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VINCENNES NOT SURPRISED BY
1ST SEED'S STRUGGLES
Sunday 23 June 2002
Speaking during ESPN's telecast of last night's Winston-Salem HBF fight card, federation president Michael Vincennes said that he wasn't really surprised by the results in bouts involving World Championship tournament top seeds Young Stribling, Max Schmeling and Jack Sharkey earlier in the week.
"All you have to do is look at the records of their opponents and it's not so shocking," explained Vincennes. "Those were some quality guys they went up against and those types of results will be even more likely in series six."
Vincennes may have a point about the level of opposition that Stribling and co. faced, but looking at the performances of the #1 seeds during the previous three weeks paints a very different picture. They were a dominant force, with only Ken Norton's draw against Buster Mathis preventing them from being a perfect 12-0 during the period.
Combined records of #1 seeds in series five: 12-2-2(3)
1(8) Sam McVey TKO2 3(41) Zora Folley
1(9) Sam Langford UD6 3(40) Alex Stewart
1(16) Jimmy Young SD6 3(33) Elmer Ray
1(1) Gene Tunney TKO4 3(48) Larry Middleton
1(5) Riddick Bowe KO3 3(44) Otto Von Porat
1(12) George Chuvalo UD6 3(37) Al Jones
1(13) Ken Norton D6 3(36) Buster Mathis
1(4) Larry Holmes MD6 3(45) Harry Thomas
1(6) Peter Jackson UD6 3(43) Bruce Woodcock
1(11) Joe Jeannette MD6 3(38) Clarence Henry
1(14) Ernie Terrell SD6 3(35) Phil Muscato
1(3) Jack Johnson UD6 3(46) Renaldo Snipes
3(42) Frank Bruno SD6 1(7) Young Stribling
3(39) Steve Hamas UD6 1(10) Max Schmeling
1(15) Jack Sharkey D6 3(34) Bruce Seldon
1(2) Sonny Liston UD6 3(47) Charley Retzlaff
Combined records of #1 seeds after fifth series: 71-6-3(21)
The #2 seeds had their worst series of the tournament, also, with three of them losing (all on Mondays, strangely). Series six is due to commence in just over a week, the series that will finally match the #1 and #2 seeds against each other.
Combined records of #2 series in series five: 11-3-2(3)
4(57) Johnny Arthur UD6 2(25) Tony Tucker
2(24) Tom Sharkey UD6 4(56) Joe Baksi
2(17) Floyd Patterson UD6 4(49) Nathan Mann
2(32) Earnie Shavers TKO5 4(64) Karl Mildenberger
4(60) Hein Ten-Hoff UD6 2(28) Joe Bugner
2(21) Ray Mercer UD6 4(53) Tommy Gomez
2(20) Donovan Ruddock SD6 4(52) Gerald Griffith
2(29) Bill Brennan D6 4(61) Johnny Risko
2(27) Jack Gardner MD6 4(59) James Tillis
2(22) Johnny Summerlin MD6 4(54) Billy Daniels
2(19) Jimmy Ellis TKO4 4(51) King Levinsky
2(30) Cleveland Williams D6 4(62) Manuel Ramos
4(58) Earl Walls UD6 2(26) Roland LaStarza
2(23) Frank Moran MD6 4(55) Randall Cobb
2(18) Oscar Bonavena UD6 4(50) Ted Lowry
2(31) Michael Dokes KO2 4(63) Lou Nova
Combined records of #2 seeds after series five: 62-8-10(16)
"It's a tremendously exciting time for us," said Vincennes. "I remember the anticipation before the start of series five, but that will seriously pale in comparison to the build-up that will take place next week. This is what everyone's really been waiting to see. Our best fighters finally going at each other. I'm excited just thinking about it."
Just in the the first week of series six alone there will be potentially classic matchups between Sam McVey and Tony Tucker, Sam Langford and Tom Sharkey, Jimmy Young and Floyd Patterson and a fight where the blood is about as bad as it can get: Gene Tunney versus Earnie Shavers.
It all starts in eight days...
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