[kenyan_cheena]

The Daily Telegraph

SATURDAY 24 JUNE 2006

Business as usual for
Darcy at the Ent-Cent

Story by John Brown

Australia's premier boxer Les Darcy was back in the ring last night, fighting for the first time since successfully defending his now-relinquished WBA middleweight title against Juan Roldan back in mid-March. The venue was the same, the Sydney Entertainment Centre, but the opponent was the Frenchman Laurent Boudouani in a quarter-final of the International Boxing League's World Middleweight Championship tournament.

Darcy progressed to the semi-finals with a knockout victory at the end of round eight, the Maitland native bullying and battering Boudouani throughout and flooring him twice before the final fight-ending knockdown came seven seconds before the bell. According to IBL rules the bell cannot save a fighter and Boudouani was counted out, Darcy's record improving to 27-1(23). Darcy's niggling tactics resulted in a point deduction in round four. He sent Boudouani to the canvas for the first time thirty seconds later.

Darcy was accompanied to the ring by his good friend and fellow boxer Jeff Fenech, the Marrickville bantamweight who is also contracted by the IBL. He'll make his own debut for the organisation on July the 9th in Korea and was a vocal observer from ringside throughout Darcy's bout. In the semi-finals Darcy will once again take on the man he defeated back in March, Argentina's Juan Roldan. The tournament's 4th seed secured his semi-final berth when his bout against the American Marvin Blanks was stopped in the 3rd round, the referee disqualifying Blanks after a particularly nasty low blow had Roldan on his knees in pain.

Blanks had produced an admirable effort in a challenge for Freddie Steele's IBF title in February but one can only wonder what was going through his mind when he unloaded on Roldan, especially after he'd appeared to be in control going into round three. His record now stands at 25-5(19) while the South American's mark is 29-3(26). Roldan will have to make a vast improvement on his efforts in the first matchup with Darcy in order to earn a place in the championship bout and will go into the fight as a big underdog.

Earlier in the evening California's James Toney looked a mere shadow of his former self while being soundly defeated by Japan's Koichi Wajima. The 3rd seed lost a unanimous decision verdict (98-90, 95-93, 97-91), his efforts likely to lead many to proclaim his days are numbered in the sport. After going undefeated through his first 32 professional bouts Toney lost back-to-back contests to Fresno's Bert Lytell, the first a defense of the WBC title and the second an attempt to reclaim it. Both fights took place in 2004. Toney bounced back with a pair of victories through the first half of '05, which gained him a shot at IBF king Freddie Steele, who defeated him quite easily this past October.

Toney's last outing was a TKO win over Marcus White in March and he was expected to follow that up with a victory over Wajima. The first four rounds were very competitive but much of the fight left Toney after he was sent to the canvas at the end of the 5th. Wajima floored him again with a single, smashing right cross early in the 8th, after which Toney looked badly shaken. The Japanese fighter was strangely subdued after the verdict was announced while Toney could only shake his head, a nasty knot showing under his right eye. Having now lost four of his last seven bouts the 28 year-old's record is 34-4-1(29) while Wajima improved to 22-1-2(16) with what was, without a doubt, the biggest win of his career to date.

The challenge Wajima faces in the semi-finals might be too much for him to handle, though, as he'll take on the former WBO junior-middleweight champion John "The Beast" Mugabi, who defeated a competitive Leo Starosch via 5th round TKO. The German was surprisingly effective in evading most of Mugabi's devastating power shots and absorbed the ones that found their target in admirable fashion. But his resistance ran dry in round five, Mugabi obliterating him with a succession of sledgehammer blows late in the frame. The referee stopped the fight seven seconds from the bell with Starosch out on his feet and slumped against the ropes.

It was Mugabi's twenty-first consecutive victory and thirteenth straight inside the distance. During his run as the WBO champion Mugabi (now 31-2-2(29)) had tried unsuccessfully to arrange a clash with current WBC/IBF junior-middleweight champion Mike McCallum but he'll now have his sights firmly set on a likely matchup with Darcy for the IBL's inaugural middleweight title. If it eventuates that fight figures to be one of the most fascinating of all the league's world championship bouts.

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(#4) Juan Roldan DQ3 (#5) Marvin Blanks
(#6) Koichi Wajima UD10 (#3) James Toney
(#2) John Mugabi TKO5 (#7) Leo Starosch
(#1) Les Darcy KO8 (#8) Laurent Boudouani

Semi-final matchups

(#2) John Mugabi (31-2-2(29)) vs (#6) Koichi Wajima (22-1-2(16))
(#1) Les Darcy (27-1(23)) vs (#4) Juan Roldan (29-3(26))

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