Ishe Erupts at Presser: Shreds De La Hoya, Rips Media
Perhaps there hasn’t been a lot of buzz heading into this weekend’s World welterweight championship clash between Floyd Mayweather and Andre Berto, but recent events suddenly has everyone talking during Fight Week.
The Showtime Pay-Per-View event airs live from the MGM Grand in Las Vegas (Saturday, SRP $64.95/74.95 HD). The main event fighters took center stage during Wednesday’s press conference, which was held barely hours after a major story broke regarding Mayweather’s alleged improper use of an IV mix prior to the historic May 2 win over Manny Pacquiao.
Mayweather has since spoken out—via statement released through his publicist—on the issue, but was otherwise largely ignored during Thursday’s press conference dedicated to the undercard fighters. The media—which has largely scorned this weekend’s event given the perceived mismatch in the headliner and the asking price that comes with viewing the event—has jumped all over the story, suddenly making this weekend’s show something worth talking about, or so it seems.
Such behavior is typical of the media, at least in the eyes of the members of Mayweather Promotions. Included among that mindset is former super welterweight champion, Las Vegas’ own Ishe Smith, who didn’t hold back on his thoughts regarding how the game is covered today.
“I’m gonna say some things and at the end you probably won’t like it, but here it goes,” Smith warned the room during his time at the mic at Thursday’s press conference, barely mentioning this weekend’s croosraods bout with Vanes Martirosyan, which airs on Showtime’s “freeview” preceding the PPV telecast. “The media, I do appreciate you guys. But I feel like some of you are leeches. You leech onto the fighters and suck whatever life we have out of us. Then you’re done with us.
“In the few years that Mayweather Promotions has been around, Floyd has made three world champions in… what, 2 ½-3 years. On the other side you have someone who’s admittedly cheated on his wife, done drugs, wear fishnets and now he’s the savior. He’s here to save the sport.”
The “someone” to which Smith refers is Oscar de la Hoya, the Hall-of-Fame fighter and founder/CEO of Golden Boy Promotions. de la Hoya’s company has taken the lead for several of Mayweather’s events in recent years, including their own head-to-head clash in May ’07, which Mayweather won by decision in what served at the time as the most lucrative event in boxing history.
It was also the fight that helped Mayweather advance from an incredible boxing talent to the sport’s biggest star. His level of self-confidence (including his personal belief that he’s the greatest fighter of all time) and willingness to play the villain in any given promotion has obviously rubbed many the wrong way.
While his team expects fans of other fighters to judge him on such behavior, the belief is that too many in the media have chosen a side rather than objectively report the facts in regards to his career as well as those in his inner circle.
“Media guys report on the sport, but you can be fans in the way you act,” Smith continued. “You have to make a decision, whether you’re just going to be a fan and just sh*t on the sport, or if you’re going to be a reporter and write the facts.
“Everyone used to sh*t on Al Haymon, saying he’s ruining the sport. Then PBC comes on, now it’s this and that, although he still has people sh*ting on him. PBC is on almost every week. They’re putting on fantastic fights. He don’t want the “appraisement”, he’s doing wonderful things for the same.”
Smith made headlines for the right reasons when he became the first ever fighter from Las Vegas to claim a world title. The feat came in Feb. ’13, topping Cornelius Bundrage on the road in Detroit to win the super middleweight title.
“When I fought K9 I knew I had to win. Nobody gave me a chance. I had just met my fiancée at the time, and we were trying to raise five kids. There was a lot of pressure on me, I had to win. Vanes is a good fighter, but it’s not even about that. I gotta win.”
Prior to that, Smith had been largely ignored by the media, known simply as a durable gatekeeper who had won some, and lost several before making history for the boxing capital of the world that is his hometown. Whether the good he’s done, or the bad that has been done to him, Smith struggled to arouse interest in an industry that—he believes—seems to thrive on sensationalism and controversy.
“37 years alive, I’ve never been arrested for anything. I’m more proud of that than I am of being the first world champion from Las Vegas,” Smith continued. “I don’t make the news for the stuff I do. I don’t want praise or applause for the things I do.
“I’m in court with my ex-wife. She’s abusing my older son. I have temporary custody of him. That won’t make the news. I fought Randall Bailey, I made $11,000 for that fight. By the time I got my check, it was $3,000. That’s the sh*t that don’t get reported. I fought one of the hardest punchers in the game, went 12 rounds and I made $3,000.
Smith continued: “I was born without a father. He wasn’t even man enough to stick around to raise me. That ain’t ever been talked about. Instead, you’re gonna keep talking about an IV that athletes get all the time. Floyd’s done something that’s not been done before and now he’s about to match Rocky Marciano (the former heavyweight champ who retired at 49-0; Mayweather is currently 48-0 and has insisted Saturday will be the final fight of his illustrious career). You all want the bad s*t.
“I ain’t ever gonna gve you nothing bad. If you ain’t gonna report on anything good, then don’t ever report on me.”
