"I feel very confident and ready going into this fight. I know it's all going to come together in this fight...Now we just gotta go in there on July 16th and put our game plan together. It's going to be a good fight. It's going to be a very entertaining fight and more entertaining than Danny Jacobs. I'm not losing this fight. I'm going to go in there and take what's mine. So many people have counted me out for so long and in this fight, they are going to regret it. We're coming to win this fight and we're going to win this fight," stated middleweight contender Ishe Smith as he talked about his upcoming July 16th clash with undefeated Fernando Guerrero. Check it out!

PC: How is everything going Ishe?

IS: Everything is going good; everything is right on schedule.

PC: Come July, when you fight Fernando Guerrero, it will be close to a year out of the ring. How frustrating has it been for you not to secure dates?

IS: It's been pretty frustrating because I do have a promoter that's been trying. We had Ouma back in May and he pulled out. We offered Derrick Ennis a fight and he turned it down and Charles Whitaker turned us down, so we've been trying. It just unfortunately hasn't gone my way, but God works in mysterious ways and this came about and we have time to prepare and get ready for it. I feel very confident and ready going into this fight. I know it's all going to come together in this fight.

PC: You have faced undefeated guys in 3 of your last 4 fights; Pawel Wolak, Daniel Jacobs and now Fernando Guerrero. How much of a role does your experience play a part in the decision to take fights like this?

IS: I think it's very important to have that experience when facing these younger guys. If you look at the Danny Jacobs fight, a lot of people thought he was just going to go in there and roll over me, or they thought it was going to be a not-so-entertaining fight, but it was a very entertaining fight. It was his toughest fight to date and now he's getting ready to fight for a world championship. I have a lot of respect for Danny. I think we put on a good fight. I was moving up in weight and he stepped up and fought me. I had a little bit of hard-headedness in that fight and didn't listen to my coach and it cost me the win in that fight. If you look at the tape of that fight, you can see I was the smaller man and I had him hurt a few times in that fight. I thought it was a good fight. I know it will all come together in this fight coming up.

PC: You just mentioned moving up in weight. Are you comfortable at middleweight? Is that your weight class now?

IS: Yeah. I want to fluctuate between the two. It's hard to get guys at 54 that want to fight me. It seems like the only time I can get fights is at 160. I got offered a fight overseas in Germany last November at 160 and an injury forced me out of that one, and then I get offered this one at 160, so we've done the necessary things to move up in weight this time. The last time, with Jacobs, it was kind of a rush job to go up in weight and we still looked good. This time, we had a full 2 months to train. I couldn't have asked for a better scenario and a better camp. God is good, man, and I'm very confident for this fight. I'm very confident of what I see from myself in the gym. Sparring with Mayweather has really rejuvenated me and put my dedication and focus back into the sport I love.

PC: When you're in there with a consummate pro like Floyd and you see his approach to the game and the work he puts in, how much of that rubs off on you?

IS: A lot! It's been times in this camp where my own coach has told me to slow down and tells me I'm working too hard. It's like this is the only way I know how to work now. For a long time, I had got frustrated with the sport because I wasn't able to get the fights, like you mentioned earlier, and I had a bunch of fights falling out. This is how I feed my kids, so I had got really frustrated with it for awhile. When I went and sparred with Floyd, it rejuvenated me and took me up a level and I thank God that we got to put some work in. He was a very gracious guy and he appreciated me being in camp and I definitely appreciated him because it revived me as a person. A lot of his workout regimen, and seeing how he works, rubbed off on me. I'm fully dedicated back to this sport that I have been doing...this year makes 24 years. I'm totally dedicated back to the sport and I owe a lot of that to Floyd and God for making me realize how important this sport is to me and how much I love it.

PC: When you got the call that it was Fernando Guerrero, did you know a lot about him?

IS: I knew of him and I know he's green to the game. I hadn't watched a lot of tapes on him or his fights or anything like that. I heard about him and then, when I got the call that it was going to be him, I watched a little bit of tape and we studied him. My coach watched a lot of tape and studied him. Now we just gotta go in there on July 16th and put our game plan together. It's going to be a good fight. It's going to be a very entertaining fight and more entertaining than Danny Jacobs. I'm not losing this fight. I'm going to go in there and take what's mine. So many people have counted me out for so long and in this fight, they are going to regret it. We're coming to win this fight and we're going to win this fight.

PC: This is the first southpaw you have fought in 3 years. Is that a style that you are comfortable facing?

IS: Oh yeah, definitely. Sechew Powell is a crafty boxer and counterpuncher and our styles really didn't mesh at that time and that stage of our career. This guy here, everybody talks about his power, but in 25 fights, I've never touched the canvas and I've fought some of the hardest punchers in the business; [Joel] Julio and Randall Bailey, when I only had like 12 or 13 fights. I don't worry about that. I don't get excited about a guy's power. I look at him as a person. Who does he have those knockouts against? When you get to a certain level of boxing, it's hard to get knockouts when you start fighting the Shane Mosley's of the world. Once the quality of opposition reaches a certain level, it's hard to knock those guys out because their will and determination won't let you knock them out. I don't get caught up in that. When I was one of the hottest prospects, along with Jermain Taylor, back in those days, I was like 14-0 with 7 knockouts. I was one of the hottest prospects at 147. I didn't have a lot of knockouts, but I was beating quality guys. I was beating Sam Garr, David Estrada and Randall Bailey. I was beating very quality guys on national television. It's not how many knockouts you have, it's who you are knocking out. So I don't worry about that. I think I have one of the best chins in the game and probably one of the best defenses in the game and I feel like it will all come together on this fight right here. I'm coming home to Showtime. I have never lost on Showtime and I have always put together great fights on Showtime, so I'm just ready man.

PC: We will get a lot more with you my man. It's good to have you on the site. Good luck next month against Guerrero. Is there anything you want to say to close out the interview?

IS: I just want to say thanks to Floyd Mayweather for allowing me to be a part of his camp. Thanks to the fans and the people in general that have stuck by me, even before the Contender days. I have to thank God for this opportunity again and thank FightHype for the opportunity to be on here. I think this is my first interview with you guys, so thank you guys as well.