by Geoffrey Ciani – This week’s 81st edition of On the Ropes Boxing Radio featured exclusive interviews with middleweights Fernando Guerrero (18-0, 15 KOs) and Ishe Smith (21-4, 9 KOs). Guerrero and Smith are set to do battle on the SHOBOX main event this Friday, July 16. In a day and age where trash-talk is far too common in boxing it was a breath of fresh air hearing two athletes engage in a civil discussion about their upcoming fight. Both pugilists share a mutual respect for each other as evidenced by their sportsmanlike conduct. Professionals both inside and outside the ring, this one has the potential for a lot of fireworks. Here is a complete transcript of what Guerrero and Smith had to say about their upcoming bout.
JENNA J: Alright everybody, we are back with our first guest for this week’s show. We have Ishe’s Smith on the verge of taking on Fernando Guerrero. How’s it going today, Ishe?
ISHE SMITH: Hey, how’s it going? I’m doing good, I can’t complain.
JENNA: So you’re taking on an undefeated middleweight challenger, he’s 18-0. What have you seen from Fernando Guerrero and what do you expect?
SMITH: I expect him to be ready. At this stage, everybody you fight should be ready and trained so I expect him to be ready. He’s young, he’s undefeated, and it’s going to be a good fight. So I expect to see the best Fernando Guerrero on Friday and you’ll see the best Ishe Smith so it should be very exciting.
JENNA: Now you’re no stranger to facing off against undefeated middleweights. You faced, in your last fight, Daniel Jacobs and you lost a ten round decision. Can you tell us what went on in that bout and what you think you can improve on from there to take into this bout?
SMITH: Well, the Daniel Jacobs fight was a good interesting fight. As you could see he was the bigger man. I was coming up from 154 and I had five weeks to train and he was the one backing up. I had him hurt a couple of times but Danny is a terrific fighter and he got the decision, but it was a tough fight for him. It was his toughest fight. He’s fighting for a title now and we learned a lot from that fight. There are some little things that we worked on in camp that we didn’t execute on, well I didn’t execute on. This time we’ve had about two months to train so this camp has been my best camp since I’ve been a professional. This fight is going to be a very good fight, a very good coming out party for me and for my team and we’re just excited to go.
JENNA: Speaking of your opposition Fernando Guerrero, he is in fact on the line with us right now. How’s it going today, Fernando?
FERNANDO GUERRERO: Hey, how are you doing?
JENNA: Hey, we’re happy to have you on the show. We’re also joined by Ishe Smith. How’s your training gone?
GUERRERO: My training is going great. We’re just doing the right stuff and just training as hard as we can and taking this fight very seriously.
JENNA: Well Ishe Smith is the toughest guy that you have yet to face in your career. Can you tell us what you have seen from him and what you expect?
GUERRERO: Well I expect for Ishe Smith to be ready. He’s been at this place before and I think that it’s going to be an exciting fight. I think that you’re going to see a lot of good action and Ishe Smith seems like he’s an action-packed guy and I think it’s going to be great—great for the viewers.
JENNA: Alright now Ishe, this fight is obviously at middleweight. Now is this the division you intend to stay at?
SMITH: Yeah, it seems that I can only get fights there from guys that are willing to step up and fight me like Daniel Jacobs and Fernando. At my weight, I can’t really get a lot of guys that will step up to the plate. A lot of guys are looking to try and maneuver to get title fights and stuff like that. I can fluctuate between the two. It’s no problem, but I’m definitely getting more comfortable at 160. I may fluctuate between the two weight classes and see what happens, but right now in my mind I’m a 160 pounder.
JENNA: Alright. Now Fernando, obviously I talked to you before about what you’ve seen in Ishe. What do you think is the most important thing you have to do to be successful against him?
GUERRERO: Well I think that I just got to do the same thing that I do. I’ll just counter whatever he does. I think I’m a complete fighter as in like I can bang, and I prefer to bang a lot of times, but if you want to box I could also box. All I’m going to do is follow my corner’s instructions. Whatever they tell me to do, that’s what I’m going to do.
JENNA: Now he’s taking into the ring a significant experience advantage over you. Are you at all worried that he’s going to pull some veteran moves in there? It’s a tough challenge for you.
GUERRERO: No, I think it’s going to be a clean fight. I think with Ishe, of course he’s been on Showtime before and he seems like an honorable guy. It’s just going to be the best guy is going to win. I don’t think anybody is going to pull any tricks. I think Ishe and I we have tricks up our sleeves or whatever, but if you really are talented you don’t need them.
JENNA: Now Ishe, do you have some surprises for Fernando that he hasn’t seen you take into the ring before that you’re going to show him on Friday?
SMITH: You know what, I think both camps—his camp was probably orchestrated at a high degree and I know mine was orchestrated at a high degree. I think this is a very important fight for me and I think he’s taking the fight very seriously as well. I think whatever happens in the ring on Friday, as far as tricks and all of that, it’s going to be a great fight. That’s what the fans should tune in for. As he said, it will be a great action-packed fight.
JENNA: Guys, we’re also joined by my co-host Geoff Ciani. Geoff.
GEOFFREY CIANI: Hello Fernando. Hello Ishe. I’d like to welcome Fernando back to the show and welcome Ishe. Thank you both for coming on, gentlemen.
GUERRERO: Thank you for having us.
SMITH: Thank you.
CIANI: I’m going to ask both of you guys the same question here and I’m going to start with Fernando. Fernando, what part of your game do you think you will bring into the ring with you that will most surprise Ishe Smith?
GUERRERO: I don’t think that he’s faced a person so determined like I am. I think that I’m just so eager to be a crowd pleaser and just do the right thing. I think a lot of time when Ishe fights, it’s not really what the spectators want to see. With me, I think that I will push it a little harder like other people haven’t done.
CIANI: Now Ishe, I’m going to ask you the same question. What about your game do you think will most surprise Fernando Guerrero come fight night?
SMITH: Well I don’t think he’s ever fought someone with my capabilities. I don’t think he’s been in there with the experience. I’ve fought guys with undefeated records before. I fought Pawel Wolak who tried o push the action the whole night and he got seriously outboxed and I was picked to lose that fight. I fought David Estrada who was undefeated at the time and took the fight out of him. I do what I have to do to win. Whether there is criticism about action, action is action. He’s never faced anybody of my caliber. I’ve been here and done that. I’ve swam. I’ve been ten, I’ve been twelve, I’ve faced some very tough opposition in my career. Even with Daniel Jacobs who is now going on to fight for a title. Even with Joel Julio who escaped with a razor close decision. Like I said, I’ve been in there with some of the strongest punchers in the game. Even Randall Bailey, they’ve all either lost or they haven’t really done enough to win or I’ve beaten them severely. So I’ve been there and done that. I’ve fought the best that was given to me, besides like a Shane Mosley or an Oscar De La Hoya, the champions at the top of boxing. But I’ve fought the best that has been offered to me. I never turned down anything, I never ducked anybody. I’ve sparred with some of the best and I’m ready. Come Friday we’re going to see whether the young man’s ready or not.
CIANI: Now Ishe, when I asked Fernando the question about what surprises he thought he would bring into the ring he said that he didn’t think you were as determined as he is. Do you think that’s true?
SMITH: Oh no, not at all. I think my determination was a little bit over determined against Daniel Jacobs and I got away from the game plan. As you saw, he was hurt several times and when have you really seen Daniel Jacobs on his way to going down? Now he’s fighting for a world championship here in a few weeks. So no, not at all, I think I’m very determined and I fought determined guys and I’ve taken that determination out of them. I fought probably one of the best pound for pound punchers in our generation in Randall Bailey, who probably doesn’t get enough credit for his power. In twenty-five pro fights I’ve never touched the matt and never been hurt so I’m very determined. I think this is very important for my career and my legacy and I’ve taken every fight seriously, even the Daniel Jacobs fight. So we’ll see Friday. We’ll see if he’s ready. I know I’m ready. We’re going to come out and it’s going to be a terrific fight, but I’m ready.
CIANI: Now Fernando, when I asked Ishe what surprises he’s going to bring in to the ring for you, he basically said that you’ve never fought anybody with his experience and that you’ve never been in there with a fighter of his caliber. Do you think that is true?
GUERRERO: Well, not necessarily. I think that as an upcoming prospect I’ve fought the guys that I was supposed to be fighting. Even Gabriel Rosado, he beat a terrific, terrific opponent and I fought a very durable guy in (Ossie) Duran who has a similar style to Ishe. I also fought Michael Walker, which it doesn’t really matter, it’s not my fault that I trained really, really hard and I knocked him out because he gave Daniel a tough fight and I destroyed him in two. Not taking anything away from Daniel or Ishe but that’s what you get from working hard. Ishe mentioned that he fought the best opponents and all that stuff, and that’s real good. I feel like he did, he fought some real tough opponents but coming up right now I feel like I’m the best right now. I don’t care who I fight. I think with this fight right now, it just feels good. It feels right. Ishe fought a lot of good opponents and I’m going to fight for a world title soon. He’s in the way right now and he’s the one that I need to fight right now and we just got to overcome that.
JENNA: Guys, besides Geoff and myself we’re also joined my co-host Nick Powers.
NICK POWERS: Hey guys. It’s a pleasure to have both of you on at the same time. I think this might be an OTR first having both fighters on right before their fight. The first question I wanted to ask is to Fernando. Now you’re the younger fighter in this fight, you’re only 23 years old and you hold the coveted undefeated record or the “0” as so many boxing fans refer to it as. Being that your level of competition is increasing and you’re still a young fighter, how important is it for you to keep that zero on your record and remain undefeated? Or is it something that you definitely don’t think about and you really just want to progress as a fighter and learn as much as you can?
GUERRERO: It’s as important as any other fight. I never think about losing. I know that it happens but I don’t want a loss. I want to grow up as one of the best fighters ever. I don’t take anybody lightly and I think a fight is a fight and I just don’t think about losing. That’s why I train so hard. That’s why we go up into high altitude training and we do whatever we need to do. I’m not going to look over to Ishe and say that I don’t think he’s that good. No. For me right now, I trained for Ishe like it’s a world title fight because I am defending my belt and whichever belt I have is important. So it’s my world title fight right now. That’s my mentality.
POWERS: My next question is for Ishe. Fernando mentioned one of the things he does, high altitude training, which is also a staple of trainer Eddie Mustafa Muhammad who you work with. Being that a guy like Eddie has worked with so many great fighters, he’s currently with Chad Dawson and he’s worked with guys like James Toney and Iran Barkley in the past, and now the fact that you’re working with him. How integral is his thinking process and his motivation for you in the gym to help you progress in the training camp to the fight?
SMITH: It’s been good. I’ve been with Eddie for about two years and we’ve had a lot of success. I think I’m 2-1 or 3-1 with Eddie. Eddie’s a great guy. He’s a good coach. I’ve had some of the best sparring I’ve had in a very long time working for this camp. For me, everything’s been perfect. With high altitude training, we’ve been there, done that. Vegas is just a high altitude place in general, more so than anywhere like back east or down south. It’s just high in general. We’re ready. I mean we’ve done the right things. We’ve had some great sparring partners. I couldn’t ask for any better sparring than I possibly had. Even finishing up today, it’s been great. Like I said, I’m ready man. It’s going to be a good fight. This is going to be my best performance so I’m ready.
JENNA: Something you guys have mentioned is that the winner of this fight can go on to a title shot. Now I’m going to ask each of you and I’ll first ask Fernando, do you think if you win this fight against Ishe Smith that you will be ready in your next bout to take on a champion?
GUERRERO: Well the thing is that I’m the fighter. I only think about fighting. If it was up to me I would think that I would be ready right now. The thing is, I listen to my managers and my coaches and my whole circle. They tell me to just be patient, it’s going to happen. So I’m just waiting for that time when it does happen. I don’t really have a set date. Whenever it comes, I’m training for a world title right now so even if this was, then it would have been right now.
JENNA: Now Ishe, you’re 31 years old. You have yet to get a title shot. You’ve been in there with a lot of guys that went on to become champion. Do you think that if you win this bout that that should be your next bout, a title fight?
SMITH: Listen, I’ll take whatever DiBella has or whatever they come up with is great. I’ll put it in God’s hands. Whatever future that God has planned for me that is what I’ll do. This fight came about when the Kassim Ouma fight fell out. It was supposed to take place on May 15 and we jumped on the opportunity and enough time to train so everything was perfect. Whatever God has planned is ordained. If that’s what happens next, that’s what happens. Sometimes what man has planned or what I think might be planned just doesn’t happen. So I just put it in God’s hands.
JENNA: You’ve been an undefeated contender before Ishe when you went onto The Contender. How much pressure is it to keep that “0”, to keep that undefeated record?
SMITH: I don’t think you think about it much. It’s very important but you don’t think about as much as the guy who you’re fighting whose trying to take it. When you’re undefeated you don’t think about it much because I beat a lot of undefeated guys coming up, former world champions, and guys who fought for titles. I think when the guy your fighting who is hungry and wants to take it, I think that’s more so than when you have it and you’re thinking about it. Because when you’re fighting you just go out there and fight but when you fight someone who’s hungry and wants to take it and wants to put that first “L” on your record, I think that’s more important than keeping it. The guy that’s hungry wants to be that first. Like when I took Pawel Wolak’s undefeated record he still has only lost to me. When you look back over it, I was the first guy to beat David Estrada who went on to fight Shane Mosley. I could always say I was the first guy to beat him so those have always been very important to me. I love fighting undefeated guys. I get up for them. I get up for all of my fights but more so when you fight undefeated guys.
JENNA: Fernando, the thing is you never lost. Do you go into the ring with that mentality that you don’t know how to lose in the professional ranks?
GUERRERO: Yeah. Well you know what, I actually don’t because with boxing in general, I’ve tasted defeat before. I also have to include the amateur days and I didn’t like it. I didn’t like it at all. The main thing about it is I don’t forget how it feels. Now, that’s why I’m training so hard not to feel that way again and that’s how I feel.
JENNA: Now I want to give you both an opportunity to give final statements to each other here. I’m going to go first to Ishe, is there anything you want to say to Fernando?
SMITH: No, like I said I expect the best Fernando. He’s going to be ready. He says he’s in full condition and he trains like it’s a world championship fight and I think when you’re at this level you should always be in full condition if you’re a professional. That is good. So I look for the best version of him and I’m ready. I’ve been working on eight weeks now so it was a great camp. I couldn’t have asked for a better camp. I’m ready.
JENNA: Fernando, is there anything you want to say to Ishe?
GUERRERO: All I want to say to him is, my man, I really love the way that he just takes pride in the game right now. I’ve fought eighteen people and out of those eighteen people I can’t say I’ve ever met a professional guy like him. I really like his energy right now. The thing is, let’s put on a good show. We all know what it’s going to be and what boxing really is. I just wanted somebody to bring the good out of me in boxing. Ishe, if you think you’re the one then let’s do it and let’s just put on a spectacular show.
JENNA: Alright guys. Finally, both of you, I wanted to see if you wanted to address the fans out there. Ishe, is there anything you want to say to the boxing fans?
SMITH: I just want to tell all of the fans thank you for the support. Even before The Contender days it’s been a long ride. This is actually, going back to Mississippi, almost ten years to the day that I had my first fight in Tunica, Mississippi. It’s a good homecoming to go back to where I started and to the fans who have supported me throughout have been great these last few years. Even the haters have motivated me to raise my game up a level. I just want to thank them all for just supporting me and standing in my corner.
JENNA: Fernando, is there anything you want to say to the fans out there?
GUERRERO: Well I want to say I’m sorry I was never in The Contender and now on Friday this is going to be the finale of The Contender. I will be The Contender this time. To everybody that’s going to be watching me, the people from Salisbury, Vegas, and Baltimore and DC, and everybody, just look out for the name Fernando Guerrero.
JENNA: It was a pleasure interviewing both of you. For our fans listening out there, on July 16 SHOBOX has a triple header and these two guys will be facing off. Anyway, Ishe Smith, Fernando Guerrero we thank you both for your time and wish you the best of luck on the 16th.
SMITH: Thank you.
GUERRERO: Thank you.
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For those interested in listening to the Shane Mosley interview in its entirety, it begins approximately twenty-five minutes into the show.
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