PAWEL WOLAK vs ISHE SMITH

The big criticism of Ishe Smith is that he doesn’t let his hands go sufficiently to make sure of winning when the rounds are close. He has boxing ability, and some of his moves are extremely classy. You could even go so far as to call Smith a beautiful boxer. Yet winnable fights have gone against him: the loss to Sechew Powell, for instance, and, the one in his most recent contest, against Joel Julio.

Smith has heard it all, many times, and he promises that the fans will see an improved version of “Sugar Shay” when he meets the undefeated Pawel Wolak in a junior middleweight 10-rounder that tops the bill on ShoBox this Friday night.

Speaking over the phone from his home in Las Vegas this week, Smith said that for this fight he has been working for the first time with the former light-heavy champion Eddie Mustafa Muhammad, and he feels the change of trainer has been beneficial.

“It’s been great,” he said. “I’ve just turned 30, and once you’ve been doing this for a long time, and I’ve been doing this since I was eight, and a professional for eight years, you get stuck in your own way of doing things. Not that I was doing them bad, but you kinda get to a point where you’re just going through the motions, and Eddie kinda rejuvenated me to the fact where he’s pushing me, doing the things that he wants me to do. I’m excited. I had a lot of personal issues that I had to take care of and there are no excuses — I should not lose to a guy like this.”

I put it to Smith that on Friday he will be in the ring with a strong, busy, willing guy who throws a lot of punches. Won’t that be a problem?

“When I fought David Estrada back in 2003, he threw a lot of punches, too,” Smith said. “It’s not how many you throw, it’s the quality at which you’re throwing. There’s no way possible I should even come close to losing to a guy like this. I went back and watched a lot of tape of myself and I said: ‘What do these people see in the Ishe of 2003, and 2004 and think he’s better than this guy [himself, in 2008], because I feel I’m better now. I’m smarter, I have more ring generalship, I don’t get hit. I was a little bit more reckless in my younger years.

“The difference between me now and me then, is that I threw a little bit more, and a little bit more often, but I’m all-around a better fighter now. But, like I said, I had a lot of personal things that I’ve been fighting, and still taking fights, but those personal things are worked out and I see myself punching in bunches, and Eddie Mustafa won’t have it any other way but for me to throw punches. So, I’m looking to be new and improved and I’m looking to make a statement.”

Smith is saying the things one wants to hear, but can he deliver? In his last fight, the unanimous decision loss to Joel Julio, which I saw from ringside, I always had the impression that this was a fight that Smith could have won with just a few more punches in a few more rounds. It was Julio who dig a bit deeper.

The action-movie star Steven Seagal, who was filming in Vancouver, was at the fight and was seated in the same row as me (the front row as it happened), and he was rooting for Julio. In several rounds it was difficult to separate the boxers, and Seagal called up: “You’ve got to be be busier, Joel!” I don’t know whether the Colombian boxer heard Seagal, or understood, what he was saying, but he was the one who did that bit extra to find favour with the judges.

Wolak is going to be busy, that is guaranteed. The 26-year-old New Jersey-based Polish fighter has won 21 bouts in a row and he has been showing improvement. He either overwhelms his opponents or completely outworks them. In March he rolled right over the southpaw Dupre Strickland in two rounds; in his last fight Strickland had taken John Duddy the full 10-round distance. Wolak stopped Jonathan Reid, like Smith a Contender competitor, in four rounds. In his last fight, Wolak won every round against the crafty southpaw Troy Browning.

Friday’s fight is a step-up for Wolak, but he is ready for it. Smith has fought at a higher level and he is much the more skilful of the two men, but sometimes pressure and will overcomes savvy and skill.

Smith has lost two of his last three fights and he is in danger of becoming simply an opponent — some might say he has already reached that stage. If ever Smith needed to show what he can really do, it is in this fight, but I think his mind is in the right place.

To me, this is basically an even-money contest, but I am going to go with Smith’s experience and boxing ability. Wolak will be tough and game, but I think that Smith can make him miss, counter him and hit him often enough and sharply enough to take a decision win.

Smith knows what he has to do to win this fight — now it is up to Ishe to go out and do it.