Super Middleweight Universe -second try-

[Thomas Hearns]

SMW Ranking at the end of 1988

1 Bernard Hopkins 28-0-0 (21)
Best wins: Danny Green and Yusef Mack
2 Dariusz Michalczewski 28-0-0 (25)
Best wins Murray Sutherland and James DeGale
3 Donny Lalonde 25-2-0 (15)
Best wins Peter Quillin and Chris Eubank. Lost to T. Malinga and Fulgencio Obelmejias.
4 Montell Griffin 27-1-1 (17)
Best wins Winky Wright and Lindell Holmes. Lost to J. Jarvis
5 Fulgencio Obelmejias 27-1-0 (19)
Best wins Robert Stieglitz and Donny Lalonde. Lost to Rubin Williams
6 Glen Johnson 29-1-1 (18)
Best wins Allen Green and Vinny Pazienza. Lost to G. Catley
7 Joe Calzaghe 27-0-0 (11)
Best wins Iran Barkley and Danny Green
8 Nigel Benn 28-0-0 (28)
Best wins Thomas Oosthuizen and Manny Siaca
9 James Toney 28-0-0 (20)
Best wins Daniel Geale and Yusef Mack
10 Jermain Taylor 29-0-0 (21)
Best wins Steve little and Librado Andrade
11 Kelly Pavlik 27-2-0 (19)
Best wins Julio Chavez Jr. and Antony Mundine. Lost to Craig Cummings and B. Magee
12 Andre Ward 30-0-0 (15)
Best wins Brian Magee and Dingan Thobela
13 Rodney Toney 23-2-1 (7)
Best wins Lindell Holmes and Felix Trinidad. Lost to M. Beyer and S.Baker (stiff)
14 Marcus Beyer 22-0-0 (7)
Best wins Tony Thornton and Allen Green
15 Jeff Lacy 29-1-1 (23)
Best wins Paul Williams and H. Wharton. Lost to Don Lalonde
16 Roy Jones Jr 31-0-0 (27)
Best wins Manny Siaca and Winky Wright

(The whole roster of fighters in this universe includes 220 main boxers with ones like: Thomas Hearns, Roberto Duran, Sugar Leonard, Sergio Martinez, Carl Froch, Chris Eubank, Mike McCallum, John Mugabi, Sven Ottke, Felix Trinidad, Winky Wright and a lot more of big names).

The year 1989 is starting and it’s time to determinate the first champions on the SMW division story…

[hamed2]

Nice Thomas, an impressive list of fighters/records there!

[Thomas Hearns]

Calzaghe and Benn collide on January 5 in England.

#7 Joe Calzaghe 27-0-0 (11) and #8 Nigel Benn 28-0-0 (28) will fight for the vacant WBO SMW title on a duel between undefeated British stars. This is a fight of styles, Calzaghe has the speed and Benn has the power, the bets are tied, this is a real fifty and fifty fight.

Bernard Hopkins and Montell Griffin will fight for the vacant IBF SMW Title

#1 Bernard Hopkins 28-0-0 (21) and #4 Montell Griffin will collide on January 18^th on Las Vegas to decide who is the first ever IBF SMW champion. At this time Hopkins seems to be the top dog on this new division.

Glenn Johnson faced Don Lalonde for the WBA SMW Title

#3 Don Lalonde 25-2-0 (15) and #6 Glencofe Johnson 29-1-1 (18) will fight for the vacant WBA SMW title on February 2^nd on Canada, Johnson seems to be the favourite to win this fight but Lalonde has a great upset on his record when he beat highly regarded british Chris Eubank and he appeared to be ready for another shock.

Michalczewski and Obelmejias for the vacant WBC SMW Belt

Next February 12^th #2 Dariusz Michalczewski 28-0-0 (25) and #5 Fulgencio Obelmejias 27-1-0 (19) will fight for the vacant WBC SMW crown. Michalczewski a Polish that resides in Germany is a warm favourite to win this fight.


IBO announces a Super 8 Tournament to determine his first SMW Champion

A spokesman of the International Boxing Organization (IBO) announces today that the first IBO SMW champion will be decided with an eight man single elimination tournament.
On the following days they will communicate the entries for this tournament but there are rumors that some of the top fighters rejected the offer to fight on a risky event for a second level title.

[Thomas Hearns]

National Titles on the undercards of the title fights

All four title fights will have National titles bouts as co-feature events.
On the Calzaghe-Benn card #18 Steve Collins 26-1-1 (13) will face Ray Close 24-1-1 (8) for the BBBoC Title.
On the Hopkins-Griffin Card undefeated star #12 Andre Ward 30-0-0 (15) will fight against #17 Andre Dirrell 26-1-2 (13) for the USBA belt.
On the Johnson-Lalonde card #30 Jean Pascal 27-0-1 (22) will face fellow undefeated Eric Lucas 24-0-1 (6) for the Canadian SMW belt.
Finally on the Michalczewski-Obelmejias card #14 Marcus Beyer 22-0-0 (7) will fight against #22 Felix Stum 21-3-0 (2) for the German National crown.

IBO announces Super 8 Tournament entries

The following fighters will participate on the IBO tournament to determinate his first SMW champion:

#11 Kelly Pavlik 27-2-0 (19)
# 13 Rodney Toney 23-2-1 (7)
#15 Jeff Lacy 29-1-1 (23)
#26 John Jarvis 17-2-2- (13)
#27 Christofe Tiozzo 15-4-0 (8)
#28 Kardy Balzay 27-3-0 (20)
#34 Piotr Wilczewski 21-2-2 (6)
#35 Iran Barkley 24-5-0 (19)

The first fight card of the single elimination tournament will be on January 11th on Atlantic City and will have a double main event card with Kelly Pavlik facing John Jarvis and Rodney Toney facing Iran Barkley.

The second fight card will be on January 25th on Poland and again with two main events Jeff Lacy Vs local hero Piotr Wilczewski and Kardy Balzay against Christofe Tiozzo.

[Thomas Hearns]

Joe Calzaghe is the first SMW world champion!

On a very even and changing fight Joe Calzaghe 27-0-0 (11) edges Nigel Benn 28-0-0 (28) to win the innaugural WBO SMW crown. Benn dropped Calzaghe two times one on the third round with a great body shot and the other on the last round with a right cross to the head but the referee took two points away from him due to a pair of low blows on the ninth and tenth rounds.
The fight started with the boxers alternating on the dominance but with a little edge on Benn favor on the first half of the fight due to the knockdown scored on the third round.
Calzaghe had his better time on the fight on rounds from nine to eleven and on the final round Benn went for the KO and dropped Calzaghe but the Welshman survived the charge. The scorecards were 114-112 115-112 and 114-113 all for the new champion Joe Calzaghe. (Fightnews card was 114-112 for Calzaghe).

Steve Collins won the BBBoC SMW Title!

On the undercard of the Calzaghe-Benn fight Steve Collins 26-1-1 (13) beat Ray Close 24-1-1 (8) and won the vacant BBBoC title scoring a TKO6 –on cuts- victory- . Collins started on good form winning the first two rounds but Cloese evened the fight winning the following two but on the fourth stanza a hard jab by Collins opened a cut above Close right eye. On the fifth round Collins insists with his jab and the cut worsened a bit. Finally on tha sixth round a brutal cross by Collins reopened the cut and the referee stopped the actions. At the time of the stoppage the scorecards were 48-47 (x3) for Collins.

[Thomas Hearns]

Dawson stops Green on the last round!

On a competitve and hard fought bout #24 Chad Dawson 23-1-0 (19) stopped #55 Allen Green 21-3-0 (19) on the tenth and last round of the fight.
The pair split the first two rounds but on the third round Dawson totally dominated the actions. Green reacted on an oustanding form winning the following three rounds but Dawson answered with a great seventh stanza and mantained his momentum on the eighth round two. The fight changed again on the ninth round with Green dominating again to took a little edge on the cards. But on the last round a wicked cross from nowhere by Dawson put Green to sleep for the ten count. At the time of the stoppage the scorecards were 86-85 for Green and 86-85 and 87-84 for Dawson. (Fightnews card 86-85 for Green).

[Thomas Hearns]

IBO SMW Super 8 Tournament

Pavlik stops Jarvis on cuts!

Kelly Pavlik 27-2-0 (19) scored a TKO7 win –on cuts- when the referee stopped the actions due to a nasty cut on Jarvis’ mouth opened on the second round by a straight right and that had Jarvis bleeding from that point to the end of the fight.
Jarvis 17-2-2 (13) edged the first round but Pavlik was a bit better on the following two stanzas. On the fourth round for the first time there was a clear dominator of the actions with Pavlik clearly outlanded Jarvis.
John Jarvis reacted on good form on the fifth round but on the sixth Pavlik gave him a real beating worsening the cut with his uppercuts and hooks. Finally on the seventh round after a hard combination by Pavlik the referee looked the blooded face of Jarvis and stopped the actions. At the time of the stoppage the scorecards were 58-55 and 59-54 for Pavlik and someway 59-55 for Jarvis. Pavlik advanced to the semifinals of the tournament.

Iran Barkley destroyed Rodney Toney on three!

Iran Barkley 24-5-0 (19) scored an spectacular one-punch KO against Rodney Toney 23-2-1 (7) to secure his pass to the semifinals of the IBO Tournament.
After trading the first two rounds, the first for Barkley the second for Toney, Barkley connected a hard hook to Toney chin early on the third and dropped his rival for the full count.

[Thomas Hearns]

Chavez Jr wins the Mexican SMW crown!

Julio Chavez Jr. 25-5-0 (15) scored a razor cut majority decision win against Marco Antonio Periban 27-4-0 (18) to win the vacant Mexican SMW crown.
The fight seemed to be easy for Chavez when he dropped Periban early on the first round wth a hard hook to the head but after that it was a really back and forth fight.
Chavez Jr was the dominator on the first half of the fight but Periban reacted winning rounds seventh and eight on a one-sided form. Chavez seemed to be winded at that time.
The son of the legend came to life on the ninth round but on the tenth one Periban dropped Chavez jr with a hard cross. Periban also dominated the following round and entering on the last stanza the fight was too close. The last stanza was very even so the final result was a real guess. The scorecards were 114-112 (x2) for Chavez jr and 114-114. (Fightnews card 114-112 for Chavez Jr).

[Thomas Hearns]

Montell Griffin IBF SMW champion on an unbelievable way!

Montell Griffin 27-1-1 (17) won the inaugural IBF SMW crown when Bernard Hopkins 28-0-0 (21) was disqualified by the referee on the last round after his third flagrant foul.
Hopkins dominated all the fight on a one-sided form controlling the first eight rounds with his usual style of punching and clinching at his convenience. Griffin culdn’t decipher the puzzle at any time of the fight. By the ninth round Hopkins improved the punishment and on the tenth stanza he dropped Griffin with a great body-shot.
The only problem for Hopkins was that the referee deducted two points from him, one on the third round and the other on the seventh one, both for clear low blows.
On the eleventh round Hopkins dropped Griffin again and all seemed to be defined but the surpriese came on the last round when Hopkins hit Griffin after the break order and the referee disqualified him. At the time of the stoppage the scorecards were 107-99 (x2) and 108-98 all for Hopkins. It most than likely a rematch between this fighters.

Ward and Dirrell fight to a draw and the USBA crown is still vacant!

Andre Ward 30-0-0 (15) seemed to have done enough to win his fight against Andre Dirrell 26-1-2 (13) but the judges declared the fight a majority draw.
After the first six rounds the fight was deadly even with two rounds for each fighter and two even ones. Dirrell edged the seventh stanza but then we saw the better of Andre Ward on the fight clearly dominating the following four rounds on a row using his hand-speed and ring movement. Dirrell won the last round but it seemed to be not enough to even the fight.
The scorecards were 115-115 (x2) and 117-113 for Ward. (Fightnews card were 116-114 for Ward).
A rematch between this pair for the vacant USBA crown seems to be the most likely possibility

[Thomas Hearns]

Vincenzo Nardiello easily outpoints Arthur Abraham!

Local hero #93 Vincenzo Nardiello 23-3-1 (22) had an easier than expected time against bets favourite #94 Arthur Abraham 26-2-0 (13) on their non-title fight
Abraham dominated the first round but then Nardiello took the control for the following three stanzas. The fifth round was even but the key of the fight was the following round when Nardiello dropped Abraham with a clean hook to the chin to win the round on a big form.
Nardiello also dominated the following round but with great heart Abraham started a short rally on the following two rounds but finally the Italian won the last stanza and secured his victory.
The scorecards were 97-93 98-93 and 99-93 for Nardiello. (Fightnews card 97-93 for Nardiello).

[Thomas Hearns]

Next January 31 fans favourite #40 Sugar Ray Leonard 21-2-0 (13) will see action against #34 George Khalid Jones 23-2-3 (17) on a non title fight on Buffalo U.S.
Leonard attemps to redirect his career after two unexpected losses against Ike White (a stiff) and Lindell Holmes.

[Thomas Hearns]

IBO SMW Super 8 Tournament
Balzay stops Tiozzo and advances to semifinals!

Kardy Balzay 27-3-0 (20) stopped Christoffe Tiozzo 15-4-0 (8) on the ninth round after dropping him four times.
Balzay easily dominated the first three rounds of the fight clearly outlanding Tiozzo. On the fourth stanza a great straight right by Balzay dropped Tiozzo for a nine count. Balzay continued dominating on the fifth stanza too. The sixth round had back and forth action and for the first time Tiozzo edged a round. Balzay regained the control on the seventh round in which Tiozzo hardly connected a punch.
Tiozzo had his best round on the eight one, but this angered Balzay that on the following stanza destroyed the frenchman dropping him three times, the last one for good with a terrible body shot. At the time of the stoppage the scorecards were 78-73 (x3) for Balzay.

Jeff Lacy destroyed local hero Piotr Wilczewski!

Jeff Lacy 29-1-1 (23) scored an spectacular KO3 win with a great shot under Piotr Wilczewski’s (21-2-2 (6)) ribcage. The spectacular body shot left the Poland on the canvas claiming for air and without forces to get up.
The first round of the fight was in favor of the local fighter and the second one was an even stanza. Finally around thirty seconds into the third round came the sudden definition.

[Thomas Hearns]

Ray Leonard defeats Kahlid Jones by TKO 8!

An under-trained and a bit unmotivated Sugar Ray Leonard 21-2-0 (13) dodged a bullet when the referee stopped his fight against George Khalid Jones 23-2-3 (17) due to a nasty cut on Jones’ forehead that delivered rivers of blood into his eyes. At the time of the stoppage Jones was leading on all three scorecards (67-66; 68-65 and 67-66).
The fighters exchanged the first four rounds Jones won the first and third ones and Leonard the second and the fourth ones. Each fighter won his rounds on a big form. The cut that finally defined the fight was produced by a big uppercut by Leonard on the second round.
The fight continued with the same form with Jones winning the fifth round and Leonard the sixth one. At the end of this round the cut looked rather worse.
On the seventh round Jones put Leonard on some trouble with a cross to clearly win the round. On the eight round Leonard presured the actions and with another uppercut he opened the cut again and the referee stopped the actions.

On the undercard of this fight #112 Michael Nunn 19-2-0 (13) scored a slim unanimous decision win against #38 Dan Scommer 27-3-1 (10). The fight was a very even one all the way and was only defined when Nunn dropped Schommer on the last round with a great body shot. The scorecards were 96-93 (x2) and 95-94 for Michael Nunn.

[Thomas Hearns]

#11 James Toney 28-0-0 (20) and #26 James Kinchen 25-0-0 (21) will collide on February 27 on Miami with the NABO Title on the line.

[Infinity]

Should be some fireworks with this one...

Originally Posted by Thomas Hearns

ffice:smarttags" name="City">ffice:smarttags" name="place"> #11 James Toney 28-0-0 (20) and #26 James Kinchen 25-0-0 (21) will collide on February 27 on lace w:st="on">Miami with the NABO Title on the line. >

[Thomas Hearns]

Johnson defeats Lalonde and is the first WBA SMW champion!

Glenn Johnson 29-1-1 (18) scored a majority decision win over local fighter Don Lalonde 25-2-0 (15) to win the vacant SMW WBA crown.
For the first six rounds Johnson did the perfect fight clearly dominating Lolonde on every round on this period and also giving the Canadian a real beating on the fourth round (all three judges scored it 10-8 for Johnson).
On the second half of the fight Lalonde started a rally winning rounds seven and eight on a convincing way. Johnson reacted winning a one sided ninth round. But again Lalonde won two rounds on a row to narrow the distances. At this time the activity of the fight slowed a lot.
On the last round Johnson again clearly dominated the actions to secure his victory.
The scorecards were 116-111 and 114-113 for Johnson and 114-114 (Fightnews card were 116-111 for Johnson)

Eric Lucas outpoints Jean Pascal to win the Canadian SMW crown.

On the undercard of the world title fight on a duel of undefeated fighters Eric Lucas 24-0-1 (6) scores a unanimous decision win against hard hitter Jean Pascal 27-0-1 (22) to become the first canadian SMW champion.
With good ring movement Lucas won the first two rounds that had very poor activity. Pascal reacted winning the third stanza convincingly. On the following round both fighters exchanged blows but with Lucas having the upperhand. Pascal reacted winning the fifth round but Lucas easily outboxed him on the sixth one to end the first half of the fight with a light in his favor on the scorecards.
Pascal pressured the action on the seventh round but Lucas answered winning the following two rounds. Pascal dominated the tenth round hurting Lucas with a hard cross but Lucas managed to win the eleventh round and to edge the last one.
The scorecards were 116-112 (x2) and 115-113 for Lucas. (Fightnews card 116-112 for Lucas).

[Thomas Hearns]

Tavoris Cloud stops Tito Mendoza on the last round!

On a non-title fight undefeated #28 Tavoris Cloud 29-0-0 (26) stopped # 52 Tito Mendoza 26-4-0 (21) on the tenth and last round of their fight when the referee stopped the actions with Mendoza on the ropes and out on his feet.
Cloud dominated most of the rounds of the fight, Mendoza only moment on the bout was on the third stanza when he hurt Cloud with a straight right to clearly win the round.
Using his hooks as his best weapon and long right crosses Cloud punished Mendoza on the fourth, sixth, seventh and eigth rounds.
Entering on the last round of the fight Mendoza looked spent and Cloud went for the definition hurting him with a hook and then chasing him and connecting a cross that made Mendoza stumble to the ropes. Cloud connected a body shot and a hard right to the head and the referee stopped the actions to protect Mendoza.
At the time of the stoppage the scorecards were 89-82 and 87-84 (x2) for Cloud. (Fightnews had it 89-82 for Cloud).

[Thomas Hearns]

Sergio Martinez stops Mauricio Amaral to win Fesubox SMW title!

Undefeated argentine star #29 Sergio “Maravilla” Martinez stopped brazilian #38 Mauricio Amaral on the tenth round to win the South American SMW crown.
After a slow start on the first two rounds Martinez started to use his hand speed and boxing skills to hit Amaral from different angles. Round by round Martinez was methodicaly destroying the Brazilian. By the end of the tenth round Martinez had a huge lead on the scorecards and Amaral had his left eye almost close and looked totally spent.
Martinez went for the definition on the tenth round and with a solid left cross he dropped Amaral, the brazilian got up but Martinez dropped him again thirty seconds later with another left cross. Amaral got up again but only to eat a great uppercut to the chin by Martinez and went to the canvas for the third and last time. At the time of the KO the scorecards were 99-92 (x2) and 97-93 for Martinez. (Fightnews had it 99-92 for Martinez).

Castro defeated Maderna by TKO8 to win Argentine SMW crown!

On the co-feature event of the Martinez-Amaral fight #21 Jorge Castro 24-0-0 (19) stopped #131 Ezequiel Maderna 17-3-2 (10) and won the vacant Argentine SMW belt.
After a good first round for Maderna, Castro took the control of the fight dropping Maderna on the fourth round with a hard hook and then continued punishing Maderna for the following three stanzas. The definition came on the eighth round when Castro dropped Maderna again with a strong left-right combination. Maderna got up but Castro went over him and hit him to the head and the body dropping him for the third time on the fight. Maderna got up on bad shape and Castro connected a hook that made him stumble and it was enough for the referee that stopped the fight. At the time of the stoppage the scorecards were 69-63 (x3) for Castro.

[Thomas Hearns]

Michalczewski destroyed Obelmejias to win WBC SMW crown!

Dariusz Michalczewski 28-0-0 (25) scored a categorical TKO4 victory against Fulgencio Obelmejias 27-1-0 (19) to become the first WBA SMW champion.
Michalczewski started at accelerated pace easily dominating the first round also putting Obelmejias on trouble with a hook to the head.
On the second round Obelmejias hurt Michalczewski with a cross to clearly win the round.
Michalczewski regained the control on the third stanza and on the following round he dropped Obelmejias with a great body shot. Obelmejias got up but visible hurt and Michalczewski was merciless and connected punch after punch until the referee stopped the fight. At the time of the stoppage the scorecards were 29-28 (x3) for Michalczewski.

Felix Sturm new German SMW champion!

Felix Sturm 21-3-0 (2) upset odds favourite Marcus Beyer 22-0-0 (7) to win the German SMW title. Sturm scored a slim unanimous decision win thanks a great rally on the second part of the fight.
Beyer started the fight better winning four of the first six rounds with one for Sturm and one even.
But on the second part the things changed and Sturm won the following five rounds of the fight to turn the bout on his favor.
On the last round Beyer was more aggressive and with two hooks put Sturm on trouble but Felix survived the charge. The scorecards were 115-114 (x2) and 116-113 for Felix Sturm.
(Fightnews card 115-114 for Sturm).

[Thomas Hearns]

Oosthuizen defeats Makembi for the Southafrican SMW crown!

#49 Thomas Oosthuizen 29-3-0 (19) scored a convincing unanimous decision win against #55 Mpush Makembi 27-4-0 (15) to win the Southafrican SMW crown.
After a good start by Makembi winning rounds first and third, Oosthuizen took the control of the fight on rounds from four to six this last one on a specially big form. Makembi started a rally winning rounds seven and eight but finally Oosthuizen regained the control on the last four rounds to secure his victory. The scorecards were 117-111 116-112 and 115-113 for Oosthuizen (Fightnews card was 116-112 for Oosthuizen).

On the co-feature fight on a much better bout Ugandan hard hitter #89 John Mugabi 20-2-0 (15) scored a dominant unanimous decision win against #66 Thulane Malinga 18-3-1 (5) on a non title fight.
From the start the difference of power between the fighters was too notorious, every punch that Mugabi landed hurt Malinga. The fighters traded the first two rounds but after that Mugabi took the control of the fight. On the sixth round Mugabi gave Malinga a real beating but when he went for the definition on the seventh Malinga dropped him with a great body shot. After Mugabi got up Malinga threw all that he have and Mugabi ended the round hurt and bleeding from his left eye. On the following round Malinga went for the definition and Mugabi received him with a quick barrage of punches and dropped him. Malinga got up and hardly survived the round. Round nine was all for Mugabi and the last round was a real slugfest with both fighters trading hard blows. The scorecards were 97-91 (x2) and 95-93 for Mugabi. (Fightnews card 97-91 for Mugabi).