Guerrero Climbs Off Canvas, Survives “Sugar Shay”

Southaven, Mississippi- Well-regarded middleweight prospect, Fernando Guerrero (19-0, 15 KOs) appeared to be cruising to a comfortable unanimous decision over the first 5 rounds as he took on veteran Ishe Smith (21-5, 9 KOs) in the biggest fight of his young career. However, things got interesting in the sixth round as Smith stepped up the intensity of his attack and started landing some big shots.

In that same sixth, a point deducted from Smith for repeated low blows seemed to wake the Las Vegas native up and drill home the fact that he would have to pick up the pace if he seriously wanted to win this bout.

The seventh and eighth rounds saw Smith turn things around a bit and force Guerrero to play defense. Smith would drop Guerrero at the end of the eighth, drilling home the fact that the young prospect was indeed in tougher than he had ever been before.

The final two rounds of the bout featured a lot of back and forth action that could’ve been scored either way.

From the judges scores of 96-93, 95-93 and 97-91, it was obvious that Guerrero got the benefit of the doubt in all the close rounds.

On the Undercard:

Shawn Porter (16-0, 12 KOs) got pushed to the limit by another young prospect, Ray Robinson (11-2, 4 KOs). Porter, for about 8 of the scheduled ten rounds was the aggressor as the taller Robinson was content with counter punching and engaging from a distance. Porter scored a knockdown in the sixth, but was never seriously close to a stoppage. In the last two rounds, Robinson suddenly became the aggressor and Porter fought in retreat. The judges’ scores were way off: Porter via UD, 97-92, 98-91 and 99-89. The Boxing Tribune scored the bout 96-93 for Porter.

In the opening bout of the Showtime, ShoBox telecast, Mike Dallas Jr. (15-0-1, 5 KOs) beat via UD 8 Lanard Lane (12-1, 7 KOs) in a somewhat dreary, uneventful bout that featured few real exchanges and little urgency from either fighter. Judges’ scores were 78-74 all the way around. The Boxing Tribune also scored it 78-74 for Dallas Jr.