Wednesday, April 27, 2005
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

Fighter Smith gets dose of reality

Las Vegan ousted from `Contender'

By KEVIN IOLE
REVIEW-JOURNAL

Despite being portrayed as the troublemaker of the group, Ishe Smith said his experience on the NBC reality show "The Contender" was positive.

But the middleweight from Las Vegas wasn't so thrilled with the judging in the bout that eliminated him from the competition. Smith, 26, lost a split decision to Sergio Mora on Sunday's episode, eliminating him from contention for the $1 million prize.

One judge scored the bout for Smith, four rounds to one, but the other two favored Mora. One gave Mora all five rounds, and the other gave him four.

The disparity in the scoring baffled Smith.

"It was really a hometown decision and the crowd booed a lot," said Smith, 15-1. "A lot of the people who were there thought I won the fight, but he was gifted with the decision."

Smith said he hurt Mora badly near the end of the fight and was close to knocking him out. Dean Lohuis, chief athletic inspector for the California Athletic Commission, was ringside and verified Smith's contention that Mora was in trouble.

But Lohuis said he wouldn't quibble about the scoring.

"At the end of the round, Ishe definitely hurt him and Sergio wobbled to his corner," Lohuis said. "But what you have to remember is, Sergio had had a great -- well, maybe not great -- but a good fifth round up to that point. It was a tough round, but Ishe did hurt Mora near the end.

"Jeremy Williams, who was in Sergio's corner that night, rushed in and lifted him right away because I think he realized he was hurt."

Smith was portrayed as the villain and nearly came to blows with Jesse Brinkley, another Las Vegas resident, on Sunday's episode. Several earlier episodes documented a feud that developed between Smith and Ahmed Kaddour, whom Smith defeated in the third episode.

Smith said the feud with Kaddour was real but that he didn't like being portrayed as the bad guy.

"I don't understand why I got labeled that way," Smith said. "I guess it's because one minute they saw me praying and reading my Bible and the next minute I was kind of upset. But that's what human emotion is about.

"They tried to label me as bad, but I'm a family man, a God-fearing guy who also happens to be a fighter. I confront situations and when someone says something about me, I ask about it."

Smith hopes his boxing experience on "The Contender" is not complete. The finals will air live from Caesars Palace on May 24 with the championship and third-place matches. Also, fans in coming weeks will be able to vote on three fights they would like to see, and those bouts will be held.

Smith, a Durango High School graduate who said his dream is to be the first Las Vegas-born-and-bred world champion, hopes to be one of those picked.

"I felt a huge letdown to my family and my city to have lost that fight and to not be fighting for (the show's) title," Smith said. "I owe them a good show and I hope I get the chance to come back and put one on for the people in my hometown. Even though I can't win, that's still a dream for me."