"The 154-pound division is deep. I'm gonna definitely try to get a rematch down the line. I pay attention to what's going on. I know K9 is fighting Hernandez for the number one spot and then you got the Charlo Brothers, you got one [Jermel] fighting Rosado and the other one [Jermal] probably fighting Molina. I pay attention to everything that goes on," stated former jr. middleweight champion Ishe Smith, who had a lot to say about a number of top contenders in the 154-pound division, including Erislandy Lara, Jermell and Jermall Charlo, and Jesse Hart. Smith, who recently returned to training after taking a break following his tough loss to Carlos Molina, is eager to get back into the ring to face whoever will get him back into title contention.
"The Charlo Brothers call out everybody and they haven't done too much in the game to call out people, so we will see what they are made of soon, but if I had to pick somebody I would go with Gabe because I think Gabe is battle tested and has been in there with a lot of people, and as long as he doesn't cut, he should win. I'm not impressed with them at all. He should be victorious. The only thing with me is him getting cut. But Gabe is a road warrior. We have seen him in these great fights and he's either got cut or the fight was prematurely stopped for whatever reason and the scores weren't even close. So that worries me, but if I had to pick and choose at this moment, I would have to go with him," Smith commented as he shared his thoughts on the upcoming January 25 clash between Jermell Charlo and Gabriel Rosada. Smith then turned his attention to Jesse Hart, who fired shots at TMT stablemate Badou Jack during a recent interview on FightHype.com.
"It's shitty to see these young guys in the game call out people when they haven't accomplished anything yet. They are kind of like shit balls. I look at a guy like, I don't know him personally, but Jesse Hart and I see him calling out Badou [Jack] and Carl Froch and I'm like, who is this guy? So I go ask Badou who he is and I see he ain't fought nobody and it's like, man, that ain't the way to go about it. I mean, it's good to have confidence and try to stir up your name, but when you start calling people out like that, you gotta be able to back that shit up and I just feel like when you're a vet, you've earned that," Smith explained as he addressed the comments made by Hart.
Smith continued as he shared his opinion on Erislandy Lara. "Back in 2012, the fight got offered with me and Lara and he turned it down. I had an off night and things were going on and that's just the bottom line. It's like this, when I look at Lara and I think about it, Angulo had him running for his life. All of them Cubans are great, but the best one to come out of Cuba is Casamayor, let's not get that twisted. He is the best to ever fight out of Cuba as a pro. I don't know about the amateur program over there, but the best to defect and come over here was Casamayor and I don't see that in Lara," he added. "He is just decent. He caught Paul Williams after Paul Williams got knocked out by Sergio Martinez and then he was in a life and death situation with Angulo. Had it not been for the hematoma he suffered, who knows what would have happened. All I know is he got put on his ass twice. I been in there with some of the strongest fighters in the world; I ain't never touched the canvas."
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