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22 September 2006

Larry Holman's round-by-round coverage from ringside in Moscow
of the International Boxing League's
World Heavyweight Championship tournament semi-finals

Hello to everyone all around the world who has logged onto espn.com today to join me for the biggest heavyweight boxing card in recent memory. I'm here at ringside at Moscow's Krylia Sovetov for the IBL's World Heavyweight Championship tournament semi-finals, which will feature Ken Norton going up against Ike Ibeabuchi and Terone Haynes taking on the local fighter and unanimous crowd favourite Sergey Anyukov in the main event. It's just on 8pm here in Moscow, which by my calcuations would make it midday on the east coast of the USA and 9am on the west coast.

The second undercard bout between Philadelphia's Tyrell Biggs and the New Zealander Sam Leuluai is currently in round three. Earlier on we saw the 23 year-old Ukranian fighter Vladimir Virchis defeat South Africa's Francois Botha by eight-round split decision. It was an action-packed clash that deserved to be seen by a lot more people than were in the arena here for it, although those watching the event on HBO and various other pay-per-view outlets worldwide would have certainly enjoyed it. There were no knockdowns but the two combatants traded some thunderous blows throughout the contest. Virchis took the verdict by scores of 78-74, 75-77 and 78-74 and in this writer's opinion was a clear winner, despite Botha's efforts.

Virchis was floored four times before eventually being stopped in round six by Andrew Golota in his last outing while Botha was TKOd by Ike Ibeabuchi in the quarter-finals of the world championship tournament. This was without a doubt the biggest win of Virchis' career to date and it guarantees that he'll be ranked no lower than #17 in the world once these IBL tournaments are completed. His record now stands at 14-2-1(10) while Botha has fallen to 25-5(19) with his second straight defeat. Just a note to those of you following along with us on espn.com that this coverage will automatically update each time I post a new entry to the running commentary. You won't need to refresh your web browsers.

Biggs and Leuluai are coming out for round five now and through the first four it's been an even affair. Biggs started nicely in round one and maintained control in round two. The third was a lot closer and was highlighted by Biggs sustaining a cut under his right eye from a headclash, which the ringside doctor examined. Leuluai was the much busier of the two in round four. While the fight continues I'll be going over my thoughts on tonight's semi-final bouts, which really do rank as two of the most potentially exciting heavyweight contests for a long time. They are both clashes that, to put it bluntly, would not have had a chance in hell of taking place if not for the IBL. Three of the four competitors held alphabet titles at the start of this year and were not even close to considering fights against each other. Only Terone Haynes' camp was pursuing a unification bout, but that was to be against current IBF title holder Marko Friedrich.

Ken Norton has been regarded as the best heavyweight in the world for the last couple of years, although there are many who believe that Terone Haynes deserves that title simply on the basis of the destructive fashion in which he's defeated most of his opponents. Personally I think it's a very close thing and probably too close to call. The only way to settle the issue is for the two men to step in the ring against each other, which is exactly what I think we'll be seeing come December. Ike Ibeabuchi is a fantastic young fighter with a lot of promise but I think Norton will be too much for him to handle tonight. Ibeabuchi is seriously lacking big fight experience and I believe it's something that will show against Norton. Perhaps in a year or so, after he's been involved in a number of testing contests, Ibeabuchi could make a serious challenge for the title but right now in September 2006 his time is yet to come.

The Nigerian looked pretty irritated during yesterday's weigh-in and his ill-advised attempts at getting under Norton's skin made me believe that all is not right with him. It appears that the rumours of a family-related problem during his training camp are probably true because he should be presenting a calm, composed demeanour, not an out of control one. Ibeabuchi seems to be lacking the type of focus and resolve that he'll need to win the fight. By comparison Norton was a portrait of serenity yesterday, showing that he wasn't intimidated by Ibeabuchi in the slightest. I'd have to question the approach of Ibeabuchi's training team as they were perfectly happy to let him make a spectacle of himself by eyeballing Norton and, to be truthful, they really were encouraging him to behave in that way.

As for Anyukov-Haynes all I can say is strap yourselves in, because I'm convinced it's going to be a classic. With the KO power each man possesses there's no way I can see it going the distance. In saying that it's hard to fathom either man being stopped based on their careers to date. But tonight, it's going to happen. Believe that. If I was a gambling man my money would be on the guy from Florida, who I'm convinced will be crowned as the IBL's first heavyweight champion in December. Haynes has had a faultless preparation guided by super trainer Roy Jones and I really can't see Anyukov beating him. The Russian has not been challenged in a fight for some time, having dominated Ray Mercer in the quarter-finals. That is not the ideal way to be going into a contest against someone as powerful as Terone Haynes.

During a frustrating period as WBO champion Haynes and his team were always looking to pursue a big money fight against one of the other alphabet champs but were unsuccessful. It's taken the IBL to bring about the biggest test of his career and there's no doubt in my mind that he'll make the most of this opportunity. Tonight's bout will also be something of a test for his trainer Roy Jones. The Pensacola native has received some criticism for his failure to guide all three of the Olympic medallists in his stable into a tournament semi-final, with junior-heavyweight Elmer Ray bowing out in stage one and both middleweight Holman Williams and welterweight James Ray losing in the quarters of their respective events.

Well, I've been so focused on tonight's main contests that I lost track of what was happening in the ring. The Biggs-Leuluai clash has just come to a conclusion and now the fighters and their corner crews are awaiting the verdict. Apparently the last four rounds were about as even as the first four so this could be a close thing ... and that's exactly how it's turned out. One judge gave it to Biggs 78-76 but the other two both scored it 76-76, making it a draw. Not the result either man would have been looking for but one that Biggs won't mind as he'll move on to fight for a higher initial world ranking by virtue of the fact that he was a participant in the world championship tournament while Leuluai featured in the challenger's tournament. Even so, the Sydney Olympics gold medallist remains winless in the IBL and has now been victorious in just one of his last five contests. He's 27-5-2(18) while Leuluai is 23-6-2(19).

According to tonight's schedule Norton and Ibeabuchi aren't due to make their walks to the ring until 8.45, which is fifteen minutes away. I'll be taking a brief break and will be right back in about ten minutes...

...My, the crowd has really grown here in the arena just in these last couple of minutes. The pro-Anyukov chants are already starting even though he won't be in the ring for another hour. The atmosphere is pretty much identical to that for a European soccer match, which is going to make for a fantastic evening. There's some commotion and excitement in the crowd near the entrance aisle and music has just started playing over the arena speakers. Some kind of African tribal music, very rhythmic and drum heavy. Looking back towards the entrance I can see that, indeed, Ike Ibeabuchi's team are making their way to the ring.

Almost all of them are dressed in outfits of predominantly green with white trim, which are the colours of the Nigerian flag. Ibeabuchi is in the middle of the dozen-strong group, his head hidden under an oversized hood. He seems much more calmer and subdued than he was at yesterday's weigh-in. Once in the ring I notice that amongst his entourage are fellow IBL boxers Samuel Peter (heavyweight) and Taribo Keshi (light-heavyweight). Neither had been present at the weigh-in but are very vocal as they prowl the ring, doing their best to encourage the crowd to cheer for and support Ibeabuchi.

Norton's on his way to the ring now, his group equally large. The former WBC titlist and his corner crew are decked out in satins of white with powder blue and gold trim, the San Diego native honoring his beloved Chargers as he's done for most of his professional outings. Of course, his trunks have the same colour combination except in reverse, with the body of them being powder blue. Like Ibeabuchi, Norton's backed up by some of his fellow pugilists. The middleweight James Toney and featherweight Solly Smith are both there and Norton's talking light-heartedly to them, totally relaxed. But now he's glaring Ibeabuchi's way with an intimidating intensity, the two groups trading words while announcer James Hayes begins the pre-fight introductions.

(to be continued)