It’s the question everyone has, and to his credit, 23-year-old Da’Velle Smith takes each query with grace, even though it’s got to be tiring to be repeatedly asked what it’s like to be the next Thomas Hearns.
“Yeah, it’s a little bittersweet,” said Smith, an 8-0 pro out of the Kronk Gym with a Hearns-esque right hand. “It’s sweet because Tommy Hearns is the biggest thing to come out of Michigan other than Floyd Mayweather or Claressa Shields, and it’s an honor for people to see me on a level like that. They can put that ceiling on me, if you will, but that’s what it is to me. It’s a ceiling and I want to try to be better than Tommy Hearns. I want to be the best version of myself that I could be. But my whole thing is just showing the world who I am.”
That’s everything that you want to hear from a young fighter when presented with what is essentially a loaded question. There is, and will always be, only one “Hitman,” but the Michigan middleweight prospect does have an excellent opportunity to be the first Da’Velle Smith, and that’s all he’s asking for.
And in due time, as patience is apparently a virtue for Mr. Smith, who doesn’t find it tough to trust the process.
“It is actually not difficult for me at all,” he said. “I believe a lot of good things will come to you if you stay patient and let things happen.”
Being a father helps when it comes to having that patience.
“Oh yeah, definitely,” he said with a laugh. “And just life experiences. Anytime I ever rushed into anything, it never turned out the way I would expect it to or wanted to. But most of the time when I just work hard and be patient, things come to me, for the most part. So that’s all I’m focusing on – training hard and getting better and better. So when it’s time for me to take one of those big fights, I’ll be ready for it.”
At this point, with more and more people talking about the next Hearns coming out of Kronk, every fight is a big one, with opponents knowing that beating a kid with a lot of hype around him may be their ticket to the next level of recognition and paydays. But in another testament to Smith’s maturity, he’s got earmuffs on when it comes to hearing the growing buzz around him.
“My name got out there a little bit from the last couple fights, but I don’t know how big I truly am yet,” he said.
That’s good, because he’s focusing on the right things, and not on getting likes on Instagram. So when the COVID-19 pandemic hit in 2020 and his amateur career had to be put on hold, he kept working
“Before the pandemic hit, I was training with Sugar Hill,” he said. “We were about to make a run for the Golden Gloves in 2020, but they shut everything down and I had to take time off for about a year, maybe a year-and-a-half.”
That wasn’t the time for Netflix and chill, though.
“Around that time, I built a gym in my garage,” Smith said. “I bought a punching bag, I got jump ropes and all type of workout equipment to try to stay on my game.”
When the world opened up again, Smith decided he was going to turn pro, and on September 17, 2021, he did just that, halting Ricky Evans in less than two minutes. At that moment, he realized he had something more on his right hand fastball than most.
“It’s funny because I didn’t think I possessed the power that I had,” Smith said. “My first fight, though, I ended up knocking this dude out cold. He was asleep through the ropes and then I looked at myself in the mirror. ‘You really just did that.’ It was crazy for me. And then the following fight after that, almost the same shot, just sending guys down with no problem. Sometimes I don’t even throw the punch hard. I just place it and then, boom, they go down. So from there on out I’m like, okay, yeah, I got power.”
And he’s got the magic gold trunks from the Kronk on his side as well, and if you’re wondering, in Detroit, that still means something.
“It’s the representation of the city of Detroit and my gym,” he said. “It’s everybody that comes from behind it. When I put those trunks on, I look at myself in the mirror and I’m ready to go.
Even out in the street, when locals see him with gear from the house that Emanuel Steward built, respect is automatically given.
“Just today I was at the gas station pumping gas and I’m getting eyeballs,” he said. “They see me wearing my Kronk shirt, and all the time, just going about my day at the grocery store, gas station, everybody goes, ‘Oh, you fight at the Kronk Gym?’ Matter of fact, there’s been times where I told somebody I was a boxer and the first thing they ask is, ‘Do you fight at the Kronk Gym?’ So people out here, when they think boxing, they think Kronk. It’s like when you think basketball out here, you’re thinking of the Pistons or you’re thinking football and you’re thinking of the Lions.”
Emanuel would be proud. Not just because a new generation is repping the Kronk, but because the people who are repping it, like Smith, are doing it the right way…the Detroit way.
“You have to have hunger, grit, determination,” said Smith when asked what it means to be a Detroit fighter. “You’ve got to have that Detroit hustle. It’s just an honor to be a Detroit fighter coming out of an amazing gym and being compared to all of the legends that come from there. You’ve got a lot of great fighters that come out of Detroit. And for me to be put on that list and climbing up there, it feels great. But I want to keep on going and possibly get to the top of that list.”
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