[BigBoyBrackey]

The first round of The Roaring Twenties Heavyweight Extravaganza featured stunning upsets, brutal knockouts, grotesque injuries and plenty of fouls.

Though some of the pre-tournament rankings were controversial, the seeds largely held, with seven of the 32 first-round bouts ending in upsets. Half the winners prevailed by decision, with 15 knockouts or TKOs and one disqualification.

FIGHT OF THE ROUND: Not surprisingly, Luis Angel Firpo was involved in a wild punch-out, prevailing in seven rounds over the original White Hope, Carl Morris.

The knockout came just one round after Firpo found himself on the floor, courtesy of a Morris right moments before the bell ending the sixth. Firpo responded by charging out of his corner in the seventh, dropping Morris with an overhand right behind a pawing jab. Morris – who also hit the canvas in round four -- got up, but fell twice more in the seventh, finally taking the 10-count after eating another big Firpo right.

Firpo also had Morris out on his feet at the end of the first, fourth and fifth, but referee Earl Morton, having seen The Wild Bull of the Pampas work before, let things play out to their natural conclusion.

UPSET OF THE ROUND: Captain Bob Roper, the No. 16 seed, can never get untracked against No. 49 Quintin Romero Rojas – largely because he can’t seem to stop fouling.

Referee Gerald Scott issues four warnings to Roper -- who is clearly frustrated by being repeatedly beaten to the punch -- in the first four rounds, before finally taking a point away in the fourth.

Rojas, who received two admonishments of his own, narrowly wins the fifth and sixth rounds. Roper, feeling the fight slipping away, loses it when Rojas pounds away at his face while holding him in a headlock. After yet another warning, Roper retaliates with a brutal kidney shot that drops Rojas along the ropes. When he is unable to continue, Scott disqualifies Roper, who trails 59-54 on all three scorecards.

CONTROVERSY OF THE ROUND: Australian George Cook, the No. 57 seed, opens a gash on the forehead of eighth-seeded Jack Delaney in the first on what is ruled an intentional head butt by referee Alan Moore. Yet when the cut is reopened (and worsened) by a Cook punch in the third, rendering the Canadian unable to continue, Moore declares the squat underdog the winner by technical knockout.

This was the biggest upset, in terms of disparity in seeding, of the first round, but the nature of Cook’s victory prevents it from being recognized as such by tournament officials.


QUICKEST KNOCKOUT: Second-seeded Gene Tunney flattened Bud Gorman with the first serious punch he threw, a straight right that caused a count-out at 1:42 of the first round.

Not surprisingly, the second-fastest ending came courtesy of top seed Jack Dempsey, who obliterated Sully Montgomery in less than two rounds.