The Greatest Prize in Sports

[kenyan_cheena]

It appears that my dad may be close to losing his battle.

The crazy thing is that it's not the cancer that has done it. It's all the various drugs and medicines he has been on in order to try and get better. They have simply weakened him to the point where his body is giving out. It's been a catch 22 type of situation, and I'm not exactly sure why he is not getting any better, but apparently the medication they were trying to give him for the cancer was affecting his diabetes, and making it so he could not go to the bathroom properly. He's had multiple bladder infections and chest infections and has been in quite a lot of pain for the last week.

He is currently in palliative care, drugged up with pain killers and sleeping. He was not able to swallow, so he could not eat or drink, but he is getting fluids fed into him through an IV drip. My mum and brother have said he might only have a couple of days left, although his colour has improved somewhat today. I am heading back up there on Wednesday evening and, if he does pass away in the short term, I will be staying for the funeral.

[Romdawg88]

Damn KC, that is terrible news. I hope he can pull through. My thoughts are with you and your family.

[kenyan_cheena]

Originally Posted by Romdawg88

Damn KC, that is terrible news. I hope he can pull through. My thoughts are with you and your family.

Thanks, buddy. He has passed away, though, sadly. The funeral is on Tuesday. I have been up north in Queensland for the last five days now, grieving with my family and helping prepare the funeral.

[bob_bask]

Very sorry to hear your news.

[grevan]

Just saw this, sorry for your loss KC. Hang in there.

[CONN CHRIS]

So sorry to hear. You have my empathy as we are dealing with 3 of 4 parents in the end stages as well. Tough times KC.

[Romdawg88]

Damn KC, that is terrible to hear. My condolences to you and your family.

[professordp]

So sorry to read about your loss. I'm saying a prayer for you and your family.

[kenyan_cheena]

Thanks for all the kind words, guys. It is very much appreciated. My dad would have turned 72 on November 15, so he wasn't that old, but he had a good life, filled with a lot of love and happiness. He was married to my mother for almost fifty years.

I have been back home in Sydney for a day and a bit now, and trying to get back into the normal routine of things. Went to work today for the first time in a week. I did a whole lot of grieving while up north, and perhaps I am all cried out, as they say, but I feel just as sad today as I did eight days ago when he passed away.

Not sure when I will get back on track with TGPiS. Hopefully sooner rather than later.

[kenyan_cheena]

ESPN

Boxing

Updated: March 14, 2009 11.30 PM ET

Langford remains perfect
at LHW with stoppage of Gayle

By Larry Holman
ESPN.com
Archive

Canadian light-heavyweight Sam Langford all but guaranteed himself a shot at the world championship in stage two of the WCC with a dominant 9th round TKO of St. Louis native Steve Gayle tonight in Toronto. Fighting in his homeland for the first time in more than two years, #2-ranked Langford was given a hero's welcome as he made his way to the ring. With the exception of some brief moments in rounds two and four, he had little trouble with 13th-ranked Gayle, who was making his debut in the WCC after completing a 5-0 campaign in the '08 International Conference.

Langford built an early lead with a high workrate and an aggressive attitude, and after finally dropping the resilient Gayle late in the 8th and early in the 9th, the fight was stopped three seconds before the end of round nine with the Missouri slugger being battered into submission on the ropes. The bout had earlier been halted on two occasions to allow the ringside official to examine swelling under Gayle's right eye, which had come courtesy of an avalanche of Langford jabs and left hooks. When it was all over, the two-time Olympic gold medallist had landed almost three times as many punches as Gayle (324-110).

With the win, Langford improved to 24-2(17), but 8-0(6) since his light-heavyweight debut of April '07. Gayle, a former alphabet title contender, fell to 28-4-2(18). Langford, a native of Nova Scotia and a devout Christian, said he would simply be leaving it all up to God, but when asked for his own opinion he admitted that he believed that after a quartet of impressive wins in the WCC during the last twelve months, he had now done enough to earn himself a world title bid. It would be against the winner of the upcoming May 2 championship bout between titleholder Ray Landis and former champion Celestine Amakochi.

In the other WCC contest on the night, former middleweight world title challenger Greg Gorecky returned to the winner's circle with a comfortable unanimous decision victory over New Jersey's Gene Armstrong. All three judges favoured 9th-ranked Gorecky, a native of Scarborough in eastern Toronto, with identical verdicts of 118-110. He improved to 15-2-1(8) with the win, which came after a loss to the Californian Fred Boatwright in November ended his '08 campaign on a sour note. It was only thirteen months ago when Gorecky took Les Darcy the entire 15-round distance in a world title fight, and the talented youngster will now be looking to secure a clash with one of the top contenders in stage two of the WCC.

Larry Holman is ESPN.com's boxing writer.

[G-Force]

Wow...return to the forums for first time in years and see this sad news...so sorry for your loss, KC. My condolences to you and your family!

[kenyan_cheena]

My hopes for the 175-pound world title for the rest of '09 are that Amakochi regains the belt against Landis, defends it against Langford in what could possibly be one of the best fights in the history of this uni, and then the winner of that defends it against Darcy to end the year. Of course, Darcy would have to be victorious in both stages one and two for that to happen.

This will almost certainly be Amakochi's last year in the division, as he will be moving up to JHW eventually.

[kenyan_cheena]

TheSweetScience.com

SUNDAY 15 MARCH 2009

Fenech makes statement
with obliteration of Tellez

Story by Andrew Michaels

Australian bantamweight Jeff Fenech scored a scintillating 2nd round TKO of former world flyweight champion Candido Tellez at the MGM Grand last night. The two-time world title challenger kept himself in the picture for a possible third championship bid, the decimation of Tellez following up an 8th round knockout of former WBO titlist Ricardo Bedic in November. Although there were no knockdowns, Fenech absolutely pummelled Tellez, landing 81 of 137 punches thrown (59.1%) in a breathtaking performance. By comparison, Tellez could only connect with 18 of 44 punches (40.9%). The Mexican's bantamweight debut ended up being a fight he'll want to quickly forget, that is if he even remembers any of it.

The end came at the 2:43 mark of round two, with the last three punches Fenech landed being perhaps the most brutal of the fight, as they snapped Tellez's head back and around and had him slumping to the canvas before referee Alan Moore jumped in to save him. The victory improved #2-ranked Fenech's record to 23-2(19) while Tellez suffered just his third career defeat to fall to 32-3-2(22). All three losses have come during the last 24 months, a stretch where he has struggled through a 3-3 run. Tellez will most likely take a heavy fall from his current ranking at #10, and his ambitions of challenging for the world title this year have gone up in smoke.

Fenech did not want to speculate on his chances of another title shot, conceding that after his failures against Gilberto Roman (TKO14, March '07) and Carlos Zarate (TKO4, July '08) he was going to have to wait his turn and make every post a winner in the meantime. Current world champion Roman will defend the title against 3rd-ranked Atsuto Hasebe in stage two of the WCC in June. If Fenech is able to record a victory over a fellow top contender in stage two, such as the winner of the upcoming May 9 clash between Owen Moran (#1) and Luis Galvani (#4), it will most likely be enough to see him challenging for the title again at the end of the year.

In last night's co-feature, Mexican featherweight Vicente Saldivar started the year with a dominant 12th round TKO of WCC debutant Michael Schneider. The German is the most experienced competitior in the 126-pound division's WCC this year, having fought in 45 pro bouts before last night's clash. Schneider went 5-0 in the International Conference last year but Saldivar was a clear step up in class, and after a surprisingly promising start, Schneider struggled through the remainder of the fight. Saldivar dropped him late in the 8th with a right cross, and then cut him on the forehead midway through round nine. Schneider was sent to the canvas again by a left hook 45 seconds into the 10th, and after the German's forehead wound became more severe, the ringside doctor examined it early in round eleven.

Saldivar floored him for a third time soon after, that smashing left hook doing the damage again. The bout was stopped early in the final round to allow the doctor to once again check Schneider's cut, and on this occasion it was decided he could not continue. The official stoppage time was 0:14 of the 12th, the win being Saldivar's second in a row since back-to-back losses to Salvador Sanchez and Jose Molina. He outlanded Schneider by more than twice as many punches, 338-164. Saldivar's record is now 23-3(20), while Schneider fell to 38-6-2(25). Currently ranked at #4, Saldivar is unlikely to move any higher as a result of this victory against 12th-ranked Schneider. His goal is obviously a third meeting with current world champion Sanchez, but that could be a way off, with Sanchez set to defend the belt on April 25 ahead of a possible superfight against world lightweight champion Patricio Marquez.

Another featherweight contender featured earlier on the card, with the Englishman Charlie Beniston surviving two trips to the canvas before recording a slim unanimous decision victory over the only man who has defeated him in the pro ranks, Thailand's Withaya Paholpat. The verdicts of 112-111, 114-110 and 112-111 saw Bensiton stretch his winning streak to seven since Paholpat knocked him out in an Inter-Continental championship bout back in April '07. It was an odd fight, with both men receiving point deductions for foul play in consecutive rounds - Beniston for leading with the head in the 6th, and Paholpat for a pair of low blows in the 7th. In the eyes of two judges, both fighters won the respective stanzas, leading to the rare situation where their scorecards showed consecutive 9-9 rounds.

Beniston was in trouble early when a left hook dropped him shortly before the end of round one. Paholpat maintained the momentum in round two, but once Beniston got into the fight in the 3rd, he remained in control through until he floored Paholpat with an overhand right midway through round nine. Paholpat finished strongly, and when he planted Beniston on his backside with a jolting uppercut late in the final frame, the possibility was there that he might have pulled off the upset, or at least secured a draw. But it was not to be. Paholpat held a slight edge in punches landed (242-231), but Beniston (now 17-1(7)) was the busier fighter, which is what appears to have won him the contest. Paholpat fell to 15-5(6). The young Thai clearly has talent, but has had trouble with showing it on a consistent basis, as he is now 2-2 in the WCC and 9-4 in the IBL overall.

[kenyan_cheena]

The next three posts will be reviews of the WCC fight cards on 21 and 28 March, after which there will be some IBL ONLINE posts for the WCC cards I did not review, along with ones for the IC and DL March bouts.

Note: WCC stage one schedule is in post #2109.

[kenyan_cheena]

The Miami Herald

SUNDAY 22 MARCH 2009

LOFTON SHOCKS NAPOLES
WITH 12TH ROUND KNOCKOUT

Story by Michael Lawson

The world title aspirations of Cuban-born Miami-raised middleweight boxer Jose Napoles suffered a second consecutive setback last night when he was knocked out midway through the 12th and final round of his IBL World Championship Conference bout against Tampa's Jemar Lofton at the AmericanAirlines Arena. It was a rematch of a clash from April '07, in which an ill-fated IBO junior-middleweight belt was on the line. Napoles won that first meeting via 5th round TKO, but it was a win that came against a younger, less experienced Lofton, and last night the 24-year-old gained revenge for the only defeat of his professional career. Napoles dropped a majority decision verdict to former alphabet titlist Freddie Steele in November, and as a consequence Steele will be challenging Koichi Wajima for the world title in June.

In an early contender for Fight of the Year, Napoles made a fantastic start against Lofton, taking the opening two frames convincingly. But Lofton rallied, punishing Napoles in the 3rd and refusing to surrender the momentum. Napoles was willing and hungry, but no matter what he did, Lofton was just a little bit better and by the end of the 9th, he had built leads of four and five points on two of the scorecards. As if there had not already been enough drama, the final quarter of the contest would prove to be its most exciting. With Lofton appearing to be on his way to taking round ten, Napoles dropped him with an overhand right at the two minute mark. He was up at five, but the fight had suddenly turned in the veteran's favour.

Showing his champion qualities, Napoles sent Lofton to the canvas again just fifteen seconds from the end of the 11th, a left-right-left salvo doing the damage this time. Lofton made it to his feet at eight on shaky legs, and luckily for him the bell sounded moments later. The stage was set for a thrilling final stanza, but with neither man doing much during its opening half the tension mounted. From seemingly out of nowehere, Lofton unleashed a left hook that caught Napoles flush on the chin and dropped him onto the seat of his pants, sending a roar of both shock and approval around the venue. Napoles fell sideways and appeared to be out cold before starting to move as the count reached seven. He wore a vacant countenance, and was counted out at the 1:48 mark.

The corner crew of 12th-ranked Lofton flooded the ring and celebrated, his trainer lifting him up in a triumphant embrace. In an indication of the quality and competitiveness of the fight, Lofton outlanded Napoles by just a handful of punches, 306-300. The local favourite had criticised the scoring in his November loss to Steele but he offered no excuses on this occasion, heaping praise on Lofton for his determination and resolve for recovering from knockdowns in the 10th and 11th to then reverse the tables and stop him. Napoles (31-4(25)) could only shake his head and grimace when asked where he goes from here. He will surely drop at least four places from his current ranking of #6, and will be spending the rest of the year just trying to stay in the WCC for 2010. Lofton meanwhile is now amongst the division's top contenders, improving his record to 29-1-1(22) with the stunning victory.

[Cap]

So sorry to hear of the death of your father. This month marks 14 years since my own dear old dad passed away. My mum died on St Paddy's day 10 years ago. I miss them both.

Cap

[kenyan_cheena]

TheSweetScience.com

SUNDAY 22 MARCH 2009

A bad night for the Florida Alliance

Story by Jonathan Gomez

Jemar Lofton's upset victory over Jose Napoles in the main event was the biggest story from last night's IBL fight card at the AmericanAirlines Arena, but there was plenty of drama during the preliminaries, also. There were two competitors in action from the stable of Pensacola-based trainer Roy Jones - unofficially known as the "Florida Alliance" - and both of them suffered unexpected and disappointing losses. Considering the fact that in 2008, four of Jones's fighters featured in the league's World Championship Conference and accumulated an impressive combined record of 9-2-1, having two of them lose on the same night was not the start to '09 the trainer was hoping for.

Promising young welterweight Elford Coles was making his WCC debut after going through the '08 International Conference undefeated and bringing a record of 14-0-1(4) into the new year. Ranked at #11, Coles was up against the experienced Filipino Emmanuel Torres (ranked 16th), who had also made his way into the WCC via the IC. Torres had a tough time during his early days with the IBL, losing his first four contests and six of his first eight through the end of '07. But he rebounded last year, going 4-1 in his five IC bouts. Expected to be a future world title contender, Coles was a warm favourite and through the opening two rounds he lived up to that billing with a dominant start.

But early in the 3rd, Torres hurt Coles with a left-right salvo and for the rest of the frame, the Jacksonville native struggled to stay on his feet in the face of a prolonged assault. The fight had suddenly turned and become not such a sure thing for Coles. Amazingly, for the next six rounds, the momentum shifted back and forth from stanza to stanza, with Coles controlling the even-numbered rounds, and Torres the odd. Torres had Coles in a world of trouble late in the 7th, and he was lucky to survive it after a left hook turned his legs to jelly fifteen seconds before the bell. The youngster appeared traumatised as he sat on his stool during the intermission, the challenge Torres was providing unlike anything he had faced before in his short career.

There was little to separate them through the first two minutes of the 10th, with Coles starting strongly before Torres caught him with a left hook and a succession of jabs. The fight ended abruptly when a right cross put Coles on his back and he was counted out at the 2:21 mark. It was only the second trip to the canvas of his career, but it led to his first defeat. At the time of the stoppage, Torres (now 23-8-1(13)) had outlanded Coles 228-197. The loss will serve as a valuable lesson for Coles, a dose of reality that he probably needed to make him see that adversity comes with the territory. Torres is now in a position to possibly secure a clash with one of the top contenders for stage two, as he is now on a four-fight winning streak.

The evening's co-feature matched up two of the best young heavyweights in the USA, both of them from Florida in Tampa's Cheetah Brown and Jones's charge, 7th-ranked Romy Alvarez of Belle Glade. It was a clash that could have taken place on three other occasions during the earlier stages of competition in the IBL, but each time a loss by one man or the other derailed it. With both men now in the World Championship Conference, they were more than eager to finally step in the ring against each other as soon as possible. Brown (ranked 12th) came into the WCC from the '08 International Conference, where he was a perfect 5-0. Alvarez was 2-1 in the WCC last year, his one loss to top contender Lennox Lewis and his victories coming over Alexander Zolkin and Igor Berezutskiy.

Alvarez is regarded as one of the most gifted boxers in the heavyweight division, while Brown's game is power and aggression. The action in the opening round was scarce, with each man landing a flurry of blows at different stages but little else. Alvarez's jab was persistent and kept Brown at a distance, and it was enough for him to edge the frame. But Brown stepped up his workrate in the 2nd and caught Alvarez with a series of punishing blows early and then a left hook and a jolting uppercut late. Alvarez shook Brown with a left-right-left salvo early in round three, but the Tampa slugger finished the round strongly. A stinging left to the body, another chin-snapping uppercut and a pair of left-right combos rocked Alvarez, who wore a perturbed gaze as he returned to his corner.

Brown continued his good work early in the 4th, catching his opponent with a flush right cross, but Alvarez composed himself and stole the frame behind some pinpoint jabs and punishing body blows in its second half. However, in a worrying sign for Jones, Brown dominated round five. He connected with another smashing right cross within moments of the bell and unleashed a vicious left hook to the body soon after that had Alvarez grimacing in pain. A left to the chin completed an outstanding opening to the stanza for Brown, and he seemed content to cruise for the rest of it on those coat tails, Alvarez staying on the defensive and looking hesitant to unload.

The 6th would turn out to be not only the most exciting and action-packed round of the fight, but also its turning point. The two combatants went toe-to-toe to the crowd's delight for extended stretches, with both landing some thunderous punches. Thirty seconds into the round, a left hook opened a cut on the outside of Alvarez's right eyebrow. Another left late in the frame did further damage to it, and referee Steve Smoger called a halt to the action to allow the ringside doctor to have a look at it. The TV cameras captured the severity of the wound, in addition to some alarming swelling that had come up on the left side of Alvarez's face. He was allowed to continue though. Brown's damaging efforts in the last minute of the round were enough for him to take it on all three scorecards.

Coming out for round seven, there was still blood trickling from Alvarez's cut, and there was some distension showing under his left eye. Luckily for him, the frame was less than eventful, with the exception of the right hand he ate early on. Brown was not able to inflict any further damage but was the more aggressive fighter once again, and continued to build a winning lead on the scorecards. The situation appeared to improve for "The Romdawg" through the first half of the 8th, as he reciprocated by cutting Brown, also near the right eyebrow. He was winning the frame behind a revitalised jab, but Brown grabbed the momentum back in an instant when a jolting right cross dropped Alvarez at the two-minute mark. He was up at five, but was staggered by a flurry of punches soon after.

Alvarez somehow made it to the bell, but appeared every bit a defeated fighter as he sat on his stool, bleeding and swollen. Surprisingly, Brown was hesitant to finish the job in round nine. Its opening two minutes were uneventful, leading to some sections of the crowd booing. A left hook jolted Alvarez about thirty seconds from the bell, the punch worsening the condition of his eyebrow cut and leading to a second inspection. Once again given the go ahead to continue, Alvarez upped his aggression for what remained of the stanza, but was only able to land a right cross that had little behind it. He was shaking his head, frustrated and angry as he made his way back to his corner.

The end would come less than a minute into the 10th, when another left from Brown brought more blood from what was already a sickening eyebrow cut. This time, after a third inspection, the decision was made to stop the fight, with Brown the winner by TKO at the 0:54 mark. After congratulating his opponent, Alvarez moved to his corner and sat on his stool, head bowed under a towel as Brown and his corner crew celebrated the win. Going into round ten, Brown (now 19-2(13)) was up on all three judge's cards by the same score, 88-82, meaning if the fight had gone the distance he would have most likely been a comfortable unanimous decision victor. He landed 183 of 501 punches (36.5%), Alvarez connecting with 158 of 446 (35.4%). Alvarez fell to 13-5(7) with his second loss in three fights.

Brown credited his aggressive attitude for the victory, saying his success in unsettling Alvarez was the key to it all. He called it the most satisfying win of his career to date, as it had been a fight he had long looked forward to. It's likely that the two men will swap positions in the world rankings, meaning that Brown moves into a position to next challenge one of the top contenders while Alvarez will be looking to simply retain his place in the WCC for 2010. The Belle Glade native could not hide his disappointment afterwards, as he had been confident of victory and believed that it would be enough to propel him into the division's top five and open up the possibility of a lucrative matchup against the likes of former world champion Ken Norton or Max Schmeling. He now has to completely re-assess his options.

[Romdawg88]

Sigh

[kenyan_cheena]

Sorry buddy.

[kenyan_cheena]

The New York Age

SUNDAY, 29 MARCH, 2009

VAUGHAN OBLITERATES HOLMES,
CAPTURES WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP

Story by James Reynolds

The world junior-heavyweight title reign of Brooklyn native Maurice Holmes was brought to a shuddering and comprehensive halt last night by Chicago's Michael Vaughan at the Coney Island Athletic Club. Making his first defense of the championship he won from Jeff Lampkin with a 2nd round knockout in October, Holmes was not only outclassed by Vaughan but also made to look every single one of his thirty-seven years of age. Vaughan was victorious by 5th round TKO, with referee Telis Assimenios waving the contest over at the 2:53 mark with Holmes taking a vicious beating. He had been sent to the canvas by a booming left hook a minute earlier, and only just beat the count. Vaughan was merciless with his follow-up barrage, with a flurry of damaging blows wobbling Holmes before a brutal body shot set him up for a crunching left-right salvo, after which Assimenios jumped in to save him.

Vaughan was quick to establish dominance in the opening round, rocking Holmes with a left hook early and then a right cross and a pair of straight rights later in the frame. The 2nd was a closer affair, but also less eventful, before Vaughan was right back to hurting Holmes in round three. The champion appeared to have no answer for his younger, hungry opponent, and as he returned to his corner, he was seen to shrug his shoulders, seemingly in resignation. His head trainer gave him a verbal lashing during the intermission, and it lit something of a fire under Holmes. He stood toe-to-toe and traded hard shots with Vaughan for extended periods of the 4th, much to the crowd's delight. Unfortunately for the hometown favourite, he came out of it in even worse condition, and his resistance ended soon after.

Holmes (now 47-6-1(39)) had brought an eight-fight winning streak into the evening, which concluded with his world title triumph in October. The reality that the string of wins that started back in February '07 had come to a sudden end hit him hard, and he was left speechless for part of his post-fight interview. A look at the punch totals illustrates the extent of Vaughan's domination, as he landed 174 of 258 blows (67.4%) compared to just 72 of 422 for Holmes (17.1%). Vaughan improved to 26-3(16) with the victory, and is a perfect 4-0 in the WCC. The Chicago slugger has now captured the IBF, IBO and IBL titles in the cruiserweight/junior-heavyweight division, having achieved that in a period of less than three years (since July '06). After Jeff Lampkin's almost 23-month world title reign, the belt has now changed hands for the second time in five months.