By Ryan Burton

BoxingScene.com recently caught up with IBF junior middleweight champion Ishe Smith who is just days away from his first title defense against Carlos Molina.  The fight is part of the Floyd Mayweather versus Saul "Canelo" Alvarez televised pay-per-view undercard that takes place at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

The fight was originally scheduled to take place on July 19th but Smith suffered a cut in camp and had to postpone the fight.  Smith, who is promoted by Mayweather Promotions, said that he was sad that he was unable to fight on that date but is happy to be part of such a big event.

"The cut is healed.  I am feeling sharp and ready to go.  I am very anxious to put on a show on a big stage.  I couldn't ask for anything else.

"I was sad at first because I had a lot of people coming.  The Hard Rock always does a good having tickets priced very reasonable but things happen for a reason and now I am part of the biggest card in boxing history so I am thankful," Smith stated.

Molina is known for being a crafty fighter who knows all of the tricks inside of the ring.  Smith insists that none of that will bother him and believes that his superior skill set will lead him to victory.

"Skills pay the bills.  They said the same thing when I fought K9 (Cornelius Bundrage).  He is dirty, hits behind the head. He is stronger than me. I heard all that but at the end of the day I went to Detroit and took his title and made history.  I am going to go in there and implement the gameplan that Eddie Mustafa gives me," Molina explained.

The Chicago based Molina became Smith's mandatory when he defeated Cory Spinks in an eliminator earlier this year.  That fight was televised on ESPN Friday Night Fights and Smith predicted that Molina will be returning to ESPN after Saturday's fight.

"He earned it.  I like his story.  He beat a good friend of mine in Cory Spinks.  Cory has seen better days but he earned it.  I can't say he beat a lot of big names but he earned his shot.  I've fought some big names.  I've beat some and I lost to some.  After this I am going to send him back to headlining ESPN Friday Night Fights shows," Smith told BoxingScene.com.

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