[JCWeb]

Romy, McGoorty is at least still ranked highly, whereas a RL champ like George Chip has had a real rough time of it so far in my Uni, as the MW division is among the most competitive...

Division Profile

Total: 128 RL: 67 TC: 61

RL by Career Stage:
End - 1
Post - 5
Prime - 42
Pre - 13
Beginning - 6 (New - 3)

Jan 1917 Rankings (Perf Pts and Changes from 1916 in Parens)

Champ: Mike Gibbons 29-3-1 (11) (1354) (NC)
1. Billy Papke 35-5-3 (23) (1195) (NC)
2. Joe Borrell 21-6-1 (14) (950) (+6)
3. Jeff Smith 26-5 (12) (941) (-1)
4. Eddie McGoorty 34-12-1 (29) (906) (-1)
5. Harry Greb 19-1 (15) (845) (+6)
6. Les Darcy 25-6-2 (17) (788) (-1)
7. Albert Crouse 21-6-1 (18) (783) (-1)
8. Jack McCarron 23-9-2 (12) (754) (+2)
9. Joe Chip 23-9-2 (15) (714) (-5)
10. George Ashe 21-3-3 (13) (697) (+6)

Comments: All the above at Prime except for Darcy, who enters his second year at Post-Prime. Gibbons is firmly entrenched as the Champ, now having won his last 13 in a row. Papke kept his NABF belt and retains the #1 contender spot despite being held to a draw by Ashe. Borrell went 3-1 for the year, capturing the USBA belt in convincing fashion (TKO 1 over McGoorty) on top of UD wins over Jeff Smith and Joe Chip. Smith bounced back from losses to Borrell and Gibbons with a UD over Ahearn and a MD over Al Grayber. McGoorty stayed among the top contenders with a UD win over Darcy, despite the losses to Gibbons and Borrell. Greb surged into the Top 10 with KOs over Al McCoy and Gus Christie combined with UDs over McCarron and Johnny Howard to offset his first career loss in a SD setback against Grayber. Darcy recaptured the CBU belt, beat Platts and Mick King, but lost to McGoorty and was held to a draw by George "KO" Brown. "Buck" Crouse suffered a UD defeat at the hands of Mike O'Dowd but recovered with wins over Thomas and Mantell. McCarron impressed in a TKO of Al McCoy and also scored a UD versus Harry Reeve, but the loss to Greb prevented further progress. Joe Chip failed versus top 5 contenders like McGoorty and Borrell, but a win over Mantell kept him in the top 10. Ashe moved into the top group with a UD 10 over Robinson plus draws with Papke (in the NABF title bout) and Eddie Revoire.

Other Notables: Top 10 dropouts from the prior year were Al Grayber, who started off well with a SD over Greb, but then lost to Smith and McCoy to tumble from #7 spot to #14, and German Frank Mantell, who went 0-3 for the year to drop 16 spots all the way down to #15. Checking in at #11, just outside the top group, was Fighting Billy Murray, winner of his last 6 in a row, including a KO over George Brown and UDs versus Howard, Palmer and Willie Brennan. Debuting at #15 was the unbeaten top prospect, Panama Joe Gans, who is still unbeaten with a 15-0 (13) mark, piling up KOs over Coffey and Joe Eagan and a SD over fellow prospect Brian Downey after 12 routine wins versus TCs. Mike O'Dowd defeated Downey and Crouse but suffered losses to Johnny Wilson and "KO" Brown to wind up the year in #16 spot, with a 16-3 (9) record. Terry Mitchell rode a 5-bout win streak to the #26 spot and a 21-11-2 (10) career mark. One spot behind was Downey, debuting at #27 with a 14-2 (10) record, his TKO win over Stockyards Tommy Murphy sandwiched between two tough defeats to Panama Joe Gans and O'Dowd. Len Rowlands' 12-3-2 (6) career mark was good for #29 spot as he recovered from three straight losses to score TKO wins over Silent Martin and the hard-luck George Chip, who ended 1916 in #38 spot with a 22-11-2 (13) record. One spot below Chip was the new EBU titleholder, Dane Chic Nelson, with a 14-6 (9) mark and 342 pp. Brit Gus Platts, the GBU champ, did a little better, winding up in #33 spot with a 18-9-3 (8) record and 399 pp.

Prospects: Augie Ratner at 11-0 (10) and UK's Frank Moody at 11-0 (6) kept their slates clean, albeit it against all TCs. Jimmy Darcy and Battling Ortega remained unbeaten, having fought to a draw against each other' Darcy's record is now 10-0-1 (4) and Ortega's, 9-0-1 (7). Frankie Denny suffered a loss on a DQ to mar his otherwise perfect record; his career marks now stand at 7-1 (2). Getting through their first year unscathed were Tillie Herman, now 5-0 (2), Oakland Jimmy Duffy, 5-0 (0), Jock Malone at 4-0 (1), Kid Mexico at 3-0 (2) and Johnny Gill at 2-0 (0).

Retirements: Three former MW titleholders called it quits in 1916.

Hugo Kelly (ITA) 1902-16 29-23-5 (15) WBA Champ
Paddy Levin (IRL) 1903-16 29-18-2 (13) EBU Champ Highest Rank: 1
Frank Klaus (USA) 1904-16 32-13-4 (15) NABF Champ Highest Rank: 1

Looking Ahead: Greb may be a year or two away from taking a crack at the WBA crown, but a NABF or USBA title bid in 1917 looks like a realistic possibility. Darcy, having hit Post-Prime, will probably fade from contention in this incredibly competitive MW environment. McGoorty may have missed his one best opportunity to capture the WBA belt. Guys like Panama Joe Gans and Mike O'Dowd are poised to surge into the Top 10 sometime soon. Rene De Vos of Belgium and Roland Todd of the UK enter the MW ranks in 1917.

Predictions: Did pretty well in last year's predictions. Gibbons held on to the title bout (he hasn't faced Greb yet). Joe Chip had a title shot and lost -- correct. Also right about Darcy regaining the CBU belt. Only incorrect prediction was when I had Greb taking a lesser belt -- he didn't even get a shot.
So, for 1917, I will once again predict that Gibbons will hold off all challengers, keeping the seat warm for "The Human Windmill," Harry Greb. Predict a USBA title belt for Greb in 1917, probably moving up to claim the WBA crown in 1918. Look for Mantell to bounce back and reclaim the EBU belt, which has passed to the hands of some inferior fighters recently. Would like to predict something nice for fighters like Downey and George Chip, but they are just too far down in the rankings to predict anything positive. I will go out on a bit of a limb and predict a Top 10 ranking for Panama Joe Gans, who could wind up becoming a top-flight contender after another year or two of seasoning. Expect to see a minimum of three new faces in the Top 10 of the MW ranks by this time next year.