[kenyan_cheena]

WELTERWEIGHTS STEP UP
TO THE PLATE IN WEEK THREE

Sunday 8 September 2002

Competition in the International Boxing League's World Championship regional qualifiers and Future Contender series enters its third week tomorrow with the Welterweight division to take centre stage. If the action that the Middleweights and Light-Heavyweights produced during the first two weeks is any indication then it should be an exciting seven days.

There's one thing that makes this week likely to be even more special than the last two, that being a matchup that could quite possibly be a preview of the eventual Welterweight World Championship bout. It's the clash of Olympic Light-Welterweight gold medallist Ray Leonard and Florida Alliance member James Ray on Thursday night at Connecticut's Foxwoods Resort Casino. Both men are regarded as the class of the Welterweight division as far as American fighters are concerned. Leonard's impressive achievements as an amateur have been well documented, as was his involvement in the unveiling of the IBL. He's the early favourite to be crowned the league's first Welterweight World Champion but in the shape of James Ray he could not find a tougher, more dangerous opponent to start his career against. Being the cousin of HBF competitors Elmer Ray and Terone Haynes, the 19 year-old Ray has quite a standard to live up to but he produced a dazzling display at the Florida selection trials and in the words of his cousin Elmer is probably the most talented of the three cousins.

"Jimmy's got a lot more polish," Elmer said back in June. "He a more complete fighter, at leas' compared to me and T."

While the Leonard-Ray fight will be huge, it's by no means the only bout to look out for this week. A number of talented competitors are scheduled to be on display, starting from tomorrow night with a pair of Olympic silver medallists. Felix Trinidad will be the main attraction when he debuts in front of his fellow Puerto Ricans at San Juan's Escobar Stadium, with the Cuban Jose Napoles to be in action earlier on the card. Two others in the group who are expected to figure in the race for a top four spot are the Cuban Luis Rodriguez and Trinidad's fellow Puerto Rican and good friend Wilfred Benitez.

Talented Irish-born Canadian Jimmy McLarnin will headline Tuesday's card at Reno's Silver Legacy Casino before Italian bronze medallist Duilio Loi makes his debut in Nigeria on Wednesday. Besides Leonard-Ray, Thursday's card also features US bronze medallist Billy Graham and a pair of potentially exciting clashes with Eddie Perkins up against James McGirt and Meldrick Taylor taking on Marlon Starling.

Colombia's bronze medallist Antonio Cervantes will be looking for a successful career start on Friday in Brazil and on Saturday the IBL visits the Philippines for the first time where local favourite Emmanuel Torres features in the main event. Without a doubt, this coming week will be a spectacular one for fans of the International Boxing League...