“Have No Fear!”

The Mouthpiece
“Have No Fear!”
By: George Hanson Jr., Esq.

December 28, 2010 – In an era of carefully guided careers—boxers fighting infrequently, skillfully crafted public personas, television producers masquerading as boxing promoters peddling their chosen lot as “the real McCoy”—Dhafir “No Fear” Smith is an anomaly. Just 28-years- old the Philadelphia super-middleweight, approaching his 10th year as a professional, is a 50-fight veteran and a free-agent—he isn’t signed to a promoter. To provide perspective, consider future Hall of Famer, Bernard “The Executioner” Hopkins—18 years Smith’s senior, has been a professional fighter for 22 years and has competed in only eight more fights. The thought or fear of being burned out never intruded itself into the breast of Smith.

There is an old adage in boxing that “records don’t beat you, fighters do!” It basically means that when choosing an opponent for your fighter don’t focus on the record alone but pay careful attention to talent level and the circumstances surrounding the losses. Thus, I wanted to send former IBF super-middleweight champion Jeff “Left Hook” Lacy a smoke signal, warning him to avoid Smith during our radio interview two weeks prior to their match. Having known Smith for some time it is safe to say that his record at the time of 23 wins – 19 losses – 7 draws was misleading. The only reasonable conclusion that should have been drawn was that Smith had competed in 49 fights. Had someone “taken Lacy behind the numbers” he would have realized that given their respective positions there were many paths of least resistance. Simply put, Lacy didn’t need Dhafir Smith. But, as a proud warrior and true gentleman Lacy had “no fear.