The Greatest Prize in Sports

[kenyan_cheena]

TheSweetScience.com

SUNDAY 2 NOVEMBER 2008

Schmeling breaks Brody's nose
in WCC rematch

Story by Jonathan Gomez

All it took was a single punch for German heavyweight Max Schmeling to re-affirm that he is one of the most dangerous and powerful competitors in the sport today. Fighting last night at the Olympia Stadium in Detroit, Schmeling stopped hometown favourite Brutus Brody midway through the 5th round of their World Championship Conference bout. A perfectly-timed right hand badly fractured Brody's nose, leaving him a bloody mess and the ringside official with no choice but to call an immediate halt to proceedings. There was little to seperate the two combatants before the bout's abrupt ending, as they traded a series of punishing blows through the opening four rounds. At the time of the stoppage, Schmeling had connected with 70 of 110 punches (63.6%), Brody 73 of 190 (38.4%).

It was a rematch of their meeting from May, a fight that also had a sudden finish when Brody opened up a ghastly gash on Schmeling's right eyelid one minute into the 4th round. Unlike last night, Schmeling had been winning that fight handily before it ended so disappointingly for him. When comparing the two stoppages, one would have to say that Schmeling's smashing right hand from last night was more impressive than the left hook Brody caught him with back in May. The IBL's opinion on the issue will determine whether Brody, currently ranked at #9, will drop into the relegation zone and, as a consequence, into the 2009 International Conference. His record is now 18-2(18), while 5th-ranked Schmeling improved to 22-2(15). Both men's two losses have come in '08, as Schmeling unsuccessfully challenged Ken Norton for the world title in January and Brody was stopped in five rounds by Terone Haynes in February.

As might be expected, Brody's manager Jimmy Vickers attempted to paint Schmeling's win as something of a fluke caused by a lucky punch. He highlighted the fact that his own man's victory in May had been looked upon in the exact same fashion, when most experts gave Brody minimal credit for the win. Vickers stressed that the same "marginalisation" should be applied to Schmeling, but became clearly irritated when his own words from May were used against him. Back then, he said that the left hook that opened Schmeling's eyelid was "as devastating as any knockout punch" and that the win was a "perfectly legitimate" one. Last night, his words had to be censored during the live broadcast, with his angry reply of "Well none of you motherf---ers agreed with me, did you?!" leaving the gathered media inside the ring momentarily stunned. It cannot be denied that the man has a point.

There were a pair of upsets in the earlier WCC bouts on last night's card. Talented Los Angeles middleweight Fred Boatwright sent Canada's former world title challenger Greg Gorecky to his second career loss. Like Schmeling and Brody, both of them have come in 2008. Ranked 14th, Boatwright needed a big win to move out of the relegation zone and that's exactly what he achieved. The southpaw started brilliantly, sweeping the opening six rounds on two scorecards, an opening Gorecky was unable to recover from. Boatwright floored him with a sizzling right hook two minutes into round eight and went on to take a unanimous decision verdict: 117-110, 114-113, 117-110.

Boatwright outlanded Gorecky 369-207, with close to half of Boatwright's blows being the lethal lead right he possesses. While a victory of this magnitude might be enough to see Boatwright (15-2-1(5)) avoid relegation, he did lose his opening two WCC contests (Randy Turpin in April and Joe Gans in August), so it remains to be seen if the IBL rewards him for his one and only victory of 2008. It would be a major surprise if Gorecky (14-2-2(8)) is consigned to the International Conference due to this defeat, as he was fantastic in taking world champion Les Darcy the full fifteen round distance back in February and should be given the chance to redeem himself next year.

It was only two months ago when Detroit's #2-ranked light-heavyweight Michael King was being discussed as a possible challenger to new world champion Mauro Mina in his first title defense. Mina's camp chose the New Yorker Ray Landis instead, leaving King to secure a stage three opponent. He went with the 14th-ranked Englishman Freddie Mills, who had been defeated in his opening two WCC outings. Expected to be a comfortable night for the hometown hero, it was anything but, and ended up scuttling King's chances of a title shot in '09. Despite dropping Mills three times and holding a comfortable lead heading into round eleven, King lost the fight by TKO due to a hideous cut above his right eyebrow. The wound was opened early in the 7th, with the ringside doctor examining it soon after, and then again late in round eleven, when the fight was stopped.

Mills had earlier cut King outside the left eyebrow midway through round one, but that gash was not as serious. In between those two incidents, King looked impressive and dominated, but was unable to put Mills away despite sending him to the canvas twice in the 3rd and then again in round four. He held leads of 97-91 from one judge and 96-91 from the other two through ten rounds, and had landed more than twice as many punches as Mills at the time of the stoppage (322-149). King (now 30-9-1(21)) could only shake his head in disgust and disappointment when the sheepish-looking Mills was announced as the victor. Unlike Boatwright, it seems unlikely that this unconvincing victory will save Mills (15-2-2(8)) from relegation. After what the IBL has already set in motion, King was never going to be next in line for a title shot, but this loss, despite the nature of it, makes his short-term chances even less likely.

[Claybor]

Nice, page #100.

[kenyan_cheena]

PENSACOLA
News
Journal

Sunday 2 November 2008

Williams continues charge
towards world title

Story by Jeff Brown

Middleweight boxer Holman Williams is fast becoming Pensacola's favourite son. Last night, in front of a capacity crowd at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, the slick man with the lightning hands systematically wore down former WBO junior-middleweight champion John Mugabi and scored a rare stoppage victory when the fight was halted one minute into the 10th round due to a nasty cut on the inside of Mugabi's left eyebrow. It had opened up early in round nine, the culmination of an accumulation of blows from Williams, who is not regarded for his punching power. He earlier achieved a feat that has also been rare for him during his time in the IBL, when a sustained flurry of punches dropped his Ugandan-born opponent for a three count late in the 8th round.

While Mugabi was able to catch Williams with an occasional hard shot, there simply weren't enough of them and when it was all over, the Florida native had outlanded him 292-131. It was #3-ranked Mugabi's first bout since being stopped by world champion Les Darcy in June. That fight also ended in the 10th round, so Mugabi (36-5-2(33)) has now lost in consecutive outings for the first time in his career. Williams came into the fight ranked at #7 and maintained the momentum he gained in an upset August victory over Rubin Carter. Not only will he move into the WCC top five, he could also find himself fighting for the world title in early 2009 if certain results go his way. Williams (22-3-2(11)) came painfully close to upsetting Jose Napoles back in March before losing by split decision, so it has been an almost perfect year for him.

They both have big fights coming up during the next few weeks, but that didn't stop former heavyweight world champion Terone Haynes and welterweight world title challenger James Ray accompanying Williams to the ring last night. Haynes takes on Germany's Mark Friedrich at the MGM Grand next Saturday in what is being spoken of as an unofficial world title eliminator while Ray squares off against world champion Emile Griffith at the same venue on November 22. It's a rematch of their classic stoush from June, which ended as a draw. Absent from Roy Jones's "Florida Alliance" stable were the International Conference competitors Elford Coles (welterweight) and Elmer Ray (junior-heavyweight), aswell as Haynes's fellow heavyweight WCC competitor/rival Romy Alvarez, who steps into the ring against Russia's Igor Berezutskiy in Chicago on November 15. No explanation was offered for their absence.

In the evening's co-feature, Mexico's former world featherweight champion Gilberto Vasquez guaranteed that he'll remain in the picture for a possible title bid in early 2009 with a dominant unanimous decision win over his compatriot Omar Calderon (118-107, 119-106, 118-107). It was Vasquez's second straight win since failing to regain the world title from Miguel Bautista in January. He defeated Italy's Loris Stecca in July, also by unanimous decision, in what was a much tougher contest than last night's one. Vasquez looked outstanding against Calderon, establishing control early and then flooring him in rounds eight and ten. Vasquez outlanded Calderon 351-157 and improved his record to 32-3-1(19). Calderon came to the IBL accompanied by a lot of hype and expectation but his next stop is the International Conference after an 0-3 year that saw his record fall to 23-4-2(14).

[Romdawg88]

Nice win for Williams, fingers crossed that things keep breaking right for him and he lands that title shot.

[kenyan_cheena]

Originally Posted by Romdawg88

Nice win for Williams, fingers crossed that things keep breaking right for him and he lands that title shot.

Well, this is what could happen:

Darcy is gonna defend the title against Wajima. If Darcy wins, the title becomes vacant at the end of the season as he is moving up to 175 next year. In that scenario, the IBL ain't gonna let Wajima fight for the vacant title after he's just lost a title challenge, so it'll be the two highest ranked fighters besides him who will contest the vacant title. Williams could very well be one of them.

However, if Wajima wins the title, Darcy will be removed from the year-end rankings and Wajima's first defense of '09 could very well be against Williams. The rules are that the champion only has to defend against the #1 contender once a year, but that only applies if they start the year as champion. So Wajima can defend against anyone from the top five in his first defense if he wants to. Williams would have a good case to earn a title shot after beating a former alphabet champion and former world title challenger in Mugabi.

Gorecky lost to Boatwright, so he'll fall out of the top five along with Mugabi. #2 Napoles takes on Steele, which is by no means a certain victory. #5 Benn takes on #9 Jackson, another tough fight. So Williams is in a great position right now.

(see post #1954 for the list of stage three WCC bouts)

[kenyan_cheena]

Okay, so here is what's coming up in the world of TGPiS...

The current universe date is Sunday, November 2, 2008.

There will be a brief mid-week article relating to the alphabet organisations, and then we will move to the Saturday, November 8 WCC extravaganza the IBL has in store for us. It begins with a card in Johannesburg, which kicks off at 1pm US eastern time. Then later on, the three-headed evening monster commences at Madison Square Garden in NYC, at around 4pm ET. The Mexico City card will commence at 5pm and the Las Vegas card at 7pm.

The IBL is scattering the start times in this fashion to allow HBO subscribers the special option to view (if they wish) the entirety of the NYC card, followed by the two headline bouts on the Mexico City card and then the two headline bouts on the Vegas card. They also have the more expensive option to purchase each card separately (and view them as many times as they wish during the following 48 hours), or the option to purchase the entire broadcast, starting from 4pm and going through to 11.30pm, and be able to switch from one card to either of the other two during the course of the live broadcast.

(HOW COOL WOULD THIS TYPE OF THING BE IN REALITY?)

8 November: Johannesburg, South Africa

1pm ET: (FLY) #6 Candido Tellez (Mexico) vs #9 John Bekker (South Africa)

2pm ET: (FLY) #2 Teko Davids (South Africa) vs #5 Humberto Gonzales (Mexico)

8 November: New York, NY, USA

4pm ET: (MW) #8 Joe Gans (Panama) vs #13 Randy Turpin (England)

5pm ET: (WW) #4 Marcelo Smith (USA) vs #11 Carmelo Barea (Puerto Rico)

6pm ET: (LHW) #WC Mauro Mina (Peru) vs #3 Ray Landis (USA)
(*IBL World Championship bout*)

8 November: Mexico City, DF, Mexico

5pm ET: (FW) #5 Vicente Saldivar (Mexico) vs #10 Sergio Palma (Argentina)

6pm ET: (WW) #2 Enrique Diaz (Mexico) vs #8 Meldrick Taylor (USA)

7.15pm ET: (LW) #2 Rafael Limon (Mexico) vs #6 Francisco Ortiz (Dominican Republic)

8.15pm ET: (FW) #WC Salvador Sanchez (Mexico) vs #4 Jesus Carrillo (Mexico)
(*IBL World Championship bout*)

8 November: Las Vegas, NV, USA

7.30pm ET: (LHW) #9 Harold Johnson (USA) vs #10 Mark Somogyi (Australia)

8.30pm ET: (LW) #4 Joe Brown (USA) vs #13 Greg Haugen (USA)

9.30pm ET: (LHW) #4 Sam Langford (Canada) vs #7 Tyrone Shelton (Jamaica)

10.30pm ET: (HW) #2 Terone Haynes (USA) vs #4 Marko Friedrich (Germany)

[kenyan_cheena]

ESPN

Boxing

Updated: November 5, 2008 5.45 PM ET

Rondon criticizes SMW tournament,
calls for WBA/WBC merger

By Larry Holman
ESPN.com
Archive

World Boxing Association president Francisco Rondon launched a renewed attack on the World Boxing Council and its aligned promoter Tyrone Hillier on Wednesday afternoon. The focus of Rondon's criticism was the super-middleweight world championship tournament that commenced in February and has been promoted by Hillier. Rondon noted that the tournament is not only "too long and contrived" but that it has failed to "capture the public's imagination", citing the lack of interest and media attention given to the tournament's most recent bouts, which were held on October 25 in Houston. On the card, Germany's Christian Fritz defeated Louisiana native Jamal Hammonds to earn a shot at Bert Lytell's WBA title and Dallas slugger David Hernandez upset local favourite Michael Barrett to clinch a challenge for Fulgencio Obelmejias's WBC strap. Both fights ended with unanimous decision verdicts.

"I had my people monitor the TV and radio stations during the 24 hours after the event," said Rondon, speaking from Los Angeles, "and besides some talk in Houston on the radio about Barrett losing, there was nothing. No mention on Sportscenter, nothing on Fox Sports. It amazed me how little interest there is in this elongated, drawn out tournament. What makes it so ridiculous is that the two titles were last defended in June, and now we have to wait until the end of February before they are put on the line again. And then it'll be July before the thing finally ends. Is there any wonder why the public is so oblivious to it?"

Rondon has an ally in his organisation's own 168-pound titlist Bert Lytell. The Californian recently expressed a desire to take part in a bout outside the confines of the tournament, but Hillier has not allowed this. Lytell was inactive for thirteen months before squaring off against Murray Sutherland in the tournament's opening stage back in February. He defeated Barrett to claim the WBA championship in June, and he is frustrated by the fact that he'll have been out of action for eight months by the time he steps in the ring against Fritz. It is amazing to think that when Lytell defeated Freddie Steele back in July '06, he was regarded as one of the top five pound-for-pound fighters in the world, but now he has become all but invisible, despite holding a world title.

It is not only Hillier who Rondon is angered by. He also spoke of his difficulties dealing with long-time WBC boss Luis Velazquez. Back in April, Rondon hosted a meeting with both Velazquez and Hillier where he floated the idea of a WBA/WBC merger, and since then, the WBC president has noticeably cooled on the idea of unification bouts between the two organisations. At present, junior-welterweight Eddie Perkins is the only unified WBA/WBC champion, and he already held that status before April. Rondon has tried and failed during the last couple of months to arrange unification showdowns at junior-lightweight and junior-bantamweight, but the WBC have been more interested in making sure their champions fulfill their obligations against "mandatory challengers".

"Nine months have passed since my cousin's passing," Rondon said sadly. "But it has been almost a year now since I came into this role. Never could I have imagined that it would be as unexpectedly challenging in regards to dealing with the WBC, who we had enjoyed such a good relationship with for so many years. I guess that's what happens when you rock the boat, when you try to upset the status quo. It's amazing to me that they don't see the truth when it is right in front of them, that the horse has already bolted and things will never be how they used to be ever again. I've often heard it said that in business sometimes you need to adapt or perish, and this is simply what I have been trying to do. I hate that we are in this position of mediocrity, and Velazquez should feel the same, but he should also want to do something significant and meaningful about it. Instead, he prefers to stick his head in the sand."

Rondon also voiced his displeasure in regards to the International Boxing League. "Those guys ambushed all of us," he said, shaking his head. "They had a truckload of money to throw at fighters, and it worked, didn't it? There's no denying that the most talented fighters are competing for them. So they are in a good position, but when they say that all of the guys who have their titles are the real world champions, it makes me laugh. Everyone knows that the WBA is the oldest sanctioning organisation in the sport, which means that the lineage of every world championship in every weight class has its beginnings with us. The belt is the lineage, not the man, so when Griffith, Anyukov, Zarate and the others relinquished their titles back in '06, they didn't take the world championship with them. It stayed with us, just as it always has, and always will."

Whether Rondon's words lead to anything remains to be seen. The man still suffers from a distinct lack of influence due to his brief time in the job, so there might not be many even listening. He did also confirm that his intention is to one day be able to compete with the IBL on a "level playing field", regardless of what the WBC may decide. Rondon admitted that he has not yet secured the type of financial backing that the IBL has at its disposal, but that in time the situation could very well change. Regardless of his point of view, one thing that nearly every boxing observer is in agreement with him over is the need for a WBA/WBC merger. It has become clear that the two bodies can't stay viable on their own, and eventually the moment of reckoning will arrive.

Larry Holman is ESPN.com's boxing writer.

[kenyan_cheena]

The Guateng Daily Star

SUNDAY 9 NOVEMBER 2008

Davids entrenches himself
at top of flyweight rankings

Story by Heino Duminy

Johannesburg-born flyweight boxer Teko Davids completed a perfect year for himself last night with a scintillating 4th round knockout of Mexico's Humberto Gonzales at the Nasrec Indoor Arena. There was little to separate them in the opening two rounds, before Davids grabbed the upper hand in round three and then dropped Gonzales twice in the 4th. The first knockdown came from a jolting uppercut just twenty seconds into the frame, Gonzales making it to his feet at six only to be knocked out cold by a flush left hook soon after. He was counted out at the 1:17 mark, the loss bringing an end to his seven-fight winning streak. With Davids ranked at #2 and Gonzales at #5, some observers had spoken of it as an unofficial world title eliminator, even though it's likely that the first flyweight championship bout of '09 will be an Arbachakov-Lynch rubber match.

Davids is now 32-1-1(22) while Gonzales fell to 18-3-1(12). With victories against top five opponents in his last two fights (he defeated Japan's Koki Kameda in July, who was ranked #2 at the time), along with an impressive win over Thailand's Saman Sorjaturong in April, the former IBF and IBO champion is deserving of a world title shot. It will be interesting to see if the IBL comes to the conclusion that Davids deserves it now rather than later, and decrees that Yuri Arbachakov's first title defense must be against him. If not, it will be just as interesting to see who Davids' management lines him up against in stage one of the 2009 WCC. Gonzales will almost certainly drop a couple of places in the rankings. This defeat, coming after a prolonged period of excellence, is not nearly enough to send him into the relegation zone.

The evening's earlier WCC contest was also in the flyweight division, and also matched a South African against a Mexican. Unlike in the main event, the hometown favourite was not victorious. Former world champion Candido Tellez scored a dominant 11th round stoppage of John Bekker, flooring him four times along the way. Bekker went down from a left-right-left salvo a minute into the 3rd, an uppercut late in round ten, a left hook early in the 11th and then a right cross near the end of the same round. The fight was stopped at the 2:49 mark with Tellez on the verge of dropping Bekker for a fifth time. The win means that, as he has said he would, Tellez (32-2-2(22)) can now move up to bantamweight in '09 and compete in the WCC there. The 29 year-old confirmed that he would have contemplated retirement if he had lost, and the relief showed on his countenance in the moments after the stoppage.

[kenyan_cheena]

I've started working on the post for the IBL's November 8 extravaganza, but it's gonna be big, so I might post it in multiple parts to make it easier to digest.

[kenyan_cheena]

Deleted

[kenyan_cheena]

Note: I have deliberately deleted the last post as I realised that the approach I took in order to present the three fight cards was going to take way too long to write. That would only exhaust myself in the writing of it, and you guys in the reading of it. I'm going to start over with a new article that will be a more concise telling of the evening's events. Not sure when it will be finished, though.

[kenyan_cheena]

The New York Age

SUNDAY, 9 NOVEMBER, 2008

IBL PUTS ON A NIGHT TO REMEMBER

Story by James Reynolds

Last Wednesday, WBA president Francisco Rondon vented his spleen on a number of issues, including the IBL. Amongst his comments was the strange assertion that, seeing as the WBA is the oldest sanctioning organisation in the sport, its titles should always be regarded as the official world championship in every weight class. Rondon also said that he hopes to one day have the financial clout to compete with the IBL on a "level playing field". Last night, the league staged an audacious three-city live broadcast that showed Rondon, once again, exactly what he's up against, and why boxing's newest sanctioning organisation has captured the attention of both devoted followers of The Sweet Science and sports fans in general.

The event commenced in New York City at 4pm eastern time, with Mexico City then kicking off at 5pm and Las Vegas at 7.30pm. Seven of the eleven World Championship Conference bouts contested were shown live on the main broadcast, with two of those being 15-rounders for the light-heavyweight and featherweight world championships. However, with the evening's staggered format, fight fans also had the option (provided by broadcaster HBO) to switch between each of the sites as the evening progressed. Subscribers also had the choice to purchase all three events and have access to unlimited viewings of each until midnight Monday. The evening was a marvellous achievement for the league, one that apparently went off without a hitch.

The schedule featured a slew of intriguing, important matchups, but none moreso than those two world title fights and the contest that ended the evening at the MGM Grand, a heavyweight showdown between former alphabet champions Terone Haynes (also a former world champion) and Germany's Marko Friedrich. Although it had not been recognised as such by the IBL, most observers regarded the clash of #2-ranked Haynes and 4th-ranked Friedrich as a world title eliminator, as the winner would almost certainly be granted the first title challenge of 2009. The fact that both men had been victorious in their opening two WCC bouts - Haynes over Brutus Brody and Joe Jeannette, Friedrich against Ike Ibeabuchi and Andrew Golota - only added extra weight to the argument.

For Haynes, a victory would also complete a trio of wins against the three other men who held alphabet titles along with him when the IBL came into being in January '06: Friedrich, Ken Norton and Sergey Anyukov. Haynes had done his best to intimidate Friedrich and get under his skin in the lead up, but the big German had greeted most of it with stony indifference. The Miami slugger's trainer Roy Jones confirmed that his man's behaviour indicated that he respected Friedrich because, as he put it, "If he don't, you ain't see him botherin' with that nonsense." Haynes even brought up old news during the week's press conferences, saying that he partly blamed Friedrich for the failure of an IBF/WBO unification bout between them to ever come to fruition back in late '05 and early '06.

At times, athletes will resort to these measures to motivate themselves, not that Haynes should have needed any extra incentive with a world title shot up for grabs. Whatever the reason, it worked, because the 27-year-old rode a strong opening all the way to an eventual 8th round TKO victory. Showing that he is as strong and tough as an Ox, Friedrich remained on his feet despite absorbing some frightening blows, especially in the 1st, 5th and 7th frames. Haynes, sporting a shaved head and decked out in his usual solid black trunks, was in a merciless mood, but even he grew frustrated with Friedrich's stubborn resistance as the contest moved into its bottom half. An accumulation of power punches throughout round eight finally led to referee Curtis Thrasher saving a spent Friedrich from further punishment and stopping the bout at the 2:09 mark.

Haynes prowled around the ring in the following moments, alternating between shaking his head "no", and nodding "yes", a fierce sneer showing from ear to ear. He landed an excellent 240 of 378 punches (63.5%), Friedrich connecting with 173 of 431 (40.1%). The win improved Haynes's record to 29-1(25), bringing an end to a perfect but frustrating year for him. He had fully expected to be attempting to regain the world title in this particular bout, but the IBL ordered the Jackson-Norton rematch instead. Friedrich (31-2-1(24)) lost no fans with his brave effort. Haynes praised him during the post fight interview, going so far as to confidently say that "when" he regains the world title, he'd gladly give the German both a rematch and a chance to win it himself.

(to be continued)

[kenyan_cheena]

Have been thinking recently of winding this up and starting again with a fictional universe, which would also include fighters based on you guys. TGPiS has become a bit too much of a monster for me to continue with as it currently stands, so it might be easier to start from scratch.

Either way, for now this uni is on hiatus.

[bob_bask]

Originally Posted by kenyan_cheena

Have been thinking recently of winding this up and starting again with a fictional universe, which would also include fighters based on you guys. TGPiS has become a bit too much of a monster for me to continue with as it currently stands, so it might be easier to start from scratch.

Either way, for now this uni is on hiatus.

Sad to hear, but understand as this is by far the most epic uni in terms of write ups.

Really enjoyed the run Eduardo Briceño had and would appreciate it if you could post up his tbdx file.

Best of luck and look forward to your next one.

[kenyan_cheena]

Originally Posted by bob_bask

Sad to hear, but understand as this is by far the most epic uni in terms of write ups.

Really enjoyed the run Eduardo Briceño had and would appreciate it if you could post up his tbdx file.

Best of luck and look forward to your next one.

Thanks. I'm still not 100% decided on quitting this thread. It's a big decision to make after all the effort and time I've put into it. Since I made that last post I've thought a lot about it, and abandoning the characters and storylines I've created here would be tough.

I do have a desire to do something which focuses more on the fighters based on our forum members, though. If I can work out a way to do that, and keep the main story going, that would be ideal. As an example, your guy Briceno will be in the IBL's D-League in '09, and I don't sim the D-League bouts. It's really just a storyline device to bring new fighters into it without having to take the time to sim their fights. I would prefer to actually run some fights for him, though, to make his involvement in it more "real".

Romy's fighter has had a prominent storyline as part of the Florida Alliance, and I would like to make the stories of some of our other guys as interesting as that, also.

[Romdawg88]

Man, it would be sad to see TGPiS go but if you do decide that it's the best route then that's the right way to go. I'll be looking forward to whatever you come up with next be it more TGPiS or something new.

[kenyan_cheena]

(continuation of post #1992)

IBL vice-president Michael Vincennes was on hand to confirm that, regardless of who emerges as the winner from next weekend's world title fight in Sydney, Haynes will be the first man to challenge for the belt in 2009. When asked whether he had a preference in regards to who he'll face, Haynes said that it made no difference to him, cockily proclaiming that the result will be the same either way. Flanked by Jones and fellow Florida Alliance members James Ray and Holman Williams, Haynes left the ring in a jovial mood a few minutes after receiving the good news. It was a fitting way to conclude a marathon afternoon and evening of boxing. But now that I've told you how it ended, let's go back to the beginning.

The main event of the Madison Square Garden card featured what was being spoken of as one of the more "low key" world title fights staged by the IBL. Peru's Mauro Mina had ended Celestine Amakochi's seventeen-month reign as world light-heavyweight champion in Las Vegas on August 16 with a 10th round TKO victory. Amakochi sustained a severe cut above his right eyebrow, leading to the stoppage. The expectation was that the two would meet again in a rematch early in the new year, but having already waited seven months before getting his shot at the title, Mina didn't want to wait another six to fight again and actively pursued a first title defense. New York's Ray Landis was chosen as his opponent.

Although ranked at #3, Landis was regarded by most observers as having not done enough to earn a title shot so early in his time with the IBL. He fought at 168 before signing with the league this year, and recorded wins over Jamaica's Tyrone Shelton (ranked #2 at the time) and former world title challenger Melio Bettina. Landis has never been considered a "name" fighter, and it was believed that his lack of profile would make the fight both a difficult sell and a "lose/lose" proposition for Mina. The champion pressed ahead, though, and was so eager to make it happen that he gave up the "home field advantage" to Landis and agreed for the bout to be staged at Madison Square Garden, with a stipulation agreed upon in the contract that the man who emerged as champion would next defend the title against Amakochi.

Mina made a promising start to the fight, being the aggressor in the opening two rounds and then taking the 3rd convincingly, but he was suddenly in trouble when a booming Landis left hook opened up a nasty cut under his right eye a minute into round four. The success emboldened Landis and he tried to end it then and there. Mina responded strongly in the 5th, but even so, at its end he was the one who looked worse for wear as some swelling had started to show under his left eye. Landis asserted himself further in round six, and punished the clearly perturbed champion in the 7th, to the point where referee Telis Assimenios stepped in and led Mina to the ringside doctor to have the wound under his eye examined.

The fight was allowed to continue and after Mina had the better of a less than eventful round eight, Landis was back in control in the 9th. He had Mina staggered twice during the frame, but couldn't finish him off, and when neither man seemed too interested in engaging in round ten, it appeared that the South American had weathered the storm. However, Landis brought the crowd to their feet when he dropped Mina for the first time thirty seconds into the 11th, a flurry of punches coming off the back of a left-right salvo put Mina flat on his back. He was up at six but appeared to be a tired, regretful mess, with a cut under his right eye and swelling around the left, and his title slowly slipping away.

A huge uppercut almost floored him again midway through the stanza, but somehow Mina made it to the bell. Assimenios spoke to Mina's corner during the intermission, appearing to tell them he would be stopping the fight if the champion absorbed the same type of punishment in round twelve. Luckily for Mina, the 12th was non-descript. Sensing that he probably needed a knockout to win, Mina gave it his all in the 13th, opening up with a succession of scoring blows before bringing a pained expression to Landis's face with a stinging body shot. But the local hero responded superbly, rocking the champion with a hard right hand to the forehead and a left hook to the ribs to almost cancel out Mina's earlier efforts.

Early in round fourteen, Landis speared a left jab through Mina's defenses and the punch worsened the cut under his right eye. Mina pleaded with the ringside doctor to let him finish the fight, but with the ugly and deep one-inch diagonal gash extending to his cheekbone and the blood steadily trickling down his face, the official had no choice. The fight was halted 39 seconds into the 14th, Landis declared the winner by TKO and an unlikely new world light-heavyweight champion. Landis launched into an excited celebration with his corner crew, defying those who have previously seen him as dour and unemotional. This was his first world title victory in any weight class, with his only other title fight being a bid for the IBF super-middleweight title against Fulgencio Obelmejias in August '06.

The punch totals told the story of a fight where both men were aggressive but had difficulty landing their shots. Landis connected with 250 of 1,046 punches (23.9%), Mina 225 of 1,033 (21.8%). The new champion is now 33-3(25), while Mina fell to 18-4(10). In a way, it is almost fitting that Mina's reign was so brief and came to an end on the back of such an unnecessary gamble. Under the IBL's rules, he was not obliged to defend the belt until next year, and may now regret his decision to do so. He has struggled for consistency under the IBL banner, having been close to earning a title shot and failing on two occasions before last January's win over Tyrone Shelton set up the clash with Amakochi (who had previously defeated him in the semi-finals of the Challenger's tournament).

(to be concluded)

[kenyan_cheena]

(conclusion)

IBL president James Molk was in attendance at Madison Square Garden to present the world title to an ecstatic Landis, while Mina departed the ring looking every bit a defeated fighter. He'll have to re-establish himself in '09, as it's unlikely that he'll be given a chance to regain the championship in the short term. His IBL record now reads an ordinary-looking 6-4(2), despite the three-fight winning streak that preceded this defeat. Landis's first defense will be against Amakochi, and one would think it will be his first and last defense, although Amakochi will return to the ring after a long layoff and such a thing affects fighters in different ways. However, the Nigerian will go into the fight as a warm favourite to return the 175-pound division to its "regularly scheduled programming".

About an hour after Mauro Mina's NYC misadventure, another world champion was also stepping between the ropes to make his first title defense in Mexico City. Salvador Sanchez claimed the world featherweight championship from Miguel Bautista back in June, and was scheduled to defend it against him in a rematch until the Dominican pulled out of the fight in mid-August due to some personal issues. Seen as the "safest" of the available options, Sanchez's compatriot Jesus Carrillo was selected as his replacement. Carrillo had won his last five bouts, and most recently defeated Orlando Salido by the narrowest of split decisions in a February upset before consolidating on that win with a 9th round KO of Juan Meza in August. Those victories saw him rise from #10 to #4 in the WCC rankings, but there were still many observers who questioned his credentials as a world title challenger.

As it turned out, those who doubted that the former WBC junior-featherweight champion would be able to test Sanchez were proven to be correct, as the Athens gold medallist retained his title with a comfortable unanimous decision win (146-137, 146-138, 146-137). Carrillo was dropped in rounds eleven and thirteen, and punished in a number of others, but he showed the courage and tenacity of a warrior, never giving up or backing down. This was never more evident than in rounds seven and eight, where he had the better of Sanchez and actually looked capable of springing an upset, if only for those six minutes. He gave it his all, and at the bout's conclusion Sanchez encouraged the crowd to show their appreciation for the brave challenger with an extended round of applause.

Sanchez landed 408 of 1,154 punches (35.4%), Carrillo 250 of 1,065 (23.5%). The champion improved his record to 23-1(18) while Carrillo fell to 32-4-1(18). He lost no fans in defeat, and Sanchez intimated that if Carrillo is able to get through the first two stages of '09 unscathed, a rematch might very well await him in twelve months from now. From this observer's view, that would seem unlikely, but if the other contenders to the featherweight throne fall by the wayside, it could very well open the door again for Carrillo. Despite going the full fifteen-round distance, Sanchez once again raised the possibility of a "superfight" with current world lightweight champion Patricio Marquez early in the new year. It's a dream he refuses to let go of, even though Marquez himself has never given any indication that he's remotely interested in the clash.

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NOTES ON THE EVENING'S OTHER CONTESTS...

* Staying in the featherweight division, Salvador Sanchez's arch rival and fellow Athens gold medallist Vicente Saldivar avoided a third consecutive defeat and maintained his place in the WCC with a 9th round TKO of Argentina's Sergio Palma on the Mexico City card. Saldivar started the fight on fire, flooring Palma with a left hook just forty seconds into the opening round. Palma weathered the follow-up barrage and looked to be in with a chance when he dominated the 3rd and held his own in an action-packed 5th. But Saldivar dropped him for a second time with another left hook late in round six, and it was mostly one-way traffic from that moment. Although there were no more knockdowns, Saldivar pummelled Palma in round nine, leading to the referee's stoppage at the 2:32 mark. Saldivar (22-3(19) will probably remain at his current rank of #5, while 10th-ranked Palma (32-4-1(26)) will be relegated.

* The man who most experts regard as the best light-heavyweight in the world, Canada's Sam Langford, concluded a perfect 3-0 year with a dominant unanimous decision win over Jamaica's Tyrone Shelton in Las Vegas (118-109, 118-110, 119-109). An overhand right dropped Shelton midway through round eight, although Langford had already made it a foregone conclusion by then. The #4-ranked Nova Scotia native outlanded Shelton 324-209 and improved his record to 23-2(16), but will have to wait until at least stage two of the '09 season before receiving the world title shot he so richly deserves. Shelton (31-6-1(20), ranked #7) is 1-3 in his last four fights and could very well slip into the relegation zone and out of the WCC when the updated world rankings are released in two weeks.

* In the earlier 175-pound clash on the MGM Grand card, Australia's Mark Somogyi not only avoided relegation to the International Conference for '09, he may have also ended the career of former world champion Harold Johnson after scoring a 10th round TKO victory. In a bloody affair, both men sustained cuts around their right eyes, with Johnson's wound at the outside of his eyebrow leading to the stoppage. The Philadelphian drew first blood though when he cut Somogyi under his eye two minutes into round two. The tough Melbournian responded by almost stopping Johnson with a 3rd round barrage, but didn't cut him until early in the 9th. The ugly gash was opened by the final punch of a left-right-left salvo, and the ringside doctor examined it twice before the round was over and then again a minute into round ten, the fight called off at the 1:10 mark.

It was heading towards a close result, as all three scorecards showed 86-85 tallies going into the 10th, with two judges favouring Johnson. The punch totals also indicated the tightness of it, as Johnson outlanded Somogyi by a handful of punches (224-216). The two combatants came into the fight ranked at #9 (Johnson) and #10 (Somogyi), so whether the IBL simply swaps their rankings remains to be seen. If that is the case, Johnson (38-5-2(26)) will almost certainly call it a day and hang up the gloves, as he had expressed a desire to compete in the junior-heavyweight WCC in '09 but that will not be possible if he finishes in the relegation zone at 175. Somogyi (19-2(14)) should consider himself somewhat fortunate if he avoids the same fate, as this was his first victory of the year, and hardly a convincing one.

* Puerto Rican welterweight Carmelo Barea sprung an upset in New York when he defeated local favourite Marcelo Smith by a close majority decision verdict (115-112, 114-114, 114-113). The victory will keep Barea in the WCC for '09 and also scuttles Smith's chances of a title bid early in the new year. With Smith currently ranked 4th and Barea at #11, the New Yorker will most likely fall at least three or four places while Barea should jump to #6 or #7. With a number of close rounds, it was a difficult fight to score evidenced by the fact that one judge gave Barea the final three frames, while another gave him only one of them. In the end, the knockdown Barea (34-4-1(20)) recorded a minute into round two proved vital. Smith fell to 29-4-1(19), the loss his first in IBL competition.

* An even bigger upset in the welterweight division took place later in the evening at the Azteca Stadium when Philadelphia's Meldrick Taylor defeated #2-ranked former world champion Enrique Diaz by split decision (116-113, 113-115, 115-113). It was Taylor's second consecutive upset victory, following on from his July unanimous decision win over Japan's Shoji Ohashi (which also took place on his opponent's home court). Diaz was coming off a dominant June stoppage of the same Carmelo Barea who defeated Smith earlier in the afternoon, and against Taylor he made a perfect start. The Pennsylvania native was deducted a point for a low blow in the opening round before Diaz punished him in the 2nd. However, the determined Taylor was soon in the contest and by the end of round seven it was all squared up.

Diaz's workrate slowed noticeably in the late rounds, and Taylor cut him under the right eye with a crisp left jab early in the 11th. Diaz dug deep to take the final frame, but the damage had already been done and when Taylor was announced as the victor, the crowd greeted the news with a stunned silence. Taylor landed 245 of 740 punches (33.1%), Diaz 253 of 843 (30.0%). Taylor is now 30-5(17) while Diaz lost for the second time in three fights to fall to 34-4(25). Taylor is 8-3 in IBL contests, with all eleven fights going their scheduled distance. It will be interesting see how far he climbs up the welterweight WCC rankings from his current standing at #8. One thing that's certain is that he is now a contender for the title and, following the loss, Diaz is not. The former champ was hoping to place himself for another title shot early in the new year, but those plans have now been scuttled.

* A pair of former lightweight world champions were also victorious, and may have even set up a rematch of their world title fight from March '07. New Orleans native Joe Brown scored a unanimous decision win over Greg Haugen in Vegas, the bout a rematch of their meeting from August that was scored as a draw despite Brown appearing to win it comfortably. A similar situation almost eventuated again, as while all three judges favoured Brown, their verdicts were very close: 115-114, 116-113 and 115-114. Once again, Brown comfortably outlanded Haugen (438-203), and landed 58% of the punches he threw. But Haugen is a busy fighter, and despite connecting with only 14% of his punches, his constant activity gave him the edge in the judge's eyes in some of the closer rounds. Brown (36-3-2(25)) will at least retain his present ranking of #4, while Haugen (27-8-3(17)) is bound for the International Conference. The Louisiana slugger said he was relieved to have survived Haugen's frenetic fighting style and looked forward to a possible world title challenge early in 2009.

Out of action since his May world title fight loss to Patricio Marquez, Francisco Ortiz of the Dominican Republic was far too good for former two-time IBL titlist Rafael Limon at the Azteca. Ortiz took a unanimous decision verdict (118-111, 119-109, 118-111) and landed a remarkable 513 of 1,011 punches (50.7%), setting a new IBL record for the most punches landed in a 12-rounder (at an average of almost 43 punches landed per round). Limon could only connect with 179 of 867 punches (20.6%) and saw his chances of gaining another world title bid go up in smoke. Limon (34-4(23)) contested five consecutive IBL world title fights in a thirteen-month period from December '06 to January '08, winning three of them and enjoying two separate title reigns. IBL rules for title fights have changed since then with the introduction of the World Championship Conference.

An antagonistic fellow at the best of times, Limon has recently told anyone who will listen that his status as a two-time champion and the fact he lost the title to Ben Villaflor by split decision in January should have been enough to grant him a rematch without having to earn it. He was ranked at #2 going into last night's fight but will definitely take a fall, while Ortiz (39-4(31)), ranked 6th, will move into title contention. However, his situation is far from ideal, as three of his four career losses have been to current world champion Patricio Marquez, with two of those coming during the last twelve months. If Marquez retains the title when he steps in the ring against Villaflor on November 22, and then elects to remain a lightweight in '09, it's doubtful Ortiz will be granted a title shot no matter who he defeats. Whether that scenario eventuates is another thing entirely, as Marquez is reportedly eager to move to welterweight next year, regardless of the result of his bout with Villaflor.

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IN SUMMARY...

* Madison Square Garden, New York

(MW) #8 Joe Gans (Panama) KO7 #13 Randy Turpin (England)

(WW) #11 Carmelo Barea (Puerto Rico) MD12 #4 Marcelo Smith (USA)

(LHW) #3 Ray Landis (USA) TKO14 #WC Mauro Mina (Peru) (*IBL World Championship bout*)

* Azteca Stadium, Mexico City

(FW) #5 Vicente Saldivar (Mexico) TKO9 #10 Sergio Palma (Argentina)

(WW) #8 Meldrick Taylor (USA) SD12 #2 Enrique Diaz (Mexico)

(LW) #6 Francisco Ortiz (Dominican Republic) UD12 #2 Rafael Limon (Mexico)

(FW) #WC Salvador Sanchez (Mexico) UD15 #4 Jesus Carrillo (Mexico) (*IBL World Championship bout*)

* MGM Grand, Las Vegas

(LHW) #10 Mark Somogyi (Australia) TKO10 #9 Harold Johnson (USA)

(LW) #4 Joe Brown (USA) UD12 #13 Greg Haugen (USA)

(LHW) #4 Sam Langford (Canada) UD12 #7 Tyrone Shelton (Jamaica)

(HW) #2 Terone Haynes (USA) TKO8 #4 Marko Friedrich (Germany)

[kenyan_cheena]

Yep, as those last couple of posts strongly imply, I have decided to continue on with this. As for my desire to make changes with it, I will leave that until I have reached the 2009 universe year, where I will re-evaluate certain aspects of the uni.

[Romdawg88]

YAY!