By Ishe Smith

It’s been awhile ladies and gents. The Shack was starting to get a little dusty so I came back to do a little quick summer cleaning. The first order of business has to be Antonio Magarito receiving his license to box in Texas. Who am I to say that a guy shouldn’t be given a second chance?  Hell I think Pete Rose should be given a second chance as well. Rose is guy is arguably one of the purest hitters to ever grace a baseball field...the crime doesn’t fit the punishment. 

Supposedlym Antonio Margarito was found with a plaster-like substance in his hand wraps. Nazim Richardson discovered it, Margarito served his time, and I think its time to move on. Margarito deserves a chance like anyone who has went to jail, served his time, and came out to get their life on track.  What makes him any worse?  I hope he puts on a good fight and I am glad he got a second chance to make a living.

What else is on the agenda in the Shack?  Well I must admit Floyd Mayweather Jr. is by far the best person to follow on twitter. Mayweather never lets me down when it comes to twitter updates or tweets as we call them.  Speaking of Mayweather, now that a fight with Manny Pacquiao seems to be out the window for 2010, I would love to see him and Andre Berto mix it up.  Berto hasn’t found a suitable dance partner and Floyd has to stay busy. Why not have the two of them get together and make something happen?  Wishful thinking, but I would love to see how Berto does against an elite opponent.  Berto has called out some of the best in the sport, and his team has tried to make fights with some of the best fighters in the world. I honestly think he has tried, but nothing has happened. Keep plugging away, something will give.

Paging Alfredo Angulo. Just when we had all forgotten the fact that you turned down $750,000 for Sergio Martinez, you go and call out Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. after doing so. That was probably dumber than you turning down the 750k in the first place.  I honestly don’t even know what to say to that kind of stupidity. The only thing I can think of is you really felt you were going to lose and wanted to maximize as much money as possible. Either way you definitely get the bad move award for 2010.

Kendall Holt told me he may be fighting in October. Kendall at his best will still give a lot of junior welterweights trouble. Lets hope he comes back soon. They offered him a fight with Zab Judah, but he wanted a tune-up first, but they wouldn’t give it to him...so Kendall said thanks but no thanks.

Joey Gilbert is fighting Kassim Ouma for the NABA Middleweight title. I'll put it to you like this - Ouma will not beat Gilbert. It's a bad match up for him and in all honesty Joey is not that bad and I can see him winning this fight. He’s bigger and stronger than Ouma, not to mention he is a very hard worker.

Speaking of my Contender alums, I am predicting that Sergio Mora will beat Shane Mosley. Sergio is too awkward and too big for Mosley. Jesse Brinkley probably won’t see the 8th round in his fight against Lucian Bute. Peter Manfredo is looking to make a fresh start by signing on with promoter Lou Dibella...congrats to him and his team. Tarick Salmaci was seen not to long ago on tmz.com...that’s my boy right there. Hard work and perseverance pays off as K9 was able to cash in on the junior middleweight championship of the world - congrats to him and his beautiful family.

When will Sergei Dzinziruk fight anyone with a pulse? It's hard to call out people when you haven’t fought anyone and all but one fight has been overseas. My little guy recently lost, Ivan Calderon, who doesn’t get a lot of notoriety. He doesn’t blaze the headlines like Mayweather or Manny, but Calderon is one of the best boxers in the world and has been for a very long time. Calderon is a victim of being in a weight class that nobody cares about and that really sucks because the guy can straight up fight.  Congrats is in order for Giovanni Segura though for dethroning one of the best in the sport.

I heard through the grapevine that other fighters would like to start writing. That would be pretty cool to get boxer insights on the sport and what’s going on. I have been writing on and off for about seven years now. Good to know that I am one of the first to get it going and hope that more boxers follow.

Rumor has it that Omar Henry got his ass spanked in sparring by Brandon Gonzalez here in Las Vegas. I will get the full report from Jeff Mayweather in the coming days. I will say one thing about Mr. Henry, there is nobody more annoying or delusional than him in the sport. Paging anyone with a pulse that is willing to fight him. If you let him tell it, he has already won 10 championships in 5 different weight classes. He irks the hell out of me, and I am not the only one he does that to. I heard that he wants a piece of Shawn Porter. Very interesting fight in my eyes. Henry is so limited that I will have to go with Porter. 

Staying on the topic of Porter, he just happens to be one of the classiest guys in the sport of boxing. Never talking too much, just going out there and doing his job. Guys like him the sport needs more of, and I wish him the best.

Closing thoughts:  I don’t use the Shack to talk solely about my career. It’s like going on a date and never letting the woman talk and blabbering about yourself all night.  I like writing and expressing my feelings on the sport of boxing and boxingscene.com has given me an opportunity to do so. Thanks to Rick Reeno for allowing me the privilege to come on here and write. 

If you want to know about my career, follow me on twitter or join my facebook page.  I will say this before I depart, I am hoping to get one more fight before the end of the year. Hopefully DBE will deliver that for me.  We have one more fight together and everything has been great thus far, so my team is quite optimistic.  Wouldn’t mind going to the UK either. Ryan Rhodes is there. We will just have to wait and see.  From 147 to 168-pounds - I will get down with anyone and it doesn’t matter who it is. 

The shack is cleaned up a bit. I'll see you guys in a few days when I break down the fight between Mora and Mosley.