[kenyan_cheena]

BOXING
MONTHLY

VOLUME 28, ISSUE 3 - MARCH 2006

(following are selected entries from the magazine's
"Fight Review" section)

4 March: Los Angeles, California, USA
James Toney (33-3-1(28)) TKO7 Marcus White (22-8(15))
(middleweight division)

In his first fight since losing a unanimous decision to IBF champion Freddie Steele in October, 28 year-old Toney scored an almost meaningless stoppage of fellow Los Angeles native Marcus White. Coming out of the worst two years of his career Toney really needed something more substantial to get himself back on track. After dropping the WBC title to Bert Lytell in April '04 and then being knocked out in a rematch five months later Toney recorded two wins over fringe contenders before being given a shot at Steele, in which he was soundly defeated. Two weeks after his win over White "Lights Out" announced that he'd signed a contract with the International Boxing League. Based on Molk's big unveiling this past Monday he could very well find himself a competitor in their middleweight world championship tournament.

6 March: London, England
Ian Lord (6-0(4)) TKO5 Martin Bell (7-3(4))
(middleweight division)

Making the trip south from his hometown of Coventry teenage middleweight Ian Lord was in hostile surroundings as his opponent Martin Bell was a local and the crowd favourite. But the situation didn't faze Lord as he gradually wore Bell down until the referee saved him from any further punishment late in the 5th. As he's done in each of his fights Lord proudly wore the sky blue and white colours of his beloved Coventry City football team into the ring, the club's emblem stencilled across the back of his robe. Lord was asked afterwards what he'd do if Nigel Benn's promoters offered him a fight. He replied by saying he'd accept it "in a heartbeat".

6 March: London, England
Ashley Jackson (4-0(3)) KO2 Brian Janson (6-1(4))
(welterweight division)

This promising, popular young southpaw appeared on the same card as Lord and had the crowd on their feet in applause with a thrilling display of speed and power. Janson is also a teenager on the rise and was regarded as having a good chance of ending Jackson's perfect career start but he was on the canvas before the bout was thirty seconds old. Jackson kept his foot firmly on Janson's throat and floored him twice in round two, Janson failing to beat the count after the second knockdown.

8 March: Lincoln, Nebraska, USA
Mark Elwood (8-0(6)) UD6 Keith Makinson (7-3-1(4))
(cruiserweight division)

One of the things that boxing is really in need of right now is more talented cruiserweights and in Fremont's Mark Elwood it appears to have one. The 22 year-old improved his record to a perfect 9-0 with a dominant showing against local fighter Keith Makinson in Nebraska's state capital. Elwood enjoyed a fairly successful amateur career at heavyweight but has weighed in at or around 195 for most of his professional bouts to date. He would be a great signing for the IBL and when one considers the current talent in the division would not be out of place in it's junior-heavyweight world championship tournament, despite his inexperience.

11 March: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
Harold Johnson (33-1-2(24)) TKO10 Michael King (25-4(21))
(light-heavyweight division, WBA title fight)

"Philadelphia's Champion" Harold Johnson retained the WBA belt for the fifth time, mesmerising and outclassing Detroit's Michael King for nine rounds before referee Howard James and the ringside doctor agreed to stop the fight midway through the 10th due to the severe swelling under the challenger's right eye. There had been problems surrounding the fight as Johnson did not feel that the Michigan native had earned a title shot and therefore did not want to defend his belt against him. But the WBA had installed him as the mandatory challenger and Johnson reluctantly went ahead with the bout. However, it now appears that the incident really got to Johnson as one week after the fight he announced that he was relinquishing the belt and joining the International Boxing League. He is the most well-known alphabet champion to jump ship to date but is not likely to be the last.

11 March: San Juan, Puerto Rico
Wilfred Benitez (11-0-1(9)) KO1 Carlos Nieves (15-10-1(8))
(welterweight division)

Athens bronze medallist Benitez made extremely short work of his compatriot Nieves, knocking him out cold with the first hard punch he landed forty seconds into the fight. It was the third 1st round stoppage win in four bouts for Benitez, who is regarded in his homeland as the spearhead of a talented young brigade that also includes fellow bronze medallist Juan La Porte (featherweight) and former five-time national amateur champion Felix Trinidad (junior-welterweight), who only turned professional last month but is already considered a lock for future world championship glory.

13 March: Mexico City, Mexico
Vicente Saldivar (14-0(13)) KO5 Jose Pena (11-6(6))
(junior-featherweight division)

Mexico's brilliant young Olympic champion has looked unstoppable since turning professional a week after returning home from Athens. He was in a ruthless frame of mind against Pena and would have finished him off earlier if he'd been a little bit more patient. Saldivar's hatred of and intense rivalry with fellow gold medallist Salvador Sanchez has been one of the biggest stories in Mexican boxing for some time now and with both of them signed by the IBL it's very likely that they'll finally step in the ring against each other in the league's featherweight division. That will be a highly-anticipated clash, to say the least.

15 March: Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Les Darcy (25-1(22)) UD12 Juan Roldan (28-2(26))
(middleweight division, WBA title fight)

Fighting in the main event of a card that featured some of Australia's most talented fighters, Darcy was brilliant in securing a unanimous decision win over the rugged Argentinian Roldan. After withstanding an early assault Darcy assumed control in the 5th and kept it for most of the remaining rounds, retaining his belt as the judges favoured him with verdicts of 118-110, 117-112 and 118-111. It was the first major world title fight held in Australia for five years and a near-capacity crowd packed out the Sydney Entertainment Centre to see it. Darcy had not fought at home since '02 and was over the moon afterwards, thrilled that he'd put on such a great show for his fellow countrymen.

15 March: Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Peter Jackson (12-0(8)) KO5 Ben Chambers (8-3(6))
(heavyweight division)

Athens silver medallist Jackson maintained his untroubled pro career start with a brutal knockout of Brisbane native Ben Chambers. A left-right salvo wobbled Chambers, the combo chased by a smashing uppercut that put him on his back for a full count. The bout was the co-feature on Darcy's SEC card, Jackson having the full backing of the crowd. The Caribbean-born slugger went to Athens as an unknown but came back to Australia a hero after claiming silver. He has become quite a celebrity since, endorsing a number of commercial products in television and magazine advertisments. Unsurprisingly his professional career has been keenly followed by Aussie fight fans.

15 March: Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Jeff Fenech (14-0(12)) TKO3 Genario Torres (11-3(8))
(bantamweight division)

Jackson's fellow Athens medallist and good friend Jeff Fenech also appeared on the card and he was at his precision best in decimating his overmatched Filipino opponent Genario Torres. Fenech was far too aggressive and busy for Torres to handle and after knocking him down in round two the Australian was relentless in the 3rd, to the point where Torres actually turned his back on him. The referee stopped the fight moments later. At the end of the night Darcy, Jackson and Fenech were interviewed together, Darcy confirming that all three of them have been approached by the IBL. The trio have made a pact to make the decision together on whether to sign with the league or not and at the time of this magazine's publication they had yet to reach one.

16 March: Chicago, Illinois, USA
Jake Morrison (7-0(7)) TKO4 Chris Hendricks (5-0(4))
(middleweight division)

This bout was supposed to have taken place in Milwaukee on February 11 but Hendricks injured his back. The fight was rescheduled and relocated to Hendricks' hometown. Morrison's camp had believed he'd faked the injury to avoid fighting him in Milwaukee but the change of venue made little difference. Hendricks looked like a man on the way to his execution as he made the walk to the ring and Morrison showed no mercy once the bout started, pounding him with a relentless assault to the head and body through the opening three rounds. Hendricks was floored in the 2nd but worse was to come in the 4th, Morrison dropping him three times in the first ninety seconds of the round before the referee had seen enough.

17 March: Kansas City, Missouri, USA
Scot Long (6-0-1(3)) KO2 Dean Linton (8-2-1(5))
(light-heavyweight division)

This exciting young light-heavy avenged the only blotch on his record to date, destroying the man who held him to a draw last September. Linton had won four in a row since then but for his second consecutive bout Long easily accounted for an opponent who was tipped to test him. Some experts even thought Linton had a chance to send Long to his first defeat but it became obvious within the first thirty seconds that the McCune native was on a mission. Long caught his man with a series of short, jolting shots through the 1st round and finished him with a single flush right hand a minute into round two. It was announced on the 22nd that Long had signed with the IBL, the young man quoted as saying "$2,000 a week before even throwing a punch? Who's gonna turn that down?"

18 March: Pensacola, Florida, USA
Romy Alvarez (4-0(2)) KO4 Dre Kingston (7-1-1(5))
(heavyweight division)

"The Iceman" looked mighty impressive in his first outing since hooking up with Roy Jones' "Florida Alliance" in Pensacola, putting the highly regarded young Memphis native Dre Kingston to sleep with a perfectly-timed left hook late in the 4th round to improve to 5-0(3). The knockout came after Alvarez had pitched a shutout through the opening three rounds behind a penetrating left jab. At first he had been hesitant to accept the fight, believing he wasn't quite ready for it having seen Kingston score some punishing wins in his previous bouts. But Jones felt that he could win and that vote of confidence was all Alvarez needed to produce a fantastic performance. He only started training under Jones last month, the situation facilitated by a conversation he had with the Ray cousins Elmer and James after his last bout on the 10th of February. Based on the win against Kingston he's already benefitted a great deal from his time in Pensacola.

20 March: London, England
Nigel Benn (12-0(10)) TKO3 Steve Barrett (9-2-1(6))
(middleweight division)

England's premier middleweight and lone Athens medallist continued his fantastic career start, making short work of Barrett for his thirteenth professional victory. Benn was in an aggressive frame of mind throughout the brief contest and has now recorded eleven stoppage wins, eight of which have come within three rounds. His handlers had been talking about lining him up for a shot at the European Boxing Union's middleweight belt but those plans have gone out the window since he agreed to a contract with the IBL. Unsurprisingly the middleweight division looks like being the strongest for the league during their upcoming tournaments.

22 March: Lima, Peru
Mauro Mina (11-0(7)) TKO6 Jose Cacciatore (6-3-1(4))
(light-heavyweight division)

Peru's Olympic silver medallist was back in action for the first time since December. He came down with an illness early in the new year that kept him out of the gym for almost three weeks but he looked fully recovered against Cacciatore, at times playing with the Brazilian. Mina put his foot to the floor in the 6th and final round, punishing his man until the referee ended the bout a minute before the bell. Mina announced the day after the fight that he'd met with IBL representative Israel Martinez and would be signing a contract with the organisation before the end of the month. No doubt his presence will make the league's light-heavyweight Americas tournament even more interesting.

24 March: Indianapolis, Indiana, USA
Mike Hanson (5-0(5)) TKO2 David Mayor (4-2(2))
(heavyweight division)

"Hector" Hanson made mince meat of an opponent that was perfect for him, pummeling the flat-footed Mayor into submission midway through the 2nd with a succession of piledriving rights and lefts. It was an obvious mismatch but the crowd didn't seem to care, the ovation they gave Hanson a clear statement of their admiration for him. The victor was in a loud, bragadocious mood afterwards, thumping his chest with his right fist, shouting and reveling in the audience's applause. While clearly not as polished or skilled as some of the other promising young heavies Hanson has captured the public's imagination with his knockout power and it will be interesting to see if the IBL secures his services.

25 March: Richmond, Virginia, USA
Pernell Whitaker (10-0(7)) UD6 Larry Johnston (8-4(6))
(lightweight division)

America's brilliant young lightweight was in action for the second time in four weeks, still keen to make up for time lost during an involuntary five-month absence from the ring in '05. His win against Johnston didn't prove anything that wasn't already known as he dazzled the New Yorker with speed and precision. The IBL have made his signature a priority but Whitaker has resisted the organisation's advances. During the post-fight interview he stated that his mind was set on challenging the current champions of the lightweight division, Joe Brown and Patricio Marquez, so it might be some time before we see him fighting under the banner of the IBL (if ever).

25 March: Richmond, Virginia, USA
Steve Finley (7-0(6)) KO4 Ian Parker (5-3(2))
(light-heavyweight division)

With the crowd firmly in his corner Finley scored his eighth win as a professional, Parker looking out of his league from the opening round. The 20 year-old native of Roanoke showed admirable patience, picking Parker off with well-chosen shots throughout the fight. Unsurprisingly it wasn't a single powerful punch that ended the bout but an accumulation of blows, Parker sent to the canvas in a neutral corner midway through the 4th. He had only got as far as considering climbing back to his feet when the count reached ten, Finley nonchalant in the aftermath of his victory. He's one of a number of young fighters the IBL have targeted and he implied after his win that he'll be accepting the organisation's offer.