WORLD BOXING REVIEW
v. 53 / e. 1
JANUARY 2007
(following are selected entries from the magazine's "Notes & Quotes" section)
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Wednesday 03/01/07
"The fact is that we might see a lot of the promising young guys bypass the IBL in favour of the alphabet boys. This ain't a criticism of the league because, their signing of Freddie Steele aside, I've been a fan of everything they've done. But you have to be realistic, Jim. With that ranking system they have in place it's a damn tough road. Looking at some of these young fellas like Trinidad and Whitaker, it's clear to me that their handlers ain't gonna be interested in testing them. Their only aim is to get those guys to the top as easily as possible, with as little a challenge or danger as possible. From a financial point of view it makes perfect sense, but what about their careers? Are they gonna look back on them in ten years from now and say "Damn, I never really fought anyone who had a chance against me"? They can make just as much money, if not more, with the IBL, but the challenge is much greater. It really stinks as far as I'm concerned, but it's something that I'm hoping to be proven wrong over."
Showtime's Hugh Ballard voices his fears over the possibility that many of the sport's young up-and-coming fighters will opt not to sign with the International Boxing League because of the challenging rankings system the league employs. Ballard is worried that they'll instead choose the easier route which is offered by the WBA, WBC and IBO.
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Tuesday 09/01/07
"To be honest, I can't quite believe that we've actually reached the end of the tournaments. It's been an incredible ride, these last twelve months. When I think back on the press conference when we introduced ourselves to the world, and then consider everything that's happened since - all the signings, the excitement and then all the great, wonderful fights that have taken place - I have to pinch myself to make sure it was all real. And it started right here at the MGM, almost a year ago to the day. I really don't think that the tournaments could have turned out any better than they did. In a way it's kinda sad that we've reached this point where something that brought so many people so much excitement had come to an end. But on the other hand it signals the beginning of the next chapter of our adventure. I just can't wait to see what eventuates throughout the rest of this year."
International Boxing League president James Molk speaks on the conclusion of his organisation's various tournaments and looks forward to what should be an intriguing 2007. Molk unveiled the IBL to the world at a press conference at his own MGM casino on the 10th of January 2006. The league's first bouts, part of their huge tournament schedule, were held on the 5th of June in the Philippines. The tournaments reached their end on the 7th of January.
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Wednesday 10/01/07
"It definitely makes those March matchups a lot more interesting. If Beard had decided to stay on he'd have been up against Nakata and would have almost certainly suffered a fourth straight loss. But with him gone Hernandez moves into that 11th ranking position and we get an intriguing fight between two former alphabet champions, in which Nakata has a very, very real chance of losing. How nicely has it worked out for Hernandez? If not for Beard's decision he'd have spent the next six months taking on guys ranked below him just to get a shot at the 1st ranking tier. Instead, if he beats Nakata he'll be ranked at #6 and if he keeps on winning could earn a title shot by the end of the year."
Speaking on SportsCenter former world champion Leroy Grant discusses the unsual situation that has come about in the IBL's lightweight division regarding Jackie Beard and Hector Hernandez. Following the conclusion of the league's lightweight tournaments on December 17 Beard and Hernandez were ranked 11th and 12th respectively. In a similar scenario to the middleweight James Toney, Beard's IBL contract expired at the end of December and he had a personal option to extend it into '07 if he wished. Following a victory in his opening Challenger's tournament bout the Detroit native lost his next three fights and decided against remaining with the league. As a result, former IBF junior-lightweight champion Hernandez moved into the 1st ranking tier at #11. Therefore, instead of fighting 23rd-ranked Vicente Santana in early-February and then an opponent from the 3rd ranking tier in April Hernandez will be taking on Japan's #2-ranked Teruki Nakata in March. A win will see Hernandez rise to #6 in the world, with Nakata dropping to #7. Nakata was the WBC's junior-lightweight champion before joining the league and was stopped by Hernandez's compatriot Rafael Limon in the final of the IBL's world championship tournament on December 15.
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Friday 12/01/07
"In all honesty I really felt that the tournament was there for the taking. I'd negotiated Jeannette and Johnson and was confident that I could get past Jackson, aswell. But it just turned into a complete nightmare once the fight started and even now, almost two weeks later, it's hard to accept that I lost it. I never contemplated defeat: the thought was always there that I'd win it and go on to represent Britain against Terone Haynes in March. The process of having to dig deep to get myself back into that position again is going to be tough, I have to say. I'll be up against a guy who is going to want it just as much as me, a guy who'll see it as a great opportunity to make a big jump up the rankings in Alexander Zolkin. I'll have to afford him the utmost respect. It's one of the things that I absolutely love about the IBL's rankings system, you know? The consequences of defeat. All of the top seeds below Haynes and Jackson - myself, Norton, Golota, Johnson - we all know that a loss takes us out of the title picture for pretty much the next twelve months. It's as simple as that."
British heavyweight Lennox Lewis reflects on the disappointment of losing the final of the IBL Challenger's tournament final to Australia's Peter Jackson and looks ahead to what he'll have to do to earn another shot at the world championship. His next fight will be against the Russian Alexander Zolkin in the main event of a card in London on Friday, March 23. Lewis must be victorious in the bout to retain his #3 world ranking and earn a place in June's official eliminator, the winner of which will be rewarded with a shot at the world championship.
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Monday 15/01/07
"Gotta say it be the proudes' moment of my career as a trainer, seein' T raise that title belt. It be the culmination of everythang we been workin' for, y'all. You know, the two o' us talk 'bout it so much over the las' couple years. Ever since he win the WBO title 'gainst Mercer in '04 we was plannin' for this moment. An' we be 'maginin' it comin' 'gainst Norton th' whole time, see? Fo' it t' pan out exac'ly like we was dreamin' it ... that be surreal, y'all. It be so great how the American public now got a heavyweight champ who be a real superstar o' the sport. When was the last time y'all see a world heavyweight champ on Letterman, or Oprah? Ain't got no doubt about it, man. With T as world champ boxin' just gonna keep on explodin', y'all. The public be lovin' the brother, no doubt. He ain't no thug, ain't no womaniser, see? The brother's a fam'ly man, he be humble 'n' kind. He ain't be out partyin' all night long like some o' these other crazy brothers. Right now he back home in Miami with his family, with his wife 'n' child. Some peeps criticise him over the thangs he say to Norton leadin' up to the fight but that jus' be his frustration talkin'. Ain't no one'd deny Kenny's people duck us through '05, and T ain't want Norton to forget that."
Interviewed live from his Pensacola home on HBO's "Boxing Express", trainer Roy Jones reflects on the world heavyweight championship triumph of his charge Terone Haynes. The Miami native stopped Ken Norton in the 8th round of their hugely anticipated December 29 championship bout. In the aftermath he's been a hot commodity, appearing on a number of television shows including the Late Show with David Letterman and the Oprah Winfrey Show. A parade was also arranged through the streets of his hometown where thousands came out to see him. However, as Jones indicated the 25 year-old has not let the success go to his head and has continued to be the dedicated husband and father that he's always been. Haynes will defend his world championship for the first time against the Australian Peter Jackson on the 24th of March in Miami.
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Wednesday 17/01/07
"I know they kept on saying they weren't looking past me but I don't buy it. Just the fact that the guy went from beating a great fighter in Freddie Steele to taking me on in his very next bout, that tells me they were expecting to win. Lytell had never fought at 168 before, and for his first bout in the division he takes on the #1 guy? Please. Like I said before the fight, they were just looking at me as a stepping stone. Another big name on his list of victims. And they were looking ahead to McCallum, without a doubt. Taking all that into account it really has to be the sweetest victory of my career to date."
Back in his homeland of Venezuela, world and WBC super-middleweight champion Fulgencio Obelmejias discusses what he felt was a degree of disrespect from his opponent of the previous weekend, Bert Lytell. The Californian had defeated Freddie Steele in June to claim the world middleweight championship and was attempting to add the 168-pound equivalent to his resume against Obelmejias, but the Venezuelan floored Lytell an incredible seven times on the way to a comprehensive unanimous decision win.
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Friday 19/01/07
"He can think whatever he wants, you know? In the end, what does it really matter? He kicked my ass, so whether or not I disrespected him is irrelevant. I'll say now exactly what I said a couple days before the fight, and that is that he was my one and only concern. I was completely focused on beating him, which just makes the way the fight turned out even more difficult for me to accept. I don't know, maybe it makes him feel like he caught me off guard, that he "taught me a lesson". It don't matter to me. All I know is, as sweet as he's saying that victory was, for me, redemption'll taste even sweeter, no matter how long I have to wait for it."
Having heard the Obelmejias interview, Lytell responds, giving an indication that he doesn't really care what the Venezuelan believes and that he'll most definitely be seeking a rematch in the future. It might be a number of months until Lytell is able to step back in the ring, though, as he sustained a heavy concussion in the championship bout and has been instructed by doctors to allow himself at least until the end of March to recover from it.
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Saturday 20/01/07
"This is a great night for us, and hopefully just the start of what will be a fantastic period of service for boxing. I'll be the first to admit that the IBL has the majority of our sport's major talent signed up with them but I'm pretty happy with the guys we'll have in our camp right out of the gate. There's been a lot of excitement, a real buzz about what we're attempting to do and it can only get better from here."
Speaking from ringside in Puerto Rico in the moments before his organisation's first ever world title fight, IBO president Robert Tattaglia talks up the sanctioning body's current situation and future prospects.
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Monday 22/01/07
"You know, mon, it really does make me laugh to see these organisations attempt to make me fight for dere bow-gus titles. And that's what they are all, mon, un'erstand? Dere bow-gus. At this stage of my career the only thing dat's going to get me back in da ring is a challenge, mon. I saw Napoles as a challenge, so I fought him and I won. What is dere to gain from me fightin' him again? The oon-ly people who would have gained was de IBO, mon. There's no way I'll ever fight for one of those belts. Never again, mon. I have to admit dat I was hoping Lytell would beat Obelmejias, because that would have been a big challenge to move up to middleweight and take him on. Dat would have been a fight I'd have really been excited about, you know? I'm thirty years old now and I've been here at 154 for my entire career, so maybe it is time to make a move, you know? Seems like any challenges that are still out dere, dey lie beyond one-five-four."
In a rare interview Jamaica's junior-middleweight legend Mike McCallum discusses his decision to turn down an IBO-proposed rematch with Miami's Jose Napoles, his disapopointment over the result of the Obelmejias-Lytell bout and the possibilities that are out ahead of him.
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Thursday 25/01/07
"Ain't no doubt those dudes be happy 'bout it. They gotsta be relieved that I be down at forty, man. They be knowin' I can't get near them at least 'til later in the year, y'all. They be happy knowin' they can go 'bout their b'ness without worryin' that I'm right there amongst 'em. But at the same time they gotsta have that thought in their mind, playing over and over and over and over that eventually they gonna have to step in the ring 'gainst me. That thought be scarin' 'em, man. It be scarin' 'em, no doubt."
Orlando slugger David Kane sends out a warning to fellow Florida heavyweights Cheetah Brown and Romy Alvarez ahead of February's IBL action. Ranked at #40 in the division, Kane takes on the Swede Ingemar Johansson on February 3 while Brown (ranked #25) and Alvarez (#31) will be in action on the 24th. Brown defends his Americas Championship for the first time against the Californian Sam McVey and Alvarez faces a big challenge in the form of Indiana's Mike Hanson in the evening's co-feature. As he's in the 4th ranking tier Kane will be involved in a trio of bouts during the next four months where he won't be able to improve his standing a great deal as he'll be going up against opponents ranked below him. His goal will be to record victories in those bouts and then take the opportunity that presents itself in June, when the fighters in the 3rd ranking tier defend their positions against those in the 4th tier. Kane has been victorious in his last two outings, scoring a 5th round TKO of Fred Fulton in early October and then a sensational 1st round KO of Adam Brooks on December 26.
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Sunday 28/01/07
"These next few months are absolutely huge for me because if I don't get through them unscathed it pushes me back even further. Losing that fight to Duran in the tournament was a setback but it's gonna look insignificant if I drop one of these next three. I can't afford even one mistake. A lot of people have said I'm a future world champion but I can't see what I've done to deserve that kind of praise. They'll point to my amateur days but you can't even compare what I achieved there to how tough it is in the pro ranks. As far as I can see I've only faced one real test to date, and I failed it. That's not a basis to be placing thoughts of winning a world title onto. It's a cliche, I know, but I've just gotta take it one fight at a time, starting next Saturday."
Canada's two-time Olympic champion and the current #12-ranked fighter in the IBL's junior-heavyweight division Sam Langford gives an honest assessment of his professional career and the tricky path he'll have to traverse during the coming months. Langford takes on 23rd-ranked Detroit native Rydell Booker in Toronto on February 3. Booker brings a three-fight losing streak into the clash but Langford can't afford to take him lightly, as a loss or even a draw will see him placed no higher than #18 in the rankings. Following the Booker bout, Langford's next fight will be against an opponent from the 3rd ranking tier in late March. Again, a loss there would see his ranking drop, although even more drastically. If he's able to win those two contests he'll still be ranked at #12 and would then more than likely ascend into the top ranking tier with a victory over the division's 15th-ranked fighter (whoever that ends up being) in late May.
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