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kenyan_cheena · 04-23-2009, 09:57 PM

THE GUARDIAN
LAGOS - NIGERIA

Monday 31 July 2006

AMAKOCHI POWERS HIS
WAY INTO SEMI-FINALS

Story by Sani Yobo

Nigerian light-heavyweight Celestine Amakochi has set up a mouth-watering semi-final clash with Olympic silver medallist Mauro Mina in the International Boxing League's Challenger's tournament. The 3rd seed looked fantastic as he obliterated Brooklyn's Johnny Persol inside of three rounds last night at London's ExCel Arena, dropping him four times before the New Yorker was counted out at 0:45 of round three. The first knockdown came just thirty seconds after the opening bell from a flush left hook. Amakochi then floored Persol again at the end of the 1st and the end of the 2nd, before a jolting uppercut 34 seconds into the 3rd finished him off. 22 year-old Amakochi improved to 21-1(14) and has said that he hopes to win the tournament and then go head-to-head with either Dick Tiger or Taribo Keshi in what would be an all-Nigerian World Championship bout.

Amakochi now gets a chance to gain some revenge against an opponent who defeated him in each of their three clashes in the amateur ranks. Peru's Mauro Mina recorded his second unanimous decision win of the tournament, the 10th seed overcoming his more experienced English opponent Len Harvey by scores of 78-76, 79-75 and 78-77. It was a competitive contest from the 1st round to the last and in the opinion of this writer Harvey was unlucky to not get at least a drawn verdict from one of the judges. Mina was never able to dominate him, Harvey actually the aggressor for most of the bout. Mina outlanded him 160-138, his defensive skills leading to Harvey connecting with only 20% of his punches. Mina has spoken on more than one occasion of his ambition to make it to the top of the IBL's light-heavyweight division as soon as possible and following last night's win he is now just three victories away from becoming world champion. Mina is now 14-0(8).

The other semi-final sees an unexpected matchup following the elimination of the tournament's 1st and 4th seeds, Michael King and Iran Barkley. Fighting in the co-feature Detroit-born King lost by split decision to the Californian Tommy Harrison (78-75, 76-77, 79-74). Harrison made a fantastic start, sweeping the first four rounds on two scorecards and holding on in the face of King's strong fightback to take the verdict. Harrison improved to 17-2(11), King falling to 26-6(21). Barkley fell to his first professional defeat, the talented Texas slugger Jack Chase taking a unanimous decision verdict after a hugely entertaining stoush (78-75, 77-76, 79-74). Bronx native Barkley was the aggressor for most of the fight but couldn't handle Chase's speed. The 24 year-old landed exactly 50% of his punches, Barkley only 24%. The fact that Chase connected with an average of almost 32 blows per round indicates the difficulty Barkley faced. Chase is now 19-1-1(13), Barkley 19-1(15).

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Results

(#5) CHASE UD8 (#4) BARKLEY
(#3) AMAKOCHI KO3 (#11) PERSOL
(#8) HARRISON SD8 (#1) KING
(#10) MINA UD8 (#2) HARVEY

Semi-final matchups

(#5) JACK CHASE (19-1-1(13)) vs (#8) TOMMY HARRISON (USA, 17-2(11))
(#3) CELESTINE AMAKOCHI (21-1(14)) vs (#10) MAURO MINA (14-0(8))

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04-23-2009, 09:57 PM	#290 (permalink)
kenyan_cheena Hall Of Famer Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Sydney, NSW, Australia Posts: 7,426 Thanks: 73 Thanked 130x in 113 posts	THE GUARDIAN LAGOS - NIGERIA Monday 31 July 2006 AMAKOCHI POWERS HIS WAY INTO SEMI-FINALS Story by Sani Yobo Nigerian light-heavyweight Celestine Amakochi has set up a mouth-watering semi-final clash with Olympic silver medallist Mauro Mina in the International Boxing League's Challenger's tournament. The 3rd seed looked fantastic as he obliterated Brooklyn's Johnny Persol inside of three rounds last night at London's ExCel Arena, dropping him four times before the New Yorker was counted out at 0:45 of round three. The first knockdown came just thirty seconds after the opening bell from a flush left hook. Amakochi then floored Persol again at the end of the 1st and the end of the 2nd, before a jolting uppercut 34 seconds into the 3rd finished him off. 22 year-old Amakochi improved to 21-1(14) and has said that he hopes to win the tournament and then go head-to-head with either Dick Tiger or Taribo Keshi in what would be an all-Nigerian World Championship bout. Amakochi now gets a chance to gain some revenge against an opponent who defeated him in each of their three clashes in the amateur ranks. Peru's Mauro Mina recorded his second unanimous decision win of the tournament, the 10th seed overcoming his more experienced English opponent Len Harvey by scores of 78-76, 79-75 and 78-77. It was a competitive contest from the 1st round to the last and in the opinion of this writer Harvey was unlucky to not get at least a drawn verdict from one of the judges. Mina was never able to dominate him, Harvey actually the aggressor for most of the bout. Mina outlanded him 160-138, his defensive skills leading to Harvey connecting with only 20% of his punches. Mina has spoken on more than one occasion of his ambition to make it to the top of the IBL's light-heavyweight division as soon as possible and following last night's win he is now just three victories away from becoming world champion. Mina is now 14-0(8). The other semi-final sees an unexpected matchup following the elimination of the tournament's 1st and 4th seeds, Michael King and Iran Barkley. Fighting in the co-feature Detroit-born King lost by split decision to the Californian Tommy Harrison (78-75, 76-77, 79-74). Harrison made a fantastic start, sweeping the first four rounds on two scorecards and holding on in the face of King's strong fightback to take the verdict. Harrison improved to 17-2(11), King falling to 26-6(21). Barkley fell to his first professional defeat, the talented Texas slugger Jack Chase taking a unanimous decision verdict after a hugely entertaining stoush (78-75, 77-76, 79-74). Bronx native Barkley was the aggressor for most of the fight but couldn't handle Chase's speed. The 24 year-old landed exactly 50% of his punches, Barkley only 24%. The fact that Chase connected with an average of almost 32 blows per round indicates the difficulty Barkley faced. Chase is now 19-1-1(13), Barkley 19-1(15). --- Results (#5) CHASE UD8 (#4) BARKLEY (#3) AMAKOCHI KO3 (#11) PERSOL (#8) HARRISON SD8 (#1) KING (#10) MINA UD8 (#2) HARVEY Semi-final matchups (#5) JACK CHASE (19-1-1(13)) vs (#8) TOMMY HARRISON (USA, 17-2(11)) (#3) CELESTINE AMAKOCHI (21-1(14)) vs (#10) MAURO MINA (14-0(8)) --- __________________ The Greatest Prize in Sports The Greatest Prize in Sports: Almanac kenyan_cheena's NBA 2K11 Off Topic Dynasty Last edited by kenyan_cheena; 04-23-2009 at 09:58 PM.