James Smith (44-17-1, 32) was born in Magnolia, North Carolina, U.S. on April 3, 1953. At the age of 28 years on November 5, 1981, he made his professional boxing debut against James Broad, losing the fight via 4th-round KO.
On his 16th career fight at 31 years old, James Smith got a shot at the IBF heavyweight titles against Larry Holmes on November 9, 1984 but lost the fight via 12th-round TKO.
He became a heavyweight world champion (WBA) on December 12, 1986 at the age of 33 years old, on his 24th career fight, after defeating Tim Witherspoon via 1st-round KO.
Smith's last fight was a 8th-round TKO loss to Larry Holmes at age 46 on June 18, 1999. He retired from the sport of boxing following this loss.
Some of James Smith's best fights have been against Tim Witherspoon, Frank Bruno, Larry Holmes, Mike Weaver and José Ribalta. For details about these fights refer to "Best fights of James Smith".
Smith has 17 losses on his boxing record. For details about these losses refer to "James Smith Losses".
| # | Date | Opponent | Weight | Round | Method | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
62  | Jun 18, 1999 46 years, 2 months 44-17-1 (32) | 49 years, 7 months 66-6 (42) | 8 | TKO | Loss | |
61 | Nov 27, 1998 45 years, 7 months 44-16-1 (32) | Dave Slaughter | 2 | TKO | Win | |
60  | Jul 4, 1998 45 years, 3 months 43-16-1 (31) | 48 years, 3 months 67-13-1 (40) | HW | 1 | RTD | Loss |
59 | Feb 25, 1998 44 years, 10 months 43-15-1 (31) | Lynwood Jones | 8 | UD | Win | |
58 | Apr 11, 1996 43 years 42-15-1 (31) | Troy Roberts | 3 | TKO | Win | |
57 | Aug 22, 1995 42 years, 4 months 41-15-1 (30) | Eli Dixon | 3 | TKO | Win | |
56 | Mar 25, 1995 41 years, 11 months 40-15-1 (29) | Bernd Friedrich | 10 | SD | Win | |
55  | Oct 7, 1994 41 years, 6 months 39-15-1 (29) | 29 years, 6 months 12-0 (4) | 5 | TKO | Loss | |
54  | Sep 17, 1994 41 years, 5 months 39-14-1 (29) | 25 years, 10 months 20-1-1 (10) | 10 | UD | Loss | |
53 | Jan 18, 1994 40 years, 9 months 39-13-1 (29) | Lionel Butler | 3 | TKO | Loss | |
52 | Dec 3, 1993 40 years, 8 months 39-12-1 (29) | Lester Jackson | 3 | UD | Win | |
51 | Dec 3, 1993 40 years, 8 months 38-12-1 (29) | Marshall Tillman | 3 | UD | Win | |
50 | Dec 3, 1993 40 years, 8 months 37-12-1 (29) | Daniel Dăncuță | 3 | UD | Loss | |
49 | Sep 14, 1993 40 years, 5 months 37-11-1 (29) | Elijah Tillery | 6 | TKO | Win | |
48 | Aug 7, 1993 40 years, 4 months 36-11-1 (28) | Andrew Stokes | 10 | UD | Win | |
47 | Jun 26, 1993 40 years, 2 months 35-11-1 (28) | Kevin Ford | 9 | TKO | Win | |
46 | Jun 1, 1993 40 years, 1 months 34-11-1 (27) | Donnell Wingfield | 2 | TKO | Win | |
45  | Feb 27, 1993 39 years, 10 months 33-11-1 (26) | 25 years, 3 months 30-0 (28) | 10 | UD | Loss | |
44  | Jun 26, 1992 39 years, 2 months 33-10-1 (26) | 33 years, 8 months 34-10 (27) | 10 | UD | Loss | |
43 | Apr 24, 1992 39 years 33-9-1 (26) | Danny Wofford | 8 | TKO | Win | |
42 | Feb 15, 1992 38 years, 10 months 32-9-1 (25) | Mark Wills | 10 | UD | Win | |
41 | Dec 13, 1991 38 years, 8 months 31-9-1 (25) | Andre Crowder | 1 | KO | Win | |
40 | Nov 4, 1991 38 years, 7 months 30-9-1 (24) | Levi Billups | 10 | UD | Loss | |
39 | Sep 24, 1991 38 years, 5 months 30-8-1 (24) | Marshall Tillman | 10 | TKO | Win | |
38 | Sep 17, 1991 38 years, 5 months 29-8-1 (23) | Jeff Sims | 1 | KO | Win | |
37 | Aug 6, 1991 38 years, 4 months 28-8-1 (22) | Everett Martin | 8 | TKO | Win | |
36 | Jul 22, 1991 38 years, 3 months 27-8-1 (21) | Kimmuel Odum | CR | 3 | TKO | Win |
35 | Jun 28, 1991 38 years, 2 months 26-8-1 (20) | Terry Armstrong | 2 | KO | Win | |
34 | Apr 28, 1991 38 years 25-8-1 (19) | Lawrence Carter | 1 | TKO | Win | |
33  | Apr 4, 1990 37 years 24-8-1 (18) | 38 years, 9 months 34-14-1 (24) | HW | 12 | UD | Win |
32 | Feb 20, 1990 36 years, 10 months 23-8-1 (18) | Manoel de Almeida | 6 | RTD | Win | |
31 | Dec 14, 1989 36 years, 8 months 22-8-1 (17) | Mike Rouse | 7 | KO | Win | |
30 | Oct 21, 1989 36 years, 6 months 21-8-1 (16) | Jesse McGhee | 2 | TKO | Win | |
29 | Sep 29, 1989 36 years, 5 months 20-8-1 (15) | Calvin Jones | 8 | TKO | Win | |
28  | Jul 2, 1989 36 years, 2 months 19-8-1 (14) | 25 years, 6 months 21-1-1 (14) | 7 | KO | Loss | |
27 | Jul 30, 1988 35 years, 3 months 19-7-1 (14) | Mike Rouse | 3 | TD | Draw | |
26 | Aug 9, 1987 34 years, 4 months 19-7 (14) | Adílson Rodrigues | 10 | SD | Loss | |
25  | Mar 7, 1987 33 years, 11 months 19-6 (14) | 20 years, 8 months 28-0 (26) | HW | 12 | UD | Loss Lost WBA For WBC |
24  | Dec 12, 1986 33 years, 8 months 19-5 (14) | 28 years, 11 months 25-2 (17) | HW | 1 | KO | Win Won WBA |
23 | Aug 23, 1986 33 years, 4 months 18-5 (13) | David Bey | 10 | UD | Win | |
22 | Jun 7, 1986 33 years, 2 months 17-5 (13) | Jesse Ferguson | 10 | MD | Win | |
21 | Apr 5, 1986 33 years 16-5 (13) | 34 years, 9 months 28-11-1 (19) | 1 | TKO | Win | |
20  | Feb 23, 1986 32 years, 10 months 15-5 (12) | 25 years, 5 months 15-1 (7) | 10 | UD | Loss | |
19 | Jun 15, 1985 32 years, 2 months 15-4 (12) | 27 years, 5 months 20-2 (14) | HW | 12 | UD | Loss |
18  | Apr 29, 1985 32 years 15-3 (12) | 22 years 17-1-1 (12) | 10 | SD | Win | |
17  | Mar 15, 1985 31 years, 11 months 14-3 (12) | 27 years, 1 month 19-0 (14) | 10 | UD | Loss | |
16 | Nov 9, 1984 31 years, 7 months 14-2 (12) | 35 years 45-0 (32) | HW | 12 | TKO | Loss For IBF |
15  | May 13, 1984 31 years, 1 months 14-1 (12) | 22 years, 5 months 21-0 (21) | 10 | KO | Win | |
14 | Feb 19, 1984 30 years, 10 months 13-1 (11) | Rahim Muhammad | 5 | TKO | Win | |
13 | Nov 4, 1983 30 years, 7 months 12-1 (10) | Leroy Boone | 4 | TKO | Win | |
12 | Aug 23, 1983 30 years, 4 months 11-1 (9) | Walter Santemore | 4 | TKO | Win | |
11 | Jun 14, 1983 30 years, 2 months 10-1 (8) | Eugene Cato | 4 | KO | Win | |
10 | May 10, 1983 30 years, 1 months 9-1 (7) | Lynwood Jones | 2 | TKO | Win | |
9 | Apr 23, 1983 30 years 8-1 (6) | Lee Cohen | 1 | KO | Win | |
8 | Apr 2, 1983 29 years, 11 months 7-1 (5) | Nate Robinson | 2 | TKO | Win | |
7 | Dec 14, 1982 29 years, 8 months 6-1 (4) | Larry Givens | 3 | TKO | Win | |
6 | Oct 16, 1982 29 years, 6 months 5-1 (3) | Lonnie Chapman | 2 | KO | Win | |
5 | Sep 11, 1982 29 years, 5 months 4-1 (2) | Chris McDonald | 8 | MD | Win | |
4 | Jul 31, 1982 29 years, 3 months 3-1 (2) | Louis Alexander | 2 | KO | Win | |
3 | Apr 22, 1982 29 years 2-1 (1) | Mike Cohen | 2 | KO | Win | |
2 | Jan 30, 1982 28 years, 9 months 1-1 (0) | Ricky Parkey | 6 | PTS | Win | |
1 | Nov 5, 1981 28 years, 7 months 0-1 (0) | James Broad | 4 | KO | Loss |
