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JCWeb · 03-28-2006, 03:23 PM

Just finished the end of the year for 1907 and here is the report for the HW division.

WBA Title -- Jack Johnson defended twice, versus John Haines (TKO 7) and Sam Langford (SD 15) then, in action just completed, elected to defend his title once again (his ninth defense overall) against LH champ Phila. Jack O'Brien. Here's what happened:

The bout was expected to be a cakewalk for the heavily favored champ, as O'Brien was by 40 pounds the lighter man. Neither had tasted defeat for a long time, as Johnson came into the fight with a 15-bout winning streak and O'Brien had won 12 in a row. For the first eight rounds Johnson toyed with the smaller man, building up a huge lead on points. In the ninth, O'Brien elected to throw caution to the wind and charged the champ, falling to a quick counter. Eschewing the cover-up strategy, Phila Jack was back on his feet and to the surprise of a stunned Johnson, floored the champ for the full count. Philadelphia Jack O'Brien is the surprise new WBA champ by KO in the 9th, sending shock waves to the rest of the division.

Other lesser titles changed hands also. James Jeffries took the NABF crown from Sam McVey (TKO 7) and defended versus Bob Armstrong (KO 1) and Denver Ed Martin (KO 4). Jeff won five bouts in 1907 after a TD2 versus Gunner Moir and is perhaps more eager to try to recapture the WBA crown now that Johnson is no longer the champ. Jeffries' win over McVey vacated the USBA title, which was claimed by Mike Schreck by UTD 10 over Marvin Hart. Schreck defended versus Al Kaufmann (KO 9) but lost the belt to McVey (KO 8) who now holds it for the second time.

Commonwealth belt was successfully defended four times by Sam Langford, besting Bill Squires (KO 1), Sandy Ferguson (WDQ 6), Bill Lang (TKO 3) and Jack Palmer (TKO 7). Palmer retained his GBU belt with defenses versus TC Nick Rush (TKO 6) and Gunner Moir (UD 12).

Here's the Jan 1908 ratings list (I've decided to add the perf points under the new rankings system for purposes of comparison):

Champ: Phila. Jack O'Brien 44-3-1 (24) 1143 pts new champ
1. Jack Johnson 55-4-2 (44) 1142 pts former champ
2. James Jeffries 43-5-3 (38) 1142 pts down 1
3. Sam Langford 24-3 (20) 932 pts down 1
4. Sam McVey 21-3 (14) 832 pts up 1
5. Joe Jeannette 19-1 (16) 789 pts up 1
6. Bob Armstrong 35-17-1 (29) 718 pts down 3
7. Tommy Burns 25-5-2 (20) 682 pts down 3
8. Mike Schreck 21-9 (16) 529 pts up 1
9. John Haines 22-13-3 (11) 481 pts down 2
10. Al Kaufmann 17-3 (11) 461 pts down 2

All these fighters are at Prime career stage. Marvin Hart dropped out of the top 10 and is currently 12th ranked. Jeannette suffered his first setback, losing a non-title clash to McVey. Burns only fought once in 1907, a UD10 loss to McVey. Haines lost the title clash to Johnson, beat Joe Grim, then had a SD10 loss to Jeannette. GBU Champ Palmer, who hits Post-Prime in 1908, is rated 15th with a 16-10-1 (12) mark. Top ranked TC is Ray Farquahr (UK), ranked 20th with a 12-8-3 (4) record.

Only retirement in 1907 was Joe Choynski, who also fought at LH, where he was the champ. His career stats:

1888-1907 53-19 (42) USBA Heavy Champ, WBA LH Champ

Tom Sharkey, who is still ranked just outside the Top Ten, is nearing the end of his career, as is Gus Ruhlin. One fighter with a much better record than IRL is Joe Grim, currently at 20-10-1 (5) and ranked 14th.

For 1908, there will be an infusion of new talent as several of the White Hopes arrive. Key newcomers include Frank Moran, the Joplin Ghost Jeff Clarke, Jim Savage and Battling Jim Johnson, plus Victor McLaglen, who is the answer to a great trivia question -- the only person to fight for the World Heavyweight Championship and win an Academy Award for best acting.

03-28-2006, 03:23 PM	#30
JCWeb Hall Of Famer Join Date: Jun 2005 Posts: 2,042	1907-Heavyweights Just finished the end of the year for 1907 and here is the report for the HW division. WBA Title -- Jack Johnson defended twice, versus John Haines (TKO 7) and Sam Langford (SD 15) then, in action just completed, elected to defend his title once again (his ninth defense overall) against LH champ Phila. Jack O'Brien. Here's what happened: The bout was expected to be a cakewalk for the heavily favored champ, as O'Brien was by 40 pounds the lighter man. Neither had tasted defeat for a long time, as Johnson came into the fight with a 15-bout winning streak and O'Brien had won 12 in a row. For the first eight rounds Johnson toyed with the smaller man, building up a huge lead on points. In the ninth, O'Brien elected to throw caution to the wind and charged the champ, falling to a quick counter. Eschewing the cover-up strategy, Phila Jack was back on his feet and to the surprise of a stunned Johnson, floored the champ for the full count. Philadelphia Jack O'Brien is the surprise new WBA champ by KO in the 9th, sending shock waves to the rest of the division. Other lesser titles changed hands also. James Jeffries took the NABF crown from Sam McVey (TKO 7) and defended versus Bob Armstrong (KO 1) and Denver Ed Martin (KO 4). Jeff won five bouts in 1907 after a TD2 versus Gunner Moir and is perhaps more eager to try to recapture the WBA crown now that Johnson is no longer the champ. Jeffries' win over McVey vacated the USBA title, which was claimed by Mike Schreck by UTD 10 over Marvin Hart. Schreck defended versus Al Kaufmann (KO 9) but lost the belt to McVey (KO 8) who now holds it for the second time. Commonwealth belt was successfully defended four times by Sam Langford, besting Bill Squires (KO 1), Sandy Ferguson (WDQ 6), Bill Lang (TKO 3) and Jack Palmer (TKO 7). Palmer retained his GBU belt with defenses versus TC Nick Rush (TKO 6) and Gunner Moir (UD 12). Here's the Jan 1908 ratings list (I've decided to add the perf points under the new rankings system for purposes of comparison): Champ: Phila. Jack O'Brien 44-3-1 (24) 1143 pts new champ 1. Jack Johnson 55-4-2 (44) 1142 pts former champ 2. James Jeffries 43-5-3 (38) 1142 pts down 1 3. Sam Langford 24-3 (20) 932 pts down 1 4. Sam McVey 21-3 (14) 832 pts up 1 5. Joe Jeannette 19-1 (16) 789 pts up 1 6. Bob Armstrong 35-17-1 (29) 718 pts down 3 7. Tommy Burns 25-5-2 (20) 682 pts down 3 8. Mike Schreck 21-9 (16) 529 pts up 1 9. John Haines 22-13-3 (11) 481 pts down 2 10. Al Kaufmann 17-3 (11) 461 pts down 2 All these fighters are at Prime career stage. Marvin Hart dropped out of the top 10 and is currently 12th ranked. Jeannette suffered his first setback, losing a non-title clash to McVey. Burns only fought once in 1907, a UD10 loss to McVey. Haines lost the title clash to Johnson, beat Joe Grim, then had a SD10 loss to Jeannette. GBU Champ Palmer, who hits Post-Prime in 1908, is rated 15th with a 16-10-1 (12) mark. Top ranked TC is Ray Farquahr (UK), ranked 20th with a 12-8-3 (4) record. Only retirement in 1907 was Joe Choynski, who also fought at LH, where he was the champ. His career stats: 1888-1907 53-19 (42) USBA Heavy Champ, WBA LH Champ Tom Sharkey, who is still ranked just outside the Top Ten, is nearing the end of his career, as is Gus Ruhlin. One fighter with a much better record than IRL is Joe Grim, currently at 20-10-1 (5) and ranked 14th. For 1908, there will be an infusion of new talent as several of the White Hopes arrive. Key newcomers include Frank Moran, the Joplin Ghost Jeff Clarke, Jim Savage and Battling Jim Johnson, plus Victor McLaglen, who is the answer to a great trivia question -- the only person to fight for the World Heavyweight Championship and win an Academy Award for best acting.