The Greatest Prize in Sports

[Claybor]

Looking forward to cleaning up the Light Heavy division and then maybe I'll move up and take care of that noise I hear down in Florida.

Do not look too far too fast my friend. It may be that you are not even the top dog at LHW.

[kenyan_cheena]

Love the trash talking, guys.

It's making me even more enthusiastic about writing this story.

Thanks.

Next post should be up shortly.

[kenyan_cheena]

The New York Age

THURSDAY, 9 MARCH, 2006

"WE SHOULD BE WORRIED,"
SAYS WBA PRESIDENT

Story by James Reynolds

Speaking yesterday from his organisation's Venezuelan head office World Boxing Association President Pedro Vielma made the surprising admission that the sport's established sanctioning bodies "should be worried" by the threat that James Molk's International Boxing League poses to their control of it. Molk's group has made fantastic progress since he introduced it to the world just under two months ago with the man himself saying last Monday that they've "already signed close to 150 fighters".

"When Mr. Molk made his speech back in January I was sceptical," Vielma said. "He made all these proclamations, talking tough and saying that his league would be a "financial powerhouse" and built on "integrity". It sounded like a lot of big words with nothing to back them up. But I've heard rumours about who he's managed to get involved in his organisation and what their plans are and if they are true then we have to take him very seriously."

The WBA is the oldest of boxing's four major organisations and first came into being as the National Boxing Association in 1921 before changing it's name in '62 to reflect the global reach of the sport. Vielma has ruled it unopposed as president since 1991 and he conceeded yesterday that some of the points Molk made back in January had "a ring of truth to them" and that "certain incidents in the past could have been handled differently." That comment seemed to be an agreement on his part that some of the more controversial actions taken by the sport's sanctioning bodies have damaged the public's perception of boxing and led to today's climate of disinterest in it. Vielma did try to put a positive spin on the sport's current reality, claiming that the upcoming 18 March lightweight unification bout between the Dominican Republic's WBA champion Francisco Ortiz and Mexican WBC champion Patricio Marquez will very likely be the fight of the year.

There have been situations that have made each of the four organisations hang their heads in shame and for the WBA the low point was probably the period during the 1980s when it came under the strong influence of the late promoter Freddie Hutchinson. His sway over the organisation was so absolute that other promoters had to resort to paying bribes to its officials just to get their fighters ranked. It must be said that Vielma's reign has been free of such corruption although he has rubber-stamped his fair share of inconsistent, perplexing and incompetent decisions.

However, compared to the nuthouse that is the current day International Boxing Federation the WBA is a model business. The IBF is facing two embarassing situations that are both the making of its often-lampooned president Michael Jacobs. The first one relates to Mexican featherweight Gilberto Vasquez. Last September he was victorious in an official world title eliminator, earning a shot at Puerto Rican world champion Jose Molina. The following month Molina relinquished the belt and moved up to the junior-lightweight division. Instead of allowing Vasquez to contest for the vacant title the federation decided that two fighters promoted by Jacobs' close friend Robert Tattaglia would do so.

An angry Vasquez then announced that he planned to sue the IBF for breach of contract if he did not receive the title shot he'd earned, to which they replied with an appeasing offer where he would challenge the winner of the title fight in their first defense. Seeing this as a further sign of disrespect Vasquez hired a lawyer and declared that he would be going ahead with legal action. To date the situation remains unresolved but it veered into dangerous territory recently when Vasquez revealed that he'd received death threats, intriguing news when one considers Tattaglia's rumoured links to organised crime in New Jersey, which is also where the IBF's head office is located.

The other mess that the federation has made for themselves involves current World Boxing Organisation heavyweight champion Terone Haynes. In recent months Haynes' manager/trainer Roy Jones has been pushing for a unification bout between his man and the current IBF champion, Germany's Marko Friedrich. Haynes captured the WBO belt from his fellow Florida native Ray Mercer in September 2004 and has already defended it on four occasions in the time since. By comparison, Friedrich has defended his title just once during that period, which was almost twelve months ago. He pulled out of a planned defense with Russia's Igor Berezutskiy late last year, who the IBF somehow installed as a mandatory challenger despite him having beaten no one currently ranked in their top ten.

Their clash has yet to be re-scheduled and what makes the incident even more farcical is Jacobs' recent bizarre words when he claimed that because Haynes had only fought twenty-one times in his pro career he was not worthy of challenging for the IBF's belt, this despite the fact that their current bantamweight champion Owen Moran won the title in his sixteenth fight. The WBO have not helped the situation either by stating they'd prefer Haynes to fight their own mandatory challenger. Roy Jones announced last week that if the situation is not resolved by the end of the month Haynes will be relinquishing the belt and signing with the IBL. The entire "Florida Alliance", as Jones' Pensacola-based team is sometimes known, would be going with him.

These two incidents with Vasquez and Haynes are only a pair of examples of why the majority of the sporting public is so down on boxing these days. It would seem that many of the sport's competitors are sick of the nonsense from the alphabet boys also, judging by the number of them who have already signed with the IBL. Last week's news that Canada's two-time Olympic gold medallist Sam Langford had become the latest high-profile fighter to do so will no doubt be a body blow to the World Boxing Council who were definitely grooming him towards a shot at the title in what is presently a shallow cruiserweight division. With Langford out of the picture the pool is almost empty. Molk's organisation has been very smart with their signings so far: most of them are young fighters who really are the future of this sport, such as the trio of Olympic champions who joined before Langford in Jack Johnson, Salvador Sanchez and Lennox Lewis.

And so, as Vielma said in relation to the WBA, WBC, IBF and WBO's stance towards the IBL, "We should be worried."

[kenyan_cheena]

EL UNIVERSAL

Sunday 19 March 2006

MARQUEZ STOPS ORTIZ
IN 10TH, ADDS WBA BELT
TO COLLECTION!

Story by Miguel Trelles

In one of the most anticipated world title fights in years Mexico's Patricio Marquez scored a 10th round TKO victory over the Dominican Republic's Francisco Ortiz last night at the Tropicana Resort & Casino in Las Vegas. In achieving victory Marquez retained his WBC lightweight championship and also claimed Ortiz's WBA belt, joining Jamaica's Mike McCallum (WBC & IBF junior-middleweight) and the Welshman Jim Driscoll (WBA & WBC featherweight) as the only active fighters to currently hold multiple world titles. A native of Sonora, Marquez celebrated his 31st birthday last Tuesday and gave himself a belated gift, his record improving to 42-2-1(34) while Ortiz fell to 35-2(29).

These two outstanding combatants have been on a collision course ever since winning their respective titles within weeks of each other in June (Marquez) and July (Ortiz) of 2003 and had both made at least a half-dozen defenses leading into their clash. For a time last night's fight looked like it would never happen as both camps found it difficult to settle on a split of the purse in addition to a number of other more minor details. But those problems were eventually resolved, paving the way for what was regarded by many as a fight that could really help to revive the flagging interest in boxing amongst the general sports-loving public. Whether it does that or not remains to be seen, although it must be said that the pay-per-view numbers were some of the strongest in the last three years for a title fight.

But did the actual contest itself live up to the hype? It certainly did. The Tropicana's arena was jam-packed with fans of both men, numerous celebrities from the world of entertainment also amongst the crowd. There was a celebratory atmosphere in the air and each fighter was greeted with a thunderous ovation as they made their way to the ring. Marquez was the a slight favourite and confirmed why in the opening round, coming out the aggressor and pressing Ortiz. He kept the momentum in round two before the Dominican Republic native produced some effective work behind a stinging jab in the 3rd. Marquez was back in control in the 4th, after which Ortiz was showing some swelling under his right eye. His corner crew worked feverishly on it during the intermission and implored him to go back to using his jab. Their advice seemed to fall on deaf ears as Ortiz kept on trying to brawl and when Marquez rocked him with a left hook midway through round six he appeared to be comfortably in control.

But Ortiz was not going to simply lie down and give the Mexican his belt and his retort was stunning and unexpected. He sent Marquez to the canvas for just the third time in his career thirty seconds into the 7th, a left-right salvo planting the WBC champ on his backside. Ortiz went all-out trying to finish his man off but astonishingly Marquez rallied late in the round, a booming right hand putting Ortiz on his heels and on the defensive for the rest of the stanza. The 8th and 9th were even and hard-fought and as the bout entered round ten it was impossible to tell who would emerge victorious. Marquez made the picture a little bit clearer when he dropped Ortiz with an accumulation of shots midway through the round. Up at six he was down again almost immediately, a left hook taking his legs out from underneath him. The brave warrior refused to give in and climbed back to his feet at the eight count.

Referee Jimmy Haye looked set to stop the fight but allowed Ortiz to continue. Marquez rushed him and unloaded with a left-right-left flurry, sending Ortiz into the ropes helplessly at which point Haye jumped in and halted the contest, Marquez the victor at the 2:11 mark of the 10th round. His corner crew flooded the ring and embraced him jubilantly before lifting him onto their shoulders and parading him around the ring. Marquez approached Ortiz shortly after and exchanged words of admiration with him, the two warriors receiving a huge round of applause from the crowd. Marquez was gracious in victory, saying what an honour and achievement it was to add the title of the World Boxing Association to his WBC belt and that he would love to go at it with Ortiz again in the future. He was asked about the recent contract offer tabled to him by the International Boxing League, to which he replied quite adamantly.

"My loyalty is to the WBC," Marquez said. "They are the ones who have helped me make it possible for my family to escape poverty, for me to help others in my community who are less fortunate than I am. They have been fantastic for me and I will never forget that. Why would I turn my back on them to go and fight for someone who has no experience in this business? For money? Please, I would never sell myself out like that. My loyalty will always be with the WBC but now I guess some of it is reserved for the WBA also. I never thought the day would come when I'd win a second title so this is pretty incredible."

Marquez is one of eight current Mexican world champions across boxing's fifteen weight classes. Two of the other seven successfully defended their titles on last night's undercard. WBC junior-featherweight champion Jesus Carrillo improved to 25-1-1(17) with a 4th round knockout of the Californian Michael Tate while WBO welterweight champ Enrique Diaz was too good for Puerto Rico's Carmelo Barea, defeating him by 12-round unanimous decision to retain his belt for a fifth time.

[Ric915]

As Always KC Awesome uni and nice to see I'm still tearing that ass up. HAHAHAHA

[Romdawg88]

Screw the WBO, Haynes needs to drop that junk and come home to the IBL with the rest of the Alliance.

[kenyan_cheena]

Originally Posted by Ric915

As Always KC Awesome uni and nice to see I'm still tearing that ass up. HAHAHAHA

Thanks, Ric. I'm hoping your guy goes all the way to the top in this uni.

Originally Posted by Romdawg88

Screw the WBO, Haynes needs to drop that junk and come home to the IBL with the rest of the Alliance.

That situation will be resolved in about three posts from now.

[kenyan_cheena]

LAS VEGAS
REVIEW-JOURNAL

Tuesday, 28 March, 2006

MOLK INTRODUCES IBL
ASSOCIATES AT MGM

Story by Geoff Hurst

Showing that his January announcement was merely a prelude Vegas businessman James Molk offically introduced his International Boxing League to the world yesterday afternoon, holding a press conference in one of the cavernous meeting rooms at his MGM Grand casino. Molk's words from January were proven to be absolutely on the money as he was joined by a quartet of individuals who will no doubt lend a great deal of clout to the IBL, none moreso than New York real estate and investment tycoon Michael Vincennes. He is the owner of the New York Age newspaper, one of the wealthiest men in America and a self-confessed fanatic of both his hometown Brooklyn Dodgers and the sweet science. Sports journalist James Reynolds is a long-time writer for the Age and has penned a number of articles publicising the IBL ever since Molk unveiled it in January. The reasons behind his promotion of the new organisation are now much, much clearer and it goes without saying that the league will continue to enjoy the publication's favour in the months and years to come.

Ohio industrialist James Harrison has been a good friend of Molk's for a number of years and was only too happy to help him in his new venture. Harrison is also a major stockholder in cable television channel Home Box Office and Molk revealed that the International Boxing League has signed a deal where HBO will broadcast each and every card of the league's upcoming world championship tournaments. Harrison has had experience in the area of sports administration as he was a part-owner of the Cincinnati Reds in the early '90s. He expressed his excitement at being involved in what he believes will be "the rebirth of boxing" under James Molk's leadership.

The other two members of Molk's team are both former world champion boxers and two of the sport's greatest fighters from the past twenty years. Born and raised in Harlem Leroy Grant was a world champion in the super-middleweight and light-heavyweight divisions, claiming five individual title belts over the course of the eight years from '89 through '97 and finishing his thirteen-year career with a record of 55-4-1(41). The involvement of Mexican legend Israel Martinez in the IBL had already been publicised before yesterday's announcement but that didn't stop the three-division champion being present at the MGM. Martinez claimed titles in the junior-lightweight, lightweight and junior-welterweight classes, including a fantastic run of six years as WBA lightweight king starting in 1982. Martinez boasts a career record of 62-7-2(44) and has been instrumental in the IBL's recruitment push as he's convinced a number of fighters from his homeland, South America and the Caribbean to sign with the league.

Introduced as the International Boxing League President Molk didn't mince words as he kicked off the conference, opening with a ten-minute verbal assault on the failures of the "alphabet" organisations. Molk targeted a number of issues including sanctioning fees, inconsistencies with rankings, the number of fighters currently branded as "world champions" and the "astonishing corruption" that has crippled the sport for far too long. During one passionate stretch he spoke of how the term "undisputed champion" is an indictment on the sport's credibility as it was an admission that none of the alphabet champions were really champions anyway. He also mentioned the recent Marquez-Ortiz lightweight unification bout, saying that while it was a great night for the sport such nights are far too rare and "the exception rather than the norm".

Molk then explained how the IBL will "restore boxing to its former glory", revealing that every fighter who signs with the organisation will be paid a weekly salary and be automatically entered into a superannuation scheme where the league would pay 10% of their gross earnings into a fund that could be accessed once they had retired from the sport. The salary and superannuation would be in addition to the prize money competitors earn from fights but Molk warned that as in any other business those who underperform would feel the effect of that when the time comes to negotiate a new contract. Molk claimed that unlike the WBA and other sanctioning bodies the league will be a completely self-sufficient entity, meaning that not only will it sanction bouts but also promote them, eliminating the need to be associated with the many shady promoters who have financially plundered the sport over the years.

The IBL President went into detail on how the league would be structured, saying that in an attempt to return the sport to "the way it once was" the IBL will not employ the "junior" weight classes such as junior-lightweight and junior-middleweight. It will feature nine weight classes, starting at heavyweight (200 lbs and above) and descending to junior-heavyweight (more commonly known as cruiserweight, up to 200 lbs), light-heavyweight (up to 175 lbs), middleweight (up to 160 lbs), welterweight (up to 147 lbs), lightweight (up to 135 lbs), featherweight (up to 126 lbs), bantamweight (up to 118 lbs) and flyweight (112 lbs and below). The league's goal is to establish itself quickly, Molk revealing that each of the nine weight classes would have three different championship belts up for grabs. These are the World Championship and two regional titles, the Americas Championship and Inter-Continental Championship.

Fighters from North America, South America and the Caribbean would be eligible to contest the Americas title while the Inter-Continental belt would encompass Europe, Africa, Asia and Oceania. Molk was asked why the IC title had such a broad scope and his reply was that having a wide range of fighters able to challenge for the regional titles would make them more sought after. The two regional champions would earn a shot at the World Championship if they successfully defended their title five times, another factor that will make them a prized possession. He also said that the league had no desire to be weighed down by an assortment of titles, stating that one of the issues that has turned the public away from the sport is "the myriad of championships that exist, even amongst each individual organisation".

Starting in early June the IBL will run single-elimination tournaments to crown champions in each division. The World Championship tournament will feature eight contestants while sixteen fighters are to compete for each of the two regional titles. The league also plans to run a 16-man "challenger's tournament" in each division, the winner of which will take on the inaugural world champion in their first title defense. The most established and accomplished fighters in each weight class will be placed in the world championship and challenger's tournaments while the less experienced have the chance to claim one of the regional titles. According to Molk these tournaments should take "just over seven months" to complete. With 56 fighters competing in each division the IBL will need to sign 504 fighters and Molk confirmed that they are already "more than halfway there".

In addition to his four associates Molk had arranged to have a trio of the sport's current up-and-coming fighters present at the conference. Each of them won gold in Athens and have made impressive starts to their professional careers since then and, of course, have signed contracts with the IBL. They were Texas-born heavyweight Jack Johnson, Mexican featherweight Salvador Sanchez and Canadian cruiserweight Sam Langford. Each of them fielded questions from the large media contingent before posing for photos with Molk and his quartet. In particular they took up good natured fighting stances with both Grant and Martinez, 18 year-old Sanchez appearing awestruck in the presence of a man he described as "his hero and inspiration". It was certainly an entertaining ending to what was an impressive introduction to Molk's ambitious creation...

[Romdawg88]

Originally Posted by kenyan_cheena

That situation will be resolved in about three posts from now.

Nice, I look forward to it.


Vincennes sweet! The IBL will be truly unstoppable now. I'm looking forward to these tournaments and seeing who ends up in them. They should make for fun times. Man, if all the forum HWs end up in the regional tournaments those things are going to be tougher then the World Championship ones.

[Jeff1787]

I just got caught up on all of the threads. It is looking good!

[kenyan_cheena]

Originally Posted by Romdawg88

Nice, I look forward to it.


Vincennes sweet! The IBL will be truly unstoppable now. I'm looking forward to these tournaments and seeing who ends up in them. They should make for fun times. Man, if all the forum HWs end up in the regional tournaments those things are going to be tougher then the World Championship ones.

The forum guys are actually spread out a little, to be honest. There's six heavies, four light-heavies and a couple each from some of the other divisions. The chance of a Hanson-Alvarez matchup early on in this uni is very, very good...

Originally Posted by Jeff1787

I just got caught up on all of the threads. It is looking good!

Thanks, Jeff. Hopefully Mr. Morrison can tear the hell out of that talented MW division.

[Romdawg88]

Originally Posted by kenyan_cheena

The forum guys are actually spread out a little, to be honest. There's six heavies, four light-heavies and a couple each from some of the other divisions. The chance of a Hanson-Alvarez matchup early on in this uni is very, very good...

True, the forum guys might be abit spread out but four of those six heavies are based in the US so would end up in the Americas tournament. Plus, if you throw in David Kane who isn't a forum guy but is still fictional. That is 5 of the 16 spots filled with fighters in the 10ish range plus I'm sure more good fighters will get thrown in there so like I said those regional tournaments are going to be brutal if we all end up in there.

[kenyan_cheena]

Originally Posted by Romdawg88

True, the forum guys might be abit spread out but four of those six heavies are based in the US so would end up in the Americas tournament. Plus, if you throw in David Kane who isn't a forum guy but is still fictional. That is 5 of the 16 spots filled with fighters in the 10ish range plus I'm sure more good fighters will get thrown in there so like I said those regional tournaments are going to be brutal if we all end up in there.

I think it will be one of the highlights of the tournaments, seeing all these young, hungry fighters competing for that title. The good thing about having the tourneys as single elimination is that every fight is vital and important.

Also, it won't take me too long to run them. I was thinking about it the other day and it shouldn't take me that long to run every single tournament in each weight division. There'll be only 15 individual bouts in each WC tourney, so I could wrap those up pretty quickly. Of course, it'll take a bit longer to write them up but I'm not going to be too detailed with them anyway.

Next post is a pretty big one (fight results for March) so it might take me a couple of days to finish it.

Hope everyone's enjoying TGPiS so far.

[kenyan_cheena]

BOXING
MONTHLY

VOLUME 28, ISSUE 3 - MARCH 2006

(following are selected entries from the magazine's
"Fight Review" section)

4 March: Los Angeles, California, USA
James Toney (33-3-1(28)) TKO7 Marcus White (22-8(15))
(middleweight division)

In his first fight since losing a unanimous decision to IBF champion Freddie Steele in October, 28 year-old Toney scored an almost meaningless stoppage of fellow Los Angeles native Marcus White. Coming out of the worst two years of his career Toney really needed something more substantial to get himself back on track. After dropping the WBC title to Bert Lytell in April '04 and then being knocked out in a rematch five months later Toney recorded two wins over fringe contenders before being given a shot at Steele, in which he was soundly defeated. Two weeks after his win over White "Lights Out" announced that he'd signed a contract with the International Boxing League. Based on Molk's big unveiling this past Monday he could very well find himself a competitor in their middleweight world championship tournament.

6 March: London, England
Ian Lord (6-0(4)) TKO5 Martin Bell (7-3(4))
(middleweight division)

Making the trip south from his hometown of Coventry teenage middleweight Ian Lord was in hostile surroundings as his opponent Martin Bell was a local and the crowd favourite. But the situation didn't faze Lord as he gradually wore Bell down until the referee saved him from any further punishment late in the 5th. As he's done in each of his fights Lord proudly wore the sky blue and white colours of his beloved Coventry City football team into the ring, the club's emblem stencilled across the back of his robe. Lord was asked afterwards what he'd do if Nigel Benn's promoters offered him a fight. He replied by saying he'd accept it "in a heartbeat".

6 March: London, England
Ashley Jackson (4-0(3)) KO2 Brian Janson (6-1(4))
(welterweight division)

This promising, popular young southpaw appeared on the same card as Lord and had the crowd on their feet in applause with a thrilling display of speed and power. Janson is also a teenager on the rise and was regarded as having a good chance of ending Jackson's perfect career start but he was on the canvas before the bout was thirty seconds old. Jackson kept his foot firmly on Janson's throat and floored him twice in round two, Janson failing to beat the count after the second knockdown.

8 March: Lincoln, Nebraska, USA
Mark Elwood (8-0(6)) UD6 Keith Makinson (7-3-1(4))
(cruiserweight division)

One of the things that boxing is really in need of right now is more talented cruiserweights and in Fremont's Mark Elwood it appears to have one. The 22 year-old improved his record to a perfect 9-0 with a dominant showing against local fighter Keith Makinson in Nebraska's state capital. Elwood enjoyed a fairly successful amateur career at heavyweight but has weighed in at or around 195 for most of his professional bouts to date. He would be a great signing for the IBL and when one considers the current talent in the division would not be out of place in it's junior-heavyweight world championship tournament, despite his inexperience.

11 March: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
Harold Johnson (33-1-2(24)) TKO10 Michael King (25-4(21))
(light-heavyweight division, WBA title fight)

"Philadelphia's Champion" Harold Johnson retained the WBA belt for the fifth time, mesmerising and outclassing Detroit's Michael King for nine rounds before referee Howard James and the ringside doctor agreed to stop the fight midway through the 10th due to the severe swelling under the challenger's right eye. There had been problems surrounding the fight as Johnson did not feel that the Michigan native had earned a title shot and therefore did not want to defend his belt against him. But the WBA had installed him as the mandatory challenger and Johnson reluctantly went ahead with the bout. However, it now appears that the incident really got to Johnson as one week after the fight he announced that he was relinquishing the belt and joining the International Boxing League. He is the most well-known alphabet champion to jump ship to date but is not likely to be the last.

11 March: San Juan, Puerto Rico
Wilfred Benitez (11-0-1(9)) KO1 Carlos Nieves (15-10-1(8))
(welterweight division)

Athens bronze medallist Benitez made extremely short work of his compatriot Nieves, knocking him out cold with the first hard punch he landed forty seconds into the fight. It was the third 1st round stoppage win in four bouts for Benitez, who is regarded in his homeland as the spearhead of a talented young brigade that also includes fellow bronze medallist Juan La Porte (featherweight) and former amateur standout Felix Trinidad (junior-welterweight), who only turned professional last month but is already considered a lock for future world championship glory.

13 March: Mexico City, Mexico
Vicente Saldivar (14-0(13)) KO5 Jose Pena (11-6(6))
(junior-featherweight division)

Mexico's brilliant young Olympic champion has looked unstoppable since turning professional a week after returning home from Athens. He was in a ruthless frame of mind against Pena and would have finished him off earlier if he'd been a little bit more patient. Saldivar's hatred of and intense rivalry with fellow gold medallist Salvador Sanchez has been one of the biggest stories in Mexican boxing for some time now and with both of them signed by the IBL it's very likely that they'll finally step in the ring against each other in the league's featherweight division. That will be a highly-anticipated clash, to say the least.

15 March: Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Les Darcy (25-1(22)) UD12 Juan Roldan (28-2(26))
(middleweight division, WBA title fight)

Fighting in the main event of a card that featured some of Australia's most talented fighters, Darcy was brilliant in securing a unanimous decision win over the rugged Argentinian Roldan. After withstanding an early assault Darcy assumed control in the 5th and kept it for most of the remaining rounds, retaining his belt as the judges favoured him with verdicts of 118-110, 117-112 and 118-111. It was the first major world title fight held in Australia for five years and a near-capacity crowd packed out the Sydney Entertainment Centre to see it. Darcy had not fought at home since '02 and was over the moon afterwards, thrilled that he'd put on such a great show for his fellow countrymen.

15 March: Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Peter Jackson (12-0(8)) KO5 Ben Chambers (8-3(6))
(heavyweight division)

Athens silver medallist Jackson maintained his untroubled pro career start with a brutal knockout of Brisbane native Ben Chambers. A left-right salvo wobbled Chambers, the combo chased by a smashing uppercut that put him on his back for a full count. The bout was the co-feature on Darcy's SEC card, Jackson having the full backing of the crowd. The Caribbean-born slugger went to Athens as an unknown but came back to Australia a hero after claiming silver. He has become quite a celebrity since, endorsing a number of commercial products in television and magazine advertisments. Unsurprisingly his professional career has been keenly followed by Aussie fight fans.

15 March: Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Jeff Fenech (14-0(12)) TKO3 Genario Torres (11-3(8))
(bantamweight division)

Jackson's fellow Athens medallist and good friend Jeff Fenech also appeared on the card and he was at his precision best in decimating his overmatched Filipino opponent Genario Torres. Fenech was far too aggressive and busy for Torres to handle and after knocking him down in round two the Australian was relentless in the 3rd, to the point where Torres actually turned his back on him. The referee stopped the fight moments later. At the end of the night Darcy, Jackson and Fenech were interviewed together, Darcy confirming that all three of them have been approached by the IBL. The trio have made a pact to make the decision together on whether to sign with the league or not and at the time of this magazine's publication they had yet to reach one.

16 March: Chicago, Illinois, USA
Jake Morrison (7-0(7)) TKO4 Chris Hendricks (5-0(4))
(middleweight division)

This bout was supposed to have taken place in Milwaukee on February 11 but Hendricks injured his back. The fight was rescheduled and relocated to Hendricks' hometown. Morrison's camp had believed he'd faked the injury to avoid fighting him in Milwaukee but the change of venue made little difference. Hendricks looked like a man on the way to his execution as he made the walk to the ring and Morrison showed no mercy once the bout started, pounding him with a relentless assault to the head and body through the opening three rounds. Hendricks was floored in the 2nd but worse was to come in the 4th, Morrison dropping him three times in the first ninety seconds of the round before the referee had seen enough.

17 March: Kansas City, Missouri, USA
Scot Long (6-0-1(3)) KO2 Dean Linton (8-2-1(5))
(light-heavyweight division)

This exciting young light-heavy avenged the only blotch on his record to date, destroying the man who held him to a draw last September. Linton had won four in a row since then but for his second consecutive bout Long easily accounted for an opponent who was tipped to test him. Some experts even thought Linton had a chance to send Long to his first defeat but it became obvious within the first thirty seconds that the McCune native was on a mission. Long caught his man with a series of short, jolting shots through the 1st round and finished him with a single flush right hand a minute into round two. It was announced on the 22nd that Long had signed with the IBL, the young man quoted as saying "$2,000 a week before even throwing a punch? Who's gonna turn that down?"

18 March: Pensacola, Florida, USA
Romy Alvarez (4-0(2)) KO4 Dre Kingston (7-1-1(5))
(heavyweight division)

"The Iceman" looked mighty impressive in his first outing since hooking up with Roy Jones' "Florida Alliance" in Pensacola, putting the highly regarded young Memphis native Dre Kingston to sleep with a perfectly-timed left hook late in the 4th round to improve to 5-0(3). The knockout came after Alvarez had pitched a shutout through the opening three rounds behind a penetrating left jab. At first he had been hesitant to accept the fight, believing he wasn't quite ready for it having seen Kingston score some punishing wins in his previous bouts. But Jones felt that he could win and that vote of confidence was all Alvarez needed to produce a fantastic performance. He only started training under Jones last month, the situation facilitated by a conversation he had with the Ray cousins Elmer and James after his last bout on the 10th of February. Based on the win against Kingston he's already benefitted a great deal from his time in Pensacola.

20 March: London, England
Nigel Benn (12-0(10)) TKO3 Steve Barrett (9-2-1(6))
(middleweight division)

England's premier middleweight and lone Athens medallist continued his fantastic career start, making short work of Barrett for his thirteenth professional victory. Benn was in an aggressive frame of mind throughout the brief contest and has now recorded eleven stoppage wins, eight of which have come within three rounds. His handlers had been talking about lining him up for a shot at the European Boxing Union's middleweight belt but those plans have gone out the window since he agreed to a contract with the IBL. Unsurprisingly the middleweight division looks like being the strongest for the league during their upcoming tournaments.

22 March: Lima, Peru
Mauro Mina (11-0(7)) TKO6 Jose Cacciatore (6-3-1(4))
(light-heavyweight division)

Peru's Olympic silver medallist was back in action for the first time since December. He came down with an illness early in the new year that kept him out of the gym for almost three weeks but he looked fully recovered against Cacciatore, at times playing with the Brazilian. Mina put his foot to the floor in the 6th and final round, punishing his man until the referee ended the bout a minute before the bell. Mina announced the day after the fight that he'd met with IBL representative Israel Martinez and would be signing a contract with the organisation before the end of the month. No doubt his presence will make the league's light-heavyweight Americas tournament even more interesting.

24 March: Indianapolis, Indiana, USA
Mike Hanson (5-0(5)) TKO2 David Mayor (4-2(2))
(heavyweight division)

"Hector" Hanson made mince meat of an opponent that was perfect for him, pummeling the flat-footed Mayor into submission midway through the 2nd with a succession of piledriving rights and lefts. It was an obvious mismatch but the crowd didn't seem to care, the ovation they gave Hanson a clear statement of their admiration for him. The victor was in a loud, bragadocious mood afterwards, thumping his chest with his right fist, shouting and reveling in the audience's applause. While clearly not as polished or skilled as some of the other promising young heavies Hanson has captured the public's imagination with his knockout power and it will be interesting to see if the IBL secures his services.

25 March: Richmond, Virginia, USA
Pernell Whitaker (10-0(7)) UD6 Larry Johnston (8-4(6))
(lightweight division)

America's brilliant young lightweight was in action for the second time in four weeks, still keen to make up for time lost during an involuntary five-month absence from the ring in '05. His win against Johnston didn't prove anything that wasn't already known as he dazzled the New Yorker with speed and precision. The IBL have made his signature a priority but Whitaker has resisted the organisation's advances. During the post-fight interview he stated that his mind was set on challenging the current champions of the lightweight division, Joe Brown and Patricio Marquez, so it might be some time before we see him fighting under the banner of the IBL (if ever).

25 March: Richmond, Virginia, USA
Steve Finley (7-0(6)) KO4 Ian Parker (5-3(2))
(light-heavyweight division)

With the crowd firmly in his corner Finley scored his eighth win as a professional, Parker looking out of his league from the opening round. The 20 year-old native of Roanoke showed admirable patience, picking Parker off with well-chosen shots throughout the fight. Unsurprisingly it wasn't a single powerful punch that ended the bout but an accumulation of blows, Parker sent to the canvas in a neutral corner midway through the 4th. He had only got as far as considering climbing back to his feet when the count reached ten, Finley nonchalant in the aftermath of his victory. He's one of a number of young fighters the IBL have targeted and he implied after his win that he'll be accepting the organisation's offer.

[kenyan_cheena]

Just in case there's any confusion, the magazine "Boxing Monthly" is released to the public on the final day of the month it applies to. So the January issue was released January 31, the Feb. issue on the 28th, March on the 31st and so on.

That means we're now at the end of March '06 in the uni. I'm pretty happy that I've covered three months of TGPiS in a couple of weeks and hopefully I'll be able to maintain that pace when the tournaments are taking place.

[SAL]

Great stuff Dan. Good to see all my fellow OOTP'ers doing well except for maybe that Iceboy guy. Actually, I'd prefer to see Romy keep doing well and pad his record. It will make it look that much better for me if I ever decide to step up in weight and meet him in the ring someday.

Don't tell the IBL officials but I would have signed for a lot less. Anyway, glad to be a part of the IBL now. I think it is the greatest boxing organization out there.

[kenyan_cheena]

Originally Posted by SAL

Great stuff Dan. Good to see all my fellow OOTP'ers doing well except for maybe that Iceboy guy. Actually, I'd prefer to see Romy keep doing well and pad his record. It will make it look that much better for me if I ever decide to step up in weight and meet him in the ring someday.

Don't tell the IBL officials but I would have signed for a lot less. Anyway, glad to be a part of the IBL now. I think it is the greatest boxing organization out there.

Thanks, Scot. I'm really happy that you're enjoying it. As for padding records, all that will be coming to an end for you guys pretty soon. You'll find that Molk and co. have a "no padding" policy so it's really going to be survival of the fittest.

That quote I threw in from your guy gives you an idea of how much money the IBL is paying the established fighters. Your guy has had half-a-dozen fights and they signed him to a $100,000 12-month contract.

[kenyan_cheena]

AMERICAN | PUGILIST

*** Published bi-weekly out of Chicago, Illinois since 1950 ***

Monday 3 April 2006
Volume 57, Edition 7

HAYNES RELINQUISHES
(AND TRASHES) WBO BELT,
SIGNS WITH IBL

Story by Lucious Holt

When Roy Jones makes a statement, best believe the man will follow through with it. So it was this past Saturday when WBO Heavyweight Champion Terone Haynes relinquished his title and signed what is reportedly a three-year contract with the International Boxing League. Back on the 3rd of March Jones had said that if a unification bout between Haynes and German IBF Champion Marko Friedrich had not been agreed to by the end of March Haynes would be doing exactly what he did on the weekend. Saturday was the 1st of April and Jones stayed true to his words. Jones, two of his cousins and his entire stable of fighters arrived at an unidentified conference room somewhere in Pensacola dressed in black suits and shades, Haynes with his WBO belt slung over his shoulder.

Representing the IBL was the organisation's vice-president Michael Vincennes. Jones delivered an almost five-minute diatribe on how both the WBO and IBF had "messed around" with his "team", after which Haynes announced that he was officially relinquishing his title ... before dropping the belt into a trash can while wearing a smile from ear to ear! He then played up for the camera, acting like a huge burden had been lifted from his shoulders. Haynes, Jones and Vincennes sat down at a table and the former WBO champion signed his IBL contract. But the spectacle wasn't over yet. Jones had promised that it would be "one in, all in", that the entire "Florida Alliance" would be joining Haynes in the IBL. And so Holman Williams (middleweight), Elmer Ray (cruiserweight), James Ray (welterweight) and his newest charge Romy Alvarez (heavyweight) all followed Haynes' lead and signed their name on IBL contracts also.

There was then a period of mutual congratulations, Vincennes shaking hands and posing for photos with Jones and his team. It was quite an amusing scene and 100% entertaining, the moment also representing how far the IBL has come in such a short period of time. Not only have they snared the signature of one of the most exciting heavyweights in world boxing, they've also acquired a quartet of fighters who in this writer's opinion are all capable of equaling Haynes achievement of winning a world championship, even in what will be the more challenging ranks of the IBL.

Highlights of the footage were shown extensively on evening news sports bulletins while it was broadcast in an extended version on ESPN's Sportscenter and in its entirety on HBO as a thirty-minute special report.

[Romdawg88]

I'm a nice guy so I'm willing to hand out some free advice to help my fellow man. So to that Long fellow how about before you go running off at that mouth how about you actually beat your opponents and not get held to draws by some midwest bum. Oh sure, you beat him in the rematch but lets face it if you had any real talent there won't have been a need for a rematch in the first place. I take on a more experience, highly regarded prospect and blow him out of the water like I should of.

Sweet, nice to have Haynes coming home no doubt he'll bring the IBL HW gold to the FA. When the Alliance does something they do it big. The only thing that press conference needed was van burning and it would of been all good.

[kenyan_cheena]

Originally Posted by Romdawg88

I'm a nice guy so I'm willing to hand out some free advice to help my fellow man. So to that Long fellow how about before you go running off at that mouth how about you actually beat your opponents and not get held to draws by some midwest bum. Oh sure, you beat him in the rematch but lets face it if you had any real talent there won't have been a need for a rematch in the first place. I take on a more experience, highly regarded prospect and blow him out of the water like I should of.

Sweet, nice to have Haynes coming home no doubt he'll bring the IBL HW gold to the FA. When the Alliance does something they do it big. The only thing that press conference needed was van burning and it would of been all good.

I think I gotta do something as this uni progresses to get you two matched up against each other. It's a fight that is just begging to be made.

As you'll have noticed I've changed the dynamics of the Alliance a little. Where Elmer was the leader in the HBF uni here he's almost like a junior member of the group. He'll become more vocal as time goes by but for now Mr. Jones is the boss. I am really hoping that Haynes can become the IBL's inaugural world champion but with the fighters I have planned to take part in the tourney it'll be tough.