Sammy NeSmith, known as Slammin' Sammy, was an American professional

light middleweight Light middleweight, also known as junior middleweight or super welterweight,PeBoxRec/ref> is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing The light middleweight division (also known as junior middleweight in the IBF or super welterweight in the WBA an ...

boxer of the early 1970s. NeSmith lived in

Indianapolis Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Marion ...

during the 1970s and '80s, where he built his boxing career. In 1971, he won the National Golden Gloves Light middleweight championship. NeSmith won the

North American Boxing Federation The North American Boxing Federation (NABF) is a not-for-profit regional sanctioning body that awards regional boxing titles. It is a boxing federation within the World Boxing Council (WBC). History The WBC established the NABF in 1969 as part of i ...

middleweight belt in Indianapolis in May 1980 after scoring a 10th-round

knockout A knockout (abbreviated to KO or K.O.) is a fight-ending, winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, muay thai, mixed martial arts, karate, some forms of taekwondo and other sports involving striking, a ...

victory over Ronnie Harris of

Canton, Ohio Canton () is a city in and the county seat of Stark County, Ohio. It is located approximately south of Cleveland and south of Akron in Northeast Ohio. The city lies on the edge of Ohio's extensive Amish country, particularly in Holmes and ...

. On March 31, 1981, he lost that title to

Sugar Ray Seales "Sugar" Ray Seales, (born September 4, 1952) is an American former boxer. He was the only American boxer to win a gold medal in the 1972 Summer Olympics. As a professional, he fought middleweight champion Marvin Hagler three times. He is also th ...

in a fifth-round knockout. Smith had a professional record of 38 wins and seven losses, with 34 of his wins by knockout. NeSmith frequently volunteered as a boxing coach for youth at the Riverside Park & Family Center in Indianapolis. He later worked as a truck driver for the Coca-Cola Company in Indianapolis till 1991 when he relocated to New Jersey where he married Delores Green. NeSmith died on January 20, 2014 of an apparent

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which may tr ...

in New York City while at work. He was interred in Kingstree, South Carolina.

References

Boxers from New Jersey Middleweight boxers Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Place of birth missing (living people) American male boxers People from Bridgeton, New Jersey {{US-boxing-bio-stub