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FEDERATION "ROOKIES" IMPRESS IN JERSEY
Tuesday 1 October 2002
The Heavyweight Boxing Federation's newest additions continued to show their talents tonight at Atlantic City's Trump Plaza with a quartet of them scoring victories in Qualifying League action. It's been said by a number of observers that this "new wave" of competitors are far superior to the majority of those who took part in the federation's feeder leagues and that they'll be pushing their way to the top of the World Rankings during the coming years.
* The evening started with Canada's Chris Creed taking a hard-earned split decision verdict over the Danish fighter Mikkel Randeris. Creed had looked fantastic in KOing Hans Birkie in three rounds on debut but he faced a much tougher challenge tonight. The former Canadian Football League fullback punished the Dane in the opening round, landing a pair of hooks early, a bone-rattling combination midway through the round and a flush right hand as the stanza entered its final minute. He appeared to be heading for another good win but when Randeris unleashed a crippling ribshot thirty seconds into the 2nd Creed found himself down on one knee clutching at his side. This came only moments after Creed had landed a flush right hand and seeing him on the canvas sent a rush of chatter through the crowd.
Creed was up at eight and before the round was over had absorbed a solid left hook and a hard right hand that caught him on the forehead, the 30 year-old looking vulnerable. He steadied the ship in the 3rd, a pair of combinations buckling Randeris' legs before the European hit back in round four, bloodying Creed's nose and controlling most of the round before the Canadian came back strongly in the closing seconds. Creed finished the bout impressively, winning the 5th convincingly and turning back a determined effort from Randeris in the final frame to secure a gutsy 57-56, 56-57, 58-55 victory. Creed landed 114 of 460 punches (.248), Randeris 94 of 245 (.384) in what was a rousing start to the event.
* Texas native Orlin Norris joined Creed at 2-0 after defeating the Frenchman Nicolas Gallas by majority decision (58-56, 57-57, 58-56). His younger brother Terry will be competing on an IBL fight card tomorrow night but that was the last thing on Orlin's mind as he tackled Gallas in another exciting bout. Norris controlled the opening two rounds but Gallas made a real contest of it the rest of the way, landing some damaging shots and going blow-for-blow with the Texan in an action-packed 4th.
* Florida Alliance member Ariel Reyes followed up his debut KO of Mikkel Randeris with another stoppage victory, this time against the German fighter Hans Birkie. Four proved to be his lucky number once again as, having finished Randeris in the 4th round he did the same to Birkie. After an uneventful opening round Reyes caught fire in the 2nd, pummeling Birkie with hard lefts and rights. He maintained control in the 3rd before decimating his opponent in round four, Birkie overwhlemed by the onslaught until Reyes floored him fifteen seconds from the bell. The German was counted out, Reyes the winner at the 2:55 mark. In those four rounds he connected with 153 of 322 punches (.475), Birkie just 43 of 75 (.573).
The fact that none of the other Florida Alliance members accompanied Reyes to Atlantic City did not go unnoticed, the tall Cuban-born slugger confirming afterwards that the group had decided to take a break from traveling together. This is something that Elmer Ray had intimated a couple of weeks ago following Romy Alvarez's bout in Los Angeles.
"We all like brothers," Reyes said. "But we have to look after ourselves, you know? We have to make sure that we'll be in the best condition possible from here on out. The group's been through some disappointments and that's something we really want to put behind us but also avoid in the future."
* French slugger Taoufik Belbouli made the main event one to remember as he replicated Reyes and knocked out San Diego native Charley Powell in round four. After an evenly-fought opening three rounds Belbouli became more aggressive in the 4th with spectacular results. He had Powell on unsteady legs after a series of punishing blows before dropping him to the canvas with a single left hook just as the round entered its final minute. Powell was up at six but found himself on his back again moments later as he walked into a jolting right cross. This time he stayed down and was counted out 2:31 into the round.
Belbouli was born in the north-west African nation of Mauritania and at just 182 pounds packs quite a punch. He could very well be a contender for the federation's Junior-Heavyweight Championship when the division is established come 2004.
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