[Romultiltus]

Heavyweight EOY Tournament
MGM Grand Hotel & Casino, Las Vegas NV (USA)
14 November 2009

Opening Round Matches

(#1) CH-Alex Stewart 31-30-1 (27) 1DQ vs. (#16) Ingemar Johansson 47-25-0 (45)

Alex Stewart won the HW Title in his final bout of the regular season against Lee Ramage. This is Johanssons second 2nd attempt at winning the belt. He is 0-1 in title bouts.

Round 1: Stewart opens up strong and scores an early knockdown of Johansson. Johansson
up at count of 8. Huge round for Stewart
Round 2: A Johansson punch opens a cut over Stewart's left eyebrow
Round 3: Johansson presses the action and starts taking control
Round 4: Stewart walks into a combination from Johansson and is counted out @ 2:15


Ingemar Johansson W-KO4 Alex Stewart

Ingemar Johansson wins the HW Title.

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(#8) Frank Bruno 43-19-2 (40) vs. (#9) Alexander Zolkin 45-21-2 (23)

Frank Bruno is a former HW champion who made 4 successful defenses of the title this season. Zolkin, who was a big surprise in last season's EOY Tournament, is also a former HW champion, although he lost the belt in his 1st defense. These two are no strangers - having already fought 7 times.

Round 1: Good exchanges, even round
Round 2: Bruno on offensive, Zolkin does nothing
Round 3: Zolkin comes out on offense but is outgunned by Bruno's superior power
Round 4: Good action round. Zolkin more active. Zolkin cut badly on right eyebrow
Round 5: Zolkin more aggressive due to cut last round. Bruno takes round off
Round 6: Bruno back on attack. Zolkin's cut reopened
Round 7: Back-and-forth round - but even
Round 8: Slow round. Zolkin has new cut outside left eyebrow
Round 9: Huge round for Zolkin
Round 10: Good action. Zolkin seemed to have upper hand
Round 11: Zolkin knocked down (4-count)
Round 12: Slow pace. Zolkin warned for leaning on Bruno's neck
Round 13: Zolkin controls most of round until Bruno scores second knockdown (1-count)
Round 14: Very slow round. Both fighters are exhausted
Round 15: Zolkin corners Bruno and scores a knockdown w/ a huge uppercut (8-count). Bruno barely survives to the final bell.

Frank Bruno W-M15 Alexander Zolkin
(scores 142-140, 141-141, 142-140)
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(#5) Tom Sharkey 51-19-0 (44) vs. (#12) Earnie Shavers 40-23-1 (35)

Both Tom Sharkey and Earnie Shavers have qualified for 3 consecutive EOY tournaments. Shavers briefly held the HW Title during the regular season, making only 1 successful defense. Shavers KO'd Sharkey in their only other match.

Round 1: Feeling out round. Shavers warned for low blow
Round 2: slow round. Shavers warned for holding
Round 3: Sharkey goes all-out, knocks Shavers all around the ring, but is deducted 1 point by the ref for a low blow
Round 4: Sharkey is knocked down 3 times (6-count, 3-count, 1-count) but ref lets him continue
Round 5: Sharkey shows no ill effects from the knockdowns. Shavers has swelling under right eye
Round 6: Sharkey knocked down twice (5-count, 7-count). Referee stops the fight at 2:11 of the round

Earnie Shavers W-TKO6 Tom Sharkey

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(#4) Ruslan Chagaev 50-15-2 (30) vs. (#13) Corrie Sanders 42-26-0 (32)

Ruslan Chagaev enters his 3rd EOY tournament and is a 3-time HW Title challenger who has come up short each time. Sanders also enters his 3rd EOY tournament after completing the regular season with an unimpressive 10-10 record. Chagaev easily handled Sanders in their only previous encounter

Round 1: Chagaev land a huge shot and scores a knockdown (3-count). Chagaev is warned for holding and hitting
Round 2: Sanders is cut outside left eyebrow from a headbutt. Chagaev has left eye swelling
Round 3: Sander's cut reopened and now has swelling under right eye. Chagaev's left eye swells more
Round 4: Strong round for Chagaev
Round 5: Even round. Sander's cut reopened
Round 6: Sanders is very aggressive. Sander's cut reopened
Round 7: Good round for Sanders. Chagaev has more left eye swelling
Round 8: Even round. Sanders' cut reopened. Chagaev's right eye swelling
Round 9: Good action round. Sanders in control
Round 10: Good action round. Sanders in control
Round 11: Chagaev very aggressive. Sanders' cut reopened again
Round 12: Too close to call
Round 13: Slow round - nothing happens
Round 14: Sanders takes round off. Chagaev easily takes round
Round 15: Dull final round. Both fighters are exhausted.

Corrie Sanders W-S15 Ruslan Chagaev
(scores 145-141, 142-145, 144-141)

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(#3) Max Schmeling 62-12-1 (43) 2DQ vs. (#14) Ray Mercer 39-22-3 (31)

Max Schmeling is a former HW Champion who won the Season 1 EOY Tournament. He makes his 3rd appearance in the tournament against Ray Mercer who is also a 3-time tournament participant and former HW Champion. This is their first meeting.

Round 1: Schmeling scores a quick knockdown (count-2)
Round 2: Mercer is more active. Schmeling really does nothing
Round 3: Big round for Mercer. Schmeling has swelling under left eye. Mercer has swelling under right eye. Mercer warned for holding and hitting
Round 4: Even round
Round 5: Slight edge for Schmeling
Round 6: Good round for Schmeling. Schmeling warned for low blows
Round 7: Good round for Schmeling
Round 8: Schmeling warned for leading w/ his head. Both fighters show more swelling
Round 9: Dull round - nothing happens
Round 10: Good round for Schmeling. Mercer has bad swelling on right eye. Schmeling gets another warning
Round 11: Good round for Mercer
Round 12: Good round for Mercer
Round 13: Good round for Schmeling
Round 14: Best action of the fight. Both fighters score big. Mercer has cut on mouth
Round 15: Ray Mercer finishes with a strong final round

Max Schmeling W-U15 Ray Mercer
(scores 144-142, 146-140, 145-141)

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(#6) Chris Byrd 44-16-6 (11) vs. (#11) Rocky Marciano 14-6-0 (14)

Chris Byrd is a 2-time HW Champion who won the Season 2 EOY Torunament. He has 6 successful defense of the title between his 2 reigns. Rocky Marciano is the talented rookie who has won all of his 14 victories by knockout. This will be their first meeting.

Round 1: Good opening round for Marciano. Byrd warned for using his shoulder
Round 2: Marciano is very aggressive. Byrd has swelling under left eye
Round 3: Good round for Marciano
Round 4: Marciano in control. More swelling to Byrd's left eye
Round 5: Byrd picks up the pace and has a good round. More swelling to Byrd's left eye
Round 6: Huge round for Marciano
Round 7: Good toe-to-toe action round
Round 8: Big round for Byrd
Round 9: Byrd knocks down Marciano (2-count)
Round 10: Slow round - not much happens
Round 11: Byrd comes out very aggressive and over-confident. Marciano lands a huge cross at the end of the round to score a knockdown and Byrd is counted out with no time on the clock.

Rocky Marciano W-KO11 Chris Byrd

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(#7) Max Baer 46-22-1 (40) vs. (#10) Ken Norton 43-22-0 (30)

Max Baer has only won 1 of 3 bouts in his previous 2 EOY Tournaments. Ken Norton has not been much better with 2-2 record in 2 previous EOY Tournaments. Neither has ever fought for the HW Title. Norton has dominated their 6-bout series 5-1.

Round 1: Huge opening round for Norton
Round 2: Huge round for Norton. Baer knocked down (8-count). Baer cut over right eyebrow
Round 3: Another strong round for Norton.
Round 4: Baer's left eye begins to swell. Baer's cut reopened. Norton scores 2 knockdowns. Baer gets up at count of 8 the first time. The ref reaches the count of 10 at 2:11 of the round

Ken Norton W-KO4 Max Baer

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(#2) Sam Langford 58-5-2 (52) VS. (#15) Andrew Golota 43-30-1 (39)

Sam Langford is a former HW Champion who made 17 consecutive successful defenses of the title and is making his 3rd consecutive appearance in the EOY Tournament. Andrew Golota also makes his 3rd EOY Tournament appearance. He has lost in both attempts to win the HW
Title - getting knocked out both times by Langford. Langford has dominated their 6-bout series 5-1.

Round 1: Good round for Langford
Round 2: Langford picks up the pace and dominates
Round 3: Another big round for Langford. Golota is simply outclassed
Round 4: Langford in complete control. Referee finally stops the contest at the 2:30 mark of round 4.

Sam Langford W-TKO4 Andrew Golota

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Quarterfinal Matchups:

(#16) CH-Ingemar Johansson (Diggstown Ringers) 48-25-0 (46)
vs.
(#8) Frank Bruno (Suffolk Dusk Owls) 44-19-2 (40)

(#12) Earnie Shavers (Left Jab Inc.) 41-23-1 (36)
vs.
(#13) Corrie Sanders (East Coast Gladiators) 43-26-0 (32)

(#3) Max Schmeling (Bonner Springs Bald Beavers) 63-12-1 (43) 2DQ
vs.
(#11) Rocky Marciano (Brooks Battlers) 15-6-0 (15)

(#10) Ken Norton (Juggernaut) 44-22-0 (31)
vs.
(#2) Sam Langford (Oakland Assassins) 59-5-2 (53)