[Gunsmoke]

WWBU Monthly,
Volume 7, November 1902

Daniels Santos used his elevation to the rankings to go in search of fame and glory by taking out the biggest fish in the Middleweight Ocean in Mike O’Dowd. O’Dowd is the acclaimed best Middleweight on the planet (only waiting for WWBU accreditation of that claim in the form of a championship belt). Santos, a young slugger who is all heart and confidence, and has shown significant power in all his lead in bouts. O’Dowd has never been floored before so is known as having a top level chin. The boxing pundits think that he is taking this fight too early in his career, but the ever confident Santos has shrugged off the journalists concerns. In other intriguing battles, the two top featherweights, Jaime Garza and Vuyani Bungu will fight and in a potentially very important bout Middleweights George Abrams and Rocky Mosley Jr. will be in the ring to help determine the middleweight pecking order.

October In Review

The experts were not convinced that Daniel Santos (#6, 15-2-0), was ready to be thrown in with a battle tested veteran like Mike O’Dowd (#1, 25-0-1), who not only has the edge in experience, but is also is considered the best fighter in the division. The experts were right, however Santos made the fight much closer than many thought he would. It was obvious from early on in the fight that Santos was struggling to find range on his bombing right hand, as O’Dowd boxed rings around him, building a large early lead. The fifth saw the first glimmer of hope for Santos as O’Dowd seemed to be trying to take a round off and Olivares finally was able to find a target for his heavy fists. O’Dowd corrected his ways in the sixth and seemed to be cruising once again, when Santos landed a fully loaded right hand that sounded like a gunshot off of O’Dowd’s chin. The St Paul Cyclone was suddenly on the canvas for the first time in his so far glorious career. Regaining his feet at the end of the eight count he would manage to last the final 30 seconds of Santos’ onslaught to take his seat at round’s end.

With new respect for his young opponent, and a will to get out of the ring with this potentially dangerous man, O’Dowd went on the attack in the seventh absorbing a wicked right hand from Santos to land a cascade of leather. O’Dowd would move up another gear in the eighth and ninth and Santos was unable to go with him as O’Dowd beat him to the punch repeatedly. O’Dowd went back into his shell after that, allowing Santos to regain his confidence of earlier in the fight, and in most ringside experts views taking the tenth and eleventh, before a blistering minute of activity in the twelfth by O’Dowd put any thoughts of come from behind win on ice. The judges scored the fight 115-112, 114-113 and 116-111 all for the victor Mike O’Dowd. In another year or so, a rematch could be a blistering display of boxing between two talented fighters. In the co-main event, Mexican Bantamweight sensation Ruben Olivares (15-0-0) emerged onto the world stage on the under card with convincing 6 round demolition job on previously undefeated slugger Ronnie Jones (12-1-1).

Two nights later, the two highest ranking Featherweights would take centre stage as Jaime Garza (#1, 17-1-1), and Vuyani Bungu (#2, 15-2-1) fought to an entertaining but controversial draw. The fight looked like it was going to be fizzer early, as Garza stunned Bungu with a hard right and had Bungu befuddled through the remainder of the round. Bungu would box on the outside in the second and it was this style that showed Garza’s weaknesses as a fighter with Bungu picking him apart. The rounds seemed to be passing Garza by as he was seemingly beaten by a million punches, however near the of the fifth Garza landed a big hook flush on Bungu’s chin, stunning him and drawing him into a slugfest in a corner. The next two rounds saw some furious action as first Garza then Bungu would have the upper hand.

The eighth round saw the crowd rise to its feet in appreciation as Garza forced Bungu to the ropes pummelling him badly, but just as the bell was to be rung Bungu put Garza on the mat with an uppercut. Garza beat the count as the bell tolled, but looked badly hurt as he headed to his corner. Bungu put Garza down again in the ninth, before Bungu decided to defend his way to the win, which would prove to be a costly decision. Garza would come on strong in the tenth and eleventh, before Bungu took the twelfth. With the ringside experts predicting a close but unanimous win for Bungu, it was a shocker when the crowd found that the judges were hopelessly undecided with scores of 114-114, 114-112 for Bungu and 114-112 for Garza. A poor reflection on judging souring what was an entertaining and hard fought bout. On the same night, in an important crossroad fight, Rocky Mosley Jr. (#3, 16-3-2), would loose to George Abrams (#2, 20-4-0), putting his future as a serious title contender in doubt. In a defensive fight Mosley Jr. held a slight lead after six rounds. However, Mosley Jr. seemed to lack condition to go the full 12 rounds and Abrams took over the second half of the bout to take a comfortable win.

The two top ranked Bantamweights fought for bragging rights as Felix Friedemann (#1, 17-5-0), and Jiro Watanabe (#2, 16-1-0). In a scrappy start to the fight Watanabe had control of the bout, fighting smartly from outside, keeping Friedemann on his heels with a hard right hand every time he tries to attack. After three rounds of this treatment, Watanabe stepped up the pace and punished Friedemann through the next two and half rounds before the referee steps in and stops the contest in Watanabe’s favour. Lightweight top contender George Lavigne (#1, 20-1-1) looked in devastatingly good touch as he KO’d Sean Mulroy (0-2-1) in the first round. Light Heavyweight #1 Michael Bennett (21-1-0) cruised to an easy, unanimous points win over Davey Moss (0-2-1) despite seemingly not training as hard as he could.

Results of Note
FW Jaime Garza #1 17-1-1 Draw Vuyani Bungu #2 15-2-1
MW Mike O’Dowd #1 25-0-1 UD12 Daniel Santos #6 15-2-0
BW Jiro Watanabe #2 16-1-0 TKO6 Felix Friedemann #1 17-5-0
LW George Lavigne #1 20-1-1 KO1 Sean Mulroy 0-2-1
MW George Abrams #2 20-4-0 UD12 Rocky Mosley Jr. #3 16-3-2
BW Ruben Olivares 15-0-0 TKO6 Ronnie Jones 12-1-1
FW Gerardo Espinosa 13-0-0 KO10 Jackie Graves 11-1-0

Current Rankings and Analysis

Heavyweight Division
Champ – Vacant
1. Greg Page
2. Alfio Righetti
3. Jimmy Clark
4. Frankie Daniels
5. Kevin Isaac
6. Audley Harrison
7. Rex Layne
8. Tom Kennedy

No Change

Light Heavyweight Division
Champ – Vacant
1. Michael Bennett
2. Victor Robledo
3. Leslie Stewart

Leslie Stewart joins the rankings at number 3.

Middleweight Division
Champ – Vacant
1. Mike O’Dowd
2. George Abrams
3. Vergil Cooper
4. Rocky Mosley Jr.
5. Eric Lucas
6. Robin Reid
7. Daniel Santos

Mosley Jr. falls to number 4 after his loss to Abrams and Santos falls to seventh with his loss to O’Dowd.

Welterweight Division
Champ – Vacant
1. Felix Trinidad
2. Billy Backus
3. Reuben Shank
4. Packy McFarland

McFarland joins the rankings at number 4.

Lightweight Division
Champ – Vacant
1. George Lavigne
2. Jack McAuliffe

No Change

Featherweight Division
Champ – Vacant
1. Jaime Garza
2. Vuyani Bungu
3. Ricardo Cardona

No Change

Bantamweight Division
Champ – Vacant
1. Jiro Watanabe
2. Felix Friedemann
3. Ruben Olivares

Watanabe takes top spot with his win over Friedemann and Olivares debuts at number 3.

Flyweight Division
Champ – Vacant
1. Little Dado
2. Rosendo Alvarez

No Change