Imagine comparing someone with black belts in taekwondo and Brazilian jiu-jitsu, plus kickboxing experience, to someone with no formal combat background. Naturally, the skill gap would be both massive and clearly evident. That was the heart of the issue nearly five years ago, when UFC color commentator Joe Rogan criticized Stephen A. Smith’s post-fight remarks after UFC 246. Smith had called Donald Cerrone a “quitter” following his 40-second TKO loss to Conor McGregor. Rogan didn’t take kindly to that, and in response, publicly mocked a video of Smith training on mitts in his home, suggesting he had no business commenting on fighters.

During an episode of his JRE podcast, Rogan played the video and ridiculed Smith’s technique. “First of all, someone needs to explain to me what’s happening here… Look how low he’s punching. This guy should not be allowed to talk about fighting.” At the time, Smith chose not to respond. But now, years later, he’s finally breaking his silence. A few days ago, undefeated boxing great Andre Ward had a nearly two-hour-long conversation with the ESPN analyst on his All the Smoke Fight podcast.

Reflecting on the clip and the subsequent critique from people like Joe Rogan, Smith explained, “I got two, not one, but two torn rotator cuffs. I had surgery on both to prove it, okay? But it’s fine. Some knucklehead told me, ‘You ain’t got no rotator cuff, just swing and loosen it up,’ and then he videotaped me without me knowing, which is why I fired him.”

Andre Ward asked, “How did you get out?” To which Smith replied, “His son was videotaping me.” Ward followed up, “The trainer’s son?” and Smith confirmed, “Yes, in my house. But I’m like, it’s fine. If y’all wanna think I fight like that, go ahead. It’s okay. I’m in my 50s, and this is what y’all want to do.” Ward then reminded him, “That’s what happens when you’re on top. People get tired of seeing you win.”

Smith nodded in agreement, adding, “Exactly. And remember, we live in a different age. You can go to Google or whatever and find all kinds of stuff. Not like back in the day when you could hide things. Why can’t I hide mine? You know why? My boxing coach asked, ‘Could we please shoot a video?’ and I said, ‘No, not yet. Let them leave that up there for now.’”

Andre Ward shared the snippet on his X with the caption, “No matter what the internet has to say about Stephen A. Smith’s boxing video that went viral, he’s standing on business! He’s not taking it down lol.”

While Stephen A. Smith seems to have made peace with the viral clip today, it wasn’t quite the same case just a few months ago.

Stephen A. Smith doesn’t miss when he pulls the trigger

The NBA analyst kicked off First Take earlier in March by escalating his ongoing war of words with Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James. The tension flared after LeBron shared the old video of Smith’s boxing sessions, captioning it, “🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 WHOMP WHOMP WHOMPPPPPPPP.” Unsurprisingly, Smith didn’t take kindly to James mocking a clip of him training, especially given the context in which it was filmed.

“In the aftermath of that interview, what does he do? He puts out some page about me boxing and all of this other stuff from a decade ago with two torn rotator cuffs,” Smith said. “Fine, no problem. It’s a very, very embarrassing video, I’ll be the first to admit it. … Why do I bring that up? Because that’s how petty you’ve become? You’re LeBron James. You’re really that butthurt over the things I’ve said that you would post that video? When has LeBron James ever done something like that? But suddenly, he’s doing it when it comes to me. This man is in his feelings. I wonder why.”

Stephen A. Smith went on to suggest that LeBron’s frustration may stem from the fact that he consistently ranks him second behind Michael Jordan in the all-time greats conversation. Adding fuel to the fire, Smith also accused James of being a “liar” for how he portrayed Smith’s earlier remarks about Bronny James back in January. “There’s a lot of shady stuff that he does,” Smith said. While it seems clear that the tension between Joe Rogan, LeBron James, and Stephen A. Smith may take a while to cool down, the question is: What do you think of the clip?