User blog comment:AYET/Three strikes and yer out/@comment-3119203-20130206060334

I was actually thinking the exact same thing. Smoker has really been getting the short end of the stick in these fights. Let's break it down...

1. Law. There really is no excuse for this one. The Marines got out of the way, and Smoker knew all about Law's DF. Granted Law had haki, but it was still a poor performance overall. I can't even make any excuses here.

2. Vergo. This fight can hardly be counted, because Smoker intended to lose it. In my opinion, it doesn't change the fact that Vergo's haki blatantly outmatched Smoker's, and I don't think he even had to lose to Vergo anyways. Let's just count this one out.....

3. Doflamingo. He didn't even put up a fight. Out of the three fights, this one was the most disappointing, as Smoker did no visible damage to Doflamingo, made himself look like a bit player, and even had to have Aokiji bail him out.

In conclusion, Smoker seems to have lost a bit of prestige. But looking at his opponents (excluding Vergo), he fought two Shichibukai, and I doubt that any Vice Admiral would have been able to win against them. Sure, he put up a good fight against Law, but I think that since Doflamingo is among the strongest of the Shichibukai, we can't be talking crap. Smoker hasn't really been given ideal situations this arc.

About him being a foe for Luffy.....harder to say. Smoker was able to completely outmatch Luffy pre-timeskip, but at Marineford, Luffy would have landed quite a few decent hits if Smoker had been tangible. However, Smoker has yet to really show off yet, so I think that we should still count him among Luffy's potential rivals. Who knows, maybe this little incident will spark a sort of change in his attitude?