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When promoter Jimmy Burchfield first heard that Ishe Smith reportedly was having problems finding a suitable opponent, he immediately contacted Golden Boy Promotions and offered his junior middleweight, Ghana native Ossie Duran, for Smith.
“I told them Ossie would fight Smith anytime, anyplace,” Classic Entertainment & Sports, Inc. president Burchfield explained. “Golden Boy’s matchmaker Eric (Gomez) offered us the fight and we accepted. That’s the last I heard from them. I don’t know what happened; we’re still interested in fighting Smith. Golden Boy has my phone number but I’m not sure if Smith really wants to fight a talented fighter like Ossie.”
Duran, 29, is the former Commonwealth (British Empire), WBF and WBF Pan-European welterweight champion. His most notable victory to date was a third-round knockout of Jamie Moore (20-1), ex-British lightweight champion, for the vacant Commonwealth light middleweight title. Ossie successfully defended his title belt 15 months later with a 12-round unanimous decision (118-110, 119-109, 119-109) against previously unbeaten Colin McNeil (8-0).
Since Duran signed with CES, based in Providence where Ossie’s cousin lives, he is 2-0 with a pair of six-round decisions against Marcos Primera (19-13-2) and Gilberto “Sugar” Reyes (18-3-1) in his last fight (July 7 on Cape Cod).
