Boxing fans constantly ask me which up-and-coming fighters I recommend they look out for. I usually choose the path of least resistance and tell them about the top amateurs who turned pro after the 2000 Olympics: Jermain Taylor, Jeff Lacy, Ricardo Williams, Francisco Bojado, Miguel Cotto, Brian Villoria, Muhammad Abdullaev, etc. Certainly these fighters are excellent prospects and they are all a lot of fun to watch.

It always gives me special satisfaction however, when I can talk up a fighter who does not get the press the Olympians get, and yet may be just as good or better than they are. It is even more fun when that up-and-comer develops on our ESPN air, in front of our very eyes. Over the last five years I have talked up heavyweight bruiser Ike Ibeabuchi and junior welter phenom Zab Judah most famously, but I also watched on FNF as fighters like Vernon Forrest, Paul Spadafora and Diego Corrales rose to prominence as world-class contenders. As they developed into elite fighters, it was easy to take special interest in their careers.

It's been a while since a young fighter with real potential has developed in front of our very eyes, but I have a new answer for those who ask about up-and-comers. His name is Chris "The Mechanic" Smith, and he might be the best rising welterweight contender in the world.

This last Friday night on FNF Smith knocked out the limited but tough Grover Wiley in six rounds. Wiley, who was 23-3-1 going into the fight, was game but totally overmatched. It was Smith's third fight on ESPN. He is now 15-0-1 (9 knockouts) and has stopped solid opposition in Marlon Haynes and Sam Garr in consecutive fights before this last win over Wiley. The Garr fight was also on FNF and Smith opened eyes with his balanced attack, subtle defensive skills, dependable chin and solid punching power.

I recently spoke with Chris:

MK: You like your nickname "The Mechanic?"

CS: Oh yeah, I'm "The Mechanic" for my body work. Body work is a big part of my game, and it's the kind of name that the working man can identify with.

MK: What do you think of your performance against Wiley?

CS: I thought the performance was great considering I had a week to train. The opponent wasn't the best, but he was tough and I thought I showed that I'm someone to watch.

MK: Who do you want next?

CS: Cory Spinks says no one wants to fight him. I'll fight him. I want to fight Spinks, even though I have heard people say that a guy like Ricardo Mayorga has a better style for me. I'd fight Mayorga right now, but I'll take Spinks. I know I'm gonna track these guys down who run around. My skills are good enough to break these guys down to where they have to sit down and punch late in the fight. I just have to leave it up to my people to get me the fights.

MK: Do you see any of the Olympians who are coming up now as potential big-money fights? Do you want to call any of them out?

CS: Not any one specifically. I am a tier above the Olympians right now. They've had an easy ride. No, I'm not looking at them, they are trying to get to where I am, so I am not looking back.

MK: You have not been built as a hometown draw, and you're not a Mexican fighter with the potential to tap into a hard-core boxing fan base. It seems that as a result it might be tough for you to get big fights. Where exactly do you fit in right now in the welterweight landscape?

CS: I'm in a tier below guys like Vernon Forrest and Ricardo Mayorga. I don't see anyone but top guys who people would say are better than me. But as far as me not being a hometown draw, I have not been given the opportunity to become one so far. If I fought in New York, the people would come out to support me. It would be sold out if I fought in Queens, Brooklyn, Manhattan, wherever.

MK: It's just a matter of opportunity?

CS: Yeah, it's just like TV. Now that I fought on TV a couple of times, people see that I'm a TV fighter, an action fighter. All of the Olympians got the opportunity to fight sub-par competition on national television and build up following.

MK: Like who? Call someone out.

CS: Like Miguel Cotto. That's a guy who might eventually be a big fight.

MK: Right now, what is it you want? Are you looking for the biggest fight available or are you just focused on a title shot?

CS: I want to win the welterweight title. Of course I'd love to get a fight with Oscar De La Hoya, I hope he's still around up at junior middleweight when I get there. I like Winky Wright as a fighter and I think he might be able to pull off an upset of Oscar if he ever got that fight, and I'd love to match up with Winky. I don't really think about guys coming up, I think about guys who are already established.

MK: Who was your toughest opponent to date?

CS: Leo Edwards. I won the fight, but they gave me a draw. My best fight was against Marlon Haynes. I dropped him with body shot. He was physically strong and skilled, but I was able to slip and roll and counter.

MK: You said that you were on a tier below only guys like Mayorga and Forrest. Mayorga is the welterweight champion of the world. How would you do against him right now?

CS: Mayorga is a guy with good punch. But when a guy with a good punch fights a guy with good skills and a good chin, the guy with the skills and the chin wins. I would love to fight Mayorga.

MK: I am among those who have said about you that you do not do any one thing so exceptionally well, but do many things very well. What do you think about that assessment, and do you like that perception?

CS: I love being a well-balanced fighter. I work on everything. You can't just stop one thing I do and think you'll beat me. Take my jab away and I have a right hand. Concentrate on taking the right hand away and I have the left hook. There are so many things you guys haven't even seen yet out of me. As my opponents get better you will see more and more. But I am an action fighter, always have been always will be. Come to a Chris Smith fight and you will be entertained.

After speaking with Chris I spoke with his advisor Johnny Bos.

MK: Johnny, I know that Chris won the New York Golden Gloves and Empire State Games and some other amateur tournaments, so he was a good amateur prospect, though he didn't have a lot of amateur fights. He turned pro and fought often in 1998 and 1999, but then he was inactive for a year and a half between late April 2000, when he drew with Leo Edwards in a tough fight, and early November 2001. What happened?

JB: Chris beat Edwards five rounds to one but he got robbed. He was a good prospect out of the amateurs, but this is a tough business and I thought he had too many options to be a boxer. There were too many things he could do. I figured he could get a good job somewhere, maybe go back to school because he is such an intelligent kid. This is such a brutal sport.

MK: So why is he now fighting again?

JB: I took him with me to the Hall of Fame and Kid Gavilan was there. Chris had seen Gavilan fights on tape and had always idolized him. I saw the gleam in Chris' eyes. He's just one of these middle class kids who loves boxing. He just wants to be a fighter. His father was an electrician and his mother worked in a bank. Muhammad Ali and Sugar Ray Leonard were the same way -- kids who boxed because they loved it. Gavilan died the night Chris fought Sam Garr on ESPN. I told him on the way to the arena. It motivated him.

MK: You've had Joey Gamache training Chris for these last two fights. Is there anything you would like to see from Chris in his development as a fighter?

JB: Well, you could see out of the amateurs that he had something. I mean as an amateur this kid had a tremendous Joe Frazier left hook. Matter of fact, he's so balanced as a fighter now, he's gotten away a little from that hook. He's only had 34 fights, amateur and pro combined, and he's already better than most of these guys. If he can put that old hook together as a pro with a bob and weave style he'll destroy everyone.

Max Kellerman is a studio analyst for ESPN2's Friday Night Fights and the host of the show Around The Horn.