| Ishe Smith | |
|---|---|
| Statistics | |
| Real name | Ishe Oluwa Kamau Ali Smith |
| Nickname(s) | Sugar Shay |
| Rated at | Light Middleweight |
| Height | 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) |
| Nationality | American |
| Born | July 22, 1978 Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S. |
| Boxing record | |
| Total fights | 24 |
| Wins | 21 |
| Wins by KO | 9 |
| Losses | 5 |
Ishe Oluwa Kamau Bhoduri Ali "Sugar Shay" Smith (b. July 22, 1978, Las Vegas) is a professional boxer, and was a competitor on the first season of the reality TV show The Contender.
Ishe Smith is a devoted Christian who wears Psalm 27 on the back of his trunks, along with it being on his trunks Ishe also has it tattooed on his neck. Smith and ex-wife Latoya divorced in 2008, they share custody of their 3 children, Ishe Smith Jr, Ajani Smith, and Noelani Smith. "Ishe Oluwa" in the Yoruba language means "Work of God."
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Ishe Smith was a strong prospect early in his career, primarily as a good counter-puncher with excellent defensive skills. He won his first fourteen fights prior to the Contender, facing generally strong opposition early in his career. He faced future fellow Contender Alfonso Gomez in his fourth pro fight(Alfonso's second pro fight) and won via a controversial unanimous decision(due to a low blow penalty against Gomez that was poorly called) in a four round fight back in 2001. He also beat another future Contender Season 2 alum, Norberto Bravo by unanimous decision later in the same year. Most notably, he dominated a fellow hot prospect at the time, David "King" Estrada, beating him by a wide unanimous decision in 2003. And in 2004, he won his first belts(WBC Continental Welterweight title, WBO NABO Welterweight title, and USBA Welterweight title), beating former world champion Randall Bailey by a controversial unanimous decision in 2004. In a very economical punching fight from both men, Smith scored a knockdown in the second round and showed better defense, but Bailey was a bit more active throughout, particularly in the last three rounds with an effective jab. There was little to separate the two men in terms of scoring the fight, but Smith won by scores of 116-111, 117-110, and 114-113. He cried in joy following the match.
| Round | Result | Opponent |
|---|---|---|
| First Round | Win (points) | Khaddour |
| Quarter Finals | Loss (points) | Mora |
| Fans Favourite | Win (points) | Bonsante |
Ishe took a chance and signed on to do The Contender, and was roommates with former adversary Alfonso Gomez. On the show, he was placed on the West Coast team and fought his rival Ahmed Khaddour in the third episode's fight, a bout which was steel-tipped by the pair's frosty relationship. Smith won by unanimous decision against Ahmed in a tough fight. Smith also did not enamour himself to Anthony Bonsante, who he criticized for fighting someone he was not meant to in Brent Cooper - despite the bout having no bearing on Smith's standing in the competition.
When Juan de la Rosa was medically disqualified at the end of the first round fight, certain other boxers bought back Khaddour, a tactic employed to get under Smith's skin. After Brinkley criticized him for speaking his mind too often, Brinkley selected him to fight Sergio Mora, the tournament's eventual winner - which he lost to by split decision. He then faced his nemesis Bonsante in a Fan Favorite Fight, and despite suffering many illegal moves from a desperate Bonsante, won by a wide unanimous decision.
Since The Contender, he has criticized the show's management company for trying to force him to fight Jesse Brinkley at a severe weight disadvantage for a relatively small fight purse. A natural welterweight, Smith feels that he should be allowed to drop back down to a lower weight class and fight more rounds against opponents outside The Contender in preparation for an eventual title shot or be allowed out of the show's management contract as Contender contestants Ahmed Khaddour and Jimmy Lange, among others, have been.
Ishe Smith won his arbitration trial earlier this year and got out of the Contender promotions to sign a contract with Oscar de la Hoya's Golden Boy Promotions. Ishe Smith has been under Bernard Hopkins' guidance since he joined Golden Boy Promotions. He had stated that he is very happy with the Golden Boy Promotions.
He was featured on a June 7 fight card promoted by Bernard Hopkins on ESPN Friday Night Fight, where he dominated his opponent Patrick Thompson through 10 rounds to get a unanimous decision. He fought at 154 lbs, in the junior middleweight division, which is considered a division with a ton of opportunities for young prospects at this time.
Smith fought Sechew Powell, a junior middleweight contender on February 17, 2007, and lost a unanimous decision, potentially halting his hopes of landing a title shot. Smith lost the fight despite scoring a knock down. After the decision was announced, many of Powell's own hometown fans booed the decision. The reason for the boos were because the judges gave Powell eight out of ten rounds and many viewers of the fight, both live and television, felt the fight was much closer and could have gone either way by one point. The fight was also very slow as neither man wanted to let his hands go much, so the booing may have been for the lackluster nature of the fight as both men had talked a lot of trash to each other beforehand.
Ishe Smith lost a razor close decision to Joel Julio on April 30, 2008. Julio outworked Smith in the early rounds of the fight, but Ishe came on strong in the 2nd half of the fight to make it interesting. Julio went on to lose his next two fights, one by TKO.
Ishe returned to the ring on August 1, 2008, winning by unanimous decision over the previously undefeated Pawel Wolak, Smith called that a do or die, must win situation, and he delivered, outboxing the somewhat plodding Wolak in one of his most consistent performances. He followed that with a workmanlike unanimous decision win over Chris Gray in a stay busy fight.
What could be called one of his best performances was a UD lost to Danny Jacobs on August 22, 2009, it was a fight where Smith had his moments and definitely was crowd pleasing. Smith moved up to Middleweight to challenge Jacobs. Smith has vowed to go back to Jr Middleweight and make a run at the title. However, his next fight has been set for July 16, 2010 against explosive southpaw Middleweight prospect Fernando Guerrero in Memphis, Tennessee.
On July 16, 2010, Ishe fought rising Middleweight prospect Fernando Guerrero in Memphis, Tennessee on ShoBox in a ten round competitive action affair. For the first half of the fight, Guerrero seemed to have a slight edge, as he outlanded and outworked Ishe while Ishe invested in a lot of body shots, some being low, resulting in him losing a point. The tide turned heavily in Ishe's favor though in Round 8, as Ishe was able to drop Guerrero with a strong right hand at the end of the round. Ishe had a very strong Round 9 and a good Round 10, though Guerrero had his moments in the final round as well. Though it appeared the scores could have gone either way by the end of the fight and Ishe closed strong, Guerrero won 96-93, 95-93, and a surprising score of 97-91. Ishe declared afterwards that he would like to return to Light Middleweight to make a run and/or get a fight with Julio Caesar Chavez Jr.
After Golden Boy Promotions signed numerous other fighters including many former and current champions, Ishe Smith had become idle because Golden Boy Promotions are holding cards to feature more known names than Ishe Smith. Smith was frustrated by this and made a statement saying that he is considering joining the UFC, because he is in a desperate need of a fight.