[kenyan_cheena]

(continuation)

Five minutes later the ring was crowded to capacity, IBL Chief Director James Molk amongst the dozens of people crammed in there. Ray's fellow Florida Alliance members had climbed between the ropes, also, and they congratulated him on his showing. Soon after ring announcer Sam Taub had the scorecards in his hands.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the judges have tallied their scorecards and here is the decision," began Taub. "Judge Lee McCowan of the USA scores the bout 59-55 ... to Ray Leonard."

This verdict was greeted with a round of boos from a significant portion of the crowd, Taub waiting for the unrest to settle before continuing.

"Judges Don O'Neil and Julie Lederman, also from the USA, have both scored the fight 57-57. The verdict in tonight's main event is a draw!"

This was much more palatable to the crowd, most of them applauding what they felt was a fair verdict.

"Gave me a big scare," said a relieved Leonard. "The guy is quick, he's got a great defense and he's aggressive. That's a great combination and it's just a mystery to me how he barely fought as an amateur. He made me work my butt off just to get level and avoid defeat and I think he's gonna be go far throughout this tournament."

Ray was left to lament his drop in intensity during the bottom half of the bout.

"Let the brother back in, y'all," he said, shaking his head. "Had it in the bag, man. In the bag an' I let it slip away. Damn, we was so close. Don't know, y'all. Guess I got lazy those las' couple rounds. But all cred' to the brother, you know? He fought back hard. Got big respec' fo' him and I wish him all the bes' fo' the res' o' the tourney."

Elmer Ray offered his own take on the fight.

"Think Leonard was a little shock'd at the start, y'all," he said. "Jimmy's hand speed maybe freak him out some, see? But as it go on he adjust and the brother finish strong, no doubtin'. Gotta say it was a killer fight, y'all. J do us proud, man. He do us proud. He show all o' y'all he gonna be a force in the IBL, man. He push the bes' Welterweight in the worl' to the brink on debut. That's damn impressive, y'all. Damn impressive."

It must be said that this fight lived up to the hype. Both men showed that they'll be right in the mix throughout the tournament and it will be fascinating to see how they perform in their upcoming bouts. No doubt, Leonard will be hoping for some easier competition in series two...

UNDERCARD HIGHLIGHTS

* Olympic bronze medallist Billy Graham had hoped to kick the night off with a victory. The New Yorker appeared to do his part but the judges decided that his Canadian opponent Maxie Berger had done enough to earn a draw, the scorecards reading 58-58, 60-56 (Graham), 58-58.

Neither man would be accused of being a power puncher, but it seemed that the judges were more impressed by some of the hard shots that Berger was able to land throughout the fight with the South African judge awarding him the 4th (where Graham had outlanded him 51-18) and the 5th, during which Graham threw 100 more punches.

Graham found it difficult to comprehend the verdict, asking more than once for a recount of the cards. He landed 167 of 521 punches (.321), Berger 91 of 291 (.313). The verdict was heavily booed by the crowd, some of them launching into a continuous chant of "Highway robbery!"

* Brash, outspoken New Yorker James "Buddy" McGirt has said on more than one occasion that his primary goal during these regional qualifiers is a victory over Olympic Champion Ray Leonard. McGirt lost to Leonard in the Sydney selection trials and has been burning to gain some semblance of revenge ever since.

Tonight McGirt made his professional debut against the tough Mississippi native Eddie Perkins, who had impressed IBL scouts at the Houston selection trials. After an exciting tussle the quick-fisted Perkins emerged as a split decision victor, overcoming a spirited performance from McGirt to take the win by a 59-57, 57-59, 59-57 verdict.

It wasn't the start that McGirt was hoping for and he could have been accused of looking beyond his talented opponent, despite the effort he gave. Some of the statements he made leading into the evening indicated that his focus was not squarely on Perkins. The victorious Mississippi native landed an impressive 181 of 503 shots (.360), McGirt finding the mark with 132 of 438 (.301).

* Hometown favourite Marlon Starling gave the crowd a great memory to take home with them when he defeated Philadelphia's Meldrick Taylor by unanimous decision in the evening's Co-Feature (59-55 on all three cards). Starling floored Taylor with a smashing left-right-left combination midway through the opening round and controlled the fight through until the final stanza, where Taylor rocked him with a series of combinations and power punches trying for a miracle knockout.

While neither man is expected to qualify for the World Championship tournament, Starling in particular showed enough to indicate that he could provide plenty of nuisance value as the regional qualifiers progress.