The Greatest Prize in Sports - Page 79

kenyan_cheena · 09-04-2012, 07:55 AM

The New York Age

SUNDAY, 17 FEBRUARY, 2008

HOLMES UPSETS DELEON,
MOVES CLOSER TO TITLE SHOT

Story by James Reynolds

Brooklyn-born boxer Maurice Holmes took an important step in his quest to become a two-division world champion when he defeated Puerto Rico's Carlos DeLeon in San Juan last night. The 36 year-old former WBA light-heavyweight titlist scored his most significant win since coming out of retirement back in '06 to compete in the International Boxing League's junior-heavyweight world championship tournament. Holmes floored DeLeon four times on the way to an 8th round knockout victory, stunning the near-capacity crowd at Hiram Bithorn Stadium. The main event clash was the first for each man in the League's 2008 World Championship Conference. A former world champion at 200 pounds, DeLeon was looking to remain in contention after suffering a disqualification loss in the 14th round of a challenge to Jeff Lampkin's world title last August. Instead, he'll now take a tumble down the rankings from his pre-fight standing at #3 while Holmes should vault up the list, having been ranked 10th coming into the fight.

It was admirable of DeLeon that he agreed to such a tough proposition in Holmes for his first WCC outing. He stated in media appearances during the week leading up to the contest that he had little choice as he believed that only a win against an opponent of the highest pedigree would keep his name under consideration for any future title shots. But once the fight started, DeLeon looked in serious trouble. Holmes dominated the opening three rounds, inflicting some heavy damage on the hometown favourite in rounds one and two. In complete control, he planted DeLeon on the seat of his pants with a hard combination midway through the 4th. By the time the round was over DeLeon was wearing some nasty swelling under his left eye. Holmes maintained the momentum through round five but DeLeon gave his followers a glimmer of hope when he dropped the New Yorker with a thudding left hook a minute into round six. In his haste to try to finish the job DeLeon was warned for rabbit punching and Holmes weathered the storm.

DeLeon's rally proved to be little more than a speed bump for Holmes, as he floored his opponent for a second time with a crunching uppercut late in the 7th. It came after he had earlier rattled DeLeon with a right cross and a three-punch salvo. DeLeon rose at seven on shaky legs and barely made it to the bell, Holmes throwing everything at him. The end was close, though, as DeLeon crumbled to the canvas from a stinging body shot one minute into round eight. He was in obvious pain as he climbed back to his feet but referee Randy Neumann allowed him to continue. Holmes came in for the kill, deliberately targeting his wounded foe's midsection and in doing so setting him up for a huge left hook that had DeLeon stumbling back into the ropes. A follow-up left-right combo sent the former IBF champion face first to the canvas for a full count, the bout over at the 2:45 mark. In one of the most comprehensive wins seen in IBL competition, Holmes outlanded DeLeon 300-103, connecting with 40% of his punches in improving to 45-5-1(37).

DeLeon (33-4-1(23)) has now lost back-to-back fights for the first time in his career, but it's merely an indication that his time at the top may now be over as his record is an unflattering 3-3-1 in IBL bouts during the last twenty months. Holmes, on the other hand, appears to be unwearied by age. He lost two of his first three IBL contests to Lampkin and #2-ranked Englishman Carl Thompson in the second half of 2006 but came back strongly in '07, going 5-0. Last night's win stretched his winning streak to six and should put him heavily in the conversation in regards to the next challenger for the world title. Lampkin is scheduled to make his third defense of the belt against the #1-ranked German Torsten May in Ohio on the 3rd of May, and it's unlikely that the winner will step back into the ring before October. Of the other contenders, the 4th-ranked Frenchman Taoufik Belbouli takes on the dangerous Irishman Tom Sharkey in two weeks while Carl Thompson has yet to arrange an outing for the opening stage of the WCC.

"I guess we'll just wait and see what happens," an animated Holmes said in the ring, minutes after his victory. "There's no doubt this is a big win for me, and it puts me in a position to make a case for a title challenge. But the year's just begun, so some of those other fellas ranked higher still have a chance to put their hands up. You know, I was 10th beforehand so maybe it'll take another win against a top contender for me to seal the deal. "

kenyan_cheena · 09-05-2012, 12:33 AM

TheSweetScience.com

WEDNESDAY 20 FEBRUARY 2008

McCallum to fight
Nigel Benn in IBL debut

Story by Steve Bruce

The three-month saga over exactly who Jamaica's Mike McCallum would be fighting in his first IBL outing came to an end on Tuesday when his management announced that "The Bodysnatcher" had decided on England's Nigel Benn. The bout will be the co-feature on a card headlined by the Joe Brown-Jim Driscoll lightweight showdown on April 26 in Las Vegas. The process of obtaining an opponent for McCallum became unexpectedly complicated late last month after Japan's former world champion Koichi Wajima revealed he would take on Panama's two-time Olympic gold medallist Joe Gans. That fight is scheduled for March 29, but it was agreed upon only days after it appeared a Wajima-McCallum clash was a certainty. McCallum's management made a tactical mistake by putting all their eggs in one basket and not having a back-up plan in place, so when the Wajima-Gans stoush was confirmed every other top contender in the WCC had already come to terms for their opening bouts.

It left only the three men ranked at the bottom of the division for McCallum to choose from: England's Randy Turpin (13th), Los Angeles native Fred Boatwright (14th) and Benn (15th). None of them dared negotiate with one of the others for fear of missing out on the opportunity to face McCallum. While Benn is at the very bottom of the middleweight rankings, he is by no means the least talented of the sixteen men contesting this year's WCC. He was somewhat unfairly seeded at #23 in last year's 28-man qualifying tournament, almost entirely as a consequence of an upset knockout defeat at the hands of Argentina's Juan Carlos Rivero in June, and so ended up being the lowest seed amongst the seven qualifiers. McCallum will have anything but an easy night against the power-punching Englishman, which could be why he chose him. It's a fight where there will be much risk but little reward for the former world junior-middleweight champion, as only the most decisive of wins would see him make a move in the rankings from his position at #5.

McCallum's management have been quite vocal in their criticism of Wajima's camp, believing that they were deliberately misled during the negotiation process. Whatever the case, one can hardly blame Wajima for turning down the fight. He has taken part in a succession of blockbusters since coming to the IBL, starting with the quarter-finals and semi-finals of the world championship tournament against James Toney (June '06) and John Mugabi (September '06) and then his upset win over Les Darcy in claiming the world championship and inaugural IBL title (December '06). Wajima started '07 with a scintillating 3rd round stoppage of Mickey Walker in a March title defense before falling to world welterweight champion Emile Griffith by a slim unanimous decision verdict in a May non-title "super fight". Many observers believe that particular outing took a lot out of Wajima and played a considerable role in him losing the championship by split decision to Darcy in their September rematch. Ranked at #3, Wajima has reportedly been promised a world title shot for later in the year if he can get through his first two WCC contests unscathed. So with that in mind he would be crazy to accommodate McCallum at this time.

kenyan_cheena · 09-05-2012, 01:09 AM

Just wanted to talk about this WCC format that I have introduced into the uni, because it's something we've never seen in reality...

Imagine, if you will, that in real life the powers that be selected 16 fighters from each weight class, ranked them, and told them that during the course of the upcoming calendar year they would only be allowed to schedule bouts against each other. That they would have to fight three bouts during the year and the results of each fight would have an impact on their ranking. And that, even worse, only ONE of them was the world champion!

What do you think they would do? How would they approach the situation? Those are the questions I had in mind when I scheduled the bouts for series one. As you can see from the schedule in post #1555, most of the bouts are between a fighter ranked high and a fighter ranked low.There's not a whole lot of clashes between the top seeds, and this was on purpose.

This WCC thing is new to them all and the guys who are ranked high are not yet inclined to risk being shown up by a fellow top contender. They have taken what is considered a safer option with the belief that a win will keep them in place as a contender. You'll also see that some of them hadn't even scheduled a fight yet when February started, which was also on purpose to give a feeling of uncertainty and hesitancy. They are not yet sure how to tackle the situation.

PWillisTheMan · 09-05-2012, 01:37 AM

That's a fantastic card.

Mad Bomber · 09-09-2012, 03:08 PM

Nice to have you back, and looking forward to what is upcoming.

kenyan_cheena · 09-10-2012, 02:04 AM

Next post will be a review of the Zarate-Roman world bantamweight championship rematch...

kenyan_cheena · 09-16-2012, 11:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kenyan_cheena

Next post will be a review of the Zarate-Roman world bantamweight championship rematch...

I have now started working on this. Should be posted in a day or two.

kenyan_cheena · 09-21-2012, 09:27 AM

EL UNIVERSAL

Sunday 24 February 2008

ZARATE RALLIES LATE,
RETAINS WORLD TITLE

Story by Miguel Trelles

In a rematch that remarkably bettered last September's first installment, Carlos Zarate produced a late rally to retain the world bantamweight championship with a slim unanimous decision victory over former titlist Gilberto Roman. Trailing on two scorecards going into the penultimate round, Zarate floored Roman in both the 14th and 15th stanzas to secure the verdict. Zarate had claimed the belt by dropping a brave and determined Roman four times on the way to a 14th-round knockout win on September 15. However, he appeared on the verge of defeat as last night's clash entered the later stages before digging deep to pull off the finest victory of his already storied career. In front of a crowd of almost 50,000 at Azteca Stadium, the two combatants etched their names into boxing folklore and despite the fact that Zarate has now won both stoushes, I would not doubt they'll meet again sometime in the future. Stepping into the ring, both already knew that the winner would next be contesting the tough Australian Jeff Fenech, who clinched a title shot with a win over Ernesto Miranda on February 2.

There was some drama early on, with Roman being warned twice by referee Jose Cobian in round one. The first came only moments after the opening bell for a low blow and the second late in the frame for illegal use of his shoulders. Despite that, Roman faired better in the round, hurting Zarate with a stinging body shot and a flush left hook. The champion responded strongly by taking an action-packed 2nd behind a trio of pin-point combinations, a booming straight right and a jolting cross shortly before the bell. Both men had foregone the "feeling out period" and proceeded directly to armed combat, and the crowd loved it. The frenetic pace was maintained in round three, where a flurry of scoring shots from Roman during the final seconds was enough to steer it in his favour. Zarate did his share of damage, finding the mark with a crippling body shot and a left hook before the frame had reached its midpoint.

As in round two, Zarate came up with a vicious retort in the 4th, dominating Roman and having him in serious trouble before it was over. A pair of right hands in the first thirty seconds wobbled Roman and a three-punch salvo as the round entered its bottom half rubberised his legs and brought the crowd to their feet. Somehow he made it to the bell, despite being rocked by a pair of chin-snapping uppercuts in the final minute. Unlike in round three Zarate held onto the momentum in the 5th and, if anything, unleashed even more punishment upon Roman than in round four. The highlights of his work were a flush left hook, another jolting uppercut, a hard right hand that bounced off the top of Roman's head, a left-right salvo and a pair of sharp left hooks. Roman was literally holding on for dear life as the last seconds of the frame ticked away and appeared weary as he returned to his corner on heavy legs and with some alarming swelling under his left eye.

Zarate's roll continued through the first half of round six as he once again found a home for his lethal left hook, landing it on three seperate occasions. But Gilberto Roman did not become one of the best bantamweights in the world by giving in when the going gets tough, and he fought back bravely. The Mexicali native backed Zarate up with a pair of hard lefts to the body and another to the chin from in close. More effective body work followed, and by the time Zarate's head was snapped back by a scorching uppercut late in the frame the crowd were on their feet applauding. It was the first round of the fight where both men fired and the judges couldn't split them, as they each scored it 10-10. Roman enjoyed more success in the 7th, rattling Zarate with a right cross and a straight right. When he dropped the defending champion with a textbook left hook early in round eight Roman was, astonishingly, in complete control, a mere seven minutes after appearing to be on his last legs. Zarate barely beat the count, making it to a knee at eight and pushing himself up as Cobian reached nine.

Roman was unable to capitalize, though, Zarate staying out of trouble for the rest of the frame and even landing a few stiff jabs. He then came out and completely dominated the 9th, wrenching the upperhand away from Roman and bringing his left eye to a point where it was almost closed. A pair of damaging rights, along with a punishing body shot and a trio of three- and four-punch combos had Roman initiating clinches once again. Round ten started slowly but livened up when Roman connected with a left hook. Zarate fired back, though, planting two seperate uppercuts on Roman's chin and then unloading with some crippling body shots and a crisp, flush jab that sent a spray of sweat into the front row. The 11th was another action-packed stanza, Zarate landing two crushing left hooks early before absorbing a left-right salvo and retorting with an uppercut that wobbled Roman's legs. Another uppercut in the final seconds sent Roman back into the ropes but in his haste to finish the job, Zarate missed wildly with a follow-up assault.

And so as the contest entered round twelve it was still a close affair, although it seemed that the champion would once again prevail. But Roman produced his second rally of the evening, taking round twelve convincingly behind two jolting right crosses at either end of the frame and a succession of pinpoint jabs in between. Zarate offered little, save for a hard left hook some thirty seconds before the bell. When Roman maintained his fightback in the first of the "championship rounds", it suddenly felt a real possibility that he would regain his crown. The 13th was perhaps the most exciting of the fight, especially its bottom half. Both men had landed some hard blows early on, but when they went toe-to-toe to the delight of the crowd at its midpoint the action only intensified. Roman had the better of the exchange but soon after Zarate rocked him with a big uppercut and it was a minor miracle not only that he stayed on his feet, but fired back with a booming right cross seconds later. Zarate was dazed and close to tasting the canvas himself after a flurry of blows from Roman, who shouted and thumped his chest as he returned to his corner to a standing ovation.

But there was still one more twist to come in this amazing stoush, and it arrived midway through what had been an uneventful 14th round. Zarate buried a hard left hook into Roman's ribs, bringing a wince of pain from the challenger and forcing him to backpedal. Zarate followed and after pawing away with a lead left, he planted a right hand flush on Roman's chin, flooring him and bringing a roar of approval from the audience. Roman was up at seven with still a minute to survive, but Zarate couldn't land the killer blow to end it. He found the mark with an uppercut not long after the knockdown, but there was not a lot of power behind it.The crowd came to their feet as the two combatants came out for the final round and touched gloves, both wearing the wounds of a brutal encounter: Roman's left eye was badly swollen while Zarate was showing distension below both eyes.

Each corner crew had implored their man to dig deep during the final three minutes, and it was Zarate who was able to dig the deeper. He caught a fading Roman with an uppercut shortly after the bell and then sent him to the canvas for a second time with a big left hook a minute into the round. Roman pushed himself up at six but wore a vacant expression, as if he had nothing left to give. Zarate almost dropped him again with a jolting uppercut midway through the round but, as was the case in the 14th, Roman managed to survive to the bell. The audience had already come to their feet as the final ten seconds ticked away, Zarate and Roman embracing as the bell signaled the end of a fantastic bout. The wait for the judge's decision was a nervous one but the consensus favoured Zarate by virtue of those two vital knockdowns. They proved to be match-winning, as he took the decision by scores of 143-141, 144-139 and 143-140.

Zarate landed 332 of 771 punches (43.1%), the busier Roman 317 of 1,424 (22.3%). Zarate, now 34-2(24), heaped praise on his brave challenger, calling him a "great warrior" and saying that he felt very fortunate to have overcome him once again. Roman (27-3(20)) was clearly shattered by the defeat, only speaking briefly to congratulate Zarate and thank the audience before returning to his dressing room with his corner crew. Alarmingly, once there he collapsed and was rushed to a nearby hospital, suffering from exhaustion. As mentioned earlier, next up for Zarate is a meeting with Australia's Jeff Fenech, but it's almost certain that after last night's stoush the IBL will push that bout back to August to allow the champion sufficient recovery time. Since his first IBL contest in July '06, Zarate has fought a total of eighty rounds in seven bouts and has certainly earned an extended break.

It's also unlikely that Roman will be back in action any time soon, as he has now gone into at least the fourteenth round in three consecutive fights. The first of these was a title defense against Jeff Fenech last March, which ended in the 14th round. The weight of those back-to-back-to-back wars, and the disappointment of emerging from them without the title, was evident on the former world champion's face in the moments before he left the ring. Common sense says the IBL will not ask him to fight more than once before the year is over. These two courageous pugilists have proven themselves to be superstars of the sport, but for now it's time for them to take a back seat and a deserved rest and allow others to provide the thrills.

kenyan_cheena · 09-23-2012, 08:41 PM

Next post will be the February IBL fight recaps, which will include the WCC bouts that I did not review in the last few posts plus some of the International Conference bouts, which I have not yet simmed.

kenyan_cheena · 10-03-2012, 08:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kenyan_cheena

Next post will be the February IBL fight recaps, which will include the WCC bouts that I did not review in the last few posts plus some of the International Conference bouts, which I have not yet simmed.

Finally got around to doing this just now. Next step is to write the fight recaps.

kenyan_cheena · 10-04-2012, 07:07 PM

Not sure if I'll be continuing with this anymore. I have tried to maintain a high standard with it and make it a story rather than just a succession of fight results. Just doesn't feel like it's worth the time and effort it takes to keep it going. For now, I'll just say it's on an indefinite hiatus.

PWillisTheMan · 10-04-2012, 07:27 PM

It has to be hard to maintain the creative interest in something without much chance of an end. New ideas always pop up into your head and that's just trying to maintain a results based universe.

If you get the desire, we'll read it. I certainly enjoyed following it and will check out something smaller scale if you go there too. Have you ever thought about chartering the career of just one fighter or a small stable? Something like the Florida Alliance? You could remain creative, but progress much faster. I always wondered how you soldiered on with such a slow pace guaranteed. Anyway, I enjoyed it. Thanks

Romdawg88 · 10-05-2012, 12:05 AM

Will be sad to see it go but completely understandable. Also, between this and the HBF/IBL you've had a hell of a run.

Lee · 10-05-2012, 09:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Romdawg88

Will be sad to see it go but completely understandable. Also, between this and the HBF/IBL you've had a hell of a run.

Plus 1, always great reading KC!!

CONN CHRIS · 10-05-2012, 04:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kenyan_cheena

Not sure if I'll be continuing with this anymore. I have tried to maintain a high standard with it and make it a story rather than just a succession of fight results. Just doesn't feel like it's worth the time and effort it takes to keep it going. For now, I'll just say it's on an indefinite hiatus.

Just don't dump anything. You may want to play with it again. I've taken a year off (several time).

kenyan_cheena · 10-05-2012, 08:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CONN CHRIS

Just don't dump anything. You may want to play with it again. I've taken a year off (several time).

Definitely won't.

PWillisTheMan · 10-07-2012, 11:46 AM

Oops, sorry

kenyan_cheena · 11-25-2012, 05:22 PM

It's 100% likely that at some point in the future I will get back to this. However, at the moment my sole creative focus is on finishing a novel that I started writing many years ago but have made little progress with during the last five.

I'm pretty sure I've mentioned it before and even started a thread where I posted some of it. The thing started out as a piece of fan fiction for the '80s cartoon Robotech before I changed it into something more unique. Basically it's a story about a civil war in the aftermath of an election and coup set in a fictional nation on a world similar to earth.

At one point probably ten years ago I had perhaps 200 pages of it typed and completed before once again deciding to make changes, and pretty much started over. I still have those earlier pages though and will probably use some of them, I guess.

Anyway, I really want to get the thing finished. Not just for myself, but also for my parents as they would be very happy to finally read the finished product. Once I get it done and attempt to submit it to a publisher, I will return to the world of The Greatest Prize in Sports. I'd hope that will be sometime around the middle of next year.

Infinity · 11-26-2012, 06:28 PM

Being an avid reader of both Science Fiction and Fantasy, I'd like to see this myself... If you find yourself in need of some readers along the way to help round out the finished product, I'd love to lend a pair of eyes!

John

Romdawg88 · 12-01-2012, 08:25 PM

Good to hear that you still plan to get back to TGPiS eventually. Good luck with the novel, hopefully, you can get it written and published man.

09-04-2012, 07:55 AM	#1561
kenyan_cheena Hall Of Famer Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Sydney, NSW, Australia Posts: 9,038	*The New York Age* SUNDAY, 17 FEBRUARY, 2008 HOLMES UPSETS DELEON, MOVES CLOSER TO TITLE SHOT Story by James Reynolds Brooklyn-born boxer Maurice Holmes took an important step in his quest to become a two-division world champion when he defeated Puerto Rico's Carlos DeLeon in San Juan last night. The 36 year-old former WBA light-heavyweight titlist scored his most significant win since coming out of retirement back in '06 to compete in the International Boxing League's junior-heavyweight world championship tournament. Holmes floored DeLeon four times on the way to an 8th round knockout victory, stunning the near-capacity crowd at Hiram Bithorn Stadium. The main event clash was the first for each man in the League's 2008 World Championship Conference. A former world champion at 200 pounds, DeLeon was looking to remain in contention after suffering a disqualification loss in the 14th round of a challenge to Jeff Lampkin's world title last August. Instead, he'll now take a tumble down the rankings from his pre-fight standing at #3 while Holmes should vault up the list, having been ranked 10th coming into the fight. It was admirable of DeLeon that he agreed to such a tough proposition in Holmes for his first WCC outing. He stated in media appearances during the week leading up to the contest that he had little choice as he believed that only a win against an opponent of the highest pedigree would keep his name under consideration for any future title shots. But once the fight started, DeLeon looked in serious trouble. Holmes dominated the opening three rounds, inflicting some heavy damage on the hometown favourite in rounds one and two. In complete control, he planted DeLeon on the seat of his pants with a hard combination midway through the 4th. By the time the round was over DeLeon was wearing some nasty swelling under his left eye. Holmes maintained the momentum through round five but DeLeon gave his followers a glimmer of hope when he dropped the New Yorker with a thudding left hook a minute into round six. In his haste to try to finish the job DeLeon was warned for rabbit punching and Holmes weathered the storm. DeLeon's rally proved to be little more than a speed bump for Holmes, as he floored his opponent for a second time with a crunching uppercut late in the 7th. It came after he had earlier rattled DeLeon with a right cross and a three-punch salvo. DeLeon rose at seven on shaky legs and barely made it to the bell, Holmes throwing everything at him. The end was close, though, as DeLeon crumbled to the canvas from a stinging body shot one minute into round eight. He was in obvious pain as he climbed back to his feet but referee Randy Neumann allowed him to continue. Holmes came in for the kill, deliberately targeting his wounded foe's midsection and in doing so setting him up for a huge left hook that had DeLeon stumbling back into the ropes. A follow-up left-right combo sent the former IBF champion face first to the canvas for a full count, the bout over at the 2:45 mark. In one of the most comprehensive wins seen in IBL competition, Holmes outlanded DeLeon 300-103, connecting with 40% of his punches in improving to 45-5-1(37). DeLeon (33-4-1(23)) has now lost back-to-back fights for the first time in his career, but it's merely an indication that his time at the top may now be over as his record is an unflattering 3-3-1 in IBL bouts during the last twenty months. Holmes, on the other hand, appears to be unwearied by age. He lost two of his first three IBL contests to Lampkin and #2-ranked Englishman Carl Thompson in the second half of 2006 but came back strongly in '07, going 5-0. Last night's win stretched his winning streak to six and should put him heavily in the conversation in regards to the next challenger for the world title. Lampkin is scheduled to make his third defense of the belt against the #1-ranked German Torsten May in Ohio on the 3rd of May, and it's unlikely that the winner will step back into the ring before October. Of the other contenders, the 4th-ranked Frenchman Taoufik Belbouli takes on the dangerous Irishman Tom Sharkey in two weeks while Carl Thompson has yet to arrange an outing for the opening stage of the WCC. "I guess we'll just wait and see what happens," an animated Holmes said in the ring, minutes after his victory. "There's no doubt this is a big win for me, and it puts me in a position to make a case for a title challenge. But the year's just begun, so some of those other fellas ranked higher still have a chance to put their hands up. You know, I was 10th beforehand so maybe it'll take another win against a top contender for me to seal the deal. " Last edited by kenyan_cheena; 09-04-2012 at 08:01 AM.

09-05-2012, 01:09 AM	#1563
kenyan_cheena Hall Of Famer Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Sydney, NSW, Australia Posts: 9,038	Just wanted to talk about this WCC format that I have introduced into the uni, because it's something we've never seen in reality... Imagine, if you will, that in real life the powers that be selected 16 fighters from each weight class, ranked them, and told them that during the course of the upcoming calendar year they would only be allowed to schedule bouts against each other. That they would have to fight three bouts during the year and the results of each fight would have an impact on their ranking. And that, even worse, only ONE of them was the world champion! What do you think they would do? How would they approach the situation? Those are the questions I had in mind when I scheduled the bouts for series one. As you can see from the schedule in post #1555, most of the bouts are between a fighter ranked high and a fighter ranked low.There's not a whole lot of clashes between the top seeds, and this was on purpose. This WCC thing is new to them all and the guys who are ranked high are not yet inclined to risk being shown up by a fellow top contender. They have taken what is considered a safer option with the belief that a win will keep them in place as a contender. You'll also see that some of them hadn't even scheduled a fight yet when February started, which was also on purpose to give a feeling of uncertainty and hesitancy. They are not yet sure how to tackle the situation. Last edited by kenyan_cheena; 09-05-2012 at 01:14 AM.

09-09-2012, 03:08 PM	#1565
Mad Bomber All Star Starter Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Toronto, Canada Posts: 1,566	Nice to have you back, and looking forward to what is upcoming. __________________ Keep on Punchin' There are three things that go on a fighter, first your reflexes go, then your chin goes, and then your friends go. Willie Pep

09-21-2012, 09:27 AM	#1568
kenyan_cheena Hall Of Famer Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Sydney, NSW, Australia Posts: 9,038	EL UNIVERSAL Sunday 24 February 2008 ZARATE RALLIES LATE, RETAINS WORLD TITLE Story by Miguel Trelles In a rematch that remarkably bettered last September's first installment, Carlos Zarate produced a late rally to retain the world bantamweight championship with a slim unanimous decision victory over former titlist Gilberto Roman. Trailing on two scorecards going into the penultimate round, Zarate floored Roman in both the 14th and 15th stanzas to secure the verdict. Zarate had claimed the belt by dropping a brave and determined Roman four times on the way to a 14th-round knockout win on September 15. However, he appeared on the verge of defeat as last night's clash entered the later stages before digging deep to pull off the finest victory of his already storied career. In front of a crowd of almost 50,000 at Azteca Stadium, the two combatants etched their names into boxing folklore and despite the fact that Zarate has now won both stoushes, I would not doubt they'll meet again sometime in the future. Stepping into the ring, both already knew that the winner would next be contesting the tough Australian Jeff Fenech, who clinched a title shot with a win over Ernesto Miranda on February 2. There was some drama early on, with Roman being warned twice by referee Jose Cobian in round one. The first came only moments after the opening bell for a low blow and the second late in the frame for illegal use of his shoulders. Despite that, Roman faired better in the round, hurting Zarate with a stinging body shot and a flush left hook. The champion responded strongly by taking an action-packed 2nd behind a trio of pin-point combinations, a booming straight right and a jolting cross shortly before the bell. Both men had foregone the "feeling out period" and proceeded directly to armed combat, and the crowd loved it. The frenetic pace was maintained in round three, where a flurry of scoring shots from Roman during the final seconds was enough to steer it in his favour. Zarate did his share of damage, finding the mark with a crippling body shot and a left hook before the frame had reached its midpoint. As in round two, Zarate came up with a vicious retort in the 4th, dominating Roman and having him in serious trouble before it was over. A pair of right hands in the first thirty seconds wobbled Roman and a three-punch salvo as the round entered its bottom half rubberised his legs and brought the crowd to their feet. Somehow he made it to the bell, despite being rocked by a pair of chin-snapping uppercuts in the final minute. Unlike in round three Zarate held onto the momentum in the 5th and, if anything, unleashed even more punishment upon Roman than in round four. The highlights of his work were a flush left hook, another jolting uppercut, a hard right hand that bounced off the top of Roman's head, a left-right salvo and a pair of sharp left hooks. Roman was literally holding on for dear life as the last seconds of the frame ticked away and appeared weary as he returned to his corner on heavy legs and with some alarming swelling under his left eye. Zarate's roll continued through the first half of round six as he once again found a home for his lethal left hook, landing it on three seperate occasions. But Gilberto Roman did not become one of the best bantamweights in the world by giving in when the going gets tough, and he fought back bravely. The Mexicali native backed Zarate up with a pair of hard lefts to the body and another to the chin from in close. More effective body work followed, and by the time Zarate's head was snapped back by a scorching uppercut late in the frame the crowd were on their feet applauding. It was the first round of the fight where both men fired and the judges couldn't split them, as they each scored it 10-10. Roman enjoyed more success in the 7th, rattling Zarate with a right cross and a straight right. When he dropped the defending champion with a textbook left hook early in round eight Roman was, astonishingly, in complete control, a mere seven minutes after appearing to be on his last legs. Zarate barely beat the count, making it to a knee at eight and pushing himself up as Cobian reached nine. Roman was unable to capitalize, though, Zarate staying out of trouble for the rest of the frame and even landing a few stiff jabs. He then came out and completely dominated the 9th, wrenching the upperhand away from Roman and bringing his left eye to a point where it was almost closed. A pair of damaging rights, along with a punishing body shot and a trio of three- and four-punch combos had Roman initiating clinches once again. Round ten started slowly but livened up when Roman connected with a left hook. Zarate fired back, though, planting two seperate uppercuts on Roman's chin and then unloading with some crippling body shots and a crisp, flush jab that sent a spray of sweat into the front row. The 11th was another action-packed stanza, Zarate landing two crushing left hooks early before absorbing a left-right salvo and retorting with an uppercut that wobbled Roman's legs. Another uppercut in the final seconds sent Roman back into the ropes but in his haste to finish the job, Zarate missed wildly with a follow-up assault. And so as the contest entered round twelve it was still a close affair, although it seemed that the champion would once again prevail. But Roman produced his second rally of the evening, taking round twelve convincingly behind two jolting right crosses at either end of the frame and a succession of pinpoint jabs in between. Zarate offered little, save for a hard left hook some thirty seconds before the bell. When Roman maintained his fightback in the first of the "championship rounds", it suddenly felt a real possibility that he would regain his crown. The 13th was perhaps the most exciting of the fight, especially its bottom half. Both men had landed some hard blows early on, but when they went toe-to-toe to the delight of the crowd at its midpoint the action only intensified. Roman had the better of the exchange but soon after Zarate rocked him with a big uppercut and it was a minor miracle not only that he stayed on his feet, but fired back with a booming right cross seconds later. Zarate was dazed and close to tasting the canvas himself after a flurry of blows from Roman, who shouted and thumped his chest as he returned to his corner to a standing ovation. But there was still one more twist to come in this amazing stoush, and it arrived midway through what had been an uneventful 14th round. Zarate buried a hard left hook into Roman's ribs, bringing a wince of pain from the challenger and forcing him to backpedal. Zarate followed and after pawing away with a lead left, he planted a right hand flush on Roman's chin, flooring him and bringing a roar of approval from the audience. Roman was up at seven with still a minute to survive, but Zarate couldn't land the killer blow to end it. He found the mark with an uppercut not long after the knockdown, but there was not a lot of power behind it.The crowd came to their feet as the two combatants came out for the final round and touched gloves, both wearing the wounds of a brutal encounter: Roman's left eye was badly swollen while Zarate was showing distension below both eyes. Each corner crew had implored their man to dig deep during the final three minutes, and it was Zarate who was able to dig the deeper. He caught a fading Roman with an uppercut shortly after the bell and then sent him to the canvas for a second time with a big left hook a minute into the round. Roman pushed himself up at six but wore a vacant expression, as if he had nothing left to give. Zarate almost dropped him again with a jolting uppercut midway through the round but, as was the case in the 14th, Roman managed to survive to the bell. The audience had already come to their feet as the final ten seconds ticked away, Zarate and Roman embracing as the bell signaled the end of a fantastic bout. The wait for the judge's decision was a nervous one but the consensus favoured Zarate by virtue of those two vital knockdowns. They proved to be match-winning, as he took the decision by scores of 143-141, 144-139 and 143-140. Zarate landed 332 of 771 punches (43.1%), the busier Roman 317 of 1,424 (22.3%). Zarate, now 34-2(24), heaped praise on his brave challenger, calling him a "great warrior" and saying that he felt very fortunate to have overcome him once again. Roman (27-3(20)) was clearly shattered by the defeat, only speaking briefly to congratulate Zarate and thank the audience before returning to his dressing room with his corner crew. Alarmingly, once there he collapsed and was rushed to a nearby hospital, suffering from exhaustion. As mentioned earlier, next up for Zarate is a meeting with Australia's Jeff Fenech, but it's almost certain that after last night's stoush the IBL will push that bout back to August to allow the champion sufficient recovery time. Since his first IBL contest in July '06, Zarate has fought a total of eighty rounds in seven bouts and has certainly earned an extended break. It's also unlikely that Roman will be back in action any time soon, as he has now gone into at least the fourteenth round in three consecutive fights. The first of these was a title defense against Jeff Fenech last March, which ended in the 14th round. The weight of those back-to-back-to-back wars, and the disappointment of emerging from them without the title, was evident on the former world champion's face in the moments before he left the ring. Common sense says the IBL will not ask him to fight more than once before the year is over. These two courageous pugilists have proven themselves to be superstars of the sport, but for now it's time for them to take a back seat and a deserved rest and allow others to provide the thrills. Last edited by kenyan_cheena; 09-21-2012 at 09:29 AM.

10-05-2012, 12:05 AM	#1573
Romdawg88 Hall Of Famer Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Belle Glade, FL Posts: 4,182	Will be sad to see it go but completely understandable. Also, between this and the HBF/IBL you've had a hell of a run. __________________ Romy "Iceman" Alvarez First TBCB Forum Tournament Champion, 10-6 (5). IBL: 13 - 4 (7) Henry Armstrong > You.

09-05-2012, 12:33 AM	#1562
kenyan_cheena Hall Of Famer Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Sydney, NSW, Australia Posts: 9,038	TheSweetScience.com WEDNESDAY 20 FEBRUARY 2008 McCallum to fight Nigel Benn in IBL debut Story by Steve Bruce The three-month saga over exactly who Jamaica's Mike McCallum would be fighting in his first IBL outing came to an end on Tuesday when his management announced that "The Bodysnatcher" had decided on England's Nigel Benn. The bout will be the co-feature on a card headlined by the Joe Brown-Jim Driscoll lightweight showdown on April 26 in Las Vegas. The process of obtaining an opponent for McCallum became unexpectedly complicated late last month after Japan's former world champion Koichi Wajima revealed he would take on Panama's two-time Olympic gold medallist Joe Gans. That fight is scheduled for March 29, but it was agreed upon only days after it appeared a Wajima-McCallum clash was a certainty. McCallum's management made a tactical mistake by putting all their eggs in one basket and not having a back-up plan in place, so when the Wajima-Gans stoush was confirmed every other top contender in the WCC had already come to terms for their opening bouts. It left only the three men ranked at the bottom of the division for McCallum to choose from: England's Randy Turpin (13th), Los Angeles native Fred Boatwright (14th) and Benn (15th). None of them dared negotiate with one of the others for fear of missing out on the opportunity to face McCallum. While Benn is at the very bottom of the middleweight rankings, he is by no means the least talented of the sixteen men contesting this year's WCC. He was somewhat unfairly seeded at #23 in last year's 28-man qualifying tournament, almost entirely as a consequence of an upset knockout defeat at the hands of Argentina's Juan Carlos Rivero in June, and so ended up being the lowest seed amongst the seven qualifiers. McCallum will have anything but an easy night against the power-punching Englishman, which could be why he chose him. It's a fight where there will be much risk but little reward for the former world junior-middleweight champion, as only the most decisive of wins would see him make a move in the rankings from his position at #5. McCallum's management have been quite vocal in their criticism of Wajima's camp, believing that they were deliberately misled during the negotiation process. Whatever the case, one can hardly blame Wajima for turning down the fight. He has taken part in a succession of blockbusters since coming to the IBL, starting with the quarter-finals and semi-finals of the world championship tournament against James Toney (June '06) and John Mugabi (September '06) and then his upset win over Les Darcy in claiming the world championship and inaugural IBL title (December '06). Wajima started '07 with a scintillating 3rd round stoppage of Mickey Walker in a March title defense before falling to world welterweight champion Emile Griffith by a slim unanimous decision verdict in a May non-title "super fight". Many observers believe that particular outing took a lot out of Wajima and played a considerable role in him losing the championship by split decision to Darcy in their September rematch. Ranked at #3, Wajima has reportedly been promised a world title shot for later in the year if he can get through his first two WCC contests unscathed. So with that in mind he would be crazy to accommodate McCallum at this time.

09-05-2012, 01:37 AM	#1564
PWillisTheMan Hall Of Famer Join Date: Sep 2008 Posts: 3,418	That's a fantastic card.

09-10-2012, 02:04 AM	#1566
kenyan_cheena Hall Of Famer Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Sydney, NSW, Australia Posts: 9,038	Next post will be a review of the Zarate-Roman world bantamweight championship rematch...

09-23-2012, 08:41 PM	#1569
kenyan_cheena Hall Of Famer Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Sydney, NSW, Australia Posts: 9,038	Next post will be the February IBL fight recaps, which will include the WCC bouts that I did not review in the last few posts plus some of the International Conference bouts, which I have not yet simmed.

10-04-2012, 07:07 PM	#1571
kenyan_cheena Hall Of Famer Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Sydney, NSW, Australia Posts: 9,038	Not sure if I'll be continuing with this anymore. I have tried to maintain a high standard with it and make it a story rather than just a succession of fight results. Just doesn't feel like it's worth the time and effort it takes to keep it going. For now, I'll just say it's on an indefinite hiatus.

10-04-2012, 07:27 PM	#1572
PWillisTheMan Hall Of Famer Join Date: Sep 2008 Posts: 3,418	It has to be hard to maintain the creative interest in something without much chance of an end. New ideas always pop up into your head and that's just trying to maintain a results based universe. If you get the desire, we'll read it. I certainly enjoyed following it and will check out something smaller scale if you go there too. Have you ever thought about chartering the career of just one fighter or a small stable? Something like the Florida Alliance? You could remain creative, but progress much faster. I always wondered how you soldiered on with such a slow pace guaranteed. Anyway, I enjoyed it. Thanks

10-07-2012, 11:46 AM	#1577
PWillisTheMan Hall Of Famer Join Date: Sep 2008 Posts: 3,418	July 1904 Oops, sorry Last edited by PWillisTheMan; 10-07-2012 at 02:36 PM.

11-25-2012, 05:22 PM	#1578
kenyan_cheena Hall Of Famer Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Sydney, NSW, Australia Posts: 9,038	It's 100% likely that at some point in the future I will get back to this. However, at the moment my sole creative focus is on finishing a novel that I started writing many years ago but have made little progress with during the last five. I'm pretty sure I've mentioned it before and even started a thread where I posted some of it. The thing started out as a piece of fan fiction for the '80s cartoon Robotech before I changed it into something more unique. Basically it's a story about a civil war in the aftermath of an election and coup set in a fictional nation on a world similar to earth. At one point probably ten years ago I had perhaps 200 pages of it typed and completed before once again deciding to make changes, and pretty much started over. I still have those earlier pages though and will probably use some of them, I guess. Anyway, I really want to get the thing finished. Not just for myself, but also for my parents as they would be very happy to finally read the finished product. Once I get it done and attempt to submit it to a publisher, I will return to the world of The Greatest Prize in Sports. I'd hope that will be sometime around the middle of next year. Last edited by kenyan_cheena; 11-25-2012 at 05:40 PM.

11-26-2012, 06:28 PM	#1579
Infinity Hall Of Famer Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Anderson, CA Posts: 3,431	Being an avid reader of both Science Fiction and Fantasy, I'd like to see this myself... If you find yourself in need of some readers along the way to help round out the finished product, I'd love to lend a pair of eyes! John __________________ *Infinity Boxing Association* *All Time Greatest Tourney - Infinity Style* All Time Greatest Tourney - Infinity Style - Teams *Dream Fights*

12-01-2012, 08:25 PM	#1580
Romdawg88 Hall Of Famer Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Belle Glade, FL Posts: 4,182	Good to hear that you still plan to get back to TGPiS eventually. Good luck with the novel, hopefully, you can get it written and published man. __________________ Romy "Iceman" Alvarez First TBCB Forum Tournament Champion, 10-6 (5). IBL: 13 - 4 (7) Henry Armstrong > You. Last edited by Romdawg88; 12-01-2012 at 08:27 PM.