The Greatest Prize in Sports - Page 85

kenyan_cheena · 07-02-2013, 10:29 AM

ESPN

Boxing

Updated: April 26, 2008 5.15 PM ET

Amakochi stops Bettina in 10th round,
retains world championship

By Larry Holman
ESPN.com
Archive

Nigeria's Celestine Amakochi created a little bit of history in Lagos this afternoon (US time) when he recorded a 10th round TKO of New York's Melio Bettina to retain his world light-heavyweight championship. Amakochi became the first fighter to make three successful defenses of an International Boxing League world title, following his wins over Len Harvey in August and Mark Somogyi in January. Bettina offered more resistance than his previous two opponents, making it to round ten despite being earlier sent to the canvas three times. Amakochi dropped him in the 4th, 8th and 9th frames, and added a fourth knockdown early in round ten. The world champion was relentless after Bettina climbed back to his feet, unleashing a merciless beating and leaving referee Wayne Kelly with no choice but to stop the contest five seconds from the bell. Amakochi improved his record to 27-1(19) and a perfect 8-0(6) in IBL competition. He has recorded 25 knockdowns in those eight bouts.

While it was another convincing victory for Amakochi, he didn't have it all his way. Bettina (14-2(6)) showed signs of promise in round two, and then had the world champion in some trouble during the 5th, where he tagged him with a pair of stinging body shots, a right cross, a booming straight right and a left hook. It was the closest Amakochi has been to defeat since winning the title with a 13th round knockout of Harold Johnson in March '07, and he acknowledged Bettina's courageous efforts during the post-fight interview. Bettina actually outlanded Amakochi by the slightest of margins, 216-211. It meant nothing, though, as Amakochi held comfortable leads of 88-80, 87-81 and 88-80 going into round ten: partly because of the knockdowns, but mostly because he was simply more effective in seven of the first nine rounds.

Amakochi not only retained his championship, he also all but guaranteed that he'll be involved in at least the next two world title fights. Amakochi defends the belt against Peru's Mauro Mina on August 16, but if he is dethroned a rematch is highly likely. His outstanding reign would demand it. The two men previously clashed in the semi-finals of the Challenger's tournament in September '06, a ten-rounder that Amakochi won by unanimous decision on the way to claiming the championship. He'll be the favourite to overcome his amateur rival once again, after which his obligations for defending the title this year will be over. However, he did say recently that if he was able to defeat both Bettina and Mina, he'll gladly put the championship on the line in stage three of World Championship Conference competition. As for Bettina, the loss ended a 22-month undefeated streak in IBL competition, during which he went 9-0(3) and won the Americas championship. His spirited effort will probably keep him where he is at #9 in the rankings, but he'll have to get right back to work and pursue a high-quality opponent for his stage two contest.

Larry Holman is ESPN.com's boxing writer.

kenyan_cheena · 07-03-2013, 10:25 AM

The Times-Picayune

SUNDAY, 27 APRIL, 2008

BROWN OVERCOMES DRISCOLL
IN LIGHTWEIGHT SHOWDOWN

Story by Kevin Hammond

New Orleans boxer Joe Brown took a considerable step towards regaining the world lightweight championship last night when he recorded a split decision win over the Welsh former world featherweight champion Jim Driscoll at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. The fight was part of competition in stage one of the International Boxing League's World Championship Conference and was greeted with some surprise when its scheduling was announced back in January. Many observers did not believe that the two former champions would seek each other out in their IBL debuts, but in hindsight it was a smart decision as they both knew that if victorious they would be eliminating one of their biggest rivals in terms of securing a world title shot. Brown had been out of action for more than a year, his last bout being in March '07 in Atlantic City when he was knocked out by Francisco Ortiz in his first defense of the world championship he won from Patricio Marquez in November '06.

By contrast, Driscoll had fought three times during the same period, with two of those contests in the junior-lightweight division. While he was making his lightweight debut, a number of experts were tipping him to win due to being so active during the last twelve months and his pre-fight status as one of the top pound-for-pounders in the sport. Brown and Driscoll were ranked 6th and 7th respectively coming into the fight, and it will be interesting to see where they are placed when the IBL releases their updated standings on May 11. Brown had the better of an uneventful opening round behind a stiff left jab, and was on his way to taking the 2nd before Driscoll finished it strongly in the final minute. Not only did he land some scoring blows, he also cut Brown on the right eyebrow, although it was not a serious wound. Brown backed Driscoll up with a jolting left-right salvo early in round three and slipped a hard jab through his defenses later in an otherwise featureless frame.

Driscoll made a confident start to the 4th but within the space of twenty seconds it shifted to Brown when he landed an uppercut and then a punishing left-right volley that wobbled the Welshman. Both combatants had their moments in the bottom half of the frame to make it a difficult one to score. The action dropped off in round five, with neither man distinguishing himself. Brown picked up the pace in the 6th, connecting with a succession of pinpoint jabs and a flush left hook before the stanza had reached its midpoint. Driscoll answered back impressively in its final minute, but it wasn't enough to cancel out Brown's efforts, especially when the Louisiana slugger buried a stinging left hook into his ribs. The pattern of the odd-numbered frames being less intriguing continued with round seven, as Driscoll showed little offense and Brown was content to push out that strong left lead. He opened up at the two-minute mark, tagging Driscoll with a left and a right in a three-punch flurry.

It was not until the 8th round where one could say "Driscoll won that" with any conviction. He looked frustrated when he came out at the bell and caught Brown with three distinct and damaging attacks: a left-right-left volley early on, a head-snapping left hook a minute in and then a right cross that staggered Brown just before the bell. On cue, the pace slowed in round nine, and although Brown appeared to control most of it, all three judges gave it to Driscoll thanks mainly to a burst of activity in its final minute. Brown immediately took back the momentum, though, controlling the 10th and then dominating round eleven, unloading on a visibly tired Driscoll. It was a sustained period of excellence that, in retrospect, won him the fight. The 12th and final round did not feature the dramatic finish the audience was craving, but despite that, they came to their feet in applause as the last fifteen seconds ticked away.

Driscoll was honest enough even before the verdict was announced to admit he had lost, and so he was genuinely surprised when Jimmy Lennon Jr. said the words "Ladies and gentlemen, we have a split decision." When Brown's victory was confirmed, Driscoll actually looked relieved, and congratulated him for a second time on his outstanding performance. Brown landed 308 of 1,223 punches (25.2%), Driscoll 222 of 761 (29.2%). Brown improved to 35-3-1(25) while Driscoll fell to his first career defeat since his ninth professional bout, when he was a junior-featherweight back in '97, and is now 36-2-3(28). Whether this defeat is the start of a downward slide for him, only time and his next fight will tell. One thing that is certain is that following this loss, Driscoll is now a good year away from even the possibility of a world title bid.

While acknowledging the significance of his victory, Brown was quick to point out that he still has some work and waiting to do before he can secure an opportunity to once again become world champion. As most followers of the sport would know, there's a pair of lightweight championship bouts coming up in May (Marquez vs Ortiz) and June (Villaflor vs Hernandez), and the winners of those fights will clash in November for the official world championship. So any title shot Brown receives will have to wait until the new year, and that's only if he gets through the remainder of 2008 unscathed. There was an interesting situation during the post-fight interviews when former two-time IBL lightweight champion Rafael Limon made his way into the ring and challenged Brown to a bout in stage two of the WCC. Currently ranked at #2, Limon is another fighter who is going to be "stuck in the queue" through the rest of this year, but a Brown-Limon stoush would certainly be something to see.

kenyan_cheena · 07-03-2013, 11:59 PM

LOS ANGELES DAILY MAIL

Monday, 28 April, 2008

Buffalo Bills draft former boxer Sam McVey

Story by Mark Jankowitz

Oxnard native Sam McVey was selected as the 72nd overall pick by the Buffalo Bills at the annual NLF Draft yesterday, held at Radio City Music Hall in New York City. More famous for his brief professional boxing career and recently controversial personal life, McVey was actually a star high school running back and was set to attend USC on a football scholarship before turning his back on the sport to become a boxer. Jack Johnson's gold medal win at the 2004 Athens Olympics was the catalyst for McVey to make what many told him was an impulsive, rash decision. However, McVey was quick to establish himself as one of the most talented young heavyweights in the USA, a rise that culminated in him claiming the International Boxing League's Americas championship in February '07 with a victory over Florida's Cheetah Brown.

But within months, things started to unravel for McVey. He suffered his first career loss in June, in his second defense of the championship, a rematch with Brown. He went on to lose his next two fights, to Italy's Francesco Damiani in August and Chicago slugger Frank Childs in October. His life then took a shocking turn in November when he was charged with assault and DUI following a domestic dispute involving his then-fiancee Claudette James and the very same Jack Johnson who inspired him to take up the sweet science. It was soon revealed that McVey had walked in on James, Johnson and his girlfriend Jessica Aguilar while they were engaged in a sex act at a Santa Monica residence, which led to an intoxicated McVey assaulting both Johnson and James and crashing his Ferrari F430 into a stationary vehicle soon after.

McVey's court case concluded in January, with him being sentenced to 100 hours of community service and placed on a two-year probation. He announced his retirement from boxing soon after, saying that his enjoyment of the sport had been "tainted". He also indicated that he would be returning to his first love: football. McVey has severed all ties with both James and Johnson, apparently not contacting either of them since the November incident. He is still close with current world heavyweight champion Ken Norton, who had mentored him for much of his boxing career and has supported him through McVey's recent difficulties. Norton was present in New York with him for the draft, and McVey was reportedly ecstatic when his name was announced as the 8th pick of the draft's 3rd round on Sunday.

It would be true to say that McVey was something of a celebrity going into the draft, following his success as a boxer, but a number of NFL teams cited his complete lack of college experience as a detrimental factor in their decision to pass on him. McVey has displayed tremendous dedication to his new career path during the last couple of months, something which appears to have impressed the Bills organisation enough for them to take a chance on him. General manager Marv Levy was particularly complimentary towards McVey. Even so, McVey is going to have to earn a place on the Buffalo depth chart, as the Bills drafted running back Marshawn Lynch from UC Berkeley in the 1st round of last year's draft, and he went on to rush for 1,115 yards and seven touchdowns in his rookie campaign. Regardless of what eventuates, McVey has at the very least taken the first step towards what could be a successful NFL career.

kenyan_cheena · 07-04-2013, 12:48 AM

Just in case anyone is wondering, the selection of the Bills as the team that drafted Mr. McVey was completely random, in that I used random.org to determine it. I figured he might go somewhere in the 3rd round, so I just got the website to generate a number between 1 and 32, and it came up with number 8. The Bills picked at #8 in the real life '08 draft, so that's how it happened.

Further to that, in the reality of TGPiS, this is how things are in the other sports:

* Football and Basketball and Hockey are exactly as they are in our reality, with the same players playing for the same teams and the same teams winning championships as they did in our reality.

* Baseball is a bit different, as I've established the fact that there's a team called the New Jersey Titans that play out of Hoboken. The Yankees also exist, as I mentioned them once in a Richie Plunkett post. I've also mentioned the Los Angeles Dragons in the thread's first post, the team that James Molk's father founded. Besides that, it's probably the same teams as in real life but maybe with different players and yearly champions. I had this idea at one point to run an OOTP dynasty that would take place in the same universe as TGPiS, and could possibly still do that some day. It's for that reason I've deliberately avoided mentioning the names of any baseball players in the story so far.

kenyan_cheena · 07-04-2013, 09:06 AM

Happy 4th of July to all of you in the USA. Hope you have a nice day.

Next step is for me to sim all the International Conference bouts for April ahead of writing up the IBL ONLINE fight reviews.

Might be an unexpected surprise before then, though. Something I've never done in the story so far...

Romdawg88 · 07-05-2013, 12:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kenyan_cheena

Just in case anyone is wondering, the selection of the Bills as the team that drafted Mr. McVey was completely random, in that I used random.org to determine it. I figured he might go somewhere in the 3rd round, so I just got the website to generate a number between 1 and 32, and it came up with number 8. The Bills picked at #8 in the real life '08 draft, so that's how it happened.

Further to that, in the reality of TGPiS, this is how things are in the other sports:

* Football and Basketball and Hockey are exactly as they are in our reality, with the same players playing for the same teams and the same teams winning championships as they did in our reality.

* Baseball is a bit different, as I've established the fact that there's a team called the New Jersey Titans that play out of Hoboken. The Yankees also exist, as I mentioned them once in a Richie Plunkett post. I've also mentioned the Los Angeles Dragons in the thread's first post, the team that James Molk's father founded. Besides that, it's probably the same teams as in real life but maybe with different players and yearly champions. I had this idea at one point to run an OOTP dynasty that would take place in the same universe as TGPiS, and could possibly still do that some day. It's for that reason I've deliberately avoided mentioning the names of any baseball players in the story so far.

Gah, right in the middle of the dark time of 15 wins and ending up with Beasley. I can't wait till we hit the 2010-2011 period.

Ooh, an OOTP dynasty sounds like it could be interesting if you ever decide to do it.

kenyan_cheena · 07-05-2013, 01:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Romdawg88

Gah, right in the middle of the dark time of 15 wins and ending up with Beasley. I can't wait till we hit the 2010-2011 period.

Ooh, an OOTP dynasty sounds like it could be interesting if you ever decide to do it.

You might remember that OOTP dynasty I did a few years back that was set in the late '50s and early '60s with the Dodgers staying in Brooklyn. I had plans to eventually link that to The Heavyweight Boxing Federation, but neither survived long enough.

Romdawg88 · 07-05-2013, 11:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kenyan_cheena

You might remember that OOTP dynasty I did a few years back that was set in the late '50s and early '60s with the Dodgers staying in Brooklyn. I had plans to eventually link that to The Heavyweight Boxing Federation, but neither survived long enough.

Yes, I do remember it, vaguely, remember it.

kenyan_cheena · 07-06-2013, 02:56 PM

Been sick the last couple of days so not up to writing at the moment. Will probably be MIA here for the next few, aswell.

Romdawg88 · 07-07-2013, 10:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kenyan_cheena

Been sick the last couple of days so not up to writing at the moment. Will probably be MIA here for the next few, aswell.

That sucks, being sick is never fun. Hope you feel better soon man.

kenyan_cheena · 07-07-2013, 07:45 PM

Had an absolutely crap weekend. Started getting a sore throat on Thursday afternoon but didn't really feel too bad until Friday night. Sneezing, headaches, chest congestion and a blocked/runny nose on the weekend. Went to the shops Sunday morning and bought some cold and flu tablets then pretty much did nothing for the rest of the day except watch TV and browse the internet (computer is set up in lounge room). When I went to bed last night at 11.30, it felt like 24 hours had passed since I went to the shops because the day just crawled. Back to work now and feeling a bit better, but we are right in the middle of winter down here and it is damn cold.

Romdawg88 · 07-08-2013, 09:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kenyan_cheena

Had an absolutely crap weekend. Started getting a sore throat on Thursday afternoon but didn't really feel too bad until Friday night. Sneezing, headaches, chest congestion and a blocked/runny nose on the weekend. Went to the shops Sunday morning and bought some cold and flu tablets then pretty much did nothing for the rest of the day except watch TV and browse the internet (computer is set up in lounge room). When I went to bed last night at 11.30, it felt like 24 hours had passed since I went to the shops because the day just crawled. Back to work now and feeling a bit better, but we are right in the middle of winter down here and it is damn cold.

Well, that sounds like kinds of pleasant.

kenyan_cheena · 07-08-2013, 11:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Romdawg88

Well, that sounds like kinds of pleasant.

Slowly getting better. Haven't taken any time off work coz I'm so busy as it's end of financial year down here (June 30).

kenyan_cheena · 07-09-2013, 06:59 AM

About to start working on the April IBL ONLINE fight reviews. Wondering whether I should do detailed reviews for some of our fictional fighters because I'm not sure if they are reading anymore ***

hint hint

***

kenyan_cheena · 07-09-2013, 08:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kenyan_cheena

About to start working on the April IBL ONLINE fight reviews. Wondering whether I should do detailed reviews for some of our fictional fighters because I'm not sure if they are reading anymore ***

hint hint

***

Further to this, I've just gone through the list of OOTP community fictional fighters in the uni and there are a number of them who have been absent from the OOTP message boards for months, in some cases a year or more. For the sake of this uni/story I have to make the assumption for now that they won't be coming back and as a consequence of this I will no longer be chronicling their fighter's career in the same detail.

Might sound harsh, but it makes little sense to me taking the time and effort to follow the fighter's progress in detail when the person whose fighter it is, is no longer following along. It's no different to any of the many other fighters in the uni that I don't mention often, if at all. As far as I know, there's no other uni here that features fictional fighters based on community members as this one does, and I will admit that it can be more time consuming than I would like to keep track of each one of them. In the case of a fighter who is already prominent in the story, such as Brutus Brody, I will continue to detail their career. If you are on the list below but are still actually following along, speak now or forever hold your peace, as they say...

* Marciano6
* Brooks TVB
* comicfanman
* vistaman44
* aaaaaaaaa
* Crimson
* djday45
* duff88
* Beno999
* Jersey-Jim

kenyan_cheena · 07-12-2013, 12:08 AM

Wednesday, 30 April, 2008...

South Anita Avenue, a peaceful, tree-lined street in the heart of Brentwood, Los Angeles. Take a left heading east along San Vicente Boulevard, and you're there. Heavyweight boxer Jack Johnson resides here, the owner of an immaculate two-storey property on the street's west side. Born in Galveston, Texas, the Athens gold medallist moved to Brentwood in March '06 when he became fed up with being harassed by religious groups in his hometown. It's a perfect, cloudless afternoon: 75 degrees and sunny. A dark red 2007 Jeep SRT-8 turns into South Anita from its north end, off West Sunset Boulevard, breaking the 2pm quiescence. The driver stops briefly outside Johnson's home, as if undecided, before pulling into the driveway and killing the engine.

A young, statuesque African-American woman climbs out, dressed resplendently in a white ankle-length floral skirt, a bright yellow sleeveless halter neck top with a plunging neckline and a wide-brimmed red sunhat. Her eyes are concealed behind a pair of dark shades. An expensive sky blue leather handbag hangs on the crook of her left arm as she walks up the path, high heels clicking on the concrete. She mounts the brief set of steps and rings the doorbell. She is anxious, nervously removing her glasses and placing them in her handbag, revealing deep, mesmerising brown eyes, eyes one could drown in if they swim in them for too long. There's a noise from inside the house and a few seconds later, Jack Johnson opens the door. He's been working out, as there's a film of sweat on his bare arms and bubbled upon his forehead. He has pulled on a fresh white t-shirt before answering the door, though, and it clings tightly to his muscular frame. He's wearing black track pants.

Jack is taken aback as he gazes upon his visitor. "Claudette," he says, surprise in his voice and alarm showing on his countenance. "Whatchoo doin' here, girl?" He holds a small hand towel, with which he wipes the sweat from his face and pate, glaring intently.

"Sorry I didn't call first, Jacky," says Claudette sheepishly, averting her eyes for a second or two. "But I was kinda worried you wouldn't wanna see me if you knew I was comin'. It's been a while." She smiles weakly, unconvincingly.

"Yeah, it has been," says Jack, eyeing Claudette up and down suspiciously. "Last thing I heard, you was in Cincinnati with your folks."

Claudette nods yes. "Just got back in town last week," she confirms. "Starting all over again, I guess. Got a room at the Inn, on Sunset, but I'm hopin' it's temporary."

There's an awkward silence between them. Claudette glances nervously over her shoulder, back towards her car, and Jack appears apprehensive about the possibility of his neighbours witnessing their conversation.

"Um, is Jessica home?" Claudette asks, hopefulness evident in her eyes.

"Nah, girl. She in New York, I think. Shootin' some rap video. Haven't seen her for a couple of weeks."

"She still living with you?"

Jack frowns, eyes downcast. "On and off, on and off. Things kinda ... cooled off between us, since November."

Claudette hesitates for a moment, then asks "Does she talk about me at all?"

Jack nods. "A few times. She be wonderin' what you're up to, what you're doing ... I seen this look in her eyes sometimes, like she sad. I guess she probably misses you."

This seems to make Claudette happy, as a smile comes briefly to her lips.

Jack sighs. "You know I never had no problem with what was goin' on between the two o' you, right? I mean, straightenin' it out with Sam, that was up to you and I wasn't gonna get involved in that. But Jess and me, we had an understandin', and I know she told you. I mean, hell, with some of the $h!t me and her got into together..."

Claudette nods, smiles sadly. "I miss her. I miss her a lot. No one ever made me feel the way she did, Jacky, and it ... it never entered my mind that I could swing that way, before she came into my life. No one made me feel so wanted, so desired ... so down for it. Not even Sammy..."

"You tried contactin' her?"

Claudette shakes her head no. "Just felt like ... we needed some space, you know? Some time apart. Don't know if that makes sense. I thought about callin' her a thousand times, but it just didn't feel right. I was hopin' to catch up with her today, though. Can't lie about that."

Another silence follows, before Jack tackles the elephant in the room. "You see the Bills drafted him?"

Claudette stares at her feet. "Yeah," she says, nodding, her voice breaking. "I'm really happy for him. I really am. But ... if I let myself think about him, it's gonna drive me crazy. Don't know if I'll ever be able to handle what we did to him, Jacky, and the only way for me to get past it is by not thinking about him."

Jack nods, his countenance torn.

Claudette looks into his eyes. "But I've thought about that night a lot, Jacky. And this is gonna make me sound like a terrible person, but I think a lot about ... what you did to me. There were nights when I'd be lyin' in bed, at my parent's place, and ... I'd be wishing you and J were there with me." Claudette's eyes fix on Jack's crotch and stay there, more than long enough for him to know what's on her mind. Slowly, her gaze moves up him until she's got him locked with those hypnotic eyes. Left hand on hip, she barely licks her top lip.

It's enough to make Jack's knees weak, more than any left hook or right hand from an opponent. His mind is conflicted, his heart triple-pounding, his manhood rising. His conscience is yelling at him, DON'T YOU DARE, JACKY!!! but his eyes are seeing nothing except the beautiful, irresistible, sexy goddess standing in front of him, almost begging him to take her. His resistance breaks quickly, predictably. He exhales, looks her up and down. Jack opens the door wider, moves aside to let her in. Claudette smiles, swaggers through the opening, stopping to slowly peck him on the cheek on the way by. Jack looks out to the street, sees that there's no one watching, and closes the door...

kenyan_cheena · 07-12-2013, 09:44 AM

I haven't mentioned it in the thread yet, but if TGPiS was made into a movie / TV show, Gabrielle Union would be playing Claudette James.

kenyan_cheena · 07-13-2013, 11:02 AM

Still working on the April IBL fight reviews. Should have it done within the next 48 hours.

kenyan_cheena · 07-14-2013, 09:48 PM

Have to admit that what I did in post #1696 was kind of cheating in regards to the way I have presented the story to all of you. See, up until then, I had only given you access to what the public knows through newspaper and magazine articles and stories on websites. By dramatizing the situation between Jack Johnson and Claudette James, I pulled back the curtain and gave YOU, the readers of this thread, a peek at something that won't make the pages of the Los Angeles Daily Mail or any other newspaper, unless Mr Johnson and Miss James are brazen enough to make their new situation known to the public.

kenyan_cheena · 07-16-2013, 09:16 AM

IBL ONLINE

The Official Website of the
International Boxing League

Thursday, May 1, 2008

(Following are selected entries from the website's "Inside the Ropes: Fight Focus" section for the month of April 2008).

(Note: (*WCC*) = World Championship Conference bout, (*IC*) = International Conference bout, (*DL*) = Development League bout).

FRIDAY APRIL 4: MANCHESTER, ENGLAND
(*IC*) (BANTAMWEIGHT DIVISION)
CARMELO ALEMAN (UNITED STATES, 9-2-2(6)) D10 JIMMY KRUG (UNITED STATES, 11-2(5))

The spoils were shared in a battle between two young, promising American bantamweights making their International Conference debuts. Both 21 year-olds, Florida native Camelo Aleman and New Jersey's Jimmy Krug brought extended winning streaks into their clash, Krug victorious in four straight going back to last May and Aleman finishing '07 with a 3-0 run. In a very even contest, the first six rounds were action packed and Aleman took a slight advantage into the bottom half of the bout. The pace slowed considerably in the 7th and didn't pick up again until the final frame, which Krug took convincingly to bring about the drawn verdict. One judge favoured him, 96-95, while the other two scorecards showed drawn verdicts at 95-95. Aleman landed 193 of 633 punches (30.5%), Krug 221 of 573 (38.6%). The result is not the end of either man's chances of gaining a berth in the '09 WCC, as victories in their remaining four contests would almost certainly be enough to gain a place in the all-important top six. Even so, it was another frustrating outcome for Aleman, who has now been involved in three draws, all during his time with the IBL.

SATURDAY APRIL 5: PANAMA CITY, PANAMA
(*WCC*) (BANTAMWEIGHT DIVISION)
#13 LUIS GALVANI (CUBA, 19-4(10)) KO10 #4 ENRIQUE PINDER (PANAMA, 24-6-2(18))

Fighting for the first time in almost seven months, hometown favourite Enrique Pinder fell to a costly defeat at the hands of Cuba's Luis Galvani in both men's opening WCC contest. Coming off a terrible beating at the hands of Australia's Jeff Fenech in a September elimination semi, Pinder was hoping to get back on track against the much lower ranked but more talented Galvani. Things started badly for Pinder when he apparently injured his right hand a minute into round two. It limited his attacking options through the rest of the bout, but whether that made a huge difference is doubtful as Galvani had built a winning lead by the end of round eight behind frenetic activity. However, rather than being content with sitting on that lead, he went for the kill. A flurry of blows dropped Pinder early in the 9th, and after climbing back to his feet at seven, he stayed out of danger for the rest of the stanza.

The fight came to an abrupt end late in round ten when a thunderous Galvani uppercut floored Pinder, who only started moving at seven and was counted out at the 2:53 mark. Galvani landed 233 of 880 punches (26.5%), Pinder just 150 of 262 (57.3%). Galvani appeared unconcerned by Pinder's offense, willingly absorbing a high percentage of the South American's punches in order to land his own. Pinder now kisses goodbye to his chances of a world title shot, and fell to a disappointing 2-4-2 since joining the IBL in '06. Meanwhile, Galvani has won seven of his last eight bouts, including three in a row, and should make a healthy jump in the rankings when they are released on May 11. However, it will probably take another victory against a top contender for him to enter the title challenge conversation.

MONDAY APRIL 7: MAGDEBURG, GERMANY
(*IC*) (WELTERWEIGHT DIVISION)
MAX RASMUTH (UNITED STATES, 12-3-1(6)) TKO5 WILFRED BENITEZ (PUERTO RICO, 18-2-2(11))

Rochester's Max Rasmuth continued his fantastic start to 2008, following up February's upset unanimous decision win over French veteran Roger Menetrey with a TKO of Puerto Rico's Olympic bronze medallist Wilfred Benitez. The fight was stopped at the 1:17 mark of round five due to a heavy cut on Benitez's forehead, which had been opened midway through round one. Later in the same frame, a Rasmuth uppercut dropped Benitez on the seat of his pants for a four-count. Sensing the danger he was in, Benitez answered strongly with a dominant 2nd but when Rasmuth bounced a right lead off his forehead early in round three, the cut was re-opened. The ringside doctor inspected it and signalled for the fight to continue, and both men landed some telling blows in the bottom of the round.

A desperate Benitez only just had the better of the 4th, but the southpaw Rasmuth was able to further worsen his forehead wound with a right hook a minute into round five. The referee halted the action soon after and this time, there was no reprieve for the Puerto Rican. Rasmuth was declared the winner by TKO and a devastated Benitez had fallen to his third career defeat in five outings. Thanks mainly to his efforts in round two, Benitez actually outlanded Rasmuth 129-93, but it meant nothing. The New Yorker celebrated with his corner crew, improving to an unexpected 2-0 in International Conference competition and opening the door for a possible entry into the WCC.

SATURDAY APRIL 12: JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA
(*WCC*) (FLYWEIGHT DIVISION)
#6 TEKO DAVIDS (SOUTH AFRICA, 29-1-1(21)) UD12 #14 SAMAN SORJATURONG (THAILAND, 23-2-3(15))

Former IBF and IBO flyweight titlist Teko Davids could not have chosen a more difficult opponent for his International Boxing League debut than Saman Sorjaturong. Even though the Thailander came into the WCC ranked at #14, he is regarded as perhaps the most talented young 112-pounder in the world. Davids is in a hurry to position himself for a shot at the world title, and his unanimous decision win over Sorjaturong will certainly help his case. Fighting for the first time in more than twelve months, the South African produced a brilliant performance to take the verdict by scores of 115-112, 116-111 and 115-112. Sorjaturong was dropped by a left hook early in round nine and barely survived the frame, before returning to his corner with some nasty swelling showing under his right eye. Davids landed an outstanding 354 of 662 punches (53.5%), the bamboozled Sorjaturong 197 of 1,163 (16.9%).

SATURDAY APRIL 12: JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA
(*WCC*) (FLYWEIGHT DIVISION)
#7 JOHN BEKKER (SOUTH AFRICA, 23-2-1(17)) SD12 #9 HIROYUKI EBIHARA (JAPAN, 21-4-2(14))

John Bekker and Hiroyuki Ebihara produced an absolute classic in the co-feature on the Rand Stadium card, the contest going right down to the wire after Bekker climbed off the canvas midway through round eleven. Ebihara, a former Inter-Continental champion, had himself barely beaten the count when Bekker floored him with a right hand two minutes into the 9th. It was an action-packed, back-and-forth stoush in which most of the rounds were won in dominant fashion. Bekker's strong effort to take the 12th proved the difference, as he took the split decision verdict by scores of 114-112, 112-114 and 114-113. Bekker's only two defeats came against compatriot Teko Davids, in November '06 and March '07, and it's doubtful they'll be meeting for a third time in the near future. Bekker will now have to chase a clash with a top contender to further establish his credentials.

WEDNESDAY APRIL 16: LEDYARD, CONNECTICUT, USA
(*IC*) (LIGHT-HEAVYWEIGHT DIVISION)
SCOT LONG (USA, 12-4-2(5)) UD10 CLARENCE HINNANT (USA, 8-4-4(3))

Kansas slugger Scot Long continued a positive start to his '08 International Conference campaign, consolidating on his February KO of Charley Berlanger by scoring a convincing unanimous decision win over North Carolina's Clarence Hinnant (98-92, 100-89, 99-90). It was a rematch of a September '06 bout that ended in a draw, and Long produced a vastly superior effort on this occasion. Hinnant was sent to the canvas a minute into round nine, but had already been subdued by that point, Long building a comfortable points lead through the top half of the contest. He outlanded Hinnant, 280-142, and has given himself every chance of finishing near the top of the IC standings with three fights remaining.

SATURDAY APRIL 19: CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, USA
(*WCC*) (MIDDLEWEIGHT DIVISION)
#9 MONTELL JACKSON (USA, 20-0(13)) KO10 #10 FREDDIE STEELE (USA, 40-2-2(34))

In a major upset, "The Tacoma Assassin" Freddie Steele fell to his first defeat since losing the IBF championship to Bert Lytell in July '06. He had been undefeated in eight bouts under the IBL banner, but faced his first real test in the young, talented Chicago native Montell Jackson. Unfortunately for Steele, it was a test he failed. Jackson showed that he could very well be a future world champion with an impressive performance, putting an eye-opening exclamation point on his efforts with a one-punch knockout late in round ten. 29 year-old Steele was as competitive as expected through the first four rounds, but when Jackson dominated the 5th, the contest turned permanently in his favour. Steele showed determination and stubborness in the 6th, 8th and 9th frames, but he didn't appear to see the left hook that put him to sleep and led to him being counted out at the 2:50 mark of round ten.

At the time of the stoppage, Jackson had connected with an outstanding 302 of 924 punches (32.7%), while Steele landed 189 of 446 (42.4%). Those totals illustrate the extent of Jackson's domination, but also his superior workrate. Like many of the fighters who were briefly aligned with the now-defunct IBO, Jackson had been out of action since March '07, when he recorded an upset win over David Hernandez in the one and only IBO middleweight title fight. This month's victory over Steele will certainly raise his stocks and move him closer to a world title challenge at some point during 2009, although another win over a highly-regarded opponent will be required to push him into the upper echelon of the World Championship Conference.

SATURDAY APRIL 19: CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, USA
(*WCC*) (JUNIOR-HEAVYWEIGHT DIVISION)
#7 MICHAEL VAUGHAN (USA, 22-3(12)) KO12 #15 PIET CROUS (SOUTH AFRICA, 22-5-2(14))

Former IBF and IBO cruiserweight champion Michael Vaughan had a tougher time than expected in his IBL debut. He may have dropped South Africa's Piet Crous four times, but he was also sent to the canvas himself midway through round two and it took until after the final bell for him to dispatch Crous. A sizzling uppercut floored Crous with just five seconds left in the bout. The South African had earlier suffered knockdowns in rounds three and five, and also with a minute remaining in the 12th. Vaughan's hometown fans gave him great support in the Chicago Stadium main event, but could not help but applaud Crous's bravery and determination at the fight's conclusion.

Going into round twelve, Vaughan held leads of five points from two judges and three points with the other, and when it was all over he had outlanded Crous, 304-193. As a former IBO champion, Vaughan has been something of an anomaly during the last twelve months as he fought twice following the demise of the IBO, the most recent of those bouts being in October. It would be quite an achievement if he is able to add the IBL world championship to his IBF and IBO titles, although it's certainly going to take more than his win over Crous to put him in the world title picture. As for Crous, he can't fall any further as he is ranked at the bottom of the WCC and can only go up from here. In order to make a significant leap, he'll need an outstanding victory in his next outing.

SATURDAY APRIL 19: BIRMINGHAM, ENGLAND
(*WCC*) (BANTAMWEIGHT DIVISION)
#3 OWEN MORAN (ENGLAND, 26-2(16)) MD12 #10 MANUEL ARMENTEROS (CUBA, 17-4-2(8))

England's Owen Moran was given a stern test by Cuba's Manuel Armenteros in both men's WCC debut. The Birmingham native avoided a possible drawn verdict when he dropped Armenteros at the midpoint of the final round, bringing about a majority decision victory (115-113, 114-114, 116-113). It was an exciting clash, with Moran starting strongly before Armenteros rallied superbly to take the upper-hand into round seven. The bottom half of the bout remained competitive and in the end only a handful of landed punches separated the two of them (Moran 276, Armenteros 271). The Cuban had an outstanding 2007, putting behind a forgettable start to his IBL campaign to go 6-0-1 and unexpectedly gain a WCC berth. Based on his efforts against Moran, he could cause some trouble through the rest of 2008. Moran's only career losses have been in an eliminator to former world champion Gilberto Roman (September '06) and an elimination semi to Ernesto Mirando in September '07. The win over Armenteros won't put him in a position to challenge for the world championship, but it won't do any harm, either.

WEDNESDAY APRIL 23: THE BRONX, NEW YORK, USA
(*IC*) (LIGHTWEIGHT DIVISION)
RUBEN NAVARRO (MEXICO, 19-6-2(13)) SD10 ASDRUBAL ROSALES (VENEZUELA, 20-0(13))

In a major upset, former WBC champion Asdrubal Rosales suffered the first defeat of his professional career, dropping a razor thin split decision verdict to Mexico's Ruben Navarro in an International Conference bout (97-95, 95-97, 96-95). After only just avoiding a similar result in his IBL debut, Rosales came up just short against Navarro, who has struggled for much of his time with the league and at one point endured a four-fight losing streak. But Navarro was in a determined state of mind for this contest and was surprisingly in the driver's seat entering round six. Although suffering a cut under his right eye, Navarro had inflicted some serious damage upon his Venezuelan opponent and by the end of round three Rosales was already wearing some nasty swelling around his left eye. The favourite rallied in rounds seven, eight and nine, but Navarro took the final frame on all three scorecards to secure a fantastic win, in which he outlanded Rosales by just a single punch (255-254).

SATURDAY APRIL 26: LAS VEGAS, NEVADA, USA
(*WCC*) (WELTERWEIGHT DIVISION)
#5 HUGO PINEDA (COLOMBIA, 23-5-1(15)) KO4 #8 VIRGIL AKINS (USA, 17-1-1(11))

Colombia's Hugo Pineda made an outstanding start to his WCC campaign with a dominant victory over St. Louis native Virgil Akins. 2007 was a year Pineda would prefer to forget, as he ended it with back-to-back stoppage losses to Enrique Diaz (in May) and Ademola Udeze (August). Diaz went on to claim the world title while Udeze was defeated by James Ray in an eliminator. By comparison, Virgil Akins was a perfect 5-0 in '07, his efforts including a brief reign as Americas welterweight champion before the title was abolished. Based on that strong form, he was expected to trouble Pineda but it never happened. The South American was in control from the opening round, sweeping the scorecards in the first three frames and knocking Akins out with a left hook early in the 4th. With all the fighters ranked above him either inactive or victorious in stage one, it's unlikely Pineda will move any higher than his current standing at #5, but the quality of his win cannot be denied.

***

(Following are selected entries from the website's "Inside the Ropes: Results at a Glance" section for the month of April 2008).

(Note: (*WCC*) = World Championship Conference bout, (*IC*) = International Conference bout, (*DL*) = Development League bout).

4/2: OSAKA, JAPAN

(*IC*) (BW) RUBEN OLIVARES (MEXICO, 11-3(11)) KO5 LEO ESPINOSA (PHILIPPINES, 10-3-1(3))
(*IC*) (BW) DANNY O'SULLIVAN (ENGLAND, 23-7-1(18)) KO9 JULIAN SOLIS (PUERTO RICO, 31-4-1(22))

4/5: PANAMA CITY, PANAMA

(*WCC*) (FLY) #13 HILARIO ZAPATA (PANAMA, 20-1-1(10)) UD12 #15 NAM-HOON CHA (SOUTH KOREA, 21-3-2(12))

4/9: TOKYO, JAPAN

(*IC*) (WW) ASHLEY JACKSON (ENGLAND, 14-2(11)) UD10 JAMES PAGE (USA, 11-5-2(6))

4/11: DEL MAR, CALIFORNIA, USA

(*IC*) (WW) ELFORD COLES (USA, 11-0(3)) TKO4 CARLOS ALOU (DOMINICAN REPUBLIC, 9-5-4(5))

4/12: JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA

(*WCC*) (BW) #11 SILENCE MABUZA (SOUTH AFRICA, 16-2-2(11)) TKO2 #15 ROBERTO RUBALDINO (MEXICO, 21-6-1(15))
(*WCC*) (WW) #13 IFEANI ADAMU (NIGERIA, 26-4-1(17)) KO1 #10 BENEDICT KHUMALO (SOUTH AFRICA, 17-2-1(1))
(*WCC*) (LW) #13 OBAFEMI ROTIMI (NIGERIA, 22-4-1(17)) TKO11 #8 BRIAN MITCHELL (SOUTH AFRICA, 34-5-2(23))

4/14: SAINT-NAZAIRE, FRANCE

(*IC*) (LHW) JACK CHASE (USA, 23-4-1(14)) UD10 CHARLEY BELANGER (CANADA, 10-5-1(5))
(*IC*) (LHW) IRAN BARKLEY (USA, 23-3-1(18)) KO10 VICTOR CORDOBA (PANAMA, 8-6-3(5))
(*IC*) (LHW) STEVE LITTLE (USA, 14-6-2(8) DQ3 PETITE FOURIE (FRANCE, 12-4(5))

4/16: LEDYARD, CONNECTICUT, USA

(*IC*) (LHW) CHARLES WILLIAMS (USA, 14-4(7)) SD10 KLAUS BIERHOFF (GERMANY, 28-7(19))
(*IC*) (LHW) STEVE GAYLE (USA, 24-3-2(16)) UD10 JASON WANGANEEN (AUSTRALIA, 10-6-2(8))
(*IC*) (LHW) EDDIE DAVIS (USA, 11-3-2(8)) UD10 JIMMY SLADE (USA, 31-5(17))

4/19: CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, USA

(*WCC*) (JHW) #9 DALE BROWN (CANADA, 16-3-2(11)) UD12 #12 DARIO WALTER MATTEONI (ARGENTINA, 29-7-3(19))

4/19: BIRMINGHAM, ENGLAND

(*WCC*) (MW) #13 RANDY TURPIN (ENGLAND, 16-2(12)) KO4 #14 FRED BOATWRIGHT (USA, 14-0-1(5))

4/21: ACCRA, GHANA

(*IC*) (LW) PERNELL WHITAKER (USA, 20-0(13)) UD10 SAMUEL MENSAH (GHANA, 16-6-3(10))
(*IC*) (LW) ORLANDO ZULUETA (CUBA, 19-1-3(12)) UD10 ANATOLY ALEXANDROV (KAZAKHSTAN, 18-7-4(13))
(*IC*) (LW) AZUMAH NELSON (GHANA, 13-3(9)) KO8 BABY VASQUEZ (MEXICO, 8-7-2(5))

4/23: BRONX, NEW YORK, USA

(*IC*) (LW) RADAMEL RAMOS (COLOMBIA, 23-2-1(15)) UD10 STEVE SULLIVAN (USA, 12-3-2(7))
(*IC*) (LW) ALFREDO PITALUA (COLOMBIA, 10-5-3(5)) KO3 RICHIE PLUNKETT (USA, 16-3(12))

4/25: ATLANTIC CITY, NEW JERSEY, USA

(*IC*) (LW) RAY MANCINI (USA, 11-5-2(7)) UD10 JUAN CARLOS RAMIREZ (MEXICO, 10-6-1(5))
(*IC*) (LW) SAMMY MANDELL (USA, 8-5-1(2)) UD10 JAVIER LOPEZ (MEXICO, 31-5-1(20))
(*IC*) (LW) IKE WILLIAMS (USA, 12-2(7)) UD10 ISHIMATSU SUZUKI (JAPAN, 8-6-3(3))

4/26: LAGOS, NIGERIA

(*WCC*) (LHW) #12 TARIBO KESHI (NIGERIA, 26-4(19)) KO9 #15 MIGUEL ANGEL CUELLO (ARGENTINA, 32-7-3(22))

4/26: LAS VEGAS, NEVADA, USA

(*WCC*) (FLY) #10 ICHIRO OKUBO (JAPAN, 34-4-1(22)) UD12 #11 RATON MOJICA (NICARAGUA, 21-4-4(12))

4/28: LAGOS, NIGERIA

(*IC*) (FW) PATRICK FORD (GUYANA, 10-3-2(4)) MD10 ROBERT BROWN (JAMAICA, 20-5(12))
(*IC*) (FW) MICHAEL SCHNEIDER (GERMANY, 34-5-2(23)) UD10 CARMELO COSTA (USA, 9-5-2(3))
(*IC*) (FW) JULIUS SIASIA (NIGERIA, 30-4-1(20) TechUD10 BRUNO ALVES (PORTUGAL, 13-6(7))

4/30: CAGUAS, PUERTO RICO

(*IC*) (FW) ANTONIO ESPARRAGOZA (VENEZUELA, 20-4-1(13)) UD10 JACK WOLFE (USA, 10-5(4))
(*IC*) (FW) JUAN LAPORTE (PUERTO RICO, 17-4-1(11)) TKO7 JAVIER VIDRIO (MEXICO, 11-1-2(4))

07-02-2013, 10:29 AM	#1681
kenyan_cheena Hall Of Famer Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Sydney, NSW, Australia Posts: 9,037	*ESPN* *Boxing* Updated: April 26, 2008 5.15 PM ET Amakochi stops Bettina in 10th round, retains world championship By Larry Holman ESPN.com Archive Nigeria's Celestine Amakochi created a little bit of history in Lagos this afternoon (US time) when he recorded a 10th round TKO of New York's Melio Bettina to retain his world light-heavyweight championship. Amakochi became the first fighter to make three successful defenses of an International Boxing League world title, following his wins over Len Harvey in August and Mark Somogyi in January. Bettina offered more resistance than his previous two opponents, making it to round ten despite being earlier sent to the canvas three times. Amakochi dropped him in the 4th, 8th and 9th frames, and added a fourth knockdown early in round ten. The world champion was relentless after Bettina climbed back to his feet, unleashing a merciless beating and leaving referee Wayne Kelly with no choice but to stop the contest five seconds from the bell. Amakochi improved his record to 27-1(19) and a perfect 8-0(6) in IBL competition. He has recorded 25 knockdowns in those eight bouts. While it was another convincing victory for Amakochi, he didn't have it all his way. Bettina (14-2(6)) showed signs of promise in round two, and then had the world champion in some trouble during the 5th, where he tagged him with a pair of stinging body shots, a right cross, a booming straight right and a left hook. It was the closest Amakochi has been to defeat since winning the title with a 13th round knockout of Harold Johnson in March '07, and he acknowledged Bettina's courageous efforts during the post-fight interview. Bettina actually outlanded Amakochi by the slightest of margins, 216-211. It meant nothing, though, as Amakochi held comfortable leads of 88-80, 87-81 and 88-80 going into round ten: partly because of the knockdowns, but mostly because he was simply more effective in seven of the first nine rounds. Amakochi not only retained his championship, he also all but guaranteed that he'll be involved in at least the next two world title fights. Amakochi defends the belt against Peru's Mauro Mina on August 16, but if he is dethroned a rematch is highly likely. His outstanding reign would demand it. The two men previously clashed in the semi-finals of the Challenger's tournament in September '06, a ten-rounder that Amakochi won by unanimous decision on the way to claiming the championship. He'll be the favourite to overcome his amateur rival once again, after which his obligations for defending the title this year will be over. However, he did say recently that if he was able to defeat both Bettina and Mina, he'll gladly put the championship on the line in stage three of World Championship Conference competition. As for Bettina, the loss ended a 22-month undefeated streak in IBL competition, during which he went 9-0(3) and won the Americas championship. His spirited effort will probably keep him where he is at #9 in the rankings, but he'll have to get right back to work and pursue a high-quality opponent for his stage two contest. Larry Holman is ESPN.com's boxing writer. Last edited by kenyan_cheena; 09-27-2013 at 10:11 AM.

07-03-2013, 11:59 PM	#1683
kenyan_cheena Hall Of Famer Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Sydney, NSW, Australia Posts: 9,037	LOS ANGELES DAILY MAIL Monday, 28 April, 2008 Buffalo Bills draft former boxer Sam McVey Story by Mark Jankowitz Oxnard native Sam McVey was selected as the 72nd overall pick by the Buffalo Bills at the annual NLF Draft yesterday, held at Radio City Music Hall in New York City. More famous for his brief professional boxing career and recently controversial personal life, McVey was actually a star high school running back and was set to attend USC on a football scholarship before turning his back on the sport to become a boxer. Jack Johnson's gold medal win at the 2004 Athens Olympics was the catalyst for McVey to make what many told him was an impulsive, rash decision. However, McVey was quick to establish himself as one of the most talented young heavyweights in the USA, a rise that culminated in him claiming the International Boxing League's Americas championship in February '07 with a victory over Florida's Cheetah Brown. But within months, things started to unravel for McVey. He suffered his first career loss in June, in his second defense of the championship, a rematch with Brown. He went on to lose his next two fights, to Italy's Francesco Damiani in August and Chicago slugger Frank Childs in October. His life then took a shocking turn in November when he was charged with assault and DUI following a domestic dispute involving his then-fiancee Claudette James and the very same Jack Johnson who inspired him to take up the sweet science. It was soon revealed that McVey had walked in on James, Johnson and his girlfriend Jessica Aguilar while they were engaged in a sex act at a Santa Monica residence, which led to an intoxicated McVey assaulting both Johnson and James and crashing his Ferrari F430 into a stationary vehicle soon after. McVey's court case concluded in January, with him being sentenced to 100 hours of community service and placed on a two-year probation. He announced his retirement from boxing soon after, saying that his enjoyment of the sport had been "tainted". He also indicated that he would be returning to his first love: football. McVey has severed all ties with both James and Johnson, apparently not contacting either of them since the November incident. He is still close with current world heavyweight champion Ken Norton, who had mentored him for much of his boxing career and has supported him through McVey's recent difficulties. Norton was present in New York with him for the draft, and McVey was reportedly ecstatic when his name was announced as the 8th pick of the draft's 3rd round on Sunday. It would be true to say that McVey was something of a celebrity going into the draft, following his success as a boxer, but a number of NFL teams cited his complete lack of college experience as a detrimental factor in their decision to pass on him. McVey has displayed tremendous dedication to his new career path during the last couple of months, something which appears to have impressed the Bills organisation enough for them to take a chance on him. General manager Marv Levy was particularly complimentary towards McVey. Even so, McVey is going to have to earn a place on the Buffalo depth chart, as the Bills drafted running back Marshawn Lynch from UC Berkeley in the 1st round of last year's draft, and he went on to rush for 1,115 yards and seven touchdowns in his rookie campaign. Regardless of what eventuates, McVey has at the very least taken the first step towards what could be a successful NFL career. Last edited by kenyan_cheena; 07-04-2013 at 12:01 AM.

07-04-2013, 12:48 AM	#1684
kenyan_cheena Hall Of Famer Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Sydney, NSW, Australia Posts: 9,037	Just in case anyone is wondering, the selection of the Bills as the team that drafted Mr. McVey was completely random, in that I used random.org to determine it. I figured he might go somewhere in the 3rd round, so I just got the website to generate a number between 1 and 32, and it came up with number 8. The Bills picked at #8 in the real life '08 draft, so that's how it happened. Further to that, in the reality of TGPiS, this is how things are in the other sports: * Football and Basketball and Hockey are exactly as they are in our reality, with the same players playing for the same teams and the same teams winning championships as they did in our reality. * Baseball is a bit different, as I've established the fact that there's a team called the New Jersey Titans that play out of Hoboken. The Yankees also exist, as I mentioned them once in a Richie Plunkett post. I've also mentioned the Los Angeles Dragons in the thread's first post, the team that James Molk's father founded. Besides that, it's probably the same teams as in real life but maybe with different players and yearly champions. I had this idea at one point to run an OOTP dynasty that would take place in the same universe as TGPiS, and could possibly still do that some day. It's for that reason I've deliberately avoided mentioning the names of any baseball players in the story so far. Last edited by kenyan_cheena; 07-04-2013 at 12:55 AM.

07-12-2013, 09:44 AM	#1697
kenyan_cheena Hall Of Famer Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Sydney, NSW, Australia Posts: 9,037	I haven't mentioned it in the thread yet, but if TGPiS was made into a movie / TV show, Gabrielle Union would be playing Claudette James. Attached Images Last edited by kenyan_cheena; 07-14-2013 at 09:44 PM.

07-16-2013, 09:16 AM	#1700
kenyan_cheena Hall Of Famer Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Sydney, NSW, Australia Posts: 9,037	IBL ONLINE The Official Website of the International Boxing League *Thursday, May 1, 2008* (Following are selected entries from the website's "Inside the Ropes: Fight Focus" section for the month of April 2008). (Note: (WCC) = World Championship Conference bout, (IC) = International Conference bout, (DL) = Development League bout). FRIDAY APRIL 4: MANCHESTER, ENGLAND (IC) (BANTAMWEIGHT DIVISION) CARMELO ALEMAN (UNITED STATES, 9-2-2(6)) D10 JIMMY KRUG (UNITED STATES, 11-2(5)) The spoils were shared in a battle between two young, promising American bantamweights making their International Conference debuts. Both 21 year-olds, Florida native Camelo Aleman and New Jersey's Jimmy Krug brought extended winning streaks into their clash, Krug victorious in four straight going back to last May and Aleman finishing '07 with a 3-0 run. In a very even contest, the first six rounds were action packed and Aleman took a slight advantage into the bottom half of the bout. The pace slowed considerably in the 7th and didn't pick up again until the final frame, which Krug took convincingly to bring about the drawn verdict. One judge favoured him, 96-95, while the other two scorecards showed drawn verdicts at 95-95. Aleman landed 193 of 633 punches (30.5%), Krug 221 of 573 (38.6%). The result is not the end of either man's chances of gaining a berth in the '09 WCC, as victories in their remaining four contests would almost certainly be enough to gain a place in the all-important top six. Even so, it was another frustrating outcome for Aleman, who has now been involved in three draws, all during his time with the IBL. SATURDAY APRIL 5: PANAMA CITY, PANAMA (WCC) (BANTAMWEIGHT DIVISION) #13 LUIS GALVANI (CUBA, 19-4(10)) KO10 #4 ENRIQUE PINDER (PANAMA, 24-6-2(18)) Fighting for the first time in almost seven months, hometown favourite Enrique Pinder fell to a costly defeat at the hands of Cuba's Luis Galvani in both men's opening WCC contest. Coming off a terrible beating at the hands of Australia's Jeff Fenech in a September elimination semi, Pinder was hoping to get back on track against the much lower ranked but more talented Galvani. Things started badly for Pinder when he apparently injured his right hand a minute into round two. It limited his attacking options through the rest of the bout, but whether that made a huge difference is doubtful as Galvani had built a winning lead by the end of round eight behind frenetic activity. However, rather than being content with sitting on that lead, he went for the kill. A flurry of blows dropped Pinder early in the 9th, and after climbing back to his feet at seven, he stayed out of danger for the rest of the stanza. The fight came to an abrupt end late in round ten when a thunderous Galvani uppercut floored Pinder, who only started moving at seven and was counted out at the 2:53 mark. Galvani landed 233 of 880 punches (26.5%), Pinder just 150 of 262 (57.3%). Galvani appeared unconcerned by Pinder's offense, willingly absorbing a high percentage of the South American's punches in order to land his own. Pinder now kisses goodbye to his chances of a world title shot, and fell to a disappointing 2-4-2 since joining the IBL in '06. Meanwhile, Galvani has won seven of his last eight bouts, including three in a row, and should make a healthy jump in the rankings when they are released on May 11. However, it will probably take another victory against a top contender for him to enter the title challenge conversation. MONDAY APRIL 7: MAGDEBURG, GERMANY (IC) (WELTERWEIGHT DIVISION) MAX RASMUTH (UNITED STATES, 12-3-1(6)) TKO5 WILFRED BENITEZ (PUERTO RICO, 18-2-2(11)) Rochester's Max Rasmuth continued his fantastic start to 2008, following up February's upset unanimous decision win over French veteran Roger Menetrey with a TKO of Puerto Rico's Olympic bronze medallist Wilfred Benitez. The fight was stopped at the 1:17 mark of round five due to a heavy cut on Benitez's forehead, which had been opened midway through round one. Later in the same frame, a Rasmuth uppercut dropped Benitez on the seat of his pants for a four-count. Sensing the danger he was in, Benitez answered strongly with a dominant 2nd but when Rasmuth bounced a right lead off his forehead early in round three, the cut was re-opened. The ringside doctor inspected it and signalled for the fight to continue, and both men landed some telling blows in the bottom of the round. A desperate Benitez only just had the better of the 4th, but the southpaw Rasmuth was able to further worsen his forehead wound with a right hook a minute into round five. The referee halted the action soon after and this time, there was no reprieve for the Puerto Rican. Rasmuth was declared the winner by TKO and a devastated Benitez had fallen to his third career defeat in five outings. Thanks mainly to his efforts in round two, Benitez actually outlanded Rasmuth 129-93, but it meant nothing. The New Yorker celebrated with his corner crew, improving to an unexpected 2-0 in International Conference competition and opening the door for a possible entry into the WCC. SATURDAY APRIL 12: JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA (WCC) (FLYWEIGHT DIVISION) #6 TEKO DAVIDS (SOUTH AFRICA, 29-1-1(21)) UD12 #14 SAMAN SORJATURONG (THAILAND, 23-2-3(15)) Former IBF and IBO flyweight titlist Teko Davids could not have chosen a more difficult opponent for his International Boxing League debut than Saman Sorjaturong. Even though the Thailander came into the WCC ranked at #14, he is regarded as perhaps the most talented young 112-pounder in the world. Davids is in a hurry to position himself for a shot at the world title, and his unanimous decision win over Sorjaturong will certainly help his case. Fighting for the first time in more than twelve months, the South African produced a brilliant performance to take the verdict by scores of 115-112, 116-111 and 115-112. Sorjaturong was dropped by a left hook early in round nine and barely survived the frame, before returning to his corner with some nasty swelling showing under his right eye. Davids landed an outstanding 354 of 662 punches (53.5%), the bamboozled Sorjaturong 197 of 1,163 (16.9%). SATURDAY APRIL 12: JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA (WCC) (FLYWEIGHT DIVISION) #7 JOHN BEKKER (SOUTH AFRICA, 23-2-1(17)) SD12 #9 HIROYUKI EBIHARA (JAPAN, 21-4-2(14)) John Bekker and Hiroyuki Ebihara produced an absolute classic in the co-feature on the Rand Stadium card, the contest going right down to the wire after Bekker climbed off the canvas midway through round eleven. Ebihara, a former Inter-Continental champion, had himself barely beaten the count when Bekker floored him with a right hand two minutes into the 9th. It was an action-packed, back-and-forth stoush in which most of the rounds were won in dominant fashion. Bekker's strong effort to take the 12th proved the difference, as he took the split decision verdict by scores of 114-112, 112-114 and 114-113. Bekker's only two defeats came against compatriot Teko Davids, in November '06 and March '07, and it's doubtful they'll be meeting for a third time in the near future. Bekker will now have to chase a clash with a top contender to further establish his credentials. WEDNESDAY APRIL 16: LEDYARD, CONNECTICUT, USA (IC) (LIGHT-HEAVYWEIGHT DIVISION) SCOT LONG (USA, 12-4-2(5)) UD10 CLARENCE HINNANT (USA, 8-4-4(3)) Kansas slugger Scot Long continued a positive start to his '08 International Conference campaign, consolidating on his February KO of Charley Berlanger by scoring a convincing unanimous decision win over North Carolina's Clarence Hinnant (98-92, 100-89, 99-90). It was a rematch of a September '06 bout that ended in a draw, and Long produced a vastly superior effort on this occasion. Hinnant was sent to the canvas a minute into round nine, but had already been subdued by that point, Long building a comfortable points lead through the top half of the contest. He outlanded Hinnant, 280-142, and has given himself every chance of finishing near the top of the IC standings with three fights remaining. SATURDAY APRIL 19: CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, USA (WCC) (MIDDLEWEIGHT DIVISION) #9 MONTELL JACKSON (USA, 20-0(13)) KO10 #10 FREDDIE STEELE (USA, 40-2-2(34)) In a major upset, "The Tacoma Assassin" Freddie Steele fell to his first defeat since losing the IBF championship to Bert Lytell in July '06. He had been undefeated in eight bouts under the IBL banner, but faced his first real test in the young, talented Chicago native Montell Jackson. Unfortunately for Steele, it was a test he failed. Jackson showed that he could very well be a future world champion with an impressive performance, putting an eye-opening exclamation point on his efforts with a one-punch knockout late in round ten. 29 year-old Steele was as competitive as expected through the first four rounds, but when Jackson dominated the 5th, the contest turned permanently in his favour. Steele showed determination and stubborness in the 6th, 8th and 9th frames, but he didn't appear to see the left hook that put him to sleep and led to him being counted out at the 2:50 mark of round ten. At the time of the stoppage, Jackson had connected with an outstanding 302 of 924 punches (32.7%), while Steele landed 189 of 446 (42.4%). Those totals illustrate the extent of Jackson's domination, but also his superior workrate. Like many of the fighters who were briefly aligned with the now-defunct IBO, Jackson had been out of action since March '07, when he recorded an upset win over David Hernandez in the one and only IBO middleweight title fight. This month's victory over Steele will certainly raise his stocks and move him closer to a world title challenge at some point during 2009, although another win over a highly-regarded opponent will be required to push him into the upper echelon of the World Championship Conference. SATURDAY APRIL 19: CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, USA (WCC) (JUNIOR-HEAVYWEIGHT DIVISION) #7 MICHAEL VAUGHAN (USA, 22-3(12)) KO12 #15 PIET CROUS (SOUTH AFRICA, 22-5-2(14)) Former IBF and IBO cruiserweight champion Michael Vaughan had a tougher time than expected in his IBL debut. He may have dropped South Africa's Piet Crous four times, but he was also sent to the canvas himself midway through round two and it took until after the final bell for him to dispatch Crous. A sizzling uppercut floored Crous with just five seconds left in the bout. The South African had earlier suffered knockdowns in rounds three and five, and also with a minute remaining in the 12th. Vaughan's hometown fans gave him great support in the Chicago Stadium main event, but could not help but applaud Crous's bravery and determination at the fight's conclusion. Going into round twelve, Vaughan held leads of five points from two judges and three points with the other, and when it was all over he had outlanded Crous, 304-193. As a former IBO champion, Vaughan has been something of an anomaly during the last twelve months as he fought twice following the demise of the IBO, the most recent of those bouts being in October. It would be quite an achievement if he is able to add the IBL world championship to his IBF and IBO titles, although it's certainly going to take more than his win over Crous to put him in the world title picture. As for Crous, he can't fall any further as he is ranked at the bottom of the WCC and can only go up from here. In order to make a significant leap, he'll need an outstanding victory in his next outing. SATURDAY APRIL 19: BIRMINGHAM, ENGLAND (WCC) (BANTAMWEIGHT DIVISION) #3 OWEN MORAN (ENGLAND, 26-2(16)) MD12 #10 MANUEL ARMENTEROS (CUBA, 17-4-2(8)) England's Owen Moran was given a stern test by Cuba's Manuel Armenteros in both men's WCC debut. The Birmingham native avoided a possible drawn verdict when he dropped Armenteros at the midpoint of the final round, bringing about a majority decision victory (115-113, 114-114, 116-113). It was an exciting clash, with Moran starting strongly before Armenteros rallied superbly to take the upper-hand into round seven. The bottom half of the bout remained competitive and in the end only a handful of landed punches separated the two of them (Moran 276, Armenteros 271). The Cuban had an outstanding 2007, putting behind a forgettable start to his IBL campaign to go 6-0-1 and unexpectedly gain a WCC berth. Based on his efforts against Moran, he could cause some trouble through the rest of 2008. Moran's only career losses have been in an eliminator to former world champion Gilberto Roman (September '06) and an elimination semi to Ernesto Mirando in September '07. The win over Armenteros won't put him in a position to challenge for the world championship, but it won't do any harm, either. WEDNESDAY APRIL 23: THE BRONX, NEW YORK, USA (IC) (LIGHTWEIGHT DIVISION) RUBEN NAVARRO (MEXICO, 19-6-2(13)) SD10 ASDRUBAL ROSALES (VENEZUELA, 20-0(13)) In a major upset, former WBC champion Asdrubal Rosales suffered the first defeat of his professional career, dropping a razor thin split decision verdict to Mexico's Ruben Navarro in an International Conference bout (97-95, 95-97, 96-95). After only just avoiding a similar result in his IBL debut, Rosales came up just short against Navarro, who has struggled for much of his time with the league and at one point endured a four-fight losing streak. But Navarro was in a determined state of mind for this contest and was surprisingly in the driver's seat entering round six. Although suffering a cut under his right eye, Navarro had inflicted some serious damage upon his Venezuelan opponent and by the end of round three Rosales was already wearing some nasty swelling around his left eye. The favourite rallied in rounds seven, eight and nine, but Navarro took the final frame on all three scorecards to secure a fantastic win, in which he outlanded Rosales by just a single punch (255-254). SATURDAY APRIL 26: LAS VEGAS, NEVADA, USA (WCC) (WELTERWEIGHT DIVISION) #5 HUGO PINEDA (COLOMBIA, 23-5-1(15)) KO4 #8 VIRGIL AKINS (USA, 17-1-1(11)) Colombia's Hugo Pineda made an outstanding start to his WCC campaign with a dominant victory over St. Louis native Virgil Akins. 2007 was a year Pineda would prefer to forget, as he ended it with back-to-back stoppage losses to Enrique Diaz (in May) and Ademola Udeze (August). Diaz went on to claim the world title while Udeze was defeated by James Ray in an eliminator. By comparison, Virgil Akins was a perfect 5-0 in '07, his efforts including a brief reign as Americas welterweight champion before the title was abolished. Based on that strong form, he was expected to trouble Pineda but it never happened. The South American was in control from the opening round, sweeping the scorecards in the first three frames and knocking Akins out with a left hook early in the 4th. With all the fighters ranked above him either inactive or victorious in stage one, it's unlikely Pineda will move any higher than his current standing at #5, but the quality of his win cannot be denied. *** (Following are selected entries from the website's "Inside the Ropes: Results at a Glance" section for the month of April 2008). (Note: (WCC) = World Championship Conference bout, (IC) = International Conference bout, (DL) = Development League bout). 4/2: OSAKA, JAPAN (IC) (BW) RUBEN OLIVARES (MEXICO, 11-3(11)) KO5 LEO ESPINOSA (PHILIPPINES, 10-3-1(3)) (IC) (BW) DANNY O'SULLIVAN (ENGLAND, 23-7-1(18)) KO9 JULIAN SOLIS (PUERTO RICO, 31-4-1(22)) 4/5: PANAMA CITY, PANAMA (WCC) (FLY) #13 HILARIO ZAPATA (PANAMA, 20-1-1(10)) UD12 #15 NAM-HOON CHA (SOUTH KOREA, 21-3-2(12)) 4/9: TOKYO, JAPAN (IC) (WW) ASHLEY JACKSON (ENGLAND, 14-2(11)) UD10 JAMES PAGE (USA, 11-5-2(6)) 4/11: DEL MAR, CALIFORNIA, USA (IC) (WW) ELFORD COLES (USA, 11-0(3)) TKO4 CARLOS ALOU (DOMINICAN REPUBLIC, 9-5-4(5)) 4/12: JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA (WCC) (BW) #11 SILENCE MABUZA (SOUTH AFRICA, 16-2-2(11)) TKO2 #15 ROBERTO RUBALDINO (MEXICO, 21-6-1(15)) (WCC) (WW) #13 IFEANI ADAMU (NIGERIA, 26-4-1(17)) KO1 #10 BENEDICT KHUMALO (SOUTH AFRICA, 17-2-1(1)) (WCC) (LW) #13 OBAFEMI ROTIMI (NIGERIA, 22-4-1(17)) TKO11 #8 BRIAN MITCHELL (SOUTH AFRICA, 34-5-2(23)) 4/14: SAINT-NAZAIRE, FRANCE (IC) (LHW) JACK CHASE (USA, 23-4-1(14)) UD10 CHARLEY BELANGER (CANADA, 10-5-1(5)) (IC) (LHW) IRAN BARKLEY (USA, 23-3-1(18)) KO10 VICTOR CORDOBA (PANAMA, 8-6-3(5)) (IC) (LHW) STEVE LITTLE (USA, 14-6-2(8) DQ3 PETITE FOURIE (FRANCE, 12-4(5)) 4/16: LEDYARD, CONNECTICUT, USA (IC) (LHW) CHARLES WILLIAMS (USA, 14-4(7)) SD10 KLAUS BIERHOFF (GERMANY, 28-7(19)) (IC) (LHW) STEVE GAYLE (USA, 24-3-2(16)) UD10 JASON WANGANEEN (AUSTRALIA, 10-6-2(8)) (IC) (LHW) EDDIE DAVIS (USA, 11-3-2(8)) UD10 JIMMY SLADE (USA, 31-5(17)) 4/19: CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, USA (WCC) (JHW) #9 DALE BROWN (CANADA, 16-3-2(11)) UD12 #12 DARIO WALTER MATTEONI (ARGENTINA, 29-7-3(19)) 4/19: BIRMINGHAM, ENGLAND (WCC) (MW) #13 RANDY TURPIN (ENGLAND, 16-2(12)) KO4 #14 FRED BOATWRIGHT (USA, 14-0-1(5)) 4/21: ACCRA, GHANA (IC) (LW) PERNELL WHITAKER (USA, 20-0(13)) UD10 SAMUEL MENSAH (GHANA, 16-6-3(10)) (IC) (LW) ORLANDO ZULUETA (CUBA, 19-1-3(12)) UD10 ANATOLY ALEXANDROV (KAZAKHSTAN, 18-7-4(13)) (IC) (LW) AZUMAH NELSON (GHANA, 13-3(9)) KO8 BABY VASQUEZ (MEXICO, 8-7-2(5)) 4/23: BRONX, NEW YORK, USA (IC) (LW) RADAMEL RAMOS (COLOMBIA, 23-2-1(15)) UD10 STEVE SULLIVAN (USA, 12-3-2(7)) (IC) (LW) ALFREDO PITALUA (COLOMBIA, 10-5-3(5)) KO3 RICHIE PLUNKETT (USA, 16-3(12)) 4/25: ATLANTIC CITY, NEW JERSEY, USA (IC) (LW) RAY MANCINI (USA, 11-5-2(7)) UD10 JUAN CARLOS RAMIREZ (MEXICO, 10-6-1(5)) (IC) (LW) SAMMY MANDELL (USA, 8-5-1(2)) UD10 JAVIER LOPEZ (MEXICO, 31-5-1(20)) (IC) (LW) IKE WILLIAMS (USA, 12-2(7)) UD10 ISHIMATSU SUZUKI (JAPAN, 8-6-3(3)) 4/26: LAGOS, NIGERIA (WCC) (LHW) #12 TARIBO KESHI (NIGERIA, 26-4(19)) KO9 #15 MIGUEL ANGEL CUELLO (ARGENTINA, 32-7-3(22)) 4/26: LAS VEGAS, NEVADA, USA (WCC) (FLY) #10 ICHIRO OKUBO (JAPAN, 34-4-1(22)) UD12 #11 RATON MOJICA (NICARAGUA, 21-4-4(12)) 4/28: LAGOS, NIGERIA (IC) (FW) PATRICK FORD (GUYANA, 10-3-2(4)) MD10 ROBERT BROWN (JAMAICA, 20-5(12)) (IC) (FW) MICHAEL SCHNEIDER (GERMANY, 34-5-2(23)) UD10 CARMELO COSTA (USA, 9-5-2(3)) (IC) (FW) JULIUS SIASIA (NIGERIA, 30-4-1(20) TechUD10 BRUNO ALVES (PORTUGAL, 13-6(7)) 4/30: CAGUAS, PUERTO RICO (IC) (FW) ANTONIO ESPARRAGOZA (VENEZUELA, 20-4-1(13)) UD10 JACK WOLFE (USA, 10-5(4)) (IC) (FW) JUAN LAPORTE (PUERTO RICO, 17-4-1(11)) TKO7 JAVIER VIDRIO (MEXICO, 11-1-2(4)) Last edited by kenyan_cheena; 07-16-2013 at 09:21 AM.

07-03-2013, 10:25 AM	#1682
kenyan_cheena Hall Of Famer Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Sydney, NSW, Australia Posts: 9,037	The Times-Picayune SUNDAY, 27 APRIL, 2008 BROWN OVERCOMES DRISCOLL IN LIGHTWEIGHT SHOWDOWN Story by Kevin Hammond New Orleans boxer Joe Brown took a considerable step towards regaining the world lightweight championship last night when he recorded a split decision win over the Welsh former world featherweight champion Jim Driscoll at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. The fight was part of competition in stage one of the International Boxing League's World Championship Conference and was greeted with some surprise when its scheduling was announced back in January. Many observers did not believe that the two former champions would seek each other out in their IBL debuts, but in hindsight it was a smart decision as they both knew that if victorious they would be eliminating one of their biggest rivals in terms of securing a world title shot. Brown had been out of action for more than a year, his last bout being in March '07 in Atlantic City when he was knocked out by Francisco Ortiz in his first defense of the world championship he won from Patricio Marquez in November '06. By contrast, Driscoll had fought three times during the same period, with two of those contests in the junior-lightweight division. While he was making his lightweight debut, a number of experts were tipping him to win due to being so active during the last twelve months and his pre-fight status as one of the top pound-for-pounders in the sport. Brown and Driscoll were ranked 6th and 7th respectively coming into the fight, and it will be interesting to see where they are placed when the IBL releases their updated standings on May 11. Brown had the better of an uneventful opening round behind a stiff left jab, and was on his way to taking the 2nd before Driscoll finished it strongly in the final minute. Not only did he land some scoring blows, he also cut Brown on the right eyebrow, although it was not a serious wound. Brown backed Driscoll up with a jolting left-right salvo early in round three and slipped a hard jab through his defenses later in an otherwise featureless frame. Driscoll made a confident start to the 4th but within the space of twenty seconds it shifted to Brown when he landed an uppercut and then a punishing left-right volley that wobbled the Welshman. Both combatants had their moments in the bottom half of the frame to make it a difficult one to score. The action dropped off in round five, with neither man distinguishing himself. Brown picked up the pace in the 6th, connecting with a succession of pinpoint jabs and a flush left hook before the stanza had reached its midpoint. Driscoll answered back impressively in its final minute, but it wasn't enough to cancel out Brown's efforts, especially when the Louisiana slugger buried a stinging left hook into his ribs. The pattern of the odd-numbered frames being less intriguing continued with round seven, as Driscoll showed little offense and Brown was content to push out that strong left lead. He opened up at the two-minute mark, tagging Driscoll with a left and a right in a three-punch flurry. It was not until the 8th round where one could say "Driscoll won that" with any conviction. He looked frustrated when he came out at the bell and caught Brown with three distinct and damaging attacks: a left-right-left volley early on, a head-snapping left hook a minute in and then a right cross that staggered Brown just before the bell. On cue, the pace slowed in round nine, and although Brown appeared to control most of it, all three judges gave it to Driscoll thanks mainly to a burst of activity in its final minute. Brown immediately took back the momentum, though, controlling the 10th and then dominating round eleven, unloading on a visibly tired Driscoll. It was a sustained period of excellence that, in retrospect, won him the fight. The 12th and final round did not feature the dramatic finish the audience was craving, but despite that, they came to their feet in applause as the last fifteen seconds ticked away. Driscoll was honest enough even before the verdict was announced to admit he had lost, and so he was genuinely surprised when Jimmy Lennon Jr. said the words "Ladies and gentlemen, we have a split decision." When Brown's victory was confirmed, Driscoll actually looked relieved, and congratulated him for a second time on his outstanding performance. Brown landed 308 of 1,223 punches (25.2%), Driscoll 222 of 761 (29.2%). Brown improved to 35-3-1(25) while Driscoll fell to his first career defeat since his ninth professional bout, when he was a junior-featherweight back in '97, and is now 36-2-3(28). Whether this defeat is the start of a downward slide for him, only time and his next fight will tell. One thing that is certain is that following this loss, Driscoll is now a good year away from even the possibility of a world title bid. While acknowledging the significance of his victory, Brown was quick to point out that he still has some work and waiting to do before he can secure an opportunity to once again become world champion. As most followers of the sport would know, there's a pair of lightweight championship bouts coming up in May (Marquez vs Ortiz) and June (Villaflor vs Hernandez), and the winners of those fights will clash in November for the official world championship. So any title shot Brown receives will have to wait until the new year, and that's only if he gets through the remainder of 2008 unscathed. There was an interesting situation during the post-fight interviews when former two-time IBL lightweight champion Rafael Limon made his way into the ring and challenged Brown to a bout in stage two of the WCC. Currently ranked at #2, Limon is another fighter who is going to be "stuck in the queue" through the rest of this year, but a Brown-Limon stoush would certainly be something to see.

07-04-2013, 09:06 AM	#1685
kenyan_cheena Hall Of Famer Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Sydney, NSW, Australia Posts: 9,037	Happy 4th of July to all of you in the USA. Hope you have a nice day. Next step is for me to sim all the International Conference bouts for April ahead of writing up the IBL ONLINE fight reviews. Might be an unexpected surprise before then, though. Something I've never done in the story so far...

07-06-2013, 02:56 PM	#1689
kenyan_cheena Hall Of Famer Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Sydney, NSW, Australia Posts: 9,037	Been sick the last couple of days so not up to writing at the moment. Will probably be MIA here for the next few, aswell.

07-07-2013, 07:45 PM	#1691
kenyan_cheena Hall Of Famer Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Sydney, NSW, Australia Posts: 9,037	Had an absolutely crap weekend. Started getting a sore throat on Thursday afternoon but didn't really feel too bad until Friday night. Sneezing, headaches, chest congestion and a blocked/runny nose on the weekend. Went to the shops Sunday morning and bought some cold and flu tablets then pretty much did nothing for the rest of the day except watch TV and browse the internet (computer is set up in lounge room). When I went to bed last night at 11.30, it felt like 24 hours had passed since I went to the shops because the day just crawled. Back to work now and feeling a bit better, but we are right in the middle of winter down here and it is damn cold.

07-09-2013, 06:59 AM	#1694
kenyan_cheena Hall Of Famer Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Sydney, NSW, Australia Posts: 9,037	About to start working on the April IBL ONLINE fight reviews. Wondering whether I should do detailed reviews for some of our fictional fighters because I'm not sure if they are reading anymore * hint hint *

07-12-2013, 12:08 AM	#1696
kenyan_cheena Hall Of Famer Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Sydney, NSW, Australia Posts: 9,037	Wednesday, 30 April, 2008... South Anita Avenue, a peaceful, tree-lined street in the heart of Brentwood, Los Angeles. Take a left heading east along San Vicente Boulevard, and you're there. Heavyweight boxer Jack Johnson resides here, the owner of an immaculate two-storey property on the street's west side. Born in Galveston, Texas, the Athens gold medallist moved to Brentwood in March '06 when he became fed up with being harassed by religious groups in his hometown. It's a perfect, cloudless afternoon: 75 degrees and sunny. A dark red 2007 Jeep SRT-8 turns into South Anita from its north end, off West Sunset Boulevard, breaking the 2pm quiescence. The driver stops briefly outside Johnson's home, as if undecided, before pulling into the driveway and killing the engine. A young, statuesque African-American woman climbs out, dressed resplendently in a white ankle-length floral skirt, a bright yellow sleeveless halter neck top with a plunging neckline and a wide-brimmed red sunhat. Her eyes are concealed behind a pair of dark shades. An expensive sky blue leather handbag hangs on the crook of her left arm as she walks up the path, high heels clicking on the concrete. She mounts the brief set of steps and rings the doorbell. She is anxious, nervously removing her glasses and placing them in her handbag, revealing deep, mesmerising brown eyes, eyes one could drown in if they swim in them for too long. There's a noise from inside the house and a few seconds later, Jack Johnson opens the door. He's been working out, as there's a film of sweat on his bare arms and bubbled upon his forehead. He has pulled on a fresh white t-shirt before answering the door, though, and it clings tightly to his muscular frame. He's wearing black track pants. Jack is taken aback as he gazes upon his visitor. "Claudette," he says, surprise in his voice and alarm showing on his countenance. "Whatchoo doin' here, girl?" He holds a small hand towel, with which he wipes the sweat from his face and pate, glaring intently. "Sorry I didn't call first, Jacky," says Claudette sheepishly, averting her eyes for a second or two. "But I was kinda worried you wouldn't wanna see me if you knew I was comin'. It's been a while." She smiles weakly, unconvincingly. "Yeah, it has been," says Jack, eyeing Claudette up and down suspiciously. "Last thing I heard, you was in Cincinnati with your folks." Claudette nods yes. "Just got back in town last week," she confirms. "Starting all over again, I guess. Got a room at the Inn, on Sunset, but I'm hopin' it's temporary." There's an awkward silence between them. Claudette glances nervously over her shoulder, back towards her car, and Jack appears apprehensive about the possibility of his neighbours witnessing their conversation. "Um, is Jessica home?" Claudette asks, hopefulness evident in her eyes. "Nah, girl. She in New York, I think. Shootin' some rap video. Haven't seen her for a couple of weeks." "She still living with you?" Jack frowns, eyes downcast. "On and off, on and off. Things kinda ... cooled off between us, since November." Claudette hesitates for a moment, then asks "Does she talk about me at all?" Jack nods. "A few times. She be wonderin' what you're up to, what you're doing ... I seen this look in her eyes sometimes, like she sad. I guess she probably misses you." This seems to make Claudette happy, as a smile comes briefly to her lips. Jack sighs. "You know I never had no problem with what was goin' on between the two o' you, right? I mean, straightenin' it out with Sam, that was up to you and I wasn't gonna get involved in that. But Jess and me, we had an understandin', and I know she told you. I mean, hell, with some of the $h!t me and her got into together..." Claudette nods, smiles sadly. "I miss her. I miss her a lot. No one ever made me feel the way she did, Jacky, and it ... it never entered my mind that I could swing that way, before she came into my life. No one made me feel so wanted, so desired ... so down for it. Not even Sammy..." "You tried contactin' her?" Claudette shakes her head no. "Just felt like ... we needed some space, you know? Some time apart. Don't know if that makes sense. I thought about callin' her a thousand times, but it just didn't feel right. I was hopin' to catch up with her today, though. Can't lie about that." Another silence follows, before Jack tackles the elephant in the room. "You see the Bills drafted him?" Claudette stares at her feet. "Yeah," she says, nodding, her voice breaking. "I'm really happy for him. I really am. But ... if I let myself think about him, it's gonna drive me crazy. Don't know if I'll ever be able to handle what we did to him, Jacky, and the only way for me to get past it is by not thinking about him." Jack nods, his countenance torn. Claudette looks into his eyes. "But I've thought about that night a lot, Jacky. And this is gonna make me sound like a terrible person, but I think a lot about ... what you did to me. There were nights when I'd be lyin' in bed, at my parent's place, and ... I'd be wishing you and J were there with me." Claudette's eyes fix on Jack's crotch and stay there, more than long enough for him to know what's on her mind. Slowly, her gaze moves up him until she's got him locked with those hypnotic eyes. Left hand on hip, she barely licks her top lip. It's enough to make Jack's knees weak, more than any left hook or right hand from an opponent. His mind is conflicted, his heart triple-pounding, his manhood rising. His conscience is yelling at him, DON'T YOU DARE, JACKY!!! but his eyes are seeing nothing except the beautiful, irresistible, sexy goddess standing in front of him, almost begging him to take her. His resistance breaks quickly, predictably. He exhales, looks her up and down. Jack opens the door wider, moves aside to let her in. Claudette smiles, swaggers through the opening, stopping to slowly peck him on the cheek on the way by. Jack looks out to the street, sees that there's no one watching, and closes the door... Last edited by kenyan_cheena; 07-12-2013 at 08:45 AM.

07-13-2013, 11:02 AM	#1698
kenyan_cheena Hall Of Famer Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Sydney, NSW, Australia Posts: 9,037	Still working on the April IBL fight reviews. Should have it done within the next 48 hours.

07-14-2013, 09:48 PM	#1699
kenyan_cheena Hall Of Famer Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Sydney, NSW, Australia Posts: 9,037	Have to admit that what I did in post #1696 was kind of cheating in regards to the way I have presented the story to all of you. See, up until then, I had only given you access to what the public knows through newspaper and magazine articles and stories on websites. By dramatizing the situation between Jack Johnson and Claudette James, I pulled back the curtain and gave YOU, the readers of this thread, a peek at something that won't make the pages of the Los Angeles Daily Mail or any other newspaper, unless Mr Johnson and Miss James are brazen enough to make their new situation known to the public.