Howard 'Kayo' Smith ~ "Good Fighter - Bad Breaks"

[Bill Paxtom]

February 7, 1976

Howard 'Kayo' Smith

~ I Train Hard Everyday, And Look Forward To Nothing ~

It's quiet for the #4 World-Rated Heavyweight. There are no offers out there, and
my California State Heavyweight Title is worth nothing.

For Ring Work, I have been hired by Ken Norton. The sparring keeps me sharp and
on my toes.

I know that I'm good, because I can stay with Ken in the Ring. I can hit pretty good,
and I've never been hurt real bad. The only thing, is that I bruised my right-hand
pretty bad down there in San Diego {back in December 1975}, and it kept me off
a Fight Card.

I got ranked in the 'Top 10' 2-years ago, and I thought that it would get me some
decent money bouts. Instead, nothing. I'm now ranked as the #4 WBC Heavyweight,
yet I get stepped over all the time.

Look at who Muhammad Ali is defending against. Some guy from Belgium that nobody
has heard of {Jean-Pierre Coopman}. He was ranked #14 last month, and has dropped
'2' spots this month. And he gets a Championship bout, and with a $120,000 Fight Purse.

For me, my top fight purse was $3000, and I had to go to Japan to fight Tony Doyle
to get it.

I wish the Belgian guy well, but he didn't earn that fight because he was good. He
earned it, because he's 'easy'.