The Greatest Prize in Sports

[kenyan_cheena]

gazeta
WYBORCZA

FRIDAY 23 MARCH 2007

GOLOTA STOPS BOWE AGAIN

Story by Slawomir Malecki

In a bout that was remarkably similar to their first action-packed meeting seven months ago Andrew Golota scored a 6th round knockout of American Olympic silver medallist Riddick Bowe last night at the Warsaw Hall. Golota rebounded from a poor start to floor Bowe four times on the way to victory, which came after the bell had sounded at the end of round six. In doing so Golota not only retained his #4 world ranking but also positioned himself for a possible berth in June's world title eliminator, which he'll earn if England's Lennox Lewis fails to win when he takes on Alexander Zolkin tonight in London. Golota continued what has been an impressive period of form after the disappointment of '05, recording wins over Ike Ibeabuchi, Vladimir Virchis and the two against Bowe under the IBL banner.

After an even opening frame Bowe dominated the 2nd behind that piston-like jab of his. He also wobbled Golota with an uppercut. Golota was warned twice during the round, once for hitting on the break and then for holding and hitting shortly before the bell. When Bowe took the 3rd with an even greater effort Golota looked to be in serious trouble. Truly, Golota was lucky to survive the round as Bowe pounded him with a succession of punishing blows, the pick of which were another jolting uppercut, a wicked right cross and a crippling right to the ribs. Bowe has become a more subdued fighter since his first loss to Golota but he let out an excited bellow as he returned to his corner at the end of the round, determined to gain revenge.

Round four was a closer affair although Bowe produced its one major highlight, a hard left hook one minute in. He was in the driver's seat but in round five Golota completely stole the momentum, Bowe inexplicably slowing down. An uppercut and a big left hook hurt the American through the first two minutes before a left-right-left salvo some forty seconds before the bell dropped him. He only just beat the count, rising at nine. Bowe survived but as he sat on his stool afterwards he appeared exhausted, as if his efforts in rounds two and three had taken everything out of him. Golota didn't need an invitation to push home the advantage and round six was a decimation, Bowe tasting the canvas twice before it had reached its midpoint. A right cross and then a left hook did the damage, the Brooklyn native capitulating.

As the frame progressed Golota kept Bowe on the backfoot and literally a second or two before the bell he brought the crowd to their feet with a sizzling left hook that finished the job, Bowe still flat on his back as the count reached ten. The extroverted Golota shouted triumphantly as his cornermen joined him in the ring, his dream of once again fighting for a world title remaining on course. Golota outlanded Bowe 140-133 and improved his record to 31-5(27). Bowe is now 13-3(9), having lost his second consecutive bout following a defeat to Joe Jeannette in December. After being perfect through his first twelve bouts he's now lost three of four in the space of seven months. It's starting to appear that the doubts some experts had about him were well-founded.

Russia's two biggest chances for world championship success were both victorious on the undercard. Heavyweight Sergey Anyukov bounced back from losses to Terone Haynes in the world championship semis and then Jack Johnson in December to obliterate Ike Ibeabuchi. In an absolute slugfest Anyukov floored the Nigerian five times overall and on four occasions in the 8th round alone, Ibeabuchi counted out at the end of the frame. The first round might just have been the best we've seen all year, with Ibeabuchi intent on destroying Anyukov before the former WBA champion rallied superbly in the final minute. From there on he had the better of the contest, dropping Ibeabuchi with a right cross early in the 2nd. Ibeabuchi never gave in and he had some superb moments in rounds three and six.

However, Anyukov almost ended it in the 7th and Ibeabuchi's resistance withered in round eight. He was down thirty seconds into the stanza, Anyukov then sending him back to the canvas three times during the final sixty seconds. It was Ibeabuchi's third consecutive loss following similar stoppage defeats at the hands of Ken Norton and Golota. Anyukov upped his mark to 37-3-1(26) while Ibeabuchi is now 27-4-1(24) and out of the world championship picture (at least for this year). #2-ranked flyweight Yuri Arbachakov turned back the challenge of Elmer Francisco, finally stopping the tough Filipino in the 11th round of a thriller. Francisco (22-8-2(17)) gave as good as he received through the first nine rounds but Anyukov knocked him down once in the 10th and then twice in round eleven, referee Silvestre Abainza counting him out at the 2:41 mark.

Arbachakov (32-3-1(24)) secured a spot in the June eliminator against 3rd-ranked Japanese slugger Koki Kameda. The former WBC champion's superior big fight experience will make him a warm favourite to claim a second shot at the IBL championship. There was another important heavyweight bout on last night's undercard in which American-born German Scott Mundt looked fantastic in dismantling Puerto Rico's Fres Oquendo inside of four rounds. Mundt dominated the 1st and 2nd and, after a closer 3rd, piled on the pressure in round four. A flurry of punches late in the stanza had Oquendo face down on the canvas, where he remained for the full count. Not only did Mundt improve his record to 14-2(10), he also clinched the #35 world ranking and a big-time clash with 12th-ranked Sydney Olympics gold medallist Ray Mercer in four weeks.

[kenyan_cheena]

Bowe is struggling to make believers of us. This is his record under the IBL banner:

2-3(0)

2/7/6: Gary Mason WUD6
13/8/6: Andrew Golota LTKO4
8/10/6: Alexander Zolkin WUD8
29/12/6: Joe Jeannette LUD10
22/3/7: Andrew Golota LKO6

Now at #10 he'll be fighting for his position in the top ranking tier in his next bout against whoever ends up being ranked at #17 following the April tier 2 vs tier 3 matchups.

[kenyan_cheena]

EL UNIVERSAL

Friday 23 March 2007

HERNANDEZ BACK IN
WINNER'S CIRCLE

Story by Miguel Trelles

Last night veteran Saltillo flyweight Adrian Hernandez recorded his first victory since July, stopping the Frenchman Brahim Asloum on cuts in the 11th round of a fiercely competitive stoush. Since winning his IBL world championship tournament quarter-final against Luis Maldonado, Hernandez fought out a draw with eventual titlist Candido Tellez before dropping a split decision verdict to the Australian Henry Nissen on new year's eve. Last night's clash was a meeting of the #6- and #7-ranked flyweights in the world, Asloum giving the hometown favourite a mighty test before the ringside doctor ruled he could not continue due to a severe cut outside his right eyebrow. It was still either man's fight to win with each scorecard showing a one-point margin (96-95) going into round eleven, two judges favouring Hernandez.

The 29 year-old had the better of the opening trio of rounds before Asloum stormed into the contest by sweeping the next four on all three scorecards. Hernandez answered back strongly by doing exactly the same in the 8th, 9th and 10th. He opened the cut on Asloum early in round ten and a hard left hook late in the 11th made it noticeably worse. After an examination the doctor allowed the fight to continue but after another spirited exchange in the frame's final seconds Asloum emerged with blood flowing down his cheek to his jaw. The bout was officially called off at the 2:55 mark, a distraught Asloum bowing his head and trudging to his corner when his fate was confirmed.

Hernandez improved to 36-5-2(28) while Asloum fell to 30-7(22). Hernandez connected with 273 of 811 punches, Asloum 304 of 746. It was the Frenchman's third consecutive defeat. He was upset by Japan's Koki Kameda in the semi-finals of the Challenger's tournament before suffering a comprehensive beating at the hands of Jake Matlala in a December world ranking bout. Hernandez will have to wait for the result of tonight's Henry Nissen-Benny Lynch bout in London to see where he'll be ranked come Monday, but last night's win and Matlala's defeat to Saman Sorjaturong last Monday has assured that he'll be no lower than #5 and therefore still in with a chance at a world title shot if he can jag victories in his next couple of outings.

[kenyan_cheena]

Coming up in TGPiS during the next week...

* Review of the London IBL card featuring Lennox Lewis in the headliner.

* Review of the Saturday night American Airlines Arena world heavyweight championship card, with Terone Haynes to defend his crown against Peter Jackson and the two JJs, Jack Johnson and Joe Jeannette, squaring off in the co-feature. Also in action will be forum fictionals Mark Lyons, Ron E. Vincent and Adam Brooks.

* Review of the Boardwalk Hall world lightweight championship bout between Joe Brown and Francisco Ortiz. Pernell Whitaker makes his IBO debut in the co-feature.

Once those are complete I'll be working on the March month-end rankings and also the schedule for April. Those rankings and schedules are becoming something of a problem as putting the posts together takes quite a lot of time. I'll have to figure out how to further streamline the process, I guess.

[PWillisTheMan]

Just my opinion, but you could kill the ranking & schedule posts and it wouldn't change a thing for me. I don't even look at the rankings and I skim the schedules. Your articles are pretty in depth as is and a brief look at the month ahead is more than enough.

No offense, but I doubt anyone really needs you to type up the date and venue for the 62nd & 53rd Cruiserweights fight. That is a lot of work and it really isn't crucial to enjoying or keeping up with the uni.

[kenyan_cheena]

Originally Posted by PWillisTheMan

Just my opinion, but you could kill the ranking & schedule posts and it wouldn't change a thing for me. I don't even look at the rankings and I skim the schedules. Your articles are pretty in depth as is and a brief look at the month ahead is more than enough.

No offense, but I doubt anyone really needs you to type up the date and venue for the 62nd & 53rd Cruiserweights fight. That is a lot of work and it really isn't crucial to enjoying or keeping up with the uni.

Yep, what I was thinking is that I'll just do the schedule in excel for the purposes of simming the bouts but not bother actually posting it in the thread. Or, I'll just do a simple post highlighting the fictional guys who are in action for the month, with the opponent, date and location of their bout.

As for the rankings, the same deal. They are a bigger hassle than the schedule, so I think I'll stick to keeping them for record purposes but only posting the ranks of our fictional fighters. I'll keep on updating the title lineages and title fights, though.

When I first started posting the schedule it was so I would have a place in the thread to keep track of the fights I have to sim, but it really makes no difference if I just reference it from excel. In addition, if anyone is interested to know a particular fighter's ranking or when he's fighting next I can easily provide that info.

[PWillisTheMan]

Originally Posted by kenyan_cheena

Yep, what I was thinking is that I'll just do the schedule in excel for the purposes of simming the bouts but not bother actually posting it in the thread. Or, I'll just do a simple post highlighting the fictional guys who are in action for the month, with the opponent, date and location of their bout.

As for the rankings, the same deal. They are a bigger hassle than the schedule, so I think I'll stick to keeping them for record purposes but only posting the ranks of our fictional fighters. I'll keep on updating the title lineages and title fights, though.

That's the best way to go. You don't want to burn out typing all that up and taking away from your own enjoyment in writing about the fights and fighters.

If you wanted to track it for later reading of your own you could do a new section in Boxing monthly on tier jumps or something. Always read and enjoy your new posts, just figured I would chime in that I don't read the other stuff.

[Romdawg88]

Originally Posted by PWillisTheMan

No offense, but I doubt anyone really needs you to type up the date and venue for the 62nd & 53rd Cruiserweights fight.

Wow, that sounds real familiar. I'm with PWillis on this, we really don't need the ranking and schedule posts. I think doing the just the forum fighters and maybe a little blurb like in post #984 about any major world title fight would be more then enough.

Things aren't looking good for Norton in any potential rematch with Haynes if he keeps looking like that. Haynes would of curb stomped him if he was in the ring instead of Paea. Don't think that the Sanchez result is that surprising because I'm guessing that he is still at Pre-Prime. I think guys like him and Saldivar are better served getting more fights in to age some before getting a title shot. Course, if Sanchez is at Prime then yeah thats crazy.

[kenyan_cheena]

Originally Posted by Romdawg88

Wow, that sounds real familiar. I'm with PWillis on this, we really don't need the ranking and schedule posts. I think doing the just the forum fighters and maybe a little blurb like in post #984 about any major world title fight would be more then enough.

Things aren't looking good for Norton in any potential rematch with Haynes if he keeps looking like that. Haynes would of curb stomped him if he was in the ring instead of Paea. Don't think that the Sanchez result is that surprising because I'm guessing that he is still at Pre-Prime. I think guys like him and Saldivar are better served getting more fights in to age some before getting a title shot. Course, if Sanchez is at Prime then yeah thats crazy.

What I've realised is that I've started falling back into some of the habits that made the old HBF/IBL such a slow moving uni. I'll be taking steps to change things because I have in my mind a vision of keeping this story going for many years of universe time but that's gonna be difficult at the current pace.

Yeah, Norton really looks to be on his last legs, doesn't he? He's one fighter that I'm intrigued to follow because in the beginning I set him up as the top heavyweight of the day, a guy who was on the verge of cementing his status as one of the greats. That's now in serious jeopardy, to say the least.

As for Sanchez, I think there was a strong measure of hype surrounding him because of his exploits in the Olympics. It probably blinded some experts to both his inexperience and Vasquez's fantastic toughness. He's an outstanding fighter and should become one of the greats but, like you said, he might not have been quite ready for a shot at the world title yet. Gonna be interesting to see how he rebounds from the loss later in the year.

Speaking of Vasquez, don't you think it's cool that after what I put him through with the death threat situation he won the IBL championship and is now - following his defeat of Sanchez and Driscoll's move to JLW - the official 126-pound world champion? I really get a kick out of the way the game co-operates with my storylines at times.

[kenyan_cheena]

THE LONDON TIMES

Saturday 24 March 2007

LEWIS HELD TO DRAW
BY RUSSIA'S ZOLKIN

Story by James Simpson

Olympic super-heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis bungled away a chance to compete for the IBL world championship last night when he was held to a draw by the unfancied Russian Alexander Zolkin in their main event bout at the ExCel Arena. As a consequence Lewis will drop at least three places in the world rankings and will not be taking part in June's official world title eliminator, which is now set to be contested by former champion Ken Norton and Poland's Andrew Golota. In a maddeningly-inconsistent performance Lewis was unable to make the most of a fantastic opening round in which he almost knocked Zolkin out, two seperate three-punch salvos wobbling the 10th-ranked outsider. Lewis also found the mark with a pair of damaging uppercuts and a flush left hook.

Lewis should have finished the job in round two but instead he inexplicably eased off, allowing Zolkin to regain his composure and more or less cruise through the next couple of stanzas. Lewis upped his aggression in the 4th but once again took his foot off the pedal in round five before having Zolkin in trouble in an impressive 6th. Lewis hurt the Russian with a stinging right to the body and a jolting uppercut early in the frame before peppering him with a succession of jabs through the remainder of the round. But the hot and cold pattern continued, with round seven being non-descript. A look at the scorecards at that time would have revealed that Lewis held a three-point lead on each of them. A lead that would be completely eroded by the time round eleven arrived.

Zolkin rushed back into the contest by dominating the 8th, 9th and 10th, rounds that all three judges scored in his favour. The only reasonable explanation for Lewis' lapse during this period could be some sort of injury, but no such problem was mentioned in the aftermath. In each of those rounds Zolkin had Lewis in serious trouble on at least one occasion. In round eight it was a head-snapping uppercut, in the 9th a left-right-left flurry and in round ten a hard right cross followed up by a wicked left hook to the midsection. The fight had taken an extraordinary turn and the crowd, so enthusiastic following Lewis' opening barrage, were now in the grips of anxiety and consternation.

The final two rounds were unremarkable and split, Lewis taking back the upperhand in the 11th before allowing Zolkin to claim round twelve and, as a result, seal the drawn verdict. When it came (114-114, 115-114 (Lewis), 114-114) Zolkin and his corner celebrated as if it was a victory, which it pretty much was for him. His rise in the rankings will reflect Lewis' fall and if Jack Johnson is victorious tonight in Miami, Zolkin (21-6-4(17)) will end the month at #7. It will be an outstanding achievement for a young man who was seeded at #14 in the league's Challenger's tournament. Now 16-1-2(10), Lewis' recent struggles show no sign of disappearing. After being perfect in his first sixteen bouts the West Ham native is now on a three-fight winless streak and must return to those winning ways in June to maintain his standing in the top ranking tier.

Last night wasn't all bad news for British boxing, with 8th-ranked flyweight Benny Lynch recording a convincing unanimous decision win over Australia's Henry Nissen (117-110, 16-112, 117-110). Both men had been split decision victors in their last starts, Lynch over Thailand's Saman Sorjaturong to claim the #8 ranking and Nissen against Mexican veteran Adrian Hernandez to seal the #5 position. Taking those results into account Nissen was entitled to be a favourite but as it turned out Lynch was far too good for him. Nissen tasted the canvas at the end of round four and faded in the bottom half of the bout, Lynch sweeping the final five frames on all three scorecards. Lynch is now 26-3-1(16), Nissen 32-7-1(22). The two men will make a straight switch in the rankings when they're released on Monday.

[kenyan_cheena]

The New York Age

SUNDAY, 25 MARCH, 2007

MASSACRE IN MIAMI:
HAYNES OBLITERATES JACKSON IN TWO,
RETAINS WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP

Story by James Reynolds

Last night world heavyweight champion Terone Haynes produced perhaps the most destructive performance of his career to date when he knocked out Australia's Peter Jackson in the 2nd round of their title fight at the American Airlines Arena in Miami. Haynes made the first defense of the crown he won against Ken Norton in December a truly memorable occasion as, after pounding Jackson senseless and almost stopping him in round one he dropped the Olympic bronze medallist twice in the 2nd, the bout over at the 2:10 mark. There'd been a surprising lack of trash talk in the lead-up to the fight, with both camps understated in expressing their confidence. Haynes actually afforded Jackson a good deal more respect than he gave Norton in the days before their inaugural IBL championship clash.

There were good reasons for that, as Jackson had recorded a quartet of impressive victories over Leon Higgins, Alexander Zolkin, Andrew Golota and Lennox Lewis to emerge as an unexpected winner of the Challenger's tournament. Despite his relative inexperience he was regarded by many as a dangerous opponent for Haynes. However, in hindsight it was clear the Australian was out of his depth last night. Haynes tore him apart with merciless ease and at times it appeared to be a heavyweight taking on a middleweight, the champion ruthlessly imposing his will from the opening bell and never easing off.

In round one Jackson was the victim of an onslaught, the pick of the punches being a pair of right crosses, a jolting three-punch salvo, a flush left hook and a jab that was thrown with so much venom it pushed the challenger back into the ropes. He returned to his corner on unsteady legs while Haynes, decked out in solid black trunks, socks and boots, marched back to his wearing a murderer's gaze. Little happened through the first sixty seconds of round two, Jackson pushing out a tentative jab and backpedalling as Haynes continually stifled his efforts to come forward. As the round entered its middle minute Haynes unleashed an uppercut that caught Jackson square on the chin and sent him to the canvas in a heap. The crowd let out a roar as Haynes strode to a neutral corner with his head held high and right fist raised.

Jackson was up at five but appeared to be in Disneyland. Nonetheless, referee Mills Lane allowed him to continue. Haynes came in for the kill but Jackson got in close enough to tie him up. He was then able to avoid and smother Haynes' next assault but his eyes still had that glazed look to them. Exactly one minute after the first knockdown Haynes tagged Jackson with a vicious left hook from inside, the Aussie going down like he'd been shot and landing awkwardly with his left leg folded back underneath him at the knee. Jackson wore a subdued mask of defeat as Lane counted him out, his only movement coming when he rolled over and tried to push himself up some five seconds after the bout was over.

Haynes' trainer Roy Jones, his corner crew and fellow Florida Alliance members quickly piled through the ropes and into the ring to celebrate his devastating triumph, the champ simply smiling and shrugging as if to say he couldn't believe himself how easy it had been. Citing Jackson's lack of big fight experience Jones had said their plan was a simple one: take him out before he had a chance to get comfortable. It worked spectacularly, Jackson saying never before had he absorbed the type of power punches that Haynes inflicted upon him. He looked to be in a state of shock, deeply disappointed that his big chance had ended less than seven minutes after it started. When it was all over Haynes had connected with 62 of 178 punches, Jackson just 11 of 21.

Haynes extended his perfect record to 25-0(21) while Jackson suffered his first career defeat and fell to 17-1(11). The world champion really does appear to be unbeatable. He said it was a relief to successfully defend his title with such little difficulty, casually adding that he'd love to be back in the ring within the next couple of months. However, based on the IBL's scheduling policy both Haynes and Jackson will be out of action until September, when Haynes defends the belt against the winner of June's Norton-Golota eliminator and Jackson, who'll be ranked at #2 by then, would attempt to retain his standing and also earn a place in the late-November eliminator against whoever occupies the #5 ranking position.

Jones said back in January that he and Haynes' goals for the year were simple: get past Jackson and then send Ken Norton into retirement. Well, they've more than ticked off the first part of that equation following last night's slaughter. As for Norton, it's going to be interesting to see if he can even earn a rematch with Haynes. Based on his unconvincing win over Simione Paea on Wednesday and Golota's impressive stoppages of both Ike Ibeabuchi and Riddick Bowe in his last two outings, the San Diego native could very well find himself on the losing side of the outcome in the June eliminator. There's probably never been a fight as important for Norton's legacy as what June's clash is going to be.

While last night's main event ended as something of a mismatch the co-feature certainly didn't. After an intriguing twelve-round stoush Texas-born Californian Jack Johnson took a split decision verdict over New Jersey's Joe Jeannette (114-113, 111-116, 114-113) and as a result moved up to #4 in the world rankings. It was a meeting of two combatants who have tremendous respect and admiration for each other. In the last of five competitive amateur bouts between the two Johnson edged Jeannette to claim a berth on the Athens Olympic team and has often spoken of the North Bergen native with high regard during their time in the professional ranks. Last night's clash continued what has been a testing series of opponents for Jeannette, which also included Johnson's fellow Athens medallists Lennox Lewis and Riddick Bowe.

Johnson had the better of the opening round behind a constant, crisp left jab. He also found the mark with a penetrating right cross and a hard uppercut although Jeannette made it a close thing when he unloaded a flurry of blows late in the piece, three of which caught "The Galveston Giant" cleanly. There was little action to speak of in the 2nd, although Johnson claimed it simply by keeping that jab in Jeannette's face. But in round three the Jersey slugger was at his best, making it known that Johnson would be in for a tough night. In the opening minute Jeannette scored with a solid right and then came out on top in not one but two lively exchanges. He then ripped a left hook into Johnson's ribs and ended the frame by snapping the favourite's head back with an uppercut.

That effort in the 3rd was the start of a promising period for Jeannette as he controlled round four and was slightly more active than Johnson in the 5th and 6th, rounds that were less than eventful. Each man's workrate was surprisingly low but that was more because of the cautious manner they employed than any kind of laziness, both respectful and determined to avoid gifting an opportunity to the other. Johnson stole the momentum in round seven and enjoyed his most impressive period of the fight through it and the next couple of rounds. He appeared every bit the better fighter in those rounds, putting his foot down and landing some telling blows. But he undid some of that good work early in the 9th when, after being warned for a third time, he was deducted a point for holding and hitting.

Round ten was close and the 11th was travelling the same path until Johnson staggered his man with a flush left hook about ten seconds from the bell. In the final outcome that single punch would prove to be of huge importance as it swung the round in his favour, all three judges awarding it to him. Jeannette finished the fight strongly in round twelve, backing Johnson up with some damaging combinations early before consolidating late behind the jab. It was his best work since the 3rd and brought about a nervous wait before the scorecards were finally revealed. Johnson's relief at being announced as the victor was palpable, as he briefly dropped to one knee and pounded the canvas with his right fist before offering sincere commiserations and complimentary words to Jeannette.

Johnson landed 270 of 728 punches (37.1%), Jeannette 204 of 476 (42.9%). Considering how close he came to victory Jeannette could have easily won it if he'd been a bit more aggressive and busy. It was something he was clearly lamenting as he left the ring. Now 16-3(11), Jeannette will drop a single place to #9 in the rankings. Johnson maintained his undefeated record at 17-0-1(11) but despite a near faultless IBL campaign to date will still have to keep producing and be victorious in his next three bouts through the end of '07 just to earn a world title shot. With his adoring girlfriend at his side, the extroverted 23 year-old said he was looking forward to the challenge of reaching that ultimate goal, believing the journey is going to make him a more complete fighter.

It was a fantastic night for American boxing, with a clean sweep of the all-heavyweight card. In the opener Baltimore's Mark Lyons scored a 3rd round knockout of Germany's Timo Hoffman. It was an action-packed affair while it lasted, Hoffman more than holding his own and landing his punches with surprising accuracy before Lyons ended it abruptly with a jolting right cross. Hoffman was counted out right on the two-minute mark, Lyons keeping his 100% stoppage record intact and improving to 10-1(10). It was his third consecutive victory since suffering a shock KO defeat in his IBL debut back in November. Importantly, Lyons maintained his position in the 5th ranking tier and can make the jump all the way to the 3rd tier with wins in his next two outings.

Connecticut's Lawrence Clay-Bey continued his promising career start, staying undefeated with a hard-fought unanimous decision win over England's Danny Williams (77-76, 77-75, 77-76). Clay-Bey was sent to the canvas two minutes into the 5th and looked to be on the way to his first defeat but rallied superbly to sweep the final three rounds on each scorecard. He's now 11-0-1(6) and like Lyons will find himself in the 3rd ranking tier if he's victorious in May and June. Virginia's Ron E. Vincent is also in the same boat as Lyons and Clay-Bey after he was far too good for Ireland's Bartley Madden. Vincent took a dominant unanimous decision verdict (80-72, 79-74, 80-73) to up his record to a perfect 10-0(5) and his ranking to #52.

The Suffolk-born minister is proving himself to be one of the most promising of the many heavyweight talents that have emerged both in the USA and around the world during the last eighteen months. It would be a major surprise if he's not positioned in the 3rd ranking tier when the dust settles at the end of June. Another one of those young prospects rebounded from back-to-back defeats in the fourth bout of the night. Tennessee's Adam Brooks had been knocked out cold in less than ninety seconds by Florida power puncher David Kane in December and then lost a slim majority decision verdict to Nelson Ndungane in February. Brooks had no such dramas last night as he dominated and then knocked out the German Sebastian Koeber late in the 7th round.

Despite his ordinary looking record of 7-3(5) Brooks is ranked at the top of the 5th tier at #48 and gets the chance for some revenge in a rematch with 47th-ranked Kane in early May. The Orlando slugger defeated the Ukrainian Alexander Dimitrenko last Wednesday on the Norton-Paea card and will be desperate to hold onto his place in the 4th tier. No doubt Brooks will employ a more cautious gameplan to start the fight, as it was a moment of carelessness in their first meeting that saw him eat a crushing left-right salvo and hit the canvas for a full count. It's certainly a clash to look forward to, as will be all the upcoming bouts involving this exciting young brigade of heavyweights.

[kenyan_cheena]

The Times-Picayune

SUNDAY, 25 MARCH, 2007

ORTIZ DOWNS BROWN WITH
ONE-PUNCH 6TH ROUND KNOCKOUT

Story by Kevin Hammond

Joe Brown's reign as world lightweight champion came to an abrupt and spectacular end last night when the Dominican Republic's Francisco Ortiz knocked him out with a single left hook early in round six of their clash at the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City. Brown had been in control of the contest through the opening five rounds, with a cut on his left eyelid from a headclash in the 4th being the only drama he'd had to contend with. But just 23 seconds into round six Ortiz unleashed a left hook that caught the champion flush on the chin and sent him face first to the canvas. Referee Pete Podgorski counted Brown out at the 0:34 mark, Ortiz not only becoming the new world champion but also the inaugural International Boxing Organisation champion.

Ortiz becomes the division's third world champion in the last twelve months. The title had been considered vacant before Mexico's Patricio Marquez claimed it exactly one year and one week ago, on the 19th of March 2006, with a 10th round TKO of Ortiz himself in a blockbuster WBA/WBC unification bout. In September Marquez relinquished both belts in order to set up a clash with IBF champion Brown, which took place in late November. Brown won the fight and world champion status with a stunning 3rd round TKO. On the same card Ortiz captured the vacant WBO belt with a majority decision victory over the Filipino Benny Diaz. With the merger of the IBF and WBO bringing about the creation of the IBO at the beginning of '07 the stage was set for a Brown-Ortiz meeting to complete a round robin of bouts between the two and Marquez.

Based on his outstanding victory over Marquez, Brown came into the fight as a warm favourite and during the first five frames there was little to suggest that he'd be anything but victorious. Brown took the 1st and 2nd convincingly and after Ortiz showed some promising signs in round three Brown resumed command in the 4th. Round five was uneventful and gave no indication of what was to come early in the 6th. Ortiz's thunderous left brought an excited howl from the crowd, Brown falling as if dropped by a sniper's bullet and not moving for the duration of the count. He landed 136 of 420 punches (32.4%), Ortiz 111 of 433 (25.6%). The Caribbean slugger celebrated passionately, jumping into his trainer's arms and pumping his right fist in the air.

Ortiz is now 38-2(31) while Brown suffered just his third career defeat, falling to 34-3-1(25). The vanquished champion appeared to be in a state of disbelief when interviewed some twenty minutes after it had all ended, amazed that he had been both knocked out cold and dethroned. Ortiz spoke in an animated fashion about his self-confidence and the positivity he'd been exposed to in the weeks leading into the bout, of how hundreds of thousands of people in his predominantly-Catholic homeland had been offering up daily prayers for his success. He thanked them all and said he was looking forward to returning home to celebrate and, eventually, defend his championship there.

Ortiz also reiterated the critical comments he'd made in regards to Marquez earlier in the week. On Tuesday Ortiz claimed that a verbal agreement had been made between himself, Brown and Marquez following November's WBO and IBF title bouts where it was decided that Marquez would challenge the winner of last night's bout later this year, most likely in August or September. However, following his win over compatriot Raul Martinez two weeks ago Marquez had expressed a desire to take on former WBC junior-welterweight champion Javier Gutierrez instead. Ortiz was angered when he heard this news, saying that Marquez had broken the promise he'd made. Marquez has disputed this, insisting that since he's not currently signed to a contract with the IBO he can fight whoever he wishes to.

"Yeah, the guy doesn't have a contract," conceeded a frustrated Ortiz last night. "But he gave me his word and he shook my hand. I've always believed that a man's word is worth a lot more than a signature on a piece of paper. I've lost some of the respect and admiration I had for the guy as a result of this. It's disappointing because I feel that I've done more than enough to justify a rematch between the two of us and if it's up to me he will be the next opponent I step in the ring against."

It's going to be interesting to see how the situation develops. As Marquez had said, he isn't contracted to the IBO so he's in no way obliged to contest any of their fighters. But many have expressed dismay at his pursuit of a clash with Gutierrez when a shot at the world lightweight championship is on the table, with nothing standing in its way. It could be that we end up seeing an Ortiz-Brown rematch, instead. Considering the fact that Brown was in control before the knockout he'd be able to make a good case for one. But Ortiz has been obsessed with gaining revenge on Marquez ever since their meeting twelve months ago and now that he's in a position to achieve that it's doubtful that he'll be prepared to risk it by giving Brown an immediate rematch.

In last night's co-feature Athens gold medallist Pernell Whitaker continued the perfect start he's made to his professional career, knocking out Boston's Calvin Woods in the 8th round of his IBO debut to win the North American Championship. Whitaker improved his record to 18-0(12), dominating the brave but clearly outclassed Woods and landing more than four times as many punches as him (311-74). Ironically Woods was enjoying his only real success of the fight in round six when Whitaker dropped him against the run of play late in the frame. He tasted the canvas again in the 7th and was cut on the right eyebrow later in the same round. The end came two minutes into the 8th, a lightning combination flooring Woods for a third time.

Whitaker was all smiles afterwards as the regional title belt was strapped around his waist by IBO president Robert Tattaglia. It's clear that he is in a much happier place than he was a couple of months ago before joining the organisation. Whitaker is one of the brightest young talents in the sport today and it won't surprise me at all if he's in line to compete for the world championship by the end of the year. Ortiz, Marquez and Brown will certainly be keeping an eye on him, without a doubt.

[kenyan_cheena]

Hey, all. With that last post we've now reached the end of the IBL's March schedule (even though the post wasn't a review of an IBL card). I've started work on updating the month end rankings and once they're done I'll be creating the schedule for April.

[kenyan_cheena]

Following are the world rankings of the IBL-contracted fictional forum fighters as at 26 March 2007...

HW #26 MIKE HANSON (USA)
HW #27 JUAN DE LA CRUZ (PHILIPPINES)
HW #30 CHEETAH BROWN (USA)
HW #33 ROMY ALVAREZ (USA)
HW #35 SCOTT MUNDT (GERMANY)
HW #48 ADAM BROOKS (USA)
HW #52 RON E. VINCENT (USA)
HW #55 MARK LYONS (USA)
HW #60 JOHN FEHNER (USA)
HW #78 BRUTUS BRODY (USA)

JHW #36 MARK ELWOOD (USA)

LHW #24 MARK SOMOGYI (AUSTRALIA) (I-C)
LHW #26 PETITE FOURIE (FRANCE)
LHW #28 SCOT LONG (USA)
LHW #36 STEVE FINLEY (USA)

MW #14 JAKE MORRISON (USA)
MW #24 IAN LORD (UNITED KINGDOM) (I-C)
MW #25 GREG GORECKY (CANADA) (A)
MW #57 FRED BOATWRIGHT (USA)

WW #27 ASHLEY JACKSON (UNITED KINGDOM)
WW #37 MAX RASMUTH (USA)
WW #50 ERIC BENGTSON (USA)

LW #27 NICOLAS FILLION (CANADA)
LW #31 RICHIE PLUNKETT (USA)

FW #25 CHARLIE BENISTON (UNITED KINGDOM) (I-C)

BW #35 CARMELO ALEMAN (USA)
BW #68 JIMMY KRUG (USA)

I'm about halfway through the April schedule and once it's done I'll post the details for any forum guys who'll be in action.

[comicfanman]

I've bee away for some time. Always a pleasure to catch up here. Seen some exciting things -

[kenyan_cheena]

April schedule:

28/03/2007 - New York, USA

BW #53 RAUL MACIAS (MEXICO) vs #68 JIMMY KRUG (USA)

31/03/2007 - Berlin, Germany

WW #25 REINHARDT KOHLER (GERMANY) (I-C) vs #27 ASHLEY JACKSON (UNITED KINGDOM)

2/04/2007 - Lagos, Nigeria

LW #17 SAMUEL MENSAH (GHANA) vs #31 RICHIE PLUNKETT (USA)

4/04/2007 - Melbourne, Australia

LHW #24 MARK SOMOGYI (AUSTRALIA) (I-C) vs #26 PETITE FOURIE (FRANCE)

6/04/2007 - Atlantic City, USA

LW #25 IKE WILLIAMS (USA) (A) vs #27 NICOLAS FILLION (CANADA)

7/04/2007 - New York, USA

HW #78 BRUTUS BRODY (USA) vs #79 ERIC JAMES (USA)
LHW #25 MELIO BETTINA (USA) (A) vs #28 SCOT LONG (USA)

11/04/2007 - New York, USA

WW #37 MAX RASMUTH (USA) vs #58 GENE BURTON (USA)
JHW #36 MARK ELWOOD (USA) vs #59 BASH ALI (NIGERIA)

12/04/2007 - Los Angeles, USA

MW #14 JAKE MORRISON (USA) vs #33 ROBERT VILLEMAIN (FRANCE)

13/04/2007 - Toronto, Canada

WW #45 SEYI OLOFINJANA (NIGERIA) vs #50 ERIC BENGTSON (USA)
MW #25 GREG GORECKY (CANADA) (A) vs #27 FRANK BATTAGLIA (CANADA)

14/04/2007 - Nottingham, England

MW #24 IAN LORD (UNITED KINGDOM) (I-C) vs #17 RANDY TURPIN (UNITED KINGDOM)
FW #25 CHARLIE BENISTON (UNITED KINGDOM) (I-C) vs #29 WITHAYA PAHOLPAT (THAILAND)

20/04/2007 - Berlin, Germany

HW #23 MAX SCHMELING (GERMANY) (I-C) vs #27 JUAN DE LA CRUZ (PHILIPPINES)

21/04/2007 - Los Angeles, USA

LHW #36 STEVE FINLEY (USA) vs #59 PIERO DEL PAPA (ITALY)
HW #14 MIKE HUNTER (USA) vs #33 ROMY ALVAREZ (USA)
HW #12 RAY MERCER (USA) vs #35 SCOTT MUNDT (GERMANY)
HW #16 MICHAEL DOKES (USA) vs #30 CHEETAH BROWN (USA)
HW #25 SAM MCVEY (USA) (A) vs #26 MIKE HANSON (USA)

26/04/2007 - Paris, France

BW #12 THEO MEDINA (FRANCE) vs #35 CARMELO ALEMAN (USA)

28/04/2007 - Laredo, USA

MW #38 JESUS ENAMORADO (CUBA) vs #57 FRED BOATWRIGHT (USA)

[kenyan_cheena]

Next couple of posts will feature reviews from a quartet of cards during the opening week of the April schedule, amongst them two regional championship bouts.

In accordance with my desire to speed the uni up from now on I'll be doing something that I said I would do some time ago, that being making greater use of the Boxing Monthly fight reviews.

Simply put, I'm going to be more choosey in regards to which fighters I write about and rather than doing a whole bunch of individual articles I'll cover more of the fights in BM. Of course, I'll always cover the forum guys because you are the life-blood of this thing.

But you guys aside I'll pretty much be focusing on the elite fighters near the top of the rankings aswell as the regional title bouts. Hopefully this will bring about more speed.

[kenyan_cheena]

ESPN

Boxing

Larry Holman Blog

Molk-Tattaglia meeting has
the speculators speculating
Thursday, March 29, 2007 | Print Entry

Following a flurry of rumours and discussion on internet boxing chat sites the offices of both the International Boxing League and International Boxing Organisation confirmed in a joint statement released on Wednesday afternoon that their respective presidents James Molk and Robert Tattaglia had held a lunchtime meeting in Manhattan on Monday. Regarded as the two most powerful individuals in the sport today Molk and Tattaglia had, until now, presented themselves as adversaries in the battle for control of boxing. This is despite the fact that they are working towards a common goal, that being the eradication of the "old boys", the World Boxing Association and World Boxing Council.

When inklngs of their meeting first came on Monday it set off speculation that they were going to discuss a possible merger to form a "super" organisation and a financial powerhouse that would put both the WBA and WBC in an impossible position where they'd be unable to compete at an international level. However, neither the IBL or IBO has revealed what was actually discussed during the meeting. What has been confirmed is that Molk initiated it by speaking to Tattaglia personally a couple of weeks ago. Both men had last been seen publicly on Saturday night at fight cards for their organisations: Molk in Miami for the Haynes-Jackson heavyweight stoush and Tattaglia in Atlantic City for the world lightweight championship clash between Joe Brown and Francisco Ortiz.

An IBL-IBO merger is pretty much a no-brainer if both bodies are eager to speed up the process of pushing the WBA and WBC into oblivion but until this week neither organisation had approached the subject (and still might not have). With both still so young in their lives I'd think they're more interested in establishing themselves as the premier sanctioning body running the sport rather than pooling their resources. While the IBL currently has the lion's share of talent under contract the IBO has made some wise moves since coming into being just three months ago and are at the very least an equal and possibly stronger when one considers the financial side of the game. It's certainly going to be interesting to follow the situation during the coming weeks.

Haynes is unhappy with
IBL scheduling policy

On Tuesday Miami-born world heavyweight champion Terone Haynes expressed his frustration in regards to the IBL's scheduling policy for their world championship bouts. Haynes retained his title with a two-round decimation of Australia's Peter Jackson at the American Airlines Arena on Saturday night but will now have to wait almost six months until he can next defend it. According to the league's policy (which will be reviewed at the end of the year) each world champion can defend their title against two different opponents during 2007, with the option of a rematch against each of them making it possible for as many as four defenses. However, following Haynes' outstanding work on Saturday there's no chance that Jackson will be granted a rematch, which would have been scheduled for June.

Instead, Haynes will have to wait until mid-September before he next steps in the ring and he's not happy about it. His opponent will be the winner of the June eliminator between Ken Norton and Andrew Golota, but the heavyweight king is of the belief that both Golota and 4th-ranked Olympic gold medallist Jack Johnson have already done enough to deserve a shot at his championship. He did not say the same for Norton, who struggled mightily and was on the verge of defeat before knocking out Simione Paea last week to claim a berth in the eliminator. The San Diego native lost his world champion status to Haynes in December and is desperate to regain it, which he'll have the chance to do if he gets past the big Polish slugger.

It's true that Golota and Johnson have been impressive under the IBL banner, with Golota boasting a pair of wins over Olympic silver medallist Riddick Bowe and another against Nigeria's Ike Ibeabuchi. Johnson is yet to taste defeat as a professional and in his last two outings has been victorious in fights with former WBA champion Sergey Anyukov and New Jersey's Joe Jeannette. He was unlucky when his Challenger's tournament semi-final bout against fellow Athens champion Lennox Lewis was scored as a draw, eliminating him from the event. Haynes believes that rather than defending his current ranking against a tier two opponent in June, Johnson should be given a shot at his world title with the winner to then defend against either Golota or Norton in September.

While Haynes admitted that if he'd had a tougher night against Jackson he might not be so eager to fight in June he also said that there needed to be more flexibility in the league's rules to allow such a fight to take place. He said that as the world heavyweight champion it was his responsibility to be active and in the public eye to increase the popularity of boxing and that he was hoping the IBL would seriously consider his proposal.

[kenyan_cheena]

The Voice of
GUYANA

FRIDAY 30 MARCH 2007

Braithwaite breaks wrist,
loses championship

Story by Cheddi Sertima

Wayne Braithwaite lost his IBL Americas junior-heavyweight championship in tragic circumstances last night when his first defense of the title against America's Eric Fields at Providence Stadium was stopped 48 seconds into round eight after he injured his right hand. Braithwaite looked to be on his way to a convincing victory as he took leads of five, seven and five points into the 8th, having controlled the top half of the bout and sent the Oklahoma-born Fields to the canvas at the midpoint of round two. But after banging a hard right off Fields' forehead he reeled away in pain, wearing a distressed grimace. It took several minutes before the bout was officially called off with medical staff examining Braithwaite's hand once his gloves had been removed and confirming that he'd sustained a serious injury.

It was announced as a wrist fracture thirty minutes later, although the severity of it and how long Braithwaite could be out of action won't be known until next week. Fields becomes the IBL's third Americas 200-pound champion. The belt was first claimed by Orlin Norris in December when he defeated Louis Del Valle by unanimous decision in San Diego. Braithwaite then dethroned Norris with an 11th round KO in his first defense last month. Fields was actually the #1 seed in the tournament to crown the inaugural champion but was defeated in the semi-finals by Del Valle. Braithwaite then took a ten-round unanimous decision against him in an official eliminator to earn the shot at Norris. Fields defeated Gary Gomez in February on the undercard of the Norris-Braithwaite fight and was granted the next title challenge as a result.

So after a pair of bouts against both Fields and Norris, Braithwaite has emerged with a 2-2 mark and without the title. He's now 22-6(15) while Fields improved to 23-5-1(14). Whether he can have greater success as champion than Norris and Braithwaite remains to be seen. Speaking of Norris, the Californian was defeated in his first outing since dropping the title to Braithwaite. Fighting in the co-feature and attempting to make the jump into the 2nd ranking tier Norris came up just short against the Jamaican Uriah Grant, who took a razor-thin unanimous decision verdict (96-95 on all three cards). Grant dominated the top half of the bout before Norris rallied superbly in the final rounds, his comeback proving to be just one round too late.

----------

EL UNIVERSAL

Friday 30 March 2007

ZARATE DOES
HIS PART

Story by Miguel Trelles

The man almost unanimously recognised as the best bantamweight in the world took another step towards officially reclaiming that title last night at Mexico City's Arena Coliseo. Former WBA champion Carlos Zarate recorded a unanimous decision win over the Frenchman Alphonse Halimi to at least retain his #4 IBL world ranking and move to within possibly a single win of a shot at the championship. It was not the most polished performance from Zarate as Halimi actually outlanded him by some 130 punches (305-174). But Zarate's workrate was superior and he sent Halimi to the canvas twice (in the first and last rounds) on the way to a 116-111, 115-112, 116-111 victory. The win improved his record to 31-2(23) while Halimi fell to 21-4-2(14).

Zarate came into the league's world championship tournament as a warm favourite, with the promise of boxing fans seeing an anticipated clash with compatriot and former IBF junior-bantamwweight champion Gilberto Roman on the radar. But just when it looked set to happen Zarate suffered an upset majority decision defeat to Korea's Jung-Il Byun in the semi-finals. Roman then claimed the title with a 7th round TKO of Byun in the inaugural title match and will defend the belt for the first time against Australia's Jeff Fenech tomorrow night in Guadalajara. Since that defeat to Byun, Zarate had secured the #4 world ranking with a 9th round knockout of Enrique Pinder in January. He'll now have to wait until the outcome of tonight's card in Korea when both #2-ranked Byun and Argentina's #3 Ernesto Miranda will be in action with a spot in June's eliminator on the line. If either man slips up Zarate will snare a berth.

In last night's co-feature Enrique Pinder rebounded from that January loss to Zarate to score a 10th round TKO of Lupe Pintor. The fight was stopped due to a cut on the inside of Pintor's right eyebrow, which had been opened late in the 8th. If not for the wound Pintor would have probably been victorious as he held leads of two, three and four points heading into round ten. He floored Pinder with a thudding left hook in round five that was part of an outstanding period of dominance for him stretching from round four through to the 7th. Both men had been defeated in their last two bouts, being eliminated in the semi-final stage of the Challenger's tournament before losing world ranking fights in January. With his third consecutive defeat Pintor is now 27-7(18) while the Panamanian Pinder improved to 23-5-2(18).

[kenyan_cheena]

TheSweetScience.com

SATURDAY 31 MARCH 2007

Byun slips up while
chaos reigns at JHW

Story by Lenny Blaylock

Yesterday's International Boxing League fight cards provided plenty of drama, with two hometown favourites tumbling to costly defeats. In Daejeon, South Korea, #2-ranked bantamweight Jung-Il Byun was comprehensively outfought by Mexico's Jesus Pimentel and lost by unanimous decision (117-110, 118-108, 117-109). Byun was in action for the first time since being stopped on cuts by Gilberto Roman in January's world championship tournament final and struggled to get into the contest. The fact that Pimentel was coming off three consecutive defeats meant nothing as he controlled the bout, dropping Byun with a left hook in round four and a left-right-left flurry midway through the 10th. The 30 year-old looked every bit a veteran of 47 professional fights and will take a fall of at least five places in the rankings.

In a busy performance Pimentel landed 260 of 1,018 punches (25.5%) and improved to 25-5(16). The win will see him ranked no lower than #6 in the April month end rankings. Byun connected with 193 of 788 blows (24.5%), his record now 37-8-2(27). In the evening's co-feature #3-ranked Argentine Ernesto Miranda clinched a berth in June's world title eliminator with a much more challenging unanimous decision victory over Panama's Mauricio Martinez (116-113, 115-113, 116-112). In a hard-fought affair Miranda recovered from a slow start to dominate the lower half of the fight, sweeping rounds seven to ten on all three scorecards. He cut Martinez on the bridge of the nose in the 5th and outlanded him 370-216, although the Panamanian's superior workrate kept him in the contest.

As a consequence of Byun's defeat Miranda (28-4-1(17)) now faces the daunting task of getting past Mexico's former WBA titlist Carlos Zarate to earn a world title shot. After being soundly beaten by the Australian Jeff Fenech in the Challenger's tournament final it appears likely that Miranda will once again miss out although, as they say, stranger things have happened. Last night's other IBL card was held in Dublin, Ireland, where in the main event the junior-heavyweight Inter-Continental Championship saw its third owner in as many title fights. Having been TKO'd by Grigory Drozd in December's inaugural championship bout the Czech Republic's Lubos Suda had better luck this time as he recorded a 6th round knockout of local hero Tom Sharkey, who himself had dethroned Drozd on the 2nd of February.

In one of the slugfests of the year and a fight that could have gone either way Suda recovered from a knockdown and a fearful beating in round four to drop Sharkey twice in the 6th, the defending champion being counted out after the bell. After an action-packed opening frame Suda floored Sharkey 45 seconds into round two with a left-right salvo and followed up strongly before the stanza's end. However, Sharkey is one of the most exciting fighters in the IBL and he wasn't about to roll over. Every fight he's been involved in under the league's banner has ended inside the distance and he was right back in the fight after an evenly-fought round three. The crowd were constantly on their feet in applause as the two warriors exchanged hurt bombs.

Then came the 4th and the ferocious assault that Suda somehow survived. After hurting him with a series of tremendous body punches Sharkey stunned Suda with a hard right off the top of his head and then sent him to the canvas courtesy of a left hook at the two-minute mark. Up at six, Suda absorbed a left hook, an uppercut and a jolting right cross in the space of thirty seconds but stayed on his feet, the referee appearing to be moments from ending it before the bell sounded. Sharkey had the better of a comparatively quiet 5th and looked to have the upperhand before Suda not only stole it away but ended the fight with his marvellous effort in the 6th. His onslaught was every bit the equal of that which Sharkey had unleashed upon him in the 4th, the only difference being that Sharkey was unable to ride it out.

When it was all over Suda had landed 160 of 383 punches (41.8%), Sharkey 146 of 407 (35.9%). Suda improved his record to 23-3-1(15) while Sharkey fell to 17-2-1(15). Both of his defeats have came at Suda's hands. Back in September they contested the I-C tournament semis, with Suda also scoring a KO win on that occasion. Last night's fight completed a round robin of bouts between Suda, Sharkey and Drozd with the title on the line each time. They've emerged tied at 1-1 and I'd think it's a strong possibility that we'll see them cross paths again in the future. Remarkably, neither of the 200-pound division's regional titles have been successfully defended to date with Guyana's Wayne Braithwaite losing the Americas belt (won from inaugural champ Orlin Norris) to Eric Fields in his first defense of it on Thursday.

In the Dublin co-feature former IBF bantamweight champion Owen Moran kept himself in the picture for an eventual world title shot with a 9th round TKO of Freddie Gilroy. It could have been a completely different outcome after Gilroy came out all guns blazing in round one. He landed a number of punishing shots and had Moran in deep trouble but couldn't finish the job. It proved to be Gilroy's one and only chance as Moran recovered to cut him on the outside of the right eyebrow late in round two and floor him in the 4th and 8th frames. Gilroy's cutr was inspected by the ringside doctor twice in round six and then again early in the 9th, the bout called off at the 0:28 mark. After losing to eventual champion Gilberto Roman in the world championship tournament semis Moran (25-1(16)) has now won back-to-back bouts and will be placed at #4 when the updated rankings are released on April 30.