By Cliff Rold
Desperately in need of a win, 30-year old former Contender contestant Ishe Smith (20-3, 9 KO) of Las Vegas, Nevada turned in an entertaining win over ten rough rounds to end the undefeated run of Poland’s 26-year old Pawel Wolak (21-1, 14 KO) by unanimous decision on Friday night at the Aviator Sports Arena in Brooklyn, New York. Wolak, who resides in New Jersey, brought a rocking fans section and didn’t disappoint them even in defeat.
Contested at the Jr. Middleweight limit of 154 lbs., Smith came into the bout at 153 ½ against Wolak’s 153 ¼.
Wolak’s game plan was clear from the opening bell. He was going to press, and he didn’t care about what was coming back at him. It wasn’t a winning strategy but the crowd enjoyed it and it played to Smith’s strengths. Smith, slightly quicker, fired counters in close, landing the cleaner blows, but remained largely on the back foot, pressed to the ropes by the body assault and greedy right hand of Wolak in an intense opening frame.
Smith was immediately chased to the ropes in the second, but worked his way off slashing with the right. Pressed to the ropes again moments later, Smith ripped with right uppercuts and tied up the left of Wolak only to find Wolak’s right coming over the top behind his head. Another right behind the head was followed by a left as Wolak again pushed Smith to the ropes but Smith stayed with him, meeting two shots to the body with a right uppercut. With ten seconds to go, a right from Wolak rocked Smith’s head back but Smith responded with a three-punch combination. Only the final blow of the three, a glancing right hand, found contact.
It took a few seconds for the leather to begin flying again in the third, but only a few. Smith continued to land cleaner shots, and in higher volume, but Wolak walked through it all to land his right hand. A Smith slip on a wet spot in one of the ring corners brought a quick time-out, but then it was back to the mauling action that marked the bout. In the closing seconds, each man fired wild blows with little connection but enough passion to bring a roar from the crowd.
Having lost at least two of the first three rounds, Wolak would not be refused in round four. While Smith continued to counter with precision, he could not match the aggression of Wolak through the first two minutes of the frame. Concentrating more on the left hook, Wolak found a punch that could land regularly and with pleasure for the eye. Smith bounced back in the final minute with increased punch output but ate a final left hook prior to the bell.
Round five was as much Smith’s early on as round four had been Wolak’s. With Wolak using his face as defense, Smith carved away with uppercuts and long right hands. Wolak continued to toss hooks but found landing them more difficult until the final minute when Smith slowed just enough to let Wolak battle back into the scoring. It wasn’t enough to erase the early Smith combinations, but it made clear that he wasn’t going anywhere.
Wolak landed and threw more through the first forty seconds of the sixth but Smith found room for well timed flurries and punctuated his effort with a crashing left hook as the clock marked sixty seconds done. Inching towards the final minute, Wolak landed a left hook to the body and right to the head at mid-ring and stayed to the body down the stretch while also connecting with two big lefts. Smith shoe shined off the ropes, both hands pumping, but nothing of note landing.
Smith landed three cutting blows to start the seventh and Wolak replied with only a couple of body shots in the first minute. The round played out in similar fashion bell to bell, with Wolak throwing and landing less than he had all night. The activity picked up in the eighth for Wolak and was maintained for Smith. A terribly difficult round to score saw each man land clean rights and lefts upstairs with Wolak having more success in going to the body.
Another wet spot slip started round nine for Smith, but he up again and working the perimeter of the ring, dashing shots at a bulling Wolak. Three missed jabs from Smith were met by a landing jab from Wolak. Punching only in spots for much of the round, Smith landed a hard right to the body near the thirty second mark which led Wolak to taking a step back before beginning his chase again.
Not wanting to leave any doubt on the scorecards, Smith came out to finish with style while Wolak pressed forward in the hope that his style could overwhelm the cards. Through the first two minutes, Smith fired in combination and continued to do so even as Wolak came on towards the final minute with some connecting if not hard right hands. As the final bell rang, it appeared Smith may have edged the final round and the contest in his favor.
The judges agreed, awarding the victory to Smith by scores of 97-93 and 96-94 twice.
It was a needed win for Smith. Once a lauded prospect, Smith gambled on participating in the first season of the Contender in 2004, losing in the second round to current WBC Jr. Middleweight titlist Sergio Mora. Unfortunate inactivity had plagued Smith since, fighting only four times from 2005-07 and losing a decision to Sechew Powell. Wolak marked his third fight of 2008 and a nice rebound from a loss in his previous outing to top ten Jr. Middleweight Joel Julio.
Neither Wolak or Smith came into the bout rated in the top ten by any major sanctioning body but with victory Smith can begin working in that direction.
The main event did not contain all of the action on the card. For six rounds, Lightweights Jorge Teron and Michael Lozada tore into each other. In the end it was the body work of the 23-year Bronx native Teron (22-0-1, 15 KO), 135, that tore a whole into Mexico’s 25-year old Lozada (29-5-1, 22 KO), 134 ½, and kept his undefeated record intact.
The first two rounds told stories of right hands. Lozada scored with a buckling blow in the first that had Teron scrambled. Teron returned the favor to start the second. Neither man was shy before or after those blows either. The taller, lankier Teron worked the jab to create punching room but Lozada lunged forward with power shots, scoring with quick, slashing hooks on occasion.
The frantic energy of the opening frames was still present in the third but Teron found more success in keeping Lozada at bay. A big right hand rocked Lozada in the final minute and Teron pressed the advantage to dominate down the stretch. Lozada was far from done. Early in the fourth, he leapt back into the fray with a hurting right of his own. Teron quickly regrouped and began firing combinations to offset single hard swings from Lozada. He also displayed keen defense, blocking and slipping against the ropes as Lozada fired for a finish.
Midway through the fifth, Teron anything but slipped three ripping hooks to the body only to eat a three-punch flurry to the head along the ropes moments later. In the final thirty seconds, Teron scored with a right and left uppercut, prompting a right uppercut from Lozada.
A minute into the sixth, Teron would end the game effort of Lozada with style. Walking through a left hook from Lozada as the smaller man worked off the ropes, Teron connected with a picturesque left hook to the body that crumpled Lozada into a ball as he collapsed to the floor. Pain etched in his face, Lozada rose and attempted to continue but there would be no timely wind returned and thus no hope for victory restored. Another left hook the body, followed by a right to the forehead, set up a final left hook to the dibs that left Lozada again on the deck a beaten man. The official time of the stoppage was recorded at 1:23 of round six.
The bouts were broadcast live in the United States as part of premium cable channel Showtime’s ShoBox series.
Cliff Rold is a member of the Ring Magazine Ratings Advisory Panel and the Boxing Writers Association of America. He can be reached at roldboxing@hotmail.com
