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By Thomas Gerbasi - Despite what some pundits may say, not everyone becomes a world champion in boxing these days. And there’s nothing wrong with that. Some don’t get the opportunities or the breaks, some aren’t well-connected enough, and others just come up short when a belt is on the line.
So after years of toil that included the shedding of plenty of blood, sweat, and tears, Ishe Smith had come to a point where he assumed that his world title dreams would remain just that.
“I had always envisioned myself becoming the first born and raised champion from Las Vegas,” said the former star of the NBC reality show The Contender. “I always had that vision, that thought, and I wanted to get that done and accomplish that. And for so many years, especially post-Contender, it didn’t seem that that was gonna happen. I started settling in my mind that I had a good career and I had nothing to be ashamed of. And if I never got the world title, I had a lot to be thankful about.”
Enter Floyd Mayweather, who brought Smith in for sparring before his May 2012 bout with Miguel Cotto. The pound for pound king would not just spar with Smith though; he would sign him to his Mayweather Promotions and get him three fights, the third being a February 23rd challenge of IBF junior middleweight champion Cornelius Bundrage. Now all of a sudden, the pressure was back on for Smith. At 34, this was his shot, and the odds of getting another one if he came up short were likely to be slim. [Click Here To Read More]
So after years of toil that included the shedding of plenty of blood, sweat, and tears, Ishe Smith had come to a point where he assumed that his world title dreams would remain just that.
“I had always envisioned myself becoming the first born and raised champion from Las Vegas,” said the former star of the NBC reality show The Contender. “I always had that vision, that thought, and I wanted to get that done and accomplish that. And for so many years, especially post-Contender, it didn’t seem that that was gonna happen. I started settling in my mind that I had a good career and I had nothing to be ashamed of. And if I never got the world title, I had a lot to be thankful about.”
Enter Floyd Mayweather, who brought Smith in for sparring before his May 2012 bout with Miguel Cotto. The pound for pound king would not just spar with Smith though; he would sign him to his Mayweather Promotions and get him three fights, the third being a February 23rd challenge of IBF junior middleweight champion Cornelius Bundrage. Now all of a sudden, the pressure was back on for Smith. At 34, this was his shot, and the odds of getting another one if he came up short were likely to be slim. [Click Here To Read More]
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