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kenyan_cheena · 11-01-2009, 10:46 PM

THE OHIO EXPRESS

Sunday, 10 December, 2006

MIRACLE AT THE
CHEVROLET CENTER

Story by Jerry Anderson

No matter what other craziness transpires during the remainder of the International Boxing League's various tournaments, when they're all done and dusted the fans and experts alike will look back upon them, think of Jeff Lampkin and say "How the hell did he do that?" Last night the Youngstown native completed one of the most unlikely, fariytale-like runs in recent sports history when he claimed the IBL's world junior-heavyweight championship with a 5th round stoppage of the tournament's #1 seed Carlos DeLeon in front of a parochial crowd at the Chevrolet Center. In doing so the 29 year-old won his first ever world title in his fourth attempt at doing so and avenged a loss to DeLeon in a July 2004 IBF cruiserweight championship bout. Despite scoring upset wins over two former world champions in Maurice Holmes and Massimiliano Duran in the quarter-finals and semi-finals Lampkin was a heavy underdog to overcome DeLeon, who has been regarded as the division's best for the last couple of years.

Lampkin had spoken confidently on his chances during the past week, refering to DeLeon's indifferent form in the lead-up bouts while also saying that if he failed to win he'd probably retire. After having the better of a mostly uneventful opening round Lampkin became more aggressive in round two and stunned DeLeon early in the frame with a flush left hook before punishing the Puerto Rican with some ripping body shots. The crowd applauded enthusiastically at the round's end, Lampkin's good start appearing to validate his pre-fight optimism. However, it didn't take long for DeLeon to turn the situation around. He controlled round three behind a penetrating, potent jab and then dominated the 4th, catching Lampkin with a number of flush, stinging blows. Some alarming swelling had developed under Lampkin's left eye, his corner crew working on it in a desperate fashion during the intermission.

They could not have known in the midst of their panic that within three minutes it would be all over and their man would be the new world champion. Through the first minute of the 5th Lampkin landed a cracking combination and a jolting right cross, the shots putting DeLeon on the backfoot and eliciting wild applause from the audience. The Chevrolet Center then erupted when, midway through the frame, DeLeon went down courtesy of a perfect left hook. The punch caught him flush on the jaw and as he struggled to his feet the #1 seed looked badly hurt, ill even. He was up at six and allowed to continue but when Lampkin went back on the offensive it was clear that DeLeon was out of it. A big uppercut rubberised his legs and when Lampkin shot a right cross through his defenses moments later DeLeon was on the canvas for a second time. Surprisingly he was up at five and, even more surprisingly, was once again given the go ahead to keep fighting. Lampkin came rushing in and unloaded a left hook, followed by a quartet of power shots, right-left-right-left, before referee Rocky Burke jumped in and saved DeLeon from further punishment, wrapping his arms around him.

Lampkin walked a few steps towards his corner before falling to his knees and bursting into tears in the middle of the ring, the enormity of his achievement flooding over him in a torrent. His crew raced into the ring and joined him in celebration as the crowd reached a new level of fervour. Soon after Lampkin was hoisted up onto his cornermen's shoulders and paraded around the ring, both arms raised in victory with tears streaming down his cheeks. The official time of the stoppage was 2:40 of round five. DeLeon had slightly outlanded Lampkin 105-103, which didn't matter one bit. Going into the 5th two judges had it all tied up at 38-38 while the third favoured DeLeon 39-37. Ten minutes after it had ended DeLeon appeared to be in better shape, although he wore an understandably downcast expression. He'd congratulated a still emotional Lampkin and stood back and watched as the inaugural IBL world junior-heavyweight champion made a speech straight from the heart.

"Firstly, I'd like to thank Mr. Molk and the IBL for givin' me this opportunity," Lampkin started. "My career was kinda stuck in neutral before they came along and I couldn't really see how that was gonna change. They gave me a chance to compete for a world championship and I can't thank 'em enough for that. I'd like to congratulate Carlos for making it to the championship bout. He's had a fantastic career so far and I'm confident that there'll be more world title fights in his future, if not against me than surely whoever comes after me. I'd love to fight him again down the track but you never know what the future holds. I wanna say a big "thank you" to everyone in this arena. The support I've received from you guys leading into the fight and here tonight has been incredible and I'm not sure if I could've pulled this off without it."

The crowd applauded warmly, a couple of people shouting out "We love you, Jeff!"

"Lastly, and most importantly, I want to thank my family for all the love, encouragement and support they've given me. There've been some dark times during my career, times when I've been real difficult to live with. Times when I've taken my frustrations out on them. But they've never given up on me, never turned me away, although they had every right to."

Lampkin had choked on those last few words, emotion overwhelming him. He paused for a few seconds before continuing.

"I'll never be able to repay them for all that love. You know, I said before this fight that if I lost I'd probably retire. Having now won it, it's impossible to describe the feeling that's goin' through me. Like I said, you never know what the future holds. I ain't got no idea how long I'll be able to hold onto this championship for, and right now, I don't even really care. All I know is that when I look back on my career in twenty years from now, I'll be able to say, that I, was a world champion!"

With that he raised the IBL title belt in the air and shouted "Yes! Yes!" The crowd exploded once again, their cheers reverberating around the Chevrolet Center. Lampkin won't have to wait long to find out his opponent for his first title defense, as the final of the junior-heavyweight Challenger's tournament takes place tonight in Berlin with Germany's #1 seed Torsten May taking on the Frenchman Taoufik Belbouli. According to the IBL schedule makers that first defense will be held in twelve weeks, on the 3rd of March. During his three-fight winning streak in claiming the championship Lampkin has pocketed almost $3.6 million, although he's said in the past that for him it's never been about the money. Considering how long he's endured to fulfill his world championship quest, he might just be telling the truth.

---

IBL Junior-Heavyweight World Championship tournament final

(#7) Jeff Lampkin (35-7-1(28)) TKO5 (#1) Carlos DeLeon (31-1-1(21))

---

11-01-2009, 10:46 PM	#610 (permalink)
kenyan_cheena Hall Of Famer Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Sydney, NSW, Australia Posts: 7,425 Thanks: 73 Thanked 130x in 113 posts	*THE OHIO EXPRESS* Sunday, 10 December, 2006 MIRACLE AT THE CHEVROLET CENTER Story by Jerry Anderson No matter what other craziness transpires during the remainder of the International Boxing League's various tournaments, when they're all done and dusted the fans and experts alike will look back upon them, think of Jeff Lampkin and say "How the hell did he do that?" Last night the Youngstown native completed one of the most unlikely, fariytale-like runs in recent sports history when he claimed the IBL's world junior-heavyweight championship with a 5th round stoppage of the tournament's #1 seed Carlos DeLeon in front of a parochial crowd at the Chevrolet Center. In doing so the 29 year-old won his first ever world title in his fourth attempt at doing so and avenged a loss to DeLeon in a July 2004 IBF cruiserweight championship bout. Despite scoring upset wins over two former world champions in Maurice Holmes and Massimiliano Duran in the quarter-finals and semi-finals Lampkin was a heavy underdog to overcome DeLeon, who has been regarded as the division's best for the last couple of years. Lampkin had spoken confidently on his chances during the past week, refering to DeLeon's indifferent form in the lead-up bouts while also saying that if he failed to win he'd probably retire. After having the better of a mostly uneventful opening round Lampkin became more aggressive in round two and stunned DeLeon early in the frame with a flush left hook before punishing the Puerto Rican with some ripping body shots. The crowd applauded enthusiastically at the round's end, Lampkin's good start appearing to validate his pre-fight optimism. However, it didn't take long for DeLeon to turn the situation around. He controlled round three behind a penetrating, potent jab and then dominated the 4th, catching Lampkin with a number of flush, stinging blows. Some alarming swelling had developed under Lampkin's left eye, his corner crew working on it in a desperate fashion during the intermission. They could not have known in the midst of their panic that within three minutes it would be all over and their man would be the new world champion. Through the first minute of the 5th Lampkin landed a cracking combination and a jolting right cross, the shots putting DeLeon on the backfoot and eliciting wild applause from the audience. The Chevrolet Center then erupted when, midway through the frame, DeLeon went down courtesy of a perfect left hook. The punch caught him flush on the jaw and as he struggled to his feet the #1 seed looked badly hurt, ill even. He was up at six and allowed to continue but when Lampkin went back on the offensive it was clear that DeLeon was out of it. A big uppercut rubberised his legs and when Lampkin shot a right cross through his defenses moments later DeLeon was on the canvas for a second time. Surprisingly he was up at five and, even more surprisingly, was once again given the go ahead to keep fighting. Lampkin came rushing in and unloaded a left hook, followed by a quartet of power shots, right-left-right-left, before referee Rocky Burke jumped in and saved DeLeon from further punishment, wrapping his arms around him. Lampkin walked a few steps towards his corner before falling to his knees and bursting into tears in the middle of the ring, the enormity of his achievement flooding over him in a torrent. His crew raced into the ring and joined him in celebration as the crowd reached a new level of fervour. Soon after Lampkin was hoisted up onto his cornermen's shoulders and paraded around the ring, both arms raised in victory with tears streaming down his cheeks. The official time of the stoppage was 2:40 of round five. DeLeon had slightly outlanded Lampkin 105-103, which didn't matter one bit. Going into the 5th two judges had it all tied up at 38-38 while the third favoured DeLeon 39-37. Ten minutes after it had ended DeLeon appeared to be in better shape, although he wore an understandably downcast expression. He'd congratulated a still emotional Lampkin and stood back and watched as the inaugural IBL world junior-heavyweight champion made a speech straight from the heart. "Firstly, I'd like to thank Mr. Molk and the IBL for givin' me this opportunity," Lampkin started. "My career was kinda stuck in neutral before they came along and I couldn't really see how that was gonna change. They gave me a chance to compete for a world championship and I can't thank 'em enough for that. I'd like to congratulate Carlos for making it to the championship bout. He's had a fantastic career so far and I'm confident that there'll be more world title fights in his future, if not against me than surely whoever comes after me. I'd love to fight him again down the track but you never know what the future holds. I wanna say a big "thank you" to everyone in this arena. The support I've received from you guys leading into the fight and here tonight has been incredible and I'm not sure if I could've pulled this off without it." The crowd applauded warmly, a couple of people shouting out "We love you, Jeff!" "Lastly, and most importantly, I want to thank my family for all the love, encouragement and support they've given me. There've been some dark times during my career, times when I've been real difficult to live with. Times when I've taken my frustrations out on them. But they've never given up on me, never turned me away, although they had every right to." Lampkin had choked on those last few words, emotion overwhelming him. He paused for a few seconds before continuing. "I'll never be able to repay them for all that love. You know, I said before this fight that if I lost I'd probably retire. Having now won it, it's impossible to describe the feeling that's goin' through me. Like I said, you never know what the future holds. I ain't got no idea how long I'll be able to hold onto this championship for, and right now, I don't even really care. All I know is that when I look back on my career in twenty years from now, I'll be able to say, that I, was a world champion!" With that he raised the IBL title belt in the air and shouted "Yes! Yes!" The crowd exploded once again, their cheers reverberating around the Chevrolet Center. Lampkin won't have to wait long to find out his opponent for his first title defense, as the final of the junior-heavyweight Challenger's tournament takes place tonight in Berlin with Germany's #1 seed Torsten May taking on the Frenchman Taoufik Belbouli. According to the IBL schedule makers that first defense will be held in twelve weeks, on the 3rd of March. During his three-fight winning streak in claiming the championship Lampkin has pocketed almost $3.6 million, although he's said in the past that for him it's never been about the money. Considering how long he's endured to fulfill his world championship quest, he might just be telling the truth. --- IBL Junior-Heavyweight World Championship tournament final (#7) Jeff Lampkin (35-7-1(28)) TKO5 (#1) Carlos DeLeon (31-1-1(21)) --- __________________ The Greatest Prize in Sports The Greatest Prize in Sports: Almanac kenyan_cheena's NBA 2K11 Off Topic Dynasty Last edited by kenyan_cheena; 11-02-2009 at 01:26 AM.