Ishe Smith - The Contender

The Contender

Ishe took a chance and signed on to do The Contender reality show. He was assigned as a roommate to his former adversary Alfonso Gomez. On the show, he was placed on the West Coast team and fought his rival Ahmed Khaddour in the third episode's fight. Smith won by unanimous decision against Khaddour in a tough fight. Smith criticized Anthony Bonsante for fighting Brent Cooper, whom he did not think was an appropriate competitor. Their bout had no bearing on Smith's standing in the competition.

When Juan de la Rosa was medically disqualified at the end of the first round fight, certain other boxers bought back Khaddour, a tactic employed to get under Smith's skin. After Brinkley criticized Smith for speaking his mind too often, Brinkley selected the fighter to go against Sergio Mora. Mora won over Smith in a split decision and was the tournament's eventual winner.

Smith faced his nemesis Bonsante in a "Fan Favorite Fight". Despite suffering many illegal moves from a desperate Bonsante, Smith won by a wide unanimous decision.

Some of Smith's earlier challengers in the ring also appeared on The Contender, namely, Alfonso Gomez and Norberto Bravo.