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ISHE SMITH: "I'M HUNGRY TO RIGHT THE SHIP...I WANNA FIGHT THE BEST"

By Percy Crawford | January 15, 2014
ISHE SMITH:

"I'm hungry to right the ship. I will not make excuses about what happened in September, but I'm all about getting my title back. But I wanna get in there and fight the best, whether that's Trout, Lara, or whoever it may be. I wanna fight the best. Right now, I'm staying in shape; that way, I will be ready to do what I need to do. It's frustrating as an athlete when you reach that pinnacle and you let something slip away. It's kind of like being a Super Bowl champion and making it back there and not cashing out and winning it again. That's kind of how I feel. I'm eager to get back and I will prove to the world and myself that I can get it back again," stated former jr. middleweight champion Ishe Smith, who talked about his future plans and much more. Check it out!

PC: I see you are back in the gym. How is everything going?

IS: It's going good; real good. I'm just ready to go. I'm already in camp, man, just waiting on the date, so I can right the ship from my last outing. I came in a little bit early to knock the rust off and get everything back, man.

PC: Well that's what I was gonna ask. Were you back in the gym to knock the rust off or are there rumblings of your next fight?

IS: I'm just thinking as soon as possible, man. The 154-pound division is deep.

PC: What is your thought process mentally right now after the Molina fallout?

IS: I'm hungry to right the ship. I will not make excuses about what happened in September, but I'm all about getting my title back. But I wanna get in there and fight the best, whether that's Trout, Lara, or whoever it may be. I wanna fight the best. Right now, I'm staying in shape; that way, I will be ready to do what I need to do. It's frustrating as an athlete when you reach that pinnacle and you let something slip away. It's kind of like being a Super Bowl champion and making it back there and not cashing out and winning it again. That's kind of how I feel. I'm eager to get back and I will prove to the world and myself that I can get it back again.

PC: You said that you want the fight with Erislandy Lara and spoke on him turning down a fight with you in 2012. Do you want Lara because you feel he is the best in the division or at least that the perception right now is that he is the best?

IS: Dajuan Blake asked me who I wanted to fight and I told him, "I want you to try and go get Lara." That was the first thing I told him. He said, "Why you wanna fight somebody that tough?" I told him, "Why not? Everybody say he's the best in the division, so why not knock him off?" Everyone thinks he's so tough and calling for him to possibly fight Floyd and dumb stuff like that. I want to fight the best so if they can go get him, that's what I want. That's how it is, Percy. I don't deem him as no type of boogeyman and people scared to fight him. I don't look at him like that. I honestly think Trout probably just had an off night, and that happens. He beat Cotto and lost to Canelo, and Lara did what he had to do. It's been awhile since Trout fought a southpaw, so who knows? It is what it is, but when I go back and look at it, he was in a life or death situation with Angulo.

PC: It seems like the 154-pound division is full of life now to where after Winky Wright left, it didn't look so glamorous. When you look around, what do you see?

IS: It's a great division. Like I said, there is a lot of talent here. I'm gonna try to keep campaigning here and do what I can do, but remember, before I had the title, nobody wanted to fight me. Lara turned the fight down. I'm gonna do what I can do to make fights at 154. But one thing me and Gabe [Rosado] have in common is we are road warriors. We will go up to 160 or fight at 154; it don't matter to us. We want to fight and if I can't get guys to grow some nuts and fight me at 54, I'll go back up to 160. I did it before and I'll do it again. I hope I can fight some or these good guys.

PC: I hope to see you back in there soon, best of luck to you securing a fight at either 54 or 60. Is there anything else you want to add?

IS: I just want to thank all of the fans who been riding with me. I can't wait to get back in there. I had a helluva year last year. I was real blessed and I got to do a lot of things that I never imagined I would be able to do and hung with some people I never thought I would hang with, and now it's time to go back to work, so I'm really excited for 2014 and what it's gonna bring. I'm just looking forward to my return.



[ Follow Percy Crawford on Twitter @MrLouis1ana ]

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