By Ryan Burton
"I am excited and really blessed to have this opportunity to fight Fernando Guerrero," exclaimed Ishe "Sugar Shay" Smith to BoxingScene.com on Wednesday evening. Smith versus Guerrero is the main event on Shobox on July 16th in Memphis, Tenessee. Smith has had trouble getting fights in recent years and has had to take many fights on short notice. Even though he is fighting above his natural junior middleweight class, Smith feels that he is getting stronger with the move up in weight. "I would rather fight at 154 but I couldn't get any fights there. I am sparring with some big guys for this fight. Guys who are 180 pounds, 170 pounds and I am hurting these guys."
Smith feels that having a having a full training camp will be a key difference in this fight. "This is one of the best if not the best training camps that I have had. I am so used to having four or five weeks to get ready for a fight. It really is nice to have a full camp. I have the best coach in the game in Eddie Mustafa and he will develop the perfect game plan for this fight." Another difference in this fight for Smith will be that he went through Floyd Mayweather Jr.'s training camp for Shane Mosely. "I have always trained hard but being in camp with Mayweather as his chief sparring partner and seeing how hard he trains really taught me a lot. I have been through camps with De la Hoya, Mosley and Vargas but camp with Floyd was the best camp I have been a part of."
The Guerrero fight takes place on the Showtime network, where the Las Vegas has never lost. "I am undefeated on Showtime, Ryan. They have brought me in to lose and I have always came out with the win. I wasn't supposed to beat an undefeated Pawel Wolak but I did." Smith continues, "If you break down my record I am 21-4 but there aren't a lot of easy names on there. I have fought a lot of undeated guys, guys with 1 loss. Look at the Wolak fight, he was undefeated. I think Julio had one loss when I fought him. (Danny) Jacobs is undefeated. I beat Randall Bailey. David Estrada was undefeated."
When asked what a win over Guerrero would do for him, Sugar Shay replied, "I know it will help me but the critics will find a way to down grade it. They will say Guerrero hasn't fought anybody or something else. That is the way it always is with me." I asked Smith why when some fighters get praise heaped on them and other fighters like himself seem to be criticized more often tahn not. "I don't know why that is. God works in mysterious ways. He has a plan for me. I just plan on going out there and fighting the best I can like I always do."
While this fight is being fought at the middleweight limit, Smith hopes he can float between middleweight and junior middleweight and hopes he can get a shot at a title in either weight class. "I want to fight in both classes. Hopefully after I win the fight I can get fights at 154 again. I want a shot at title in either weight class." Sometimes a win can be a double edged sword. A win over Guerrero may actually make it harder for him to get a fight at the junior middleweight level. A win over a top middleweight prospect may scare potential suitors away.
Smith isn't worried about the critics. He knows there are always going to be naysayers and doubters. There will always be people that just don't like him. In the end Smith know the only thing he can control is in the ring. As long as he gets in the ring and comes out with the win another fight will emerge. At 31 years old the time for Sugar Shay to strike is now and a fight with the blue chip prospect Fernando Guerrero is just the type of fight that can reignite his career.
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