Global Boxing Authority 2005 Welterweight Tournament

[Antonin]

The basic format of this universe borrows heavily from Thomas Hearns' Joe Louis Trophy universe.

I picked 2005 for the tournament year because I was reading The Ring a lot in the mid and late 2000s. I picked welterweights because in my household we have tended to follow the lighter weight classes. My wife
is Filipino, so of course we paid a lot of attention to the career of Manny Pacquiao and the featherweight, welterweight, etc fighters that he faced back then.

To create a 20-fighter tournament I picked 20 WW and JWW boxers from the Ring Magazine rankings of June 2005. There were a lot of names there that I am familiar with from back in the day: Hatton, Gatti, Cintron, Tszyu, Cotto, Margarito, etc. The tournament will begin in June. Why June? Because my birthday is June 6.

This is my first-ever universe, and I'm sure there will be elements of it that don't make sense and don't fit with how TBCB is supposed to work. But anyway it's just for fun. I doubt that I have the mental stamina to put together and maintain a universe as deatiled and entertaining as those being written up by the rest of you guys.

Boxers in this tournament will fight once a month. This will be a World Cup style tournament. In the group stage, winners get 3 points, winners by KO get 4 points, draws earn 1 point for each fighter and losses of course get 0 points. The top 2 boxers of each group will move on to the single-elimination stage.

Well, here we go!

[Antonin]

April 25, 2005 - Cleveland, Ohio - The Global Boxing Authority has announced that its welterweight championship tournament will begin in Cleveland, at the Gund Arena, on June 6. Twenty of today's best welterweights have been selected to participate, with the winner to be crowned World Champion.

The boxers will be divided into groups, and the tournament will consist of several stages. At the group stage, boxers in each group will face each other once. The top two boxers of each group will then move on to the single-elimination group of eight, then a group of four, and finally a championship round.

Group A

Antonio Margarito
Manuel Gomez
Carlos Baldomir
Thomas Damgaard
Ricky Hatton


Group B

Miguel Angel Cotto
Kostya Tszyu
Kermit Cintron
Cory Spinks
Junior Witter

Group C

Sharmba Mitchell
Lovermore N'dou
Floyd Mayweather Jr.
Arturo Gatti
Cosme Rivera

Group D

DeMarcus Corley
Zab Judah
Sebastian Andres Lujan
Vivian Harris
Jawaid Khaliq

[Antonin]

GROUP A

Antonio Margarito KO1 Manuel Gomez

The Welterweight Tournament got off to an exciting start with Antonio Margarito's stunning KO of Manuel Gomez only 52 seconds into Round 1. Margarito began the fight moving and protecting his body. Gomez waded
in, trying to score, when Margarito launched a single jab followed by a crushing uppercut. Gomez tried to regain his feet but was unable to beat the count.


Carlos Baldomir DQ4 Thomas Damgaard

Damgaard was the aggressor early in the fight, but in the first round had a point taken away for leading with his head and was warned for hitting below the belt. By round three, Baldomir was bothered by severe swelling to his left eye and was just trying to survive. In round four, Damgaard was warned for illegal use of the shoulders. Near the end ofthe fourth, the referee decided he had seen enough when Damgaard kept leaning on Baldomir's neck, and disqualified him.





GROUP B

Kostya Tszyu TKO8 Miguel Angel Cotto

The fight was even in the first four rounds, with Tszyu winning rounds 1 and 3 and Cotto taking rounds 2 and 4. Cotto began to develop swelling around the left eye in the 5th round. Tszyu let his hands go, and was landing punches almost at will until a wicked cross to the head sent Cotto to the canvas in the 8th. Cotto beat the count, but the referee had seen enough and stopped the fight.


Cory Spinks UD10 Kermit Cintron

This was a close fight in the early rounds, with a lot of clinching. A left hook by Spinks in the 5th round opened a cut along Cintron's left eyebrow. A clash of heads opened the cut further, and by the 7th, Cintron was bleeding profusely. Spinks easily won the last 2 rounds and got the unanimous decision. He was certainly the busier fighter, landing 54% of his punches, vs only 9% for Cintron.

[Antonin]

June 7, 2005 - Cleveland, OH


Group C


Floyd Mayweather Jr. TKO7 Sharmba Mitchell

Mayweather easily won the first four rounds but was cautioned in the 4th for leaning on Mitchell's neck. Mitchell was hurt in the 5th but recovered and landed a powerful hook to Mayweather's temple, knocking him down. Midway through the 7th Mitchell was cut inside the left eyebrow, and at the 2:33 mark, after having Mitchell examined by the ringside doctor, the referee stopped the fight.


Lovermore N'dou TKO5 Arturo Gatti

Gatti won the first round with aggression and superior footwork, but was cut on the right eyebrow in the 2nd and seemed to run out of gas after that. The ringside doctor examined Gatti's worsening cut in the 3rd and 4th. Near the end of the 5th, Gatti seemed to have a great deal of difficulty seeing, and the doctor judged him unable to continue. It was a rough night for Gatti, who landed only 15% of his punches, vs 34% for N'dou.


Group D


Zab Judah W10 DeMarcus Corley

It was all business tonight for the usually verbose and showboating Judah. He won all except the 4th and 8th rounds, and knocked Corley down twice in the 9th. The judges' scores were 98-91, 99-90 and 97-92.


Sebastian Andres Lujan KO10 Vivian Harris

It was a wild fight, with Lujan being knocked down twice in the 1st round and once in the 7th. Lujan then sent Harris to the canvas once in the 8th and twice in the 10th. For the second knockdown, at 2:23 in the 10th, Harris failed to beat the count.