When Ishhe Smith finally became Las Vegas’ first homemade world champion in 2013, he stood in the ring with tears walking over his face and screaming: ‘Thirteen years! Thirteen years! ‘ He scratched and slapped his way there, and the belt was a testament to everything he gave.
The night was the culmination of a career built on battle and sacrifice. But the most test fight of his life came years later, far beyond the ring.
A father pushed to the edge
Smith’s child love, Latoya Woolen, was there from the beginning. She was part of his story. On The contendershe said: “When he gets into the ring, he doesn’t fight for him. He is fighting for our family. ‘
But when their marriage breaks apart, Smith almost breaks with it. Talk to the Las Vegas Review-Journaldid he admit:
“The gun was there on the table in front of me, loaded. I was a moment away from the trigger. I was so depressed and so sad. My darling in childhood left me and took my children. I was so close. ‘
The only thing that stopped him was fatherhood. “The only thing that stopped me was to think about growing up without a father. And I was like, ‘It’s selfish. I can’t do that as my dad did me. “And I didn’t. “
He kept going. He remarried, had another son and even adopted two more children. He continued to build a family.
The murder that has changed everything
In 2017, Latoya was killed – shot in the back of the head near Unlv. She left three of Smith’s children behind.
“When you grow up with such a person, you share so many memories with someone to kill them so senselessly, were hard for me to deal with,” He said. “It was a difficult point in my career. It really made me refocus. I realized that I was fighting against another kind of struggle now. ‘
The ring no longer mattered in the same way.
After one cruel loss, his son begged him to stop. “I said to him, ‘Okay, I’ll never fight again. ” And that was it. Smith walks away.
Today, at 47, he works as a postman in Las Vegas. “At least when I go to this job, it’s an honorable job.” A hard day’s work rewards you with a hard day’s payment, ‘ He said.
Ishe Smith’s story long ago stopped going on belts. He lost the mother of his children, went through hell that most of us can’t even think, and somehow still rise and keep going for them. He must have fought in the ring, but the struggle he had for his family was even greater. He didn’t fold. He became the kind of father and man his children could look at and say, This is my hero.
👉 Full Story: Ex-Boxing Champ hits clock now as Las Vegas Mailman
Last updated on 09/15/2025
