By Ryan Burton
On Tuesday, BoxingScene.com reported that Irish middleweight contender John Duddy announced his retirement from boxing. Duddy left a six-figure payday on the table when he made the decision to retire. A fight against Andy Lee was set to take place as the HBO co-featured bout to Sergio Martinez-Sergei Dzinzurik, which takes place on March 12th.
BoxingScene's Rick Reeno posted a follow-up report, where promoter Lou DiBella disclosed that undefeated Scotsman Craig McEwan is in the running to replace Duddy as Lee's opponent.
Former Contender series participant and junior middleweight/middleweight contender, Ishe Smith, reached out to BoxingScene to throw his name in the mix.
"If they can't get Craig to fight Lee, I will step in there in a heartbeat!" said an excited Smith.
The Las Vegas resident last fought in November when he knocked out Alexander Pacheco Quiroz in a stay busy fight. Smith has been trying to land a meaningful fight in his natural junior middleweight division with no success. When he read that Duddy retired, he felt that a fight against Lee (a middleweight) on HBO would be too great an opportunity to pass up.
"I would fight Lee in a heartbeat. One call to my advisor or my promoter and we can make it happen."
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