[kenyan_cheena]

***

In the moments after his victory against Al Kaufmann last month, Joe Jeannette was full of compliments for his tough San Francisco-born opponent. To be exact, Jeannette had said the following:

"He made me work hard for the victory and, I tell ya, I really didn't think that he had a hope in hell of getting up from that knockdown, but he did. He's just a real tough kid. He's gonna cause some trouble during the tournament, just wait and see."

Tonight, those words would seem like they had come from the mouth of Nostradamus himself, as Kaufmann pulled off a major upset in the Co-Feature, defeating the #22 seed in the World Championship tournament, Johnny Summerlin, by majority decision. As a result, Summerlin became the first "2nd seed" in the tournament to lose a bout. The 2nd seeds had been undefeated (a combined 21-0-4) before tonight, but Kaufmann's inspiring performance brought that streak to a close.

What made it all the more extraordinary was the fact that Summerlin had been outstanding in his debut, where he had manhandled Mike DeJohn on the way to an easy unanimous decision victory. But Kaufmann wasn't going to let the Detroit-born #22 seed do the same to him. The Californian exploded out of the gates, ambushing Summerlin in the opening round. He looked absolutely fantastic, nothing like the 118th seed in the World Championship tournament. The second round was quite a subdued affair, before Summerlin fought back strongly in the third round to the delight of the Araneta Coliseum audience. But then, as he had done in the first round, Kaufmann won the fourth round in a big way, rocking the #22 seed with a number of damaging blows. Returning to his corner at the end of the round, Johnny Summerlin appeared perplexed. It seemed that, despite the Californian's performance against Jeannette, Summerlin had not expected or even planned for this kind of resistance from Kaufmann.

In the fifth round, Summerlin rallied again, fully aware of the danger he was in, spurred on by the fear of defeat. He unloaded a world of hurt upon Kaufmann, but the kid was still standing when the round ended. Summerlin knew that he would have to do the same thing in the final round if he was to have any chance of victory. But it was Kaufmann who showed that he was the hungrier fighter. With the round poised to go either way, and just 27 seconds left, the Californian dug deep one last time, his late rally probably responsible for two of the judges awarding him the round and, as a result, the fight. Kaufmann took the decision, 58-56(x2), 57-57.

The 19 year-old could not contain his jubilation in the moments after the decision. He had put in a terrific performance, outpunching his highly-fancied opponent 154-128, and in the process proving once again that, on any given night, the guys who supposedly have no chance in this tournament can cause a hell of a surprise...

THE QUEZON CITY UNDERCARD

Opening Bout

The evening started with an absolute barnstormer, as Amos Johnson of Medina, Ohio and Boston's King Solomon duked it out for six action-packed rounds. The audience gave them an extended standing ovation at the final bell, and could not complain when the verdict was announced: a majority draw. One judge gave it to Johnson, 58-56, while the other two scored the bout 57-57. It was, without a doubt, a qualifier for "Fight of the Year", with Solomon landing 159 punches at 62% and the more active Johnson 155 at 33%.

Johnson, the 14th seed in the 1st Defense tournament, is now 1-0-1, while Solomon (62nd seed) is 0-1-1. Solomon will surely take some confidence from his performance, coming against an opponent who was expected to have little trouble defeating him.

Preliminary 1

The #3 seed in the HBF's 1st Defense tournament, Fort Lauderdale's Oliver McCall improved his record to 2-0(1) with a comprehensive unanimous decision victory over Australia's Bill Lang.

McCall had said before his debut that the federation had made a big mistake when they declined to include him in the field for the World Championship tournament, and also stated that his opponents in the 1st Defense tournament would pay the price for what he considered to be a "personal insult".

Well, it seems like McCall's anger has not exactly been the destructive weapon he hoped it would be. Although his performance tonight was a vast improvement over his scratchy debut, there were periods when it appeared that Lang was out on his feet, yet McCall could not finish him off. The Australian was knocked to the canvas in the fifth round and again with just two seconds left in the bout. McCall did not lose a single round on any card, with each judge scoring the bout 60-52.

Even so, McCall appeared far from happy after the verdict, a scowl on his face that spoke of an unsated hunger. Some boxing commentators have said that the 20 year-old Florida native could prove to be an absolutely devastating force in the HBF, if he can reel in his anger. He has a passion and desire for success that is perhaps without peer in the federation, and many are salivating at the possibility of a Rocky Marciano - Oliver McCall match-up in the 1st Defense tournament final.

Preliminary 2

Omaha's Ron Stander received what many felt was a very lucky break when his bout against New York's Billy Daniels was declared a draw. It appeared to most that Daniels had done more than enough to take a unanimous decision, outlanding Stander 182-107. Daniels possesses a terrific left jab, and he used it to good effect throughout the bout. But Stander, although not as accurate, was just as active as Daniels, and his aggression seemed to hold more sway over the judges (well, two of them) than the relentless Daniels left jab. The final verdict was 58-57 (Stander), 59-56 (Daniels), 57-57.

Daniels was incredulous after the verdict, shouting some choice words of abuse at the judges and refusing to congratulate Stander. The New Yorker felt that he had been robbed and said so, calling the verdict "highway robbery."

In what must be one of the surprises of the tournament, Ron Stander (the #86 seed), with his record of 1-0-1, is now sitting in 2nd position in Group Eleven. Following on from his upset debut victory over the 38th seed Clarence Henry, tonight's draw with Daniels (#54 seed) has only given the Omaha fighter more confidence. He'll need it, because his next opponent is the #11 seed, Joe Jeannette.

Support Bout

In an All-Californian affair, Clarence Henry of Los Angeles took a split decision victory over San Francisco's Charles Horn. In what was, quite frankly, a boring bout, Henry did just enough in the early stages to negate the effect of being knocked down a minute into the final round. Henry by split decision, 58-55, 56-57, 57-56. Both fighters are now 1-1.