The temptation is to market Smith as a sort of Average Joe. But there is nothing average about a man who will get up at 6 a.m. or earlier to muster at a union hiring hall, put in a full day — often doing a couple of miles of roadwork during his lunch break — and head to the gym for sparring at night.

There is nothing average about a fighter who sustained a broken jaw in the second round of a six-round bout, as a 20-year-old Smith did against Eddie Caminero in his seventh pro fight, and continued for two more rounds before the fight was stopped for his only loss.

Nor is there anything average about a guy who could easily have gone back to his decent-paying union job, with its health care and other benefits, but opted to go back into the ring after spending six months with his jaw wired shut, causing 40 pounds to melt off his 6-foot-1 frame.

“The doctor told me I shouldn’t fight again,” he said.

His manager and his trainer, Phil and Jerry Capobianco, scions of a longtime Huntington, N.Y., boxing family — their father, John Sr., was the original trainer of an amateur heavyweight named Gerry Cooney — also extended him the opportunity to make a graceful exit from a sport that had treated him rather roughly.

“They told me, we understand if you want to quit, but if you continue, we believe you can go all the way,” Smith said. “But honestly, I didn’t want to quit at that point. I saw guys at my other job still swinging sledgehammers at 60, shoveling dirt and picking up concrete. I didn’t want to be doing that.”

After missing nearly a year to recuperate, Smith ran off 15 consecutive victories, 11 by knockout, before being matched with the heavily favored Fonfara in his hometown, Chicago. Smith scored a first-round knockout, shocking many boxing insiders but somehow convincing Hopkins that he had found the perfect foil for what he expected to be his triumphant exit from boxing.