guys this has always been an interesting fighter for me...it is interesting what could have been if he got the breaks he should have.... Smith was a devastating hitter who could handle any man his size and most larger men; His right hand was deadly; As a result of his skills, most of the top men avoided fighting him; Those who did paid the price Harry had an awesome amateur record and had lost only one professional fight (by foul) up to 1931; He won the This content is protected in 1929 and may have won the major one if given the chance During his career, he defeated such men as William "Gorilla" Jones, Jimmy Francis, Osk Till, Yale Okun, Babe McCorgary, Fred Lenhart, Frank Rowsey, Billy Alger, Homer Robertson, Jack McVey, Pal Silvers and Sandy Garrison Casanova [FONT="]Al Lippe once wrote that Harry Smith was the most ferocious puncher he ever saw and thought he could knock out any middleweight or light-heavyweight in the world. An imposing figure with fearsome power in his right hand, Harry Smith was the scourge of the middleweights for a brief time in the early thirties. His difficulty in getting top-flight middles to face him was summed up best by Ed Hughes of the Brooklyn Eagle: "Harry Smith is the worst kind of opponent: a colored boy who can sock." Harry's list of victims included Title Claimant "Gorilla" Jones, the venerable Jack McVey, Osk Till, Yale Okun, Fred Lendhart and Joe Anderson. But what may be more impressive than those whom Harry actually defeated is the list of fighters who refused to face the "Harlem Thunderbolt". Maxie Rosenbloom, twice refused Smith as an opponent in 1930 and so too did Mickey Walker whom reportedly turned down a guaranteed $50,000 offer from Jess McMahon to fight Harry for the title at Ebbets Field in the summer of 1930. Black fighters wanted little to do with Smith as well. Light heavyweights Larry Johnson and Billy Jones both turned down bouts with Smith in Pittsburgh citing other obligations. But no prospective opponent was clearer in his or her unwillingness to face Harry than middleweight Tiger Thomas, a decent fighter and stable-mate of George Godfrey's. When asked by the Pittsburgh Courier's Rollo Wilson why he had turned down a proposed match with Harry, Thomas stated, "cause I don't think my momma would want me dyin' in Philadelphia." Harry's reign of terror was brief. After moving to the West Coast in 1931, his love of wine, women and cabaret's took their toll. He was knocked out by journeyman Jimmy Hannah (who Smith had beaten a few months earlier) and never regained his form. He made an unsuccessful sojourn to Europe in 1932 and after several defeats, returned to America a has-been. On October 19th, 1933 Harry Smith died of a cerebral hemorrhage in Chicago en route to California. He was to have been married two days later.[/FONT]
He certainly looked the part and had the physique to match. A tall rangy middleweight with dynamite in both hands. He was 6' 1'' and could likley have fought at junior middleweight if the division had existed.
