George Cole and Young Peter Jackson see their first foray into the World Cup qualifying sections turn bad, while Tom Sharkey comes out smoking and could be one of the favorites to qualify out of the Cribb group along with 'Kid' McCoy. Jack Fallon has a tendency to be involved on close fights as he opens 1897 qualifying with his 6th career draw. And congratulations to Peter Jackson, the first to 50 wins in the history of World Cup boxing!!
| Qualifying Round 1 | 1897 |
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| | | | | Broughton Group | | | |
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| | 1 | Jim Hall 38-9-0 (26) | UD10 | Jack Stelzner 19-4-0 (9) | |
| | 2 | Joe Goddard 28-14-0 (23) | KO7 | George Cole 11-2-1 (1) | |
| | 3 | Mike Lucie 33-12-1 (25) | TKO10 | Luis Pérez 28-8-0 (18) | |
| | 4 | Ted Pritchard 21-6-2 (12) | KO2 | Frank Glover 26-12-2 (9) | |
| | 5 | Jack Fallon 27-17-5 (14) | Draw10 | C.C. Smith 24-15-2 (17) | |
| | 6 | Bill Doherty 23-12-1 (9) | KO2 | Jim Fogarty 21-7-2 (13) | |
| | 7 | Joe Choynski 40-10-0 (32) | KO3 | Frank Childs 18-6-0 (9) | |
| | 8 | Bob Armstrong 15-2-0 (11) | KO10 | Ted Perry 20-11-5 (16) | |
| | 9 | Harry Peppers 29-3-0 (23) | SD10 | Jack Bonner 17-2-1 (8) | |
| | 10 | Carroll McGinnity 29-11-2 (10) | MD10 | Anthony Diamond 27-8-2 (9) | |
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| | | | | Heenan Group | | | | |
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| | 1 | Mervine Thompson 22-13-0 (18) | TKO3 | Milton McKinney 29-13-0 (24) | |
| | 2 | Charles Turner 39-8-0 (32) | UD10 | Charles Goff 15-1-1 (12) | |
| | 3 | Tom Duggan 24-15-0 (12) | UD10 | Paddy Ryan 24-14-3 (9) | |
| | 4 | Jack Ashton 22-14-0 (17) | UD10 | Sid Barnes 24-3-0 (14) | |
| | 5 | Patsy Cardiff 36-12-0 (14) | UD10 | Callum Willey 16-10-2 (12) | |
| | 6 | Frank Herald 31-10-0 (23) | UD10 | Frank Taylor 25-17-1 (17) | |
| | 7 | Peter Jackson 49-6-1 (40) | TKO1 | Tom Lees 24-14-1 (14) | |
| | 8 | Tommy Ryan 40-9-3 (25) | TKO6 | William Baldry 17-7-1 (7) | |
| | 9 | Mike Conley 33-13-1 (32) | TKO8 | Juan Ramos 25-14-1 (6) | |
| | 10 | Roy Harris 20-18-2 (12) | KO6 | Dick O'Brien 9-4-1 (3) | |
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| | | | | Cribb Group | | | | |
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| | 1 | Dominick McCaffrey 23-11-0 (14) | KO7 | Nick Burley 31-12-1 (27) | |
| | 2 | Mick Dooley 26-13-0 (17) | UD10 | Billy Stift 17-1-0 (5) | |
| | 3 | Young Mitchell 42-9-1 (29) | TKO7 | Jem Smith 21-16-0 (9) | |
| | 4 | Denver Ed Smith 20-16-1 (9) | SD10 | Young Peter Jackson 10-0-1 (9) | |
| | 5 | Bill Jennings 16-5-0 (14) | KO9 | Ellis Rounthwaite 17-14-1 (12) | |
| | 6 | Charles McCoy 22-8-0 (12) | UD10 | Pat Killen 23-11-2 (19) | |
| | 7 | Ed Binney 27-12-0 (15) | UD10 | Xavier Mora 21-10-1 (10) | |
| | 8 | Joe McAuliffe 30-11-1 (23) | UD10 | Joe Lannon 24-14-1 (5) | |
| | 9 | Tom Sharkey 12-0-0 (12) | TKO8 | Jimmy Ryan 23-16-1 (13) | |
| | 10 | Henry Baker 19-15-1 (11) | KO1 | Ben Hopkins 27-18-2 (20) | |
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| | | | | Figg Group | | | | |
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| | 1 | George LaBlanche 34-12-1 (20) | MD10 | Billy Leedam 25-11-4 (5) | |
| | 2 | Charley Johnson 43-10-1 (27) | KO6 | Frank Slavin 19-13-1 (15) | |
| | 3 | Fred Morris 36-7-2 (18) | TKO10 | Joe Butler 28-8-0 (22) | |
| | 4 | Jim Saxon 26-15-1 (15) | UD10 | Tom Thomas 18-2-0 (15) | |
| | 5 | Frank Sturgeon 13-1-2 (11) | TKO3 | Johannis Ngare 27-10-1 (21) | |
| | 6 | Oscar Terry 18-13-5 (10) | KO1 | Dan Creedon 32-11-0 (23) | |
| | 7 | James Corbett 34-10-0 (16) | TKO4 | Jeff Grant 27-14-1 (22) | |
| | 8 | Frank Craig 22-6-0 (16) | KO5 | Peter Felix 17-3-0 (13) | |
| | 9 | Billy Wilson 19-16-0 (10) | TKO5 | Tim Murphy 15-10-1 (8) | |
| | 10 | Nicholas Allen 30-12-0 (21) | UD10 | Dick Matthews 23-17-0 (17) | |
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