JOEL JULIO vs ISHE SMITH

Colombian big-hitter Joel Julio battered Contender Season 2 competitor Cornelius Bundrage in his last fight. On Wednesday he takes on one of the reality TV series’ biggest names, Ishe Smith, in a 10-round junior middleweight bout made at 154 pounds. Will the Contender, in the manner of the Star Wars Empire, strike back? A packed house of 1,100 at Vancouver’s River Rock casino and TV viewers watching Wednesday Night Fights will be eager to find out.

This is the biggest fight in Vancouver for some time. Promoter Manny Sobral, a former Canadian champion, isn’t far wrong when he says it’s a Las Vegas type of fight: I have seen less intriguing fights than this featured on some of the pay-per-view undercards at the big casinos in the gambling mecca.

Vancouver was one of the top Canadian fight towns in bygone years. The 1930s welterweight superstar Jimmy McLarnin launched his career there. All-time great Archie Moore had a couple of non-title bouts in the Pacific Coast city. Muhammad Ali outpointed George Chuvalo in Vancouver in a 1973 rematch. I was at ringside at Vancouver's Pacific Coliseum in 1983 when Michael Spinks methodically chopped down a tough Peruvian, Oscar Rivadeneyra, in a light-heavyweight title bout promoted by the colourful Butch Lewis. Music impresario Bruce Allen ran a series of well-matched shows in the 1980s. Now the River Rock is giving Vancouver a professional boxing presence once again, after too long an absence.

Julio versus Smith is an intriguing fight. There was a time when Julio looked sure to be a champion. He was knocking out practically everyone put in front of him, often quickly. Then, in his first big test, he was outsmarted and outclassed by the clever and underrated Puerto Rican southpaw, Carlos Quintana. After this. Julio barely defeated the seasoned and very capable Mexican former world title challenger, Cosme Rivera, who knocked him down late in the fight.

Julio seems to have learned from these long, hard fights. When he stopped Bundrage it was perhaps Julio’s most professional performance: he kept the pressure on his opponent in a steady, intelligent way and threw his punches with excellent form.

That win looks even better after Bundrage’s subsequent upset victory over Kassim Ouma. It appears that, at 23, Julio is firmly back on the championship track. Smith, though, is potentially a dangerous opponent. The Las Vegas boxer is capable of performing with considerable polish. He rolls with punches and counters in the manner of the old-timers. He gave Fernando Vargas all he could handle in their sparring sessions and his skill was much praised by his big-name employer.

Smith’s big problem, though, is that he tends to pose when he should be punching. This tendency manifested itself in his loss to Sechew Powell on HBO in February of last year. Smith was making beautiful moves — but Powell was the boxer who was moving his hands. Although Smith was unhappy about the decision, the reality was that he had allowed himself to be outworked.

Since then, Smith has boxed just once, a two-round blowout of a former lightweight who had won just one of his last nine appearances. Wednesday’s fight is a chance for Smith to re-establish himself. He is 29 and he has had only five fights in the past three years — his boxing career is in danger of sliding away from him. Contender host Sugar Ray Leonard will be on hand to lend emotional support. For Smith, it is now or never.

In terms of sheer talent, I would consider Smith unquestionably the superior fighter. Julio is the stronger, younger man, the heavier handed, and seems the more willing to give all he has in a fight. Smith could look brilliant in short bursts but Julio is more consistent and insistent. I do not make Julio a big favourite but I think he will probably win by being more assertive and throwing more punches over the course of the 10 rounds; he just seems to have a greater desire than Smith, and that could be the difference in the fight.

RESULT: Julio W. unan. dec.