The Federal Boxing Alliance

[GForce]

To facilitate the announcement of the FBA's opening card, I will announce the Heavyweight division despite the Bantamweights not being complete yet. It should be done within the next few days, but I'm hoping to get guys talking with the announcement of actual fight cards...I think the bouts will spark more talk than just listing the organizations.

Without further adieu, I present the Heavyweight division organizations...note the prominent name who will start in the WBO, and he's none too pleased about it.

WBA
1 Muhammad Ali
2 George Foreman
3 Larry Holmes
4 Oliver McCall
5 Wladimir Klitschko
6 Buster Douglas
7 Tony Tucker
8 Joe Bugner
9 Michael Moorer
10 Chris Byrd
11 Carl Williams
12 Fres Oquendo
13 Andrew Golota
14 Mike Weaver
15 Michael Grant
16 Alfredo Evangelista

WBC
1 Joe Frazier
2 Evander Holyfield
3 Vitaly Klitschko
4 Jimmy Ellis
5 Jimmy Young
6 George Chuvalo
7 Donovan Ruddock
8 David Tua
9 Greg Page
10 Trevor Berbick
11 Hasim Rahman
12 Corrie Sanders
13 Kirk Johnson
14 Renaldo Snipes
15 Ron Lyle
16 Jerry Quarry

IBF
1 Mike Tyson
2 Riddick Bowe
3 Ken Norton
4 Ernie Terrell
5 Floyd Patterson
6 Tim Witherspoon
7 Pinklon Thomas
8 Bruce Seldon
9 Tony Tubbs
10 Frank Bruno
11 Michael Dokes
12 Vaughn Bean
13 Randall Cobb
14 Frans Botha
15 James Tillis
16 Tyrell Biggs

WBO
Lennox Lewis
John Ruiz
Earnie Shavers
James Smith
Axel Schulz
Henry Akinwande
Gerry Cooney
Leroy Jones
John Tate
Shannon Briggs
Leon Spinks
Ron Stander
Jesse Ferguson
David Bey
Scott LeDoux
Gerrie Coetzee
Lorenzo Zanon
Chuck Wepner
Terry Daniels
Jose Roman
David Veddor
Jean-Pierre Coopman
Steffen Tangstad
Bert Cooper
Richard Dunn

Expect to hear from Mr. Lewis in the not too distant future. He feels the organizations didn't want to offer him his true value, and found himself a man without a home when each ended negotiations. Now Lennox will be looking to make an example out of the WBO contingent and prove his worth.

GH

[GForce]

FBA UNLEASHED: Live from Madison Square Garden

The Federal Boxing Alliance announced it's first-ever card, to be held Saturday, Jan. 2, at the famed Madison Square Garden in New York City. The night will feature 6 championship tournament bouts featured 6 different weight classes and 3 #1 seeds.

The main event will be a WBA Heavyweight tournament matchup between #1 seed Muhammad Ali and #16 seed Alfredo Evangelista. Ali is widely regarded as the best fighter in the world, but there's nothing more dangerous than an extreme underdog with nothing to lose. Ali will be ready for the tough Evangelista, who was born in Uruguay but now calls Spain his home.

Rivaling Ali in the early expectation of best pound-for-pound is Roy Jones Jr., the WBA's #1 seed at Light Heavyweight, who will step through the ropes to battle Canadian southpaw Syd Vanderpool. Jones loves the big stage, but "The Jewel" is coming in thinking he can turn the FBA on its ear in the hurry.

It will be bird watching in Manhattan for the third #1 seed on the card, as "The Hawk" Aaron Pryor, who will kick off the WBA Jr. Welterweight tournament against tough Texan, #16 Gene Hatcher.

The WBC lightweight tournament kicks off with Pretty Boy Floyd, not the gangster, but a fighter whose rapid fire shots seem to come from a machine gun, Floyd Mayweather Jr.. As the #2 seed, the quick and evasive Mayweather readies for the game #15 Angel Manfredy.

The WBC Cruiserweight tourney kicks off with #2 Jean-Marc Mormeck squaring off against #15 James Heath, while the IBF debuts for the FBA with a Jr. Middleweight tournament contest between #6 Rocky Mattioli and #11 Tadashi Mihara.

It's all set to happen LIVE, Jan. 2, at Madision Square Garden.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

GH

[GForce]

FBA In Network Prime Time

ABC Television will feature the Federal Boxing Alliance Sunday night, Jan. 3, live from Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas. A night after the FBA debuts at historic Madison Square Garden, the rush for gold continues with six more great tournament battles.

In the headliner, WBA #1 Middleweight seed 'Marvelous' Marvin Hagler will start his pursuit of history by battling Dennis Milton. The ferocious Hagler is guaranteed to be in tip-top shape to battle the Bronx-born Milton, who says he won't be rolling over for Hagler with so much on the line.

A pair of Jr. Welterweight bouts are also on the card, as the WBC and IBF #1's kick things off. In the WBC battle, Bruno Arcari will battle Morris East, while the IBF tournament kicks off with lightning-quick Meldrick Taylor battling LeRoy Haley. Taylor is regarded as a standout, while Arcari is, in some circles, being knocked as one of the #1 seeds who may disappoint. As one looks to prove to live up to the hype, another seeks to squash the doubters.

The IBF will also kick off its Heavyweight tournament with an expected competitive bout as #6 seed Tim Witherspoon tries to implode the self-described "Dynamite" Michael Dokes, seeded at #11.

In a WBC Welterweight matchup, James "Buddy" McGirt (#3) will pound it out with #14 Santos Cardona. The Puerto Rican Cardona hopes he has enough power to stifle the attack of New York's McGirt, a student of the game.

At Lightweight, IBF action reigns as Howard Davis Jr (#4) battles rugged Takanori Hatakeyama (#13).

The card wraps up an action packed opening weekend in the history of the Federal Boxing Alliance. Be sure not to miss it.

------------------------------------------------------------------

GH

[GForce]

Lewis Speaks Out

LONDON -- Heavyweight Lennox Lewis addressed the media today at a press conference his camp called over outrage at his failure to sign with the Federal Boxing Alliance's big three organizations.

"A fighter of my caliber...someone of my ability to be cast aside like this...it's outrageous, positively outrageous," Lewis said, looking dapper in a heather tan three-piece suit.

Lewis, expected to be a top contender for one of the major Heavyweight titles, could not reach agreeable terms with either the World Boxing Association, World Boxing Council or International Boxing Federation. But the massive Brit says he wasn't demanding anything unreasonable.

"I am a world class talent, practicing pugilism with precision, and I wanted to be treated as such. None of these other guys have proven anything either, it's all hearsay until we step in the ring," Lewis ranted. "But look at me...just look at me. I am bigger and stronger than any of them. None of them could stand in there with me...I would dwarf Ali, Frazier or Tyson, and Foreman or Bowe don't have the technical acumen to match with me. Go right down the line, and I am a superior fighter to them all."

Lewis, at 6-foot-5 and roughly 250 pounds of muscle, is an imposing presence, but officials from the organizations said his asking price was too steep.

None wanted to speak on the record, but a WBA source familiar with the negotiations said Lewis held his demands until Muhammad Ali had signed, then asked for marginally less.

"In his eyes, he's every bit the fighter Ali is, but he acknowledges the showman factor that Ali is more of a draw," the source said. "But he didn't understand that these organizations had to fill rosters at each class. The longer talks went, the less money there was to offer. And his price was coming down at a much lower rate than the funds the organizations, including ours, had to spend."

Lewis declined to respond to questions of his specific demands, except one:

"I demand respect," Lewis said at the end of his conference. "And I will obliterate the World Boxing Organization and make the others pay me what I'm worth...and then I'll destroy their champions as well."

------------------------------------------------------------------------

GH

[GForce]

The Bantamweight signings have been completed, and as expected, Eder Jofre is the class of the class. The second tier is solid and deep and should provide a lot of action, but one has to wonder if Jofre will be the first to unify titles across organizations. He's that good and, not surprisingly, with the WBA.

WBA
1 Eder Jofre
2 Rafael Marquez
3 Lupe Pintor
4 Jesus Pimentel
5 Sung-Kil Moon
6 Orlando Canizales
7 Alfonso Zamora
8 Jorge Lujan
9 John Michael Johnson
10 Daorung Chuvatana
11 Danny Romero
12 Lionel Rose
13 Mauricio Pastrana
14 Roberto Rubaldino
15 Raul Perez
16 Hugo Dianzo

WBC
1 Carlos Zarate
2 Ruben Olivares
3 Junior Jones
4 Miguel Lora
5 Johnny Carter
6 Thanomchit Sukothia
7 Johnny Bredahl
8 Enrique Pinder
9 Leo Randolph
10 Richie Sandoval
11 Chan-Yong Park
12 Steve Dotse
13 Rolando Bohol
14 Julio Zarate
15 Ricardo Vargas
16 Victor Rabanales

IBF
1 Jeff Chandler
2 Masahiko Harada
3 Tim Austin
4 Eijiro Murata
5 Veeraphol Sahaprom
6 Alberto Davila
7 Greg Richardson
8 Gaby Canizales
9 Romeo Anaya
10 Takuya Mugurama
11 Joichiro Tatsuyoshi
12 Heriberto Ruiz
13 Satoshi Shingaki
14 Kelvin Seabrooks
15 David Guerault
16 Eddie Cook

WBO
Nana Konadu
Yasuei Yakushiji
Pete Frissina
Bernado Pinango
Kaokor Galaxy
Cuahtemoc Gomez
Arnold Taylor
Israel Contreras
Soo-Hwan Hong
Jung-Il Byun
Rafael Herrera
Rudolfo Martinez
Paul Ferreri
Chucho Castillo
Francisco Tejedor
Nobuaki Naka

GH

[GForce]

The abundant Flyweight division should be fast and furious, but the combination of classes make it very deep, and a rough start could make getting back into title contention very difficult.

WBA
1 Ricardo Lopez
2 Jung-Koo Chang
3 Santos Laciar
4 Humberto Gonzales
5 Jorge Arce
6 Guty Espadas
7 Bebis Mendoza
8 Irene Pacheco
9 Pongsaklek Wongjongkam
10 Jose Victor Burgos
11 Charlie Magri
12 Lorenzo Parra
13 Antonio Avelar
14 Leo Gamez
15 Chan-Hee Park
16 Tadashi Tomori

WBC
1 Miguel Canto
2 Yoko Gushiken
3 Eric Morel
4 Venice Borkorsor
5 Saman Sorjaturong
6 Luis Alberto Estaba
7 Prudencio Cardona
8 Susumu Hanagata
9 Alfonso Lopez
10 Erbito Salvarria
11 Muangchai Kittikasem
12 Melchor Cobb Castro
13 Yul-Woo Lee
14 Dave McAuley
15 Jaime Rios
16 Will Grigsby

IBF
1 Michael Carbajal
2 Myung-Woo Yuh
3 Hilario Zapata
4 Rosendo Alvarez
5 Sot Chitalada
6 Dodie Boy Penalosa
7 Betulio Gonzalez
8 Masao Ohba
9 Saen Sor Ploenchit
10 German Torres
11 Hiroki Ioka
12 Fidel Bassa
13 Duke McKenzie
14 Koji Kobayashi
15 Hi-Sup Shin
16 David Griman

WBO
Yuri Arbachakov
Gabe Bernal
Tae-Shik Kim
Jesus Rojas
Bi-Won Chung
Yo-Sam Choi
Rodolfo Blanco
Chang-Ho Choi
Hwan-Jin Kim
Lupe Madera
Shoji Oguma
Rolando Pascua
Katsuo Tokashiki
Freddie Castillo
Berkreck Chartvanchai
Luis Ibarra
Yong-Kang Kim
Soo-Chun Kwon
Peter Mathebula
Joey Olivo
Franco Udella
Elvis Alvarez
Eleoncio Mercedes
Jong-Kwan Chung
Robbie Regan
Keiji Yamaguchi
Frankie Cedeno
Chartchai Chionoi
Pedro Flores
Sung-Jun Kim
Shigeo Nakajima
Yukito Tamakuma
Netrnoi Vorasingh
Aquiles Guzman
Francisco Quiroz

GH

[GForce]

FBA FRIDAY NIGHT FIGHTS

From the Pelican Athletic Club in New Orleans, La., the Federal Boxing Alliance brings its first Friday Night Fights card.

In the main event, a WBA Jr. Middleweight tournament contest featuring "The Bodysnatcher" Mike McCallum (#1) battling 16th-seeded Sean Mannion.

Also on the card will be a WBC Heavyweight contest, as #4 seed Jimmy Ellis tangles with tough Canadian Kirk Johnson (#13).

The WBC dominates the undercard with three added bouts:

A Cruiserweight battle featuring #6 seed Luis Andres Pineda against #11 S.T. Gordon.

A Jr. Welterweight contest featuring #7 seed Ben Tackie and #10 seed Terry Marsh.

8th seeded Featherweight Eloy Rojas takes on #9 Johnny Tapia.

*NOTE: Also to be included, an unspecified first round IBF Jr. Bantamweight contest.
--------------------------------------------------------------

GH

[GForce]

FBA Heads West

From the Goldfield Arena in Goldfield, Nev., the Federal Boxing Alliance brings six exciting matches, Saturday, Jan. 9.

On the card:

WBC Bantamweight Carlos Zarate #1 vs Victor Rabanales #16
IBF Bantamweight Eijiro Murata #4 vs Satoshi Shingake #13
WBC Flyweight Miguel Canto #1 vs Will Grigsby #16
WBC Lightweight Vilomar Fernandez #5 vs Lou Bizzarro #12
WBA Jr. Featherweight Royal Kobayashi #6 vs Julian Solis #11
WBC Lightweight Pedro Carrasco #7 vs Juan Diaz #10

GH

[GForce]

FBA Comes To The Mecca

The Federal Boxing Alliance will head to the Midwest, Sat., Jan. 9, at The Mecca in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

In the main event, IBF Lightweight tournament #1 seed "El Tigre" Ismael Laguna will battle #16 seed Billy Schwer. Laguna will make the British Schwer work for everything, but Schwer hopes his power and aggressiveness can bring him the upset.

Also, in a WBC Jr. Lightweight battle, #4 seed John-John Molina will take on #13 seed Gregorio "Goyo" Vargas. Vargas is a tough nut to crack who will be happy to stand in with Molina, who is willing to take punishment himself to wear an opponent down.

Also on the card:

WBA Bantamweight #7 Alfonzo Zamora vs #10 Daorung Chuvatana
IBF Jr. Middleweight #5 Bronco McKart vs #12 Charlie Weir
IBF Jr. Featherweight #8 Emmanuel Lucero vs #9 Leo Cruz
WBA Jr. Bantamweight contest to be announced


GH

[GForce]

The Jr. Bantamweight signings have finally been completed. I admittedly don't know enough about a lot of these guys to offer much insight, so I'll just post the organizations and then we can get to the FIGHTS!!!

WBA
1 Khaosai Galaxy
2 Gustavo Ballas
3 Fernando Montiel
4 Rafael Orono
5 Luis Alberto Perez
6 Felix Machado
7 Martin Castillo
8 Ricardo Cordoba
9 Tae-Il Chang
10 Celes Kobayashi
11 Vern Torres
12 Ari Blanca
13 Peter Culshaw
14 Ju-Do Chun
15 Hyung-Chul Lee
16 Julio Cesar Borboa

WBC
1 Gilberto Roman
2 Mark Johnson
3 Medgeon Singsurat
4 Willie Jensen
5 Jose Ruiz
6 Payao Poontarat
7 Sornpichai Ktratingdaenggyum
8 Jose Navarro
9 Harold Grey
10 Alimi Goitia
11 Edison Torres
12 Roger Galicia
13 Jorge Luis Gonzalez
14 Ferid Ben Jeddou
15 Idelfonso Martinez
16 Eric Lopez

IBF
1 Alexander Munoz
2 Jiro Watanabe
3 Chul-Ho Kim
4 Masamori Toluyama
5 Hiroshi Kawashima
6 Luis Bolanos
7 Ellyas Pical
8 Malcolm Tunacao
9 Katsuya Onizuka
10 Katsuhige Kawashima
11 Kohei Matsuura
12 Satoshi Iida
13 Carlos Salazar
14 Ruben Sanchez Leon
15 Robert Quiroga
16 Masaki Kawabata

WBO
Rafael Pedroza
Kenji Matsumura
Chartchai Sasakul
Yokthai Sithoar
Pedro Rincon
Adonis Rivas
Hideki Todaka
Gilberto Keb Bas
Masayuki Arinaga
Gabriel Munoz
Hideyasu Ishihara
Oscar Archinega
Carlos Murillo
Ladislao Vasquez
Joel Avila
Rafael Chavez
Albeto Ontiveros
Nathan Barcelona
Francisco Paredes
Jun Magsipoc

GH

[GForce]

Unleashed: With a Fury!
Ali, Jones, Pryor dominate

The Federal Boxing Alliance debuted before a sold out crowd at New York City's Madison Square Garden, and the opening card provided stars who performed as expected and electrified the crowd in the process.

In the main event, Muhammad Ali did a little dancing but a lot of punching, thoroughly dominating Alfredo Evangelista en route to a third round stoppage. Ali fired combinations through the first half of the opening round, before an Evangelista clinch halted the action. But Ali simply became more aggressive from that point, with repeated crosses and hooks staggering Evangelista before a short hook to the body punctuated the round.

Evangelista was the aggressor in round 2, but couldn't penetrate Ali's defenses. A right cross near the 2-minute mark stopped Evangelista cold, and Ali returned to work.

Evangelista's best shot of the fight came right at the start of round 3, a right hook that shook Ali, but also perhaps accelerated Evangelista's demise. Three flurries of combinations were followed with a crushing body shot that folded the 13-2 underdog to his knees. After he barely beat the count, Ali smelled blood and, with his standard flash in spots, strung together a dazzling array of blows that went unanswered, leading referee Arthur Mercante to jump in and halt the bout at 1:54 of round 3.

Ali had a tough act to follow, as in another WBA matchup, Light-Heavyweight #1 seed Roy Jones Jr. outclassed Syd "The Jewel" Vanderpool with a 9th round stoppage. Jones proved too quick for Vanderpool, who we had winning only round 4, a round that essentially moved at a snail's pace. But Jones dropped the Canadian in the second and ninth.

The fight could have been stopped in the sixth, when Jones cornered Vanderpool about a minute in and kept him boxed in for more than a minute, pummeling him with lightning-quick combinations. Vanderpool's offense for the bout was, essentially, nonexistent.

"The Hawk" Aaron Pryor may have given the most impressive performance of the night with his 5th round stoppage of Gene Hatcher in a 1/16 matchup for the WBA Jr. Welterweight tournament. Pryor never slowed and remained in control though, contrary to Jones, he actually had an opponent willing to slug with him. But Hatcher was severely overmatched and, after having his lip split open and being knocked halfway through the ropes by a Pryor barrage, referee Larry Rozadilla called a halt to the punishment.

Elsewhere on the card, Floyd Mayweather Jr. (#2) kicked off the WBC lightweight tournament with a TKO victory over Angel Manfredy (#15) after the doctor stopped the fight prior to the 10th round with Manfredy's left eye bookended by gashes. At the time of the stoppage, Mayweather led 88-81 on two cards and a perfect 89-80 on the third.

In WBC Cruiserweight action, #2 Jean-Marc Mormeck won a 9-round technical unanimous decision over #15 James Heath when a gash on Heath's forehead from an accidental butt in the second round reopened nastily and was unable to be controlled. Mormeck won 89-82 on all three cards.

The opening bout of the night proved to be the only true contest, and the first upset in the FBA tournament series. In an IBF Jr. Middleweight contest, 11th-seeded Tadashi Mihara won a close but unanimous decision over #6 seed Rocky Mattioli.

In the first ever FBA matchup, these two traded blows in the center of the ring for much of the first round, bringing the Garden crowd to its collective feet. After a tactical second round, Mattioli dropped Mihara, who walked right into a straight that seemed to hurt him more than it should have. Mihara got to his feet at 9 and retreated to a neutral corner where he covered up but still withstood an assault from Mattioli to make it through the round.

But in the fourth, Mihara countered a wild overhand right from Mattioli with a perfectly placed uppercut that dropped the favorite. However, Mihara, like Mattioli the round earlier, was unable to finish the assault.

Mihara did follow up his attack in better fashion, with an aggressive performance in the fifth. Mattioli stayed on the defensive for the round, obviously rattled from the previous round's knockdown, and Mihara took advantage, dominating both the fifth and sixth rounds.

Mattioli would try to recover, remembering he's in a fight for a title and coming out bashing for the first half of the round, but running out of steam. The second half pace slowed considerably and in the eighth, Mihara forced the pace again. Mattioli stood gamely toe-to-toe, but Mihara was fresher and faster and in a round that saw several forceful blows, Mihara again staked his claim to the upper hand.

Mihara would dominate the ninth round as well before Mattioli unleashed the last of his energy in the 10th, backing Mihara to the ropes with a 3 punch combination and firing wildly for the last minute of the fight, landing a few but none that were able to overcome the deficit that had mounted.

Mihara would score the unanimous upset, 95-93 across all three cards as the Federal Boxing Alliance began what will assuredly be a storied history.

[GForce]

Not all cards will be written out in this fashion. There will be cards that primarily feature WBO bouts, which will just get quick summaries written. Friday and Sunday cards, for the most part, will be slightly lesser than Saturday cards. For most of those, I'll write up the main event and co-feature, but give just quick summaries for the rest. Saturday's will have 2 or 3 cards, one of which is the main card of the weekend. The main one will be written out pretty fully, while the others will also be detailed for main event/co-feature, and quick summaries for the rest.

More cards to be written up later.

GH

[GForce]

Hagler Simply Marvelous
Arcari, McGirt solid on undercard

In a stellar display, WBA #1 seeded Middleweight 'Marvelous' Marvin Hagler dominated 16th-seeded Dennis Milton, knocking out the underdog in the 6th round with his third knockdown of the round and fourth of the fight.

Hagler was the aggressor from the opening bell, getting right in Milton's face and pushing him around the ring. Midway through the opening round, Hagler landed a devastating hook that sent Milton tumbling into the ropes. Milton tried to come right at Hagler after that, presumably trying to show he was not hurt. But Hagler cast aside his attacks dismissively, landing a combination to punctuate the round.

Milton started the second a bit better, though the pace slowed. The round was even until an exchange in which Hagler landed an short, punishing uppercut that opened a gash over Milton's right eye. Though his corner would get the bleeding under control after the round, the eye became a target and the resulting swelling would make Milton's ability to defend even weaker.

Hagler continued to dominate the next two rounds, including a fourth round knockdown with about 30 seconds left. Milton's corner wavered on stopping it, but Milton was determined to continue and in the fifth, had his one solid round of the fight. But it was obvious Milton had nothing left once the round was completed and, though Hagler knew he had lost the round, he also knew Milton was on his last legs, smiling as he returned to his corner.

"It ends now," Hagler said on his stool. "He's empty."

A half-minute in, Hagler landed a pinpoint cross that dropped Milton who, rather than waiting and regrouping, was back up at 3. Hagler pounced again and, following multiple combinations, dug a hook under the ribs to drop Milton again a minute later. Referee Vincent Rainone was watching, and Milton waited until 9 to rise to his feet.

Milton responded to Rainone's questions and was allowed to continue, but Hagler would end it for good at 2:15 of the sixth, dropping Milton for the count and earning a dominating first-round tournament victory.

In a surprising matchup, LeRoy Haley gave Meldrick Taylor all he could handle in an IBF Jr. Welterweight contest. Taylor moved and fired combinations en route to a solid first round. But Taylor slowed in the second for unknown reasons, and Haley scored enough with jabs and a single cross in particular that rattled Taylor's cage, to at least get out of the round even.

The bout seemed on its way to an upset in the next few rounds, as Haley bullied Taylor and did an exceptional job of cutting off the ring, pinning the speedy Taylor in corners and on the ropes and working him with combination after combination.

Taylor was chastised in his corner for not throwing enough punches, and for allowing himself to be pinned by a much slower fighter.

"Why are you pissing away this fight?" trainer Lou Duva said in the corner after the fifth, the third straight round in which Taylor looked sluggish. "He's not in your league and you're doing nothing." After 5, on our card, Haley led 49-47.

After letting Haley get his confidence, Taylor now had to try and break it down. In the sixth, Taylor began to throw more punches and be more of an aggressor, yet his defense was shaky. In a close round, we gave Haley another, giving him a three-point lead with four rounds remaining, but it was obvious Taylor had begun to turn the tide.

Haley was breathing heavy after the round, and his right eye was beginning to swell considerably. About 20 seconds into round 7, Haley tied up Taylor in a clinch and it was as if a switch turned on in Taylor. Out of a clinch, a devastating combination sent Haley sprawling to the canvas. Haley stayed on a knee until 9, and spent the rest of the round covering up, limiting but not halting Taylor's attack.

Taylor dominated the eighth as well, and on our cards had tied the fight. But now, Taylor was the aggressor and the fresher fighter. After an uneventful round 9, Taylor peppered Haley with jabs and straights throughout the tenth, as Haley mounted little offense. At the end of the night, Taylor won a unanimous, but uninspiring decision, 97-93, 95-94, 96-93.

Elsewhere on the card, Bruno Arcari was dominant as the top seed in his WBC Jr. Welterweight tournament matchup with Morris East. Arcari was the aggressor throughout, throwing two hundred more punches than East, who looked sluggish at best. Arcari emerged with a unanimous decision, 99-91, 98-92, 99-91.

Equally impressive was WBC Welterweight James "Buddy" McGirt (#3), who won an 8th round technical knockout victory over Santos Cardona (#14). Though McGirt was staggered in the first round, Cardona was outclassed for most of the remainder of the fight, as McGirt got inside in short spurts to attack the body before backing away and working outside. Cardona was dropped in the third and, after a final effort to stand toe-to-toe with McGirt, was unable to answer the bell for the 8th round due to swelling over his left eye.

The card did feature an upset in the Heavyweight ranks, as IBF #11 seed Michael Dokes knocked out #6 seed Tim Witherspoon in the second round. Witherspoon came in out of shape, but dominated Dokes in the opening round. However, a flurry from Dokes opened a gash over the left eye of Witherspoon early in the second, and Witherspoon really seemed to be pawing at it for most of the round. Dokes was on the attack and Witherspoon's defenses were nonexistent, before Dokes landed consecutive uppercuts that leveled Witherspoon, the 10 count being reached at 2:58 of the second.

In the opener, #4 seed Howard Davis won a close but clear unanimous decision victory over Takanori Hatakeyama (#13) in IBF Lightweight action.



GH

[GForce]

Bodysnatching a Victory
McCallum paces Friday Night Fights card

NEW ORLEANS -- WBA Jr. Middleweight Mike McCallum, his tournament's #1 seed, won a dynamic first round victory over Sean Mannion, knocking him out in the fourth round.

McCallum dominated the bout, getting and staying inside on Mannion who had nowhere to go to escape McCallum's short punches and lethal body attack.

Mannion went down three times in the fourth, the last for good, in a textbook exhibition by McCallum, who barely broke a sweat.

"I had a plan and I carried it out," McCallum said after the bout. "Simple as that, really."

In the co-feature, WBC Heavyweight Jimmy Ellis (#4) won a unanimous decision victory over Kirk Johnson (#13). Johnson seemed listless throughout, which enabled Ellis to be methodical rather than aggressive, winning in clear but unspectacular fashion (98-92, 98-90, 98-90). Johnson was dropped in the fifth and again in the 10th.

Elsewhere on the card, S.T. Gordon (#11) upset Luis Andres Pineda (#6) in a WBC Cruiserweight bout. Also in the WBC, Ben Tackie (#7) took a unanimous decision over Terry Marsh (#10) at Jr. Welterweight, and Eloy Rojas (#8) won a unanimous decision over Johnny Tapia (#9) in a WBC Featherweight affair.

Kicking off the IBF Jr. Bantamweight tournament, #1 seed Alexander Munoz stopped Masaki Kawabata (#16) via TKO in the 10th.

[GForce]

FBA Comes To Denver

Live from Michnichol Sports Arena in Denver, Colo., the Federal Boxing Alliance proudly presents 6 spectacular bouts in FBA Tournament action, Saturday, Jan. 9.

IBF Cruiserweight: #1 Taoufik Belbouli vs #16 Young Joe Louis
WBA Bantamweight: #2 Rafael Marquez vs #15 Raul Perez
WBC Lightweight: #3 Hilmer Kenty vs #14 George Scott
IBF Flyweight: #5 Sot Chitalada vs #12 Fidel Bassa
WBA Middleweight: #7 Howard Eastman vs #10 Quincy Taylor
WBA Flyweight: #8 Irene Pacheco vs #9 Pongsaklek Wongjongkam

GH

[GForce]

FBA Goes California Dreamin'

ABC proudly presents Sunday at the Fights, featuring 6 stellar Federal Boxing Alliance tournament bouts in this national broadcast, Sunday, Jan. 10.

On the card:

WBA Heavyweight: #5 Wladimir Klitschko vs #12 Fres Oquendo
IBF Flyweight: #2 Myung-Woo Yuh vs #15 Hi-Sup Shin
IBF Featherweight: #8 Wilfredo Vazquez vs #9 Lehlo Ledwaba
IBF Featherweight: #2 Danny Lopez vs #15 Enrique Sanchez
WBA Flyweight: #1 Ricardo Lopez vs #16 Tadashi Tomori
WBC Jr. Feathweight: #6 Soo-Hwan Hong vs #11 Jorge Julio

GH

[GForce]

Hi all,

Any feedback on this thread is much appreciated. What do you like? Not like? Should stories be shorter, longer. Should recaps just be a paragraph? Do them only for big fights? The thread is getting a lot of views, but I'd like to make it the best I can, and I can only do that with your help. So let me know your thoughts.

Thanks.

GH

[Gunsmoke]

Keep it up GH, the description of the action has been excellent.

Mark

[GForce]

Thanks, Mark. I'll probably make WBO card descriptions brief except bouts that affect whether a guy will be free of his contract or huge upsets. I'll try to make the descriptions as detailed as I can based on the magnitude of the card.

Appreciate the thoughts.

GH

[GForce]

Road to Gold at Goldfield
Zarate dominates in main event

Goldfield, Nev. -- WBC's top seeded Bantamweight Carlos Zarate stopped longshot Victor Rabanales with a 5th round knockout that punctuated a round of brutal punishment.

It was a scintillating round that was hardly forseen after a first round that left the Goldfield Arena crowd booing feverishly, with virtually no offense from either fighter.

But Zarate let the crowd in on what he would deliver later with an aggressive second-round attack and, midway through the round, dropped Rabanales with a short hook. After rising at 4, Rabanales just tried to hang on, but Zarate would have none of it, battering him around the ring and opening a deep gash over Rabanales' right eye in the final 20 seconds of the round.

Rabanales' cut was slowed but not stopped between rounds, and he was obviously aiming to protect it in round 3, when the pace again slowed. Realizing he had Rabanales hurt and with a cut that likely couldn't be closed, Zarate was content to conserve energy in round 3 and wait for his opening.

Sensing desperation, Rabanales came out firing in round 4, backing Zarate into corners, but was unable to pile anything together, though he likely won the round. At the start of round 5, though, it was obvious Zarate was tired of waiting.

A combination in the opening seconds dug into Rabanales' ribcage and a was followed by a hook to the neck that rattled his senses, and he never recovered. A two-minute onslaught ended with Rabanales hitting the deck and staying there, as Zarate kept the string of undefeated #1 seeds intact.

On the undercard:

Miguel Canto (#1, WBC Flyweight) obliterated an out of shape Will Grigsby (#16) in a 10-round unanimous decision (100-90, 99-91, 99-91).

Eijiro Murata (#4, IBF Bantamweight) rebounded after a sluggish first half of the fight, outlasting a tiring Satoshi Shingake and taking a unanimous decision (97-94, 98-94, 98-94) by a wider margin than many thought.

Lou Bizzarro (#12, WBC Lightweight) scored the majority decision upset over Vilomar Fernandez (#5) (97-94, 97-95, 96-94).

Royal Kobayashi (#6, WBA Jr. Featherweight) knocked out Julian Solis (#11) with no time remaining in the 5th. Solis' corner objected, saying the bell should have sounded, but referee Max Parker stood by his decision. The crowd was on its feet for an action packed bout from the opening bell, but Solis was unable to keep the frenetic pace given the punishment from Kobayashi.

Pedro Carrasco (#7, WBC Lightweight) won an evenly fought split decision over Juan Diaz (#10), who contended after the fight that he was robbed. The crowd was split on the decision, (96-94, 94-96, 97-94).

GH