[kenyan_cheena]

HBF'S FIRST WEEK DECLARED
"A GREAT SUCCESS"

Sunday 13 January 2002

It's a unanimous decision. The Heavyweight Boxing Federation's
first week of competition has been declared "a great success".
The organisation has captured the public's attention, to a greater
degree than even HBF President Michael Vincennes had dared imagine.

"It's just been an incredible start for us," Vincennes said.
"I could not have dreamed that the public would have such a strong
intitial reaction to our sport. The television ratings are great
and the fact that we have been getting coverage early in sports
reports and even in the early periods of general news bulletins
is astounding."

The federation's first week of competition has been highlighted by
spectacular knockouts (Marciano, Tucker and Sharkey), dominating
displays of boxing (Patterson, Langford and Tunney) and a fair share
of controversy (Elmer Ray).

However, President Vincennes believes that the second week of
competition has the potential to be even better.

"It all starts up again tomorrow," he said.
"Live from Berlin, Germany, we've got the federation's
number five seed Riddick Bowe headlining the card. Riddick has
really enamoured himself to the media and the public and I know
that there will be a lot of people interested to see if his bite
is as formidable as his bark. On Wednesday, we'll be coming to you
from Cincinnati, Ohio. The Canadian George Chuvalo will be featured
in the main event there. He is a really tough young man.
On Friday, we'll be back in Asia, in Thailand to be exact.
The thirteenth seed Kenny Norton will be top of the bill. I don't have
to tell some of you how highly regarded his performances were during
the auditions. To finish off the week we'll be out in California,
at the Selland Arena in Fresno. So many people have told me that they
are looking forward to that fight card, because our number four seed
Larry Holmes is fighting in the main event. He was listed as the
favourite for the tournament by a number of observers at our auditions.
He's an exceptionally talented fighter. So, we've got the fourth
and fifth seeds in the championship tournament, both fighting in
the same week. It's just going to be a great week of boxing."

Vincennes also revealed that the federation has recieved an "avalanche"
of enquiries from prospective boxers eager to turn professional.

"I think that our publicity blitz before Christmas was of great
benefit to the federation. We have carried out a number of medical
and physical examinations and audition sessions during the past
couple of weeks, and have discovered some really talented young
fighters. An announcement will be made this week regarding the
federation's plans for this wealth of talented fighters who are not
currently taking part in either the World Championship or
1st Defense tournaments. I really have to say that I am greatly
excited about the future of our organisation."

***

In other HBF news, the boxers who were featured on Wednesday's
London Arena card arrived back in the United States today.
The Irishman Tom Sharkey was not amongst them, having gained
permission from the HBF to delay his return by a week in order to
visit with family in his homeland.

It seems like a lot has happened in the four short days since
the London card, which introduced the world to Rocky Marciano,
Sam Langford and Tom Sharkey. The fighters have made a number
of promotional appearances since Wednesday's card, including
photo shoots for a number of sports publications.

"The trip to England was a great experience," said Marciano.
"We were shown so much hospitality and given every assistance.
The public there is so enthusiastic about the HBF, I'm sure
that our organisation could not go wrong visiting there again
in the future. I must admit, though, it feels good to be back
home after two weeks. I'm really looking forward to getting
back into training for my next fight."

The HBF's Japan contingent will arrive back on U.S. soil
tomorrow. It will be interesting to see what becomes of the
Elmer Ray controversy, as President Vincennes had said that
he would discuss the young man's behaviour with him upon his
return to the States.

On another international note, number five seed Riddick Bowe
has maintained a much lower profile than expected during his
time in Germany. In contrast to the actions of Elmer Ray,
there has been hardly a peep out of Bowe. He is the headliner
in tomorrow's HBF Berlin card, and was displaying unusual
modesty at today's weigh-in.

"The time for talk is over," Bowe said. "Yeah, I'm confident
that I am the best in this tournament, but if I can't back up
that confidence in the ring, I'll look like a damn fool.
You ain't gonna hear any jokes from me this close to a fight,
okay? This is serious stuff, man. I'm not gonna go around
disrespecting my opponent. We're all hungry to succeed, and
I know that if I'm not focused and prepared, things ain't
gonna turn out pretty."

Without a doubt, it will be fascinating to see Riddick Bowe
make his professional debut tomorrow. The card will be shown
live on ESPN2 at 1pm in the east and 10am in the west...