Ishe Smith Sounds Off on Judging in Las Vegas, Fighting The Best

By Ryan Burton

Former super welterweight champion Ishe Smith (29-9) will enter the ring for the first time in 2018 when he faces Tony Harrison (26-2) on Friday night at Sam's Town Hotel and Gambling Hall in Las Vegas. 

The fight will be broadcast live on Bounce TV as part of the Premier Boxing Champions series.

The 39-year-old is coming off of a competitive decision loss to Julian Williams this past November but didn't ask for a soft touch or tune up type of fight.

"You know I came into this game almost two decades ago - this is my 18th year and I have always wanted to fight the best. I have always taken challenges and sometimes you win some and sometimes you lose some. Not everybody can be Floyd Mayweather," Smith told BoxingScene.com.

"I asked for certain guys before this fight was brought about. I asked what (Austin) Trout was doing. Obviously he had better plans. I think this is three out of four fights for him fighting for a world title so he has like the best team in the history of boxing. I asked what (Erickson) Lubin was doing and he obviously just came back so they came with this guy and I said let's make it happen. He is a former world title challenger and he was talked about a lot and I offered to challenge him so I am ready."

The scores in the fight against Williams don't indicate the competitiveness of the fight.  Smith said that he wasn't upset so much with the loss but with the scoring and felt it was a fight that could have went either way.

"Julian Williams is a good fighter. He is a very good fighter and we saw in his last fight with Nathaniel Gallimore how good he can be. I thought I did everything right that night. Whether you score the fight a two point swing here and there or a draw, one point or two points either way that is fine. For Max DeLuca and Robert Hoyle and the other judge to score it 9-1, 8-2 and 7-3 that is disappointing man," said Smith.

"I don't mind, I am a throwback so people say, 'he lost nine times', yeah I lost to some good ass fighters too. One of those fighters, Danny Jacobs, will probably be in the Hall of Fame one day.  Sergio Mora is a former world champion and that was a split decision loss.  Carlos Molina was a split decision loss. Vanes was a majority decision loss. I care about losing but as long as I go out there and I perform and leave it in the ring I am a throwback. It don't matter to me as long as I go out there and give it my all but what I do care about is the judging.

"At home before I lost to Molina I had never lost here I think in my whole career, even amateur. I think I had lost only 1 fight in Vegas as an amateur and I was like 117-10 and I had never lost as a pro until Molina but now I can't get a fair shake here. It is like I am the opponent fighting on the road. I fought Danny Jacobs on the road. He was the A side and the scores were out of wack. I think one judge had it 100-89 so he had me losing every round plus the point deduction which was ridiculous.

"I fought Fernando Guerrero on the B side and a lot of people thought I won that fight but they gave it to him. I fought Sechew Powell in his backyard and Harold Lederman on HBO I think had me winning that fight but I thought I could have performed better so I wasn't mad at those scores. I also went to some people's backyards like when I went to New York to fight Pawel Wolak as the B side and I beat him. I don't want a favorable decision in Vegas. That isn't my complaint. I want a just decision. A fair decision. If a fight is close then score it close."

Like fine wine, Smith believes that he is improving with age. As he approaches his 40th birthday he feels that he has never been better and has no plans of retiring anytime soon. He also said that if he doesn't agree with the judging in this fight that he may fight in different cities from now on.

"I still have a lot to offer this game. I still have a lot left. I feel like I can still hang with these young boys.  I am working hard in the gym and I feel like I am getting better with age and that is amazing to me. This could be the last fight here. I have headlined shows here. This is my home and I love fighting here but I don't know man," Smith revealed.

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