ISHE SMITH
“When I fought Cornelius Bundrage for the title, I knew I had to win. I had a lot of pressure on me. There was no doubt I had to win. It’s the same thing now. Vanes is a good fighter, but I have to win. I’ve had to bring myself up from the bottom.
“All of the other promoters gave up on me, but Leonard Ellerbe and Floyd took a chance on me and I’ll always be grateful.
Ishe Smith 155.4 vs. Cecil McCalla 154.6 Ashley Theophane 143 vs. Mahonri Montes 142.8 Ronald … read more
Erislandy “The American Dream” Lara (20-2-2, 12 KOs) retained his WBA Super Welterweight World Championship with a convincing 12-round unanimous decision victory over Ishe “Sugar Shay” Smith (26-7, 12 KOs) in the SHOWTIME BOXING: SPECIAL EDITION main event Friday night from The Illusions Theater at The Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas.
After a strong first round for Smith, Lara dominated the remainder of the fight using a combination of movement, speed and accuracy to secure the decision 117-111, 119-109 twice.
In an impressive performance, WBA 154 pound champion Erislandy Lara (20-2-2, 12 KOs) put on a boxing clinic in defeating grizzled veteran Ishe Smith (26-7, 12 KOs) by a 12 round unanimous decision tonight to retain his WBA title at the Illusions Theater at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas.
Smith, 36, tried his best, but Lara picked him apart with left hand pot shots in the center of the ring from rounds 2 through 12. Smith had his moments in rounds 1, 7 and 11, but that was the extent of it. He simply was no match for the faster, cleaner landing Lara while the two were in the center of the ring. Smith did well when he was able to trap Lara against the ropes and land body shots.
WBA World junior middleweight champion Erislandy Lara (19-2-2, 12 KOs) isn’t coming into his fight this Friday night against 36-year-old former IBF junior middleweight champion Ishe Smith (26-6, 12 KOs) with mental baggage from his last fight against Saul “Canelo” Alvarez from last July.
Lara lost the fight to Canelo by a 12 round split decision in a bout that really could have gone the other way if Lara had done a little more offensively. Lara feels that he did enough to win the fight, and that’s why he’s coming into this Saturday’s title defense against Smith without feeling regretful about the Canelo match-up. Lara is totally focused on doing his job against Smith, and holding onto his WBA title.
LAS VEGAS (March 25) – Las Vegas will be the center of the boxing universe Cinco de Mayo weekend and kicking it off will be an action-packed night of fights at The Joint at Hard Rock Hotel & Casino when FOX Sports 1 and FOX Deportes feature a tripleheader that includes two World Championship bouts just one night before “THE MOMENT: Floyd Mayweather vs. Marcos Maidana” takes place at MGM Grand. In the 12-round main event, the WBA Super Welterweight title is on the line when Cuban star Erislandy “The American Dream” Lara defends the belt against Las Vegas’ own former World Champion Ishe “Sugar Shay” Smith.
Plus, rising lightweight star Mickey “The Spirit” Bey Jr. will meet hard-hitting Mexican veteran Alan “Explosivo” Herrera in a 10-round matchup and in the televised opener, Argentina’s Jesus Cuellar squares off with former World Champion Rico Ramos in a 12-round bout for Cuellar’s WBA Interim Featherweight World Title.