"SUGAR SHAY" ISHE SMITH vs. DAVID ESTRADA HEADLINE SHOBOX: THE NEW GENERATION IN BATTLE OF UNDEFEATED WELTERWEIGHTS

JULY 31 AT KEWADIN CASINO-SAULT SAINT MARIE, MI
ON SHOWTIME AT 11 P.M. EDT / 11 P.M. PDT

09.07 - Somebody's "0" has got to go!

Undefeated welterweight contenders "Sugar Shay" ISHE (pronounced EE-Shay) SMITH and David Estrada, who have a combined record of 27-0 (14 KOs), headline the July 31 edition of SHOBox: The New Generation, beginning at 11 P.M. EDT / 11 P.M. PDT on SHOWTIME. The broadcast will emanate from the Kewadin Hotel and Casino in Sault Ste. Marie, MI. The Gary Shaw Productions-promoted event will also feature undefeated lightweight Koba Gogoladze, from Philadelphia, PA, in the co-main event.

Smith, 12-0 (7 KOs), from Las Vegas, NV, first came into national prominence last September when Fernando Vargas, while training for his world title unification fight against Oscar De La Hoya, talked more of Smith, his chief sparring partner, then he did about his new, chiseled physique.

"Vargas was a one-man public relations campaign for Smith," noted Royce Feour, in his October 12, 2002 Las Vegas Review-Journal column.

Vargas related the following on Smith to Kevin Iole, also from the Las Vegas Review-Journal, just two days before his fight against De La Hoya: "This guy, Ishe Smith, is definitely as fast as him (De La Hoya) and probably faster," said Vargas. "He's going to be a great fighter, and he gave me such great work. He has all the moves that (trainer Floyd) Mayweather is trying to teach (De La Hoya), but it's all natural for him. Oscar has worked with Mayweather for two fights and is trying to learn these moves which I know too. But Ishe Smith has all that naturally, and he gave me such good work that I gave him a damn good bonus."

Smith signed a promotional agreement with Gary Shaw Productions, LLC., in March and has since fought in two televised bouts. He won a 10-round unanimous decision, April 24, on SHOBox, over the vastly more experienced Sam Garr, 33-6, who went the distance against WBA welterweight champion James Page in their world title fight. The judges scored it 100-90, 100-90 and 99-91. He followed that victory with a second-round knockout over former USBA champion Sal Lopez, 18-4-2, June 20 in the co-feature of ESPN2's "Friday Night Fights."

"I have a lot of respect for Fernando Vargas and his opinion," said Shaw. "I know him very well. Hell, I used to promote him. When I heard Fernado - just two days before the biggest fight of his career -- heaping the accolades on Ishe, I knew this young man had to be special. That is a major reason why I signed him. I have great hopes that "Sugar Shay" will live up to his potential and become a great welterweight champion like the champions before him, who also had the ring name "Sugar" - Robinson, Leonard and Mosley. "Sugar Shay" will definitely sweeten up the division."

Estrada, 15-0 (7 KOs), is trained by the legendary Angelo Dundee. Two of his last three victories have been against highly touted contenders, Joel Salas, 10-2-1, and Armando Velardez, 14-1.

Gogoladze, 9-0 (4 KOs), a former WBF International lightweight champion, returns to the ring fresh from a split decision victory over previously undefeated Carl Johanneson, which was televised nationally on SHOBox, June 5.