that Collazo won and I would love to see him in more fights like that. I would love a fight like that; it would be a good matchup. If he moves to 154 I would welcome that opportunity if it presented itself.?
Eyeing the future? ?I would love to fight at 154 but if I have to fight at 160 I will stay there too. I am in the fights business and that would be what I would have to do. Even if I have to go as high as 168 I would do that. This is what I do and this is in my blood. It?s always going to be there. I just have to stay active, stay busy, and keep delivering good fights. And I?m not putting on opponent type fights; I?m putting on great fights. We?re going to bust that bubble here soon.?
Thoughts on a possible fight with Paul Williams? ?I have too much sauce for him. Again I have too much skills. He wouldn?t be able to hit me and I would counter everything he is doing, kind of like I did to Guerrero. Just too much for him. He can throw a lot of punches and he has even been talking about going to 147 pounds but like I?m saying I?ve been in there with Chad Dawson and they have the same build, same frame. Even though it?s sparring I?m handling my own. I?m not getting beat up and we?re putting good work in there. I would love that fight. I would love to make that fight happen.?
Proven and real? ?I was saying earlier in another interview that a lot of these guys aren?t going to be able to get marquee names. These guys are going to end up falling out of the loop and instead of sitting around and waiting for a big name like a Pacquiao or a Berto they are going to have to fight someone. People want to see these fighters fight somebody who is real and I?m a proven vet. I?m never been down and I?ve never been out. I think I?ve proven in my last two fights that what I have in place is working. A lot of people think I won that last fight. I think I?ve proven myself that I am ready to fight the best.?
Danny Jacobs? knockout loss to Dmitry Pirog? ?You can?t keep feeding these guys the same cycled opponents. Brad Goodman was a very good matchmaker in my career and when I was young I didn?t understand some of the fights he was giving me. I wanted to be getting knockouts and building my record up but that wouldn?t have helped me with Randall Bailey or the Guerrero fight or the Estrada fight. That wouldn?t have helped me. I owe a lot to Brad and you can?t keep matching these guys like that. Look on Danny Jacobs’ record and he has fought some of the same guys that Guerrero has fought. They can?t keep fighting these same guys and then when they go in there and fight a true guy they end up getting beat up. Unfortunately everybody was riding on Jacobs. I know I was sold. I picked him to win and I put it on my facebook that he was going to win. Pirog had fought better opposition. He had fought [Kofi] Jantuah, a lot of pretty good names and he showed that he was ready. I don?t want to make excuses and it?s unfortunate that his grandmother dies but once you step in that ring it?s no excuses. Much props to Pirog for taking care of his business.?
