In 1910, Smith became known in the Oakland and San Francisco areas by serving as a sparring partner for Jack Johnson and Stanley Ketchel before their heavyweight title fight there.

This title, created by boxing promoters due to the unpopularity of the black heavyweight champion Jack Johnson, was never widely recognized.

“Not a great record on paper,” Dave Allen remarked, “but one that becomes much more impressive when you take into consideration that he fought the very best of his era.”[1] Smith was lean and scrappy, an excellent boxer who moved well and hit sharply with both hands.

Among the men he defeated were Willard, Langford, Wells, Battling Levinsky, Carl Morris, Frank Moran, and Fireman Jim Flynn.

After his retirement, Smith went on to have a variety of jobs: runner on Wall Street, private policeman at Madison Square Garden and Yankee Stadium, and an actor in several small roles in silent films, including The Great Gatsby and Wings, the first Academy Award-winner for Best Picture.