By Mark Vester

At the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas, undefeated middleweight Danny Jacobs (18-0, 15 KOs) won a ten-round decision over Ishe Smith (21-3, 9 KOs). The scores were 96-93, 96-93 and an unrealistic 100-89.  

Jacobs came out working the jab, Smith picked off a lot of punches and tried going to the body a few times. Jacobs was the bigger man in the ring, rehydrating to 175-pounds but he stayed on the back foot and allowed Smith to back him up. Smith was able to land a few good left hooks in the second. They exchanged some good punches in the first minute of the third. At the end of the third, Jacobs landed a late punch at the bell and Smith almost went after him.

In the fourth, Smith was still angry over the late hit in the previous round and began to come forward with punches. He said doing a lot of talking and showboating in the ring as Jacobs came forward and threw combinations. Jacobs stayed on the back foot in the fifth and worked off of his counter shots. A small cut opened up around the right eye of Smith. Near the end of the fifth, Smith hurt Jacobs when he walked right into a combination. Jacobs hit Smith with a late shot at the end of fifth and Smith responded with several punches in return as the ref tried to break them apart.

In the sixth they were swinging away. Smith landed some very good counters but Jacobs was throwing many more punches. Jacobs got off with a lot more punches in the seventh, unloading when he trapped Smith against the ropes. Jacobs stayed on the back foot during the eight, allowing Smith to come forward. Jacobs landed many more punches and worked the job. In the final minute, Smith was able to get off with some big shots. It was the same thing in ninth, with Smith landing some good punches in the final minute when Jacobs threw many more punches during most of the action. At the end of the round, Smith lost a point for thowing a punch after the bell.

Smith let everything out in the tenth. Jacobs felt he was ahead on the cards and coasted a bit. Smith came on strong in the last minute, landing several big shots to close it out. Jacobs threw 888 punches to 498 for Smith.