The gunboat toasts these guys. Smith was a devastating puncher with fast hands and he beat some prety good fighters. Of the white hopes he stands head and shoulders above thge rest of the field.
I mostly agree. Reports say Smith was a fast boxer with skills, and some pop. Sure he made moderately skilled white hopes look bad....Willard, Moran, Ross, Flynn et al. Smith had some height and range. I think he could fill out to 205 just fine. I just wish I could see a film on him to judge for myself. I think Smith beats Cobb, though I am not sure about Shavers. Shavers had quick hands and under rated offensive skills.
Smith was essentially a puncher a tall rangy guy his chin was not top drawer and he was outpointed many times by considerably smaller men ,to call him a fast boxer is erroneous. Jack Dillon 5 7 " beat him comfortably 3 times.Levinsky also outscored him comfortably Carpentier beat him by dsq in a fight in which both were down ,Moran split fights with him ,Morris ,who was no boxer beat him,Smith's best wins are probably his debatable points win over Langford ,later crushingly reversed by 3rd ko,and his points win over a 16 fight Willard. Smith was one of the better White Hopes ,but probably not as good as McCarty.He would struggle with Shavers as his chin was suspect and he scaled around 180 at his best.Cobb might lose a dec ,or he might win a maul .Cobb had little power so Smith could win on points .
Probably worth noting that after the second Langord fight he started going downhill and fought far, far past his peak, so his record is a bit misleading at first glance.
Smith was pretty fast. Dillion had a style advantage over Smith as he was something of a 5'7" tall Jack Dempsey. The DQ was questionable vs Carpentier. In terms of accomplishment, Smith was better than McCarty.
Ive read two or three accounts of the Carpentier fight.Smith said, in Heller's book that the Frenchman was ducking a lot nearly below waist level ,Smith tried to time him with a shot and at that moment some part of Carpentier ,whether his gloves or whatever touched the canvas,and Smith was DQD,Carpentier in his book says he was fouled ,but he was rather economical with the truth regarding the Siki fight,so maybe Smith was more realistic.
In terms of accomplishment you are right but lets remember McCarty was dead at 21. Smith had 7 inches in height over Dillon and considerable reach,Smith was beaten by Levinsky a couple of times too.Smith was a good fighter one of the best White guys around in the early part of the century,but he was no boxing marvel,he was a long range puncher,who could be tagged and dropped himself.
I would agree with that, his loss to Wills, for instance can be discounted "I only went down for the boat ride ". Smith had losses before he was kod by Langford however.
Gunboat beats them but be carefull for Earnie...Cobb was a tough punching bag who got hit more than Ross Purity but you could get tired hitting him,waiting for him to fall