The Greatest Prize in Sports

[Infinity]

Just a quick note, grats on 60k views! That's simply amazing..

[kenyan_cheena]

Originally Posted by Infinity

Just a quick note, grats on 60k views! That's simply amazing..

Yep, quite happy about that. One of only six threads in Inside the Ropes to pass 60k.

[Infinity]

Even more amazing, you have 3 of the top 11, and #5 is yours at 75k views! Most impressive bro....

Originally Posted by kenyan_cheena

Yep, quite happy about that. One of only six threads in Inside the Ropes to pass 60k.

[kenyan_cheena]

BOXING
MONTHLY

VOLUME 30, ISSUE 2 - FEBRUARY 2008

(following are selected entries from the magazine's
"Fight Review" section)

15 February: Atlantic City, New Jersey, USA
Cassius Clay (5-0(4)) TKO4 David Lyons (6-3-1(4))
(junior-lightweight division)

Appearing on ESPN's Friday Night Fights, Brooklyn's Cassius Clay maintained the impeccable start he has made to his professional career with a dominant effort against over-matched Boston native David Lyons. Louisville-born Clay has gained the attention of the IBL, and while it's too late for him to feature in their 2008 "season" they'll certainly be eager to sign him for 2009 and beyond. The extroverted teenager has quick fists to match the speed of his mouth, and his handsome good looks will surely make him something of a "heart throb" soon enough. Clay has said he's fighting to support his family, some of whom still reside in Louisville, and with the impressive skill set he possesses it would seem he'll be more than capable of taking care of them.

16 February: Houston, Texas, USA
Bert Lytell (33-2(24)) SD12 Murray Sutherland (32-4-2(19))
(super-middleweight division)

Tyrone Hillier's super-middleweight world championship tournament could not have started in a more spectacular fashion, as Fresno's Bert Lytell and the Scotsman Murray Sutherland unexpectedly engaged in an early candidate for Fight of the Year. While there were no knockdowns, it was a gloriously entertaining back-and-forth affair, neither man giving an inch as they went all-out with a WBA title challenge on the line. The upper hand was exchanged a number of times, with Lytell having the better of rounds one, four and five while Sutherland controlled the 2nd, 3rd, and 6th, before it was almost too difficult to split them in an exciting round seven. Lytell dominated the 8th and appeared to have finally subdued the tough Brit, but Sutherland rallied superbly in round nine only to be deducted a point for a low blow during it.

The contest remained close through the final three frames. The 10th was tight, and when Sutherland took round eleven convincingly he was still in with a chance. However, Lytell did just enough to win the 12th on all three cards, and it made all the difference when the verdict was revealed. He took it by the closest of split decisions: 114-113, 113-114, 114-113. It would have been a draw if Sutherland had not been deducted a point, but that would not have been enough for him to clinch the title challenge, as Lytell was the higher "seed" in the fight. The punch totals showed what a lively affair it was: Lytell landed 317 of 928 (34%), Sutherland 279 of 828 (33%). Lytell was a relieved man afterwards, expressing his happiness with earning a shot at the WBA belt but also praising Sutherland's spirited effort. After a disappointing stint in the IBL, the Scotsman showed he still has a lot left in the tank.

16 February: Houston, Texas, USA
Michael Barrett (24-2-1(17)) SD12 Jamal Hammonds (31-4(23))
(super-middleweight division, WBA title fight)

After watching Bert Lytell's victory over Murray Sutherland, defending WBA super-middleweight champion and hometown favourite Michael Barrett stepped between the ropes for the evening's main event and took care of his own business, retaining the title with a split decision win over Jamal Hammonds (116-112, 114-115, 116-114). The fight was not as close as the final result indicated, as Barrett was the aggressor throughout the contest, not only out-landing Hammonds (269-198) but also throwing more than two-and-a-half times as many punches as him. The 116-112 verdict of American judge Robert Grasso was the most accurate, while the scorecard of Belgian judge Andre van Grootenbruel, who gave Hammonds the win, was heavily criticised by other ringside observers.

Barrett built his victory behind a crisp jab and punishing combinations, but was just as effective with a piercing right cross and his dangerous uppercut. It was his second title defense but he now moves on to what will be the biggest fight of his career, a clash with former middleweight champion Lytell on June 21 in stage two of the tournament. It was the outcome most experts were expecting, and most of them will be favouring Lytell to emerge victorious and re-establish himself as one of the top pound-for-pound competitors in the sport. On the same card, Murray Sutherland and Jamal Hammonds will square off in a sudden death showdown. The loser bows out of the tournament, while the winner moves on to a WBC title elimination bout in stage three.

22 February: Los Angeles, California, USA
Roberto Duran (9-0(9)) KO2 Edgar Diaz (11-7-2(6))
(lightweight division)

Frighteningly talented Panama slugger Roberto Duran fought outside of his homeland for the first time as a professional, venturing to Los Angeles to appear on Friday Night Fights. Duran's bout opened the card and he did not disappoint, obliterating Mexican journeyman Edgar Diaz early in round two after flooring him twice in the 1st. It was his tenth win, all of which have come by stoppage inside of three rounds. Last year his handlers had made it clear that they were not interested in the IBL's overtures, but they now appear to have softened somewhat on that stance, saying it's likely that he'll sign with the league in '09 and compete in it's International Conference. The plan is to have him fight at least five more times before the end of 2008.

23 February: Caracas, Venezuela
Christian Fritz (25-2(20)) UD12 David Hernandez (25-2-2(18))
(super-middleweight division)

Former WBO and IBO 168-pound titleholder Christian Fritz continued to defy his critics, scoring a solid unanimous decision win over highly-regarded former WBO middleweight champion David Hernandez to secure a WBC title challenge. Fritz came to prominence twelve months ago when he not only claimed the IBO super-middleweight belt but also ended the career of James Toney. He has fought only once since then, a TKO of compatriot Thomas Ozil in June. Hernandez was surprisingly stopped by Montell Jackson last March in an IBO middleweight title fight but recorded a pair of victories to finish the year, one of them at 168, and was expected to account for Fritz. But just as with Toney, the German didn't read the script and dominated the opening half of the bout to build a handy lead. Hernandez rallied in the 7th and 8th, but when he tasted the canvas courtesy of a right cross one minute into round nine his momentum was halted. Fritz was content to cruise to the final bell, allowing Hernandez to make the verdict a bit closer than it should have been. Two judges scored it 115-113 while the third had the German a comfortable 116-111 victor.

23 February: Caracas, Venezuela
Fulgencio Obelmejias (34-1-1(24)) UD12 Leon Dawson (20-2(14))
(super-middleweight division, WBC title fight)

When Fulgencio Obelmejias floored Bert Lytell seven times on the way to a comprehensive points victory in January '07, it was supposed to represent the Venezuelan's long overdue rise to the top of the sport, and a period when the big money fights would come his way. What has happened since has been anything but, though, as Obelmejias did not step back between the ropes throughout the rest of '07 while his promoter Tyrone Hillier attempted to arrange the 168-pound world championship tournament that has only now commenced. Hillier was adamant that Obelmejias enter the tournament as reigning WBC champion and so he would not allow him to defend the title until the tournament started. While frustrated, Obelmejias surprisingly agreed to this, with the rumour being that he was given a substantial cash inducement as compensation. Boxing fans with long memories will remember Obelmejias's criticism of the WBA and WBC back in August '06 when he was IBF champion, and would have trouble reconciling the outspoken individual he seemed to be then with the one who has sat mostly silent for the last year.

Well, Obelmejias was finally back in action last month and while his opponent was not the most accomplished, the defending champion did not disappoint his home fans, producing an entertaining performance on the way to a comfortable unanimous decision verdict (117-112, 116-113, 118-111). The Texan Leon Dawson showed some promise in the early rounds but by the time the 4th stanza arrived, Obelmejias had warmed up and shaken off the ring rust that accumulated during his thirteen-month hiatus. He dominated the second half of the fight and when it was all over, he had outlanded Dawson 294-232. Obelmejias (now 35-1-1(24)) will next defend the title against Christian Fritz on June 28 in the world championship tournament's second stage, while Dawson takes on fellow Dallas native David Hernandez in the sudden death match-up.

[kenyan_cheena]

February '08 is complete, so we can now move on to March. As I said previously, that means simming a bunch of fight cards. In the meantime, I have at least one article I'm planning to write relating to the WCC. Should be posted during the next few days.

[kenyan_cheena]

TheSweetScience.com

SATURDAY 1 MARCH 2008

IBL puts kybosh on Haynes-Lewis clash

Story by Jonathan Gomez

The International Boxing League announced on Friday afternoon that they have refused to approve a proposed July clash between former world heavyweight champion Terone Haynes and Olympic super-heavyweight gold medallist Lennox Lewis. Initial reaction to the decision has been mixed, although most commentators agree with the league's reasons for it. Speculation for the match-up between the two men currently ranked at #2 and #3 in the organisation's World Championship Conference started on the night of February 9, when Haynes defeated Detroit's Brutus Brody by 5th round TKO in a stage one clash. During the post-fight interview, Haynes' trainer Roy Jones ventured that Lewis could very well be their next opponent and seemed to imply that he had already made overtures towards the Englishman's team. Soon after, Haynes' manager Leroy Ellis became involved in negotiations, but when the clash was presented to the IBL for confirmation, the league's rankings and scheduling committee rejected it.

The reason was revealed during yesterday's announcement, and it all comes down to the fact that, after having already lost two IBL world title elimination bouts to Peter Jackson, the league did not believe that Lewis is currently deserving of taking part in what would essentially be another eliminator. It's only been five weeks since that second loss to Jackson, on 26 January, and as a consequence Lewis will be inactive for the first stage of the WCC. But they will not allow his opening WCC contest to be an eliminator, and they have told both Lewis and Haynes that they'll have to find different opponents for stage two. While his overall record is 18-2-2(11), Lewis has not faired so well against opponents who are in the WCC. Besides the two losses to Jackson, he was surprisingly held to a draw by 5th-ranked Alexander Zolkin last March. He recorded a win over Joe Jeannette in an eight-round Challenger's tournament clash way back in August '06 and gave 4th-ranked Andrew Golota a terrible beating in their September '07 elimination semi.

Lewis is yet to fight either of the two men who have held the IBL world title, Haynes and current champion Ken Norton. The league appear to have implied that, even though he is ranked at #3, Lewis will not be given another opportunity to earn a title shot this year and will need to go 2-0 through the rest of '08 to maintain his current standing. Some have suggested that the former IBF and IBO champion Marko Friedrich would be the perfect opponent for Lewis to re-establish himself against. The 6th-ranked German takes on the tough Nigerian Ike Ibeabuchi on April 12 in Berlin and if he can get through that fight unscathed, Lewis would certainly be a logical next step for him. As for Haynes, it's not really clear what he'll do. It might be best for him to just sit back with his trainer and manager and see what happens in the five stage one contests still to take place. One thing is clear, though: the IBL are not interested in holding an eliminator to decide who will challenge for the world title in the latter half of '08. Ken Norton is scheduled to defend the belt against Peter Jackson on June 7, and for now it's all that's certain.

WCC stage one schedule finally complete

In related news, the league also confirmed that all bouts for stage one of the World Championship Conference have now been scheduled. When competition kicked off early last month, a number of entrants had either yet to begin, or were still in the process of, negotiating with possible opponents for their first fight. When the initial list of arranged bouts was revealed, these "slowcoaches" were left with little choice but to agree to take on whoever was still without a dance partner. The negotiation process famously stung Jamaican legend Mike McCallum, who thought he'd come to terms with former world middleweight champion Koichi Wajima, only for the Japanese warrior to choose Joe Gans as his opponent. McCallum's management had no fallback plan and as a consequence, he'll be fighting 15th-ranked Nigel Benn on May 10 instead.

An interesting stoush that was only confirmed during the last week is the May 3 light-heavyweight contest between McCallum's compatriot Tyrone Shelton (#2) and former super-middleweight contender Ray Landis (#8). After his world title eliminator loss to Mauro Mina on January 12, Shelton's management had planned for him to be inactive for stage one, but when they found out that 3rd-ranked Englishman Len Harvey had agreed to take on #6-ranked former alphabet champion James Franklin on March 22, they feared Shelton might drop in the rankings if he stayed idle. Shelton will have the benefit of knowing the outcome of Harvey-Franklin weeks before he fights Landis, but that doesn't mean he'll be able to withdraw from the Landis fight if Harvey loses. The IBL had considered the possibility of their competitors abusing the format in such a fashion and there's a specific rule in the WCC guidelines which states that any fighter who withdraws from a scheduled fight without definitive proof that he is physically unable to compete will not only be fined, but also penalised in the rankings.

That situation could possibly apply to former world flyweight champion Candido Tellez. He has not fought since Yuri Arbachakov dethroned him in September and has elected to remain inactive in stage one, which would mean that by its end he will have been out of action for some eight months. Tellez did not attempt to schedule a bout, and has spoken of possibly retiring since the loss to Arbachakov. He is ranked #2 and will almost surely take a fall if he stays inactive. Tellez has also pondered moving up to bantamweight, but won't be able to do so until next year. WCC rules state that a fighter can only move up or down in weight at the beginning of a season, and once he has done so he must spend that entire season in the division he has moved to. This is something current world light-heavyweight champion Celestine Amakochi is also considering for 2009.

Following is the remaining WCC stage one fight schedule for March, April and May. Stage one concludes on Sunday, May 11.

Note: (^) indicates bout was not scheduled until after February 4.

March 1: Manila, Philippines

(BW) #9 Jerome Gustilo vs #14 Jeff Chandler
(BW) #7 Ricardo Bedic vs #12 Felix Machado

March 1: New York, NY, USA

(WW) #7 Marcelo Smith vs #14 Meldrick Taylor
(JHW) #6 Nate Gibbs vs #11 Robert Daniels

March 1: Paris, France

(JHW) #4 Taoufik Belbouli vs #8 Tom Sharkey

March 8: Buenos Aires, Argentina

(FW) #6 Sergio Palma vs #9 Juan Meza

March 8: Atlantic City, NJ, USA

(HW) #11 Joe Jeannette vs #15 Vladimir Virchis
(MW) #4 Rubin Carter vs #11 Davey Moore

March 15: Miami, FL, USA

(MW) #8 Jose Napoles vs #12 Holman Williams

March 22: Warsaw, Poland

(HW) #4 Andrew Golota vs #9 Mike Hanson

March 22: London, England

(FW) #12 Charlie Beniston vs #15 Keith Harrison
(LHW) #10 Freddie Mills vs #14 Dick Tiger
(LHW) #3 Len Harvey vs #6 James Franklin

March 22: Los Angeles, CA, USA

(FW) #4 Solly Smith vs #14 Withaya Paholpat

March 22: Laredo, TX, USA

(BW) #6 Orlando Canizales vs #8 Atsuto Hasebe

March 29: Philadelphia, PA, USA

(WW) #6 Michael Lincoln vs #11 Jimmy Doyle (^)
(LHW) #4 Harold Johnson vs #13 Sam Langford

March 29: Tokyo, Japan

(LW) #11 Iwao Otomo vs #14 Vicente Santana
(WW) #4 Shoji Ohashi vs #12 Eric Bengtson
(MW) #3 Koichi Wajima vs #7 Joe Gans

April 5: Panama City, Panama

(FLY) #13 Hilario Zapata vs #15 Nam-Hoon Cha
(BW) #4 Enrique Pinder vs #13 Luis Galvani

April 5: Moscow, Russia

(HW) #8 Igor Berezutskiy vs #12 Riddick Bowe
(HW) #5 Alexander Zolkin vs #13 Romy Alvarez

April 12: Berlin, Germany

(HW) #7 Marko Friedrich vs #14 Ike Ibeabuchi

April 12: Johannesburg, South Africa

(BW) #11 Silence Mabuza vs #15 Roberto Rubaldino
(WW) #10 Benedict Khumalo vs #13 Ifeani Adamu
(LW) #8 Brian Mitchell vs #13 Obafemi Rotimi
(FLY) #7 John Bekker vs #9 Hiroyuki Ebihara
(FLY) #6 Teko Davids vs #14 Saman Sorjaturong

April 19: Chicago, IL, USA

(JHW) #9 Dale Brown vs #12 Dario Walter Matteoni (^)
(MW) #9 Montell Jackson vs #10 Freddie Steele
(LHW) #5 Michael King vs #11 Steve Finley
(JHW) #7 Michael Vaughan vs #15 Piet Crous

April 19: Birmingham, England

(MW) #13 Randy Turpin vs #14 Fred Boatwright (^)
(BW) #3 Owen Moran vs #10 Manuel Armenteros

April 26: Lagos, Nigeria

(LHW) #12 Taribo Keshi vs #15 Miguel Angel Cuello
(LHW) WC Celestine Amakochi vs #9 Melio Bettina *(IBL world title bout)*

April 26: Las Vegas, NV, USA

(FLY) #10 Ichiro Okubo vs #11 Raton Mojica (^)
(WW) #5 Hugo Pineda vs #8 Virgil Akins (^)
(LW) #6 Joe Brown vs #7 Jim Driscoll

May 3: Youngstown, OH, USA

(LHW) #2 Tyrone Shelton vs #8 Ray Landis (^)
(JHW) WC Jeff Lampkin vs #1 Torsten May *(IBL world title bout)*

May 10: Las Vegas, NV, USA

(MW) #5 Mike McCallum vs #15 Nigel Benn (^)
(FLY) WC Yuri Arbachakov vs #1 Benny Lynch *(IBL world title bout)*
(LW) #3 Patricio Marquez vs #4 Francisco Ortiz *(official world championship bout)*

[SAL]

Glad to see this up and running again.

[kenyan_cheena]

Originally Posted by SAL

Glad to see this up and running again.

Thanks, SAL. I was happy that your guy got a win in his first IC bout.

[kenyan_cheena]

Next post will be a review of the three March 1 WCC cards.

[kenyan_cheena]

ESPN

Boxing


Updated: March 2, 2008 10.15 AM ET

From Manila to Paris to New York

By Larry Holman
ESPN.com
Archive

The International Boxing League kicked off its busy March schedule with a trio of events staged on three different continents over a twelve-hour time period. Each was headlined by World Championship Conference bouts, starting with a pair of bantamweight contests at the Araneta Coliseum in Manila. The credentials of two Filipinos who had battled each other with the WBO title on the line back in December '06 and had now made the jump to the IBL were expected to be on display, but it didn't quite turn out that way. In a surprisingly one-sided fight, Philadelphia's Jeff Chandler scored a dominant unanimous decision win over Jerome Gustilo (119-109, 119-110, 119-109). 14th-ranked Chandler earned his WCC berth through the qualifying tournament, and while he was expected to provide Gustilo with a stern test, most observers did not predict anything close to the beatdown he unleashed in what could end up being a star-making performance.

Gustilo had the better of a lively opening frame which, amazingly, ended up being the one and only round that he won in the fight. All three judges gave it to him, and also scored the 4th 10-10, but the local favourite spent most of the evening being beaten to the punch and kept at bay by his taller, more rangy opponent. When Chandler took round three comprehensively it was enough to convince ringside observers that Gustilo was in trouble, and by the time a perfect left hook dropped him midway through the 6th the consensus said he was heading towards defeat. He tried to rally in round seven, a competitive stanza, but when Chandler answered back by shutting him out in the 8th and 9th it was all but over. Chandler (19-3-3(11)) cruised to the finish line and outlanded Gustilo by a remarkable margin, 391-161. It's the type of victory that will see him make a considerable jump in the rankings, and lead to Gustilo suffering a considerable fall.

The main event gave the local fans much more to cheer about, with Ricardo Bedic defeating Felix Machado by unanimous decision (116-111 on all three cards). It was not quite the clinic that Chandler put on, and it was a competitive fight for a lot longer, but once Bedic gained the upperhand he never relinquished it. He punished Machado to such an extent in round two that all three judges scored it 10-8 despite the absence of a knockdown. That was something Machado actually produced in the 4th, dropping Bedic with a brutal left hook before the round was a minute old. The night was on the verge of being a minor disaster for Filipino boxing, but Bedic beat the count and weathered a period of dominance from Machado that extended through to the end of round five. Bedic issued a fierce retort in the 6th, which signalled the beginning of his fightback.

Machado controlled the top half of round seven, and that was enough for him to take it, but Bedic's strong effort in its last minute continued into the 8th and through the remaining four rounds, which he swept on all three judge's cards. He outlanded Machado by almost a 2:1 ratio, 338-172, and improved his record to 28-1-1(18). Bedic came into the fight ranked at #7 and the victory should lead to him moving up a place or two. Some six hours after the crowd was filing out of Araneta Coliseum, junior-heavyweights Taoufik Belbouli and Tom Sharkey were just about ready to rumble in the main event of the Cirque d'hiver card in Paris. Local favourite Belbouli was hoping to put a forgettable 2007 behind him, during which he lost a world title challenge to Jeff Lampkin (KO6 in March) and then an eliminator to Carl Thompson in his very next fight (KO11 in August). Sharkey had been one of the four fighters who held the league's short-lived Inter-Continental title at 200 pounds, and was looking to take that big step to the upper reaches of the division.

Much like the Bedic-Machado clash, this one was close for a long time, and it was an absolute barnstormer. The aggressive, hard-hitting Sharkey gave Belbouli all sorts of trouble through the opening eight rounds, and as the fight entered the 9th the Irishman was right in the contest. One judge had Sharkey leading by a point while another had it even, but after Belbouli floored him with a wild overhand right one minute into round nine his resistance all but ended. Belbouli almost finished Sharkey off before the round was over, and went on to take the final three rounds in dominant fashion. His strong finish led to all three judges awarding him victory by the same 116-111 scoreline. It was the first time Sharkey had gone twelve rounds in his career, and the first time Belbouli had since coming to the IBL in '06. The Frenchman outlanded Sharkey 298-261, all of the 37-punch margin built during the last quarter of the bout. Sharkey (20-3-1(17)) saw his three-fight winning streak come to an end while Belbouli (32-4(21)) is now right back in the picture for a world title challenge as, at worst, he'll maintain his current ranking at #4.

Madison Square Garden played host to the day's third IBL card. In the first of two WCC bouts, New York native and former IBO welterweight champion Marcelo Smith made a successful if unspectacular league debut, taking a comfortable unanimous decision verdict over Philadelphia's Meldrick Taylor (117-111, 116-112, 117-111). Despite the victory margin, Taylor actually outlanded Smith 245-230, mostly due to his efforts in rounds two and ten. Those frames aside, Smith was usually the better fighter, but not by a whole lot. He dropped Taylor with a left hook early in the 3rd, and was the busier fighter throughout the contest. Whether the victory against 14th-ranked Taylor helps Smith (28-3-1(18)) make much of a move from his current standing at #7 remains to be seen. Taylor (28-5(17)) had won six of his previous seven fights coming into the evening, but is now 6-3 in league competition. All nine bouts have gone the distance, two of them eight-rounders and six of them ten-rounders. The Smith stoush was his first twelve-rounder under the IBL banner.

In the evening's main event, Philadelphia native Nate Gibbs was also victorious in his first IBL outing, scoring a majority decision win over Miami's Robert Daniels (115-112, 114-114, 114-113) in a junior-heavyweight contest. Gibbs is most famous for his trio of WBC cruiserweight title fights against David Lester in July '06, January '07 and June '07. Gibbs won the second bout of the trilogy to claim the title that the older Lester successfully defended in the first clash and then regained in the final one. Gibbs had been inactive since then, and almost fell to a second consecutive defeat against the unfancied Daniels. Gibbs started strongly in the opening three rounds, only for Daniels to produce a promising retort in the next three. The fight then entered something of a strange realm, which started when Gibbs sent Daniels to the canvas with a left hook midway through round seven. The Florida slugger only just beat the count and survived the round, before Gibbs was deducted a point for illegal use of an elbow two minutes into the 8th, a frame that Daniels controlled. Gibbs rebounded from that to drop Daniels for a second time with a right cross thirty seconds into round nine, almost finishing him with a flurry of blows a minute later.

As a result, the sequence of scoring in those three rounds was 10-8, 8-10, 10-8. Daniels dominated the 10th and did enough to take round eleven, keeping the fight very much alive going into the final stanza. Gibbs pitched a near shutout there, landing some solid scoring blows while avoiding most of Daniels' efforts. But as the scorecards show, if Daniels had taken the final frame he would have won the fight by a split decision verdict. Daniels was able to frustrate Gibbs for much of the bout, with the Pennsylvanian landing only 19.6% of his punches (239/1,219). Daniels connected with 210 of 988 blows. Gibbs' record is now 25-2(19) and one would think he'll be pursuing a clash with a top contender in stage two. As for Daniels (25-7-2(19)), he'll certainly take some encouragement from coming so close to pulling off the upset, but his strong showing could very well lead to some of the other high-ranked fighters steering clear of him. Such are the perils of the World Championship Conference.

Larry Holman is ESPN.com's boxing writer.

[kenyan_cheena]

Will probably jump straight to the March 8 cards next, but might come up with something else before then.

[EricKarl]

Is the lightweight Cassius Clay, Muhammed Ali in a different weight class?

[kenyan_cheena]

Originally Posted by EricKarl

Is the lightweight Cassius Clay, Muhammed Ali in a different weight class?

I'll give you a clue who he is...

Muhammad Ali was born Cassius Clay, Jr.

[kenyan_cheena]

TheSweetScience.com

WEDNESDAY 5 MARCH 2008

Amakochi confirms he'll
be staying at 175 in '09

Story by Steve Bruce

In an unexpected and surprising announcement, Nigeria's world light-heavyweight champion Celestine Amakochi revealed on Tuesday that he is going to remain in the IBL's 175-pound division until the end of its 2009 season. Amakochi had previously intimated it was highly likely he would be moving up to junior-heavyweight at the end of 2008, but said yesterday that he wanted to establish himself as the IBL's first great light-heavyweight champion, and the only way to do that is to hold the title through all of this year and next year. He won the title almost twelve months ago to the day with a 13th round knockout of inaugural champion Harold Johnson and has made two successful defenses since then, stopping Len Harvey in August (KO4) and Mark Somogyi in January (KO6). Amakochi will make his third defense against former Americas champion Melio Bettina on April 26, with the winner of that bout to then defend the belt against the #1-ranked Peruvian Mauro Mina on August 16.

Unlike every other IBL world champion, Amakochi has been contractually-bound to defend the title against the league's two inaugural "regional" light-heavyweight champions, Somogyi (Inter-Continental) and Bettina (Americas), due to a stipulation in the organisation's initial set of rules from back in 2006. It stated that if any regional champion was able to make five successful defenses of their title, they would be granted a shot at the world championship. The league abolished the regional belts in June '07 ahead of its 2008 "re-boot". At the time, both Somogyi and Bettina had successfully retained their respective title three times, and it was agreed that if they were victorious in their next two bouts, then they would receive the promised world title bid. Both men achieved this, and so Amakochi has had to focus on accounting for them ever since his victory over Len Harvey. He has not complained about the situation, though, and even welcomed the regularity with which he has defended the world championship.

Most observers are expecting him to take care of Bettina with little difficulty, but it's a fight that Amakochi is going to have to give every bit of his attention to because if he loses there will not be a rematch. He and Bettina have already signed contracts stating that the man who emerges as champion will fight Mina in their next bout. If he defeats Bettina, Amakochi can rest assured knowing that if he were to then lose the title to Mina, he would almost certainly be granted a rematch due to his status as a long-term champion. On more than one occasion, Amakochi has voiced his intentions to become the first man to win the IBL's light-heavyweight, junior-heavyweight and heavyweight championships, and his decision to prolong his stay at 175 does not change this. He'll be almost 27 by the time the league's 2010 season begins, but believes he'll still have time to achieve his goal. When questioned as to his reasons for delaying his move, he actually named two opponents who he intends to fight before leaving the light-heavyweight division: Canada's Sam Langford and the Australian Les Darcy.

Athens gold medallist Langford is one of the top young talents in the sport and has been undefeated since dropping down from the junior-heavyweight division in February '07. Amakochi had expressed his intrigue over a possible clash with Langford shortly after he became world champion last March, and believes that if the Nova Scotia slugger stays undefeated throughout '08 he could very well be challenging for the belt early in '09. Langford is scheduled to fight former world champion Harold Johnson on March 29 and a win there will be huge for him. Darcy is the current world middleweight champion but has already confirmed that he plans to move up to light-heavyweight for the 2009 season, making a showdown with Amakochi, possibly later in the year, quite likely. Amakochi said that he wants to be an active champion and in accordance with this, he mentioned that he would gladly defend the title a fourth time during 2008, as part of the season's third stage, if he was to overcome both Bettina and Mina. He would be under no obligation in this regard, as league rules state that a champion only has to defend the title twice during the season, but his willingness to do so definitely says something about the man's competitive nature.

[kenyan_cheena]

The Press
OF ATLANTIC CITY

Sunday 9 March 2008

Jersey Pride on show
at the Boardwalk Hall

Story by Nicholas Gallo

Saturday night turned out just fine for North Bergen boxing trainer Jimmy Floyd, with two of his fighters scoring convincing stoppage victories in World Championship Conference bouts at the Boardwalk Hall. Floyd's talented heavyweight Joe Jeannette pummeled the Ukranian Vladimir Virchis on the way to a 12th round knockout before the newest member of his stable, Clifton-born middleweight Rubin Carter obliterated Davey Moore, dropping the Bronx slugger twice before the contest was stopped late in round two. Jeannette's win was his fourth in a row since losing a split decision verdict to Athens gold medallist Jack Johnson just under twelve months ago and while it probably won't see him make a significant climb from his ranking of #11, it should be good enough to secure him a clash with one of the top contenders in the season's second stage. Coming off three consecutive wins of his own, Virchis showed some resistance in the early rounds before Jeannette exerted his will in the 4th round and never looked back. He dropped the big Eastern European in rounds eight, ten, eleven and twelve, the bout finally stopped just 39 seconds from the final bell.

Jeannette held huge leads of eight, twelve and fourteen points going into the 12th and outlanded Virchis 402-130 in improving his record to 20-3(13). He is now 7-2(4) in IBL competition. Virchis fell to 17-4-3(11). Rubin Carter was coming off a pair of losses to end '07, the first a unanimous decision in a world title eliminator against Les Darcy in June and the second a 7th round KO against John Mugabi in an August eliminator semi-final. Carter made the decision after that loss to fire his trainer Derek Vaughn and sought out Jimmy Floyd to replace him. Carter had gone up against Floyd's charge Mickey Walker in the final of the IBL's Challenger's tournament on Christmas Eve 2006 and remembered being impressed by the way in which the trainer carried himself. When Carter visited Floyd at his 61st Street Gym in October, the trainer was only too happy to take him up on his offer and, in a nice sidebar, Carter and Walker have gone from being opponents to training partners and friends. Floyd is now training two of the top five middleweights in the world, which might create some problems down the road.

Carter had a stern test on his hands in Davey Moore, who brought a seven-fight winning streak into the evening, a streak that started in September '06. When Moore had the better of the opening round, it appeared he might just extend that streak but the fight turned abruptly, and viciously. Midway through the 2nd, Moore took a knee after absorbing a stinging rib shot. A left hook only moments earlier had rattled him, but he was back to his feet quickly and looked eager to engage. Carter stalked him and unloaded a crunching right cross some forty seconds later, flattening Moore. He beat the count but appeared groggy and unsteady, and when Carter caught him with a left-right-left barrage soon after referee Telis Assimenios quickly jumped in and ended the fight at the 2:42 mark. Carter is now 23-6-1(18), while Moore fell to 19-2(14). Despite those two losses he finished '07 with, Carter came into the WCC ranked at #4 and will stay there at the very least following this victory. However, it will probably take a win against one of the other top contenders, such as Koichi Wajima or Mike McCallum, to earn a title shot.

[kenyan_cheena]

Been very active since I started back at this. Must have been all pent-up, I guess.

[EricKarl]

Originally Posted by kenyan_cheena

I'll give you a clue who he is...

Muhammad Ali was born Cassius Clay, Jr.

Very cool

I enjoy this thread most

[kenyan_cheena]

Huh, one year ago in the story, this was happening...

Originally Posted by kenyan_cheena

TheSweetScience.com

FRIDAY 9 MARCH 2007

Brian Jasper's Pugilistic Musings

Brody splits with promoter,
eyes Haynes and the IBL

The surprising development that has seen Detroit-born heavyweight boxer Brutus Brody split with promoter Tyrone Hillier and pursue a contract with the International Boxing League could very well be the final nail in the coffin for the struggling World Boxing Council. Having won all of his twelve professional bouts by stoppage, 28 year-old Brody is regarded as one of the most destructive punchers in the sport today and was expected to claim the WBC's heavyweight title later this year and bring some much-needed relevance to the sanctioning body. However, those plans have all gone up in smoke and the genesis of the situation can be traced back to early February when Brody fired his Hillier-appointed manager Darryl Long and gave the job to his lifelong but until-recently-estranged friend Jimmy Vickers.

Anyone who has followed Brody's career would know that he was making a living dealing drugs on the tough streets of Detroit before stepping into the ring for the first time just on twelve months ago. He signed a promotional contract with Hillier in late July after the Chicago-based promoter treated him to a night of fine food, liquor and even finer women at the Renaissance Center's Marriott hotel in Detroit. Everything seemed to be progressing well in their partnership until Vickers came back into the boxer's life last month. Not only one of his closest friends, Vickers was also a business associate of Brody's during his time in the drug trade. They caught up with each other over a dinner and by the time it was over Vickers had convinced Brody to fire Long and make him his manager.

Understandably, Hillier was not thrilled by Brody's decision but he accepted it. Brody was scheduled to fight DC journeyman Larry Swindle on the February 24 Gutierrez-Arcari card in Atlantic City, but Swindle pulled out of the bout just two days beforehand. Hillier rushed to find a replacement despite Brody's protests that he'd prefer not to fight, putting him in against a completely unsuitable opponent in blown-up inactive cruiserweight Derek Amos. Brody dispatched Amos in one round but endured a chorus of boos and insults from the crowd, who were disgusted by the mismatch. Brody and Vickers argued with Hillier at ringside, with the manager making an angry proclamation to the press in which he said that the promoter owed the crowd and Brody an apology.

Already strained, the relationship between Hillier and Brody has only become worse in the two weeks since the night of the fight. While looking over Brody's promotional and financial papers Vickers discovered that Hillier had been underpaying the fighter by almost 20% during the entire period of their agreement. In addition, it seems that Vickers had been doing everything he could since taking on the role of manager to convince Brody that he was wasting his time fighting for the WBC, telling him that no one would recognise him as the best heavyweight in the world until he defeated Terone Haynes.

Under Hillier's guidance Brody had been content to simply destroy whoever the promoter put in front of him and held little concern for whether he was the best or not. But Vickers had planted the seed in his mind, and combined with Brody's anger over the Amos fight and the financial irregularities the situation came to a head last Friday. Apparently Brody, Vickers and an entourage of at least a half-dozen "heavies" visited the promoter's Chicago office. When they left twenty minutes later Brody was no longer contracted to Hillier's Windy City Promotions. That much has been confirmed in a statement released by Hillier on Monday and although there's been nothing else said on the issue, it can only be assumed that Hillier was threatened in some way before releasing the fighter from his contract.

On Wednesday the IBL revealed that, now a free agent, Brody had contacted the organisation expressing his interest in joining it. There's been no word from either party since, which brings us to today. It's obvious that it's simply a matter of when rather than if as far as Brody joining the league is concerned. He's expressed his goal and it's a simple one: to fight and defeat Terone Haynes. However, what he and Vickers may not have considered is that if he joins the IBL he'll have to start at the bottom and fight his way to the top. I don't doubt his ability to do so, but whether Terone Haynes is still world champion in eighteen months remains to be seen. He's the alpha dog right now but there's plently of talent nipping at his heels and it would be a huge achievement if he's able to retain the title.

I'd think that making that climb won't worry Brody as, in comparison to the situation he was in with Hillier, he would be able to see with each win and each subsequent jump in the rankings how much closer he is to a title shot. Hillier had apparently promised him that he'd be WBC champion by the end of 2007 but the promoter's past is littered with incidents of making such assurances to fighters and having them ultimately proven empty and false. I'm sure Vickers has convinced Brody that competing under the IBL banner will bring him much more legitimacy than the WBC ever could have. Legitimacy is something that Brody would not have given a second thought to prior to Vickers' involvement in his career but it's now one of the things that's going to bring him to the IBL.

As I mentioned at the beginning of this article, Brody's split from Hillier is going to have tremendous ramifications for the WBC. They would have been banking on Brody's eventual rise to the championship and the sanctioning fees his reign would have garnered. Coupled with the fact that by this time next year featherweight champion Jim Driscoll will be in the IBO camp the WBC's future status looks precarious, at best. Surely the time is now right for them to pursue a merger with the similarly fragile WBA, but knowing the pig-headedness of both organisation's bosses I can't see it happening. They'd rather perish than survive in partnership with each other. It could be that boxing fans will eventually owe a big "thank you" to Mr. Jimmy Vickers, the man who may have just accelerated the downfall of the WBC.

Intriguing matchups on
regional title schedule

On Tuesday the IBL released the schedule for next month's series of regional title bouts and there are some interesting matchups on the list. Only eleven of the league's eighteen inaugural regional champions successfully retained their championships in their first defenses last month so it's going to be interesting to see how many of them can keep those belts strapped around their waists for a further eight weeks. Two of them, the bantamweight Orlando Canizales and flyweight Piolo Fuentes, will be making their first defenses in April after rematches were required for them to claim their titles. There's a number of bouts on the schedule that are actually rematches of the inaugural title bouts from December so whether any of the results end up being reversed this time is certainly something to look out for.

Following is the complete schedule, with the defending champion listed first:

29 March: Providence, Guyana, Americas junior-heavyweight championship
Wayne Braithwaite (Guyana, 22-5(15)) vs Eric Fields (USA, 22-5-1(13))

30 March: Dundalk, Ireland, Inter-Continental junior-heavyweight championship
Tom Sharkey (Ireland, 17-1-1(15)) vs Lubos Suda (Czech Republic, 22-3-1(14))

31 March: Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico, Americas welterweight championship
Bernabe Carbajal (Mexico, 11-0-2(7)) vs Virgil Akins (USA, 13-1-1(9))

31 March: Berlin, Germany, Inter-Continental welterweight championship
Reinhardt Kohler (Germany, 11-1(7)) vs Ashley Jackson (United Kingdom, 10-1(8))

4 April: Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, Inter-Continental light-heavyweight championship
Mark Somogyi (Australia, 14-0(10)) vs Petite Fourie (France, 9-2(5))

5 April: Manila, Philippines, Inter-Continental lightweight championship
Ben Villaflor (Philippines, 18-1(10)) vs Rene Barrientos (Philippines, 12-4-2(6))

6 April: Atlantic City, New Jersey, USA, Americas lightweight championship
Ike Williams (USA, 8-1(6)) vs Nicolas Fillion (Canada, 9-1(2))

7 April: New York, New York, USA, Americas light-heavyweight championship
Melio Bettina (USA, 10-1(5)) vs Scot Long (USA, 10-1-2(4))

12 April: Los Angeles, California, USA, Americas featherweight championship
Ruben Castillo (USA, 11-0-1(7)) vs Raul Cruz (Mexico, 15-3-1(7))

13 April: Toronto, Ontario, Canada, Americas middleweight championship
Greg Gorecky (Canada, 10-0(5)) vs Frank Battaglia (Canada, 8-2(3))

14 April: Nottingham, England, Inter-Continental middleweight championship
Ian Lord (United Kingdom, 12-0(6)) vs Randy Turpin (United Kingdom, 13-1(10))

14 April: Nottingham, England, Inter-Cotinental featherweight championship
Charlie Beniston (United Kingdom, 10-0(5)) vs Withaya Paholpat (Thailand, 10-2(3))

18 April: Panama City, Panama, Americas flyweight championship
Hilario Zapata (Panama, 17-0-1(9)) vs Humberto Gonzales (Mexico, 12-2-1(9))

19 April: Manila, Philippines Inter-Continental flyweight championship
Piolo Fuentes (Philippines, 9-0-2(6)) vs Hiroyuki Ebihara (Japan, 17-4-2(12))

20 April: Berlin, Germany, Inter-Continental heavyweight championship
Max Schmeling (Germany, 17-0(13)) vs Juan de la Cruz (Philippines, 8-1(7))

21 April: Los Angeles, California, USA, Americas heavyweight championship
Sam McVey (USA, 11-1(7)) vs Mike Hanson (USA, 10-1(8))

27 April: Milan, Italy, Inter-Continental bantamweight championship
Casper Leon (Italy, 19-3(12)) vs Johnny King (United Kingdom, 15-2(6))

28 April: Laredo, Texas, USA, Americas bantamweight championship
Orlando Canizales (USA, 19-2-2(14)) vs Julian Solis (Puerto Rico, 29-2-1(22))

[kenyan_cheena]

ESPN

Boxing

Updated: March 9, 2008 12.30 PM ET

Palma dominates Meza in IBL debut

By Larry Holman
ESPN.com
Archive

Argentina's Sergio Palma sent a message to the other top contenders in the IBL's featherweight division on Saturday night, marking his league debut with a comprehensive unanimous decision win over the Mexican Juan Meza in Buenos Aires. In a battle of former junior-featherweight alphabet champions, Palma dropped Meza once in round six and landed more than twice as many punches as him (367-143) on the way to a 119-108, 117-110, 118-109 victory. It was Palma's first bout since holding Jim Driscoll to a draw in a WBA/WBC featherweight title fight almost twelve months ago, but he didn't show any of the ring rust some observers were expecting. Palma was quick to gain control of the contest and rarely relinquished it, the one exception being round seven, which Meza took convincingly. The win improved Palma's record to 32-2-1(26) and places the #6-ranked South American right in the mix for a world title challenge later this year. Miguel Bautista will defend the championship against Salvador Sanchez on June 7, but beyond that stoush there's no clear path for the belt in the bottom half of the year.

Following 5th-ranked Orlando Salido's loss to Jesus Carrillo last month, Palma will move up at least one place in the rankings and possibly more depending on other results. It will be interesting to see who his management lines him up against in stage two because if it turns out to be one of the other top contenders, such as former champion Gilberto Vasquez or Vicente Saldivar, a win will surely be enough to earn Palma a title shot. The loss was a difficult one for 9th-ranked Meza (34-3-2(26)) to handle, as it ended a seven-fight winning streak and was his first defeat since his own IBL debut back in June '06, when he was stopped in six rounds by Solly Smith in the world championship tournament. Every one of those seven opponents was less experienced, but Meza felt he was capable of upsetting Palma and the manner in which he was so soundly handled by the Argentinian will have shaken his confidence. He's now in a position where he'll have to chase another clash with a top contender, and win that fight, to avoid slipping even further in the rankings.

Larry Holman is ESPN.com's boxing writer.

[kenyan_cheena]

This uni is so far in my head and under my skin that last night when I went to bed and was waiting for sleep to take me, I was able to think on each division from heavyweight down to flyweight and have a discussion with myself about what the current IBL world title and contender situation is, and speculate on what will be happening as 2008 progresses.