It’s a job he was glad to canada goose store have after the

Boxing title contender still has his day job pouring concrete

Joe Smith Jr. found boxing in a very familiar manner. As a 13 year buy canada goose jacket old growing up in Shirley on the South Shore of Long Island, Smith was the cheap canada goose oldest of seven brothers and one sister, and wasn’t afraid Canada Goose sale of a good scrap with anyone inside or outside of his family.

So when his mother sent him to cheap Canada Goose live with his father, the first thing Joe Smith Sr. did was goose outlet canada take his teenage son to canada goose outlet shop a boxing gym.

“He saw I was getting in fights in school and outside of school, so he brought me to the gym,” Smith Jr. told the Post. “He said, ‘If you want to fight, you can fight here.’ I ended up doing pretty good against a guy who had been in the gym for a few years. I’ve stuck with it since.”

Smith is 27 now and faces the biggest fight of his career on Dec. 17 when he steps in against Philadelphia native Bernard Hopkins. HBO will televise from the Forum in Inglewood, Calif., in what is expected to be the final fight of the 51 year old Hopkins legendarycareer.

Smith views it canada goose outlet nyc as the launching pad for his career. A victory would position him for a chance at a light heavyweight title and lucrative purses in future Canada Goose Outlet bouts.

“Each fight I win brings more opportunities,” Smith said. “I can’t wait to see what I canada goose clearance get out of this one. canada goose outlet canada I want to get a title shot as soon as possible. That’s the main goal. Smith has spent the past eight years as a Union 66 Laborer when cheap canada goose he’s not training for a fight. It’s a job he was glad to canada goose store have after the birth of his daughter Leanna, now 8.

“It’s labor work,” Smith said. “Patching concrete, pouring concrete, smashing down walls with sledgehammers, digging up dirt, all kinds of jobs all over the Island from here to the city. It’s tough work. But there are good people there who try to help you out.”

Many of his fellow union members from Long uk canada goose Island to California will be in Inglewood supporting Smith (22 1, 18 KOs) when “The Irish Bomber” takes on Hopkins (55 7 2, 32 KOs), who is fighting for the first time since losing to Sergey Kovalev in November 2014.

“He’s the kind of guy that union workers and all workers can identify with,” said Smith’s promoter, Joe DeGuardia of Star Boxing. “You get up in the morning. You go to work. You come home. He’s the traditional American looking to get ahead in life. Because of it all the union guys can identify with him. They’re all interested in Joe.”

A good laborer doesn’t waste time finishing a job, and that true of Smith in the ring. He earned the canada goose outlet online fight against Hopkins after scoring a canada goose outlet store uk huge upset in June by knocking out top light heavyweight contender Andrzej Fonfara in the first round of canada goose outlet black friday a nationally televised bout in Chicago.

Smith dropped Fonfara with a canada goose coats on sale hard right hand with a minute left in the round. Fonfara got up, but was finished by another right hand behind a left hook.

“He may have under estimated me a little bit, but I still believe he trained hard, Smith said. caught him with a canada goose outlet uk nice shot and got him out of there early. If I get somebody in canada goose outlet reviews trouble, I’m a good canada goose outlet in usa finisher.”

A 2008 Golden Gloves champion is now grateful his father took him to the gym when he was 13 to keep him out of trouble.

“There were a lot of times when things got rough and I didn’t want to go to the gym,” Smith said. “But my trainer [Jerry Capobianco] and my canada goose outlet toronto factory father pushed me every day and told https://www.estrategias.de me this is what I’ve got to do. I took their advice and kept going with it. That’s why we’re here today.”.