10.11.06 – Former two-time world title challenger Evans “The African Warrior” Ashira (25-2, 13 KOs) has a few things he needs to get off his chest. The 1996 Olympian has a beef with former world super middleweight champion Jeff Lacy and Contender-star Ishe Smith, who he is calling out to step up or shut up. The following is an open letter from Ashira, who last year, just like Lacy, lost on points to Joe Calzaghe..
By Evans “The African Warrior” Ashira: I want to make something clear to the boxing-world: I am right here, and I hear too many people talk too much! They talk about how they are top-calibre fighters, but when it comes down to it I don’t see so much will to back it up.
First of all, I am referring to Jeff Lacy, who were busy talking trash about me and how small I was when I fought Calzaghe, and how Joe had an easy time with me. Lacy claimed he would show Calzaghe what a fight was all about, and then it turned out he couldn’t back all the talk up. He got himself dismissed like a Yo-Yo, dropped at the end of the fight, and was lucky to just get across the finish line.
Now, for Lacy’s comeback fight, someone from his team contacted me to hear if I wanted the fight. Of course I wanted that fight. Even if my last fight was at 154, I still wanted that fight bad, just to see what Lacy would do when he sees me across the ring, staring back at him. He would know he would have to back up all his talk one more time, but would he fail again?
I beat Quinton Smith, a guy who twice beat Lacy in the amateurs like he was his daddy, knocking him out once. Probably, Jeff thought twice and figured out a fight with me wouldn’t be so easy after all! A few weeks later I got a call that the fight wouldn’t happen after all. Maybe the big-talking Lacy found out it was time to walk the walk instead of talking the talk, because he wasn’t disrespecting me so much anymore…
I wish him good luck in his comeback, and can see he isn’t talking so much shit now. He knows better now, I guess!
I have also been listening to Ishe Smith talking so much trash about my boy Kassim Ouma, among other things saying that Kassim would not get the big fights because he is nothing. I know I don’t need to talk for Kassim, he can do that very well himself, but I am just sick and tired of having to read crap like this all the time.
Now, I don’t have a date for my next fight, and Smith has a date, my last fight was at 154, so how about Mr. Smith stepping up and taking my challenge? His best fights were on The Contender show over five rounds, so if he is looking for a real fight I am ready to take him on in his own backyard. All his people have to do is call my manager Jan Andersen and we could do it tomorrow. The maybe we can find out if he should keep talking, or shut up as well. Maybe then people can take him serious. Or, he could just punk out!