World Wide Boxing Union

[javier_83]

of course, PUAS is one of the best Mexican figthers in the Mexican Boxing History

[Gunsmoke]

Other Results of Note
LHW Jacob Mofokeng #4 18-2-0 KO4 Leslie Stewart #3 16-4-0 (Stewart in front at time of stoppage)
LHW George Nichols 13-0-2 SD10 Paul Andrews 10-3-1
WW Jimmy Doyle 13-0-0 UD10 Raul Athos Landini 10-4-2
WW Paul Fugii #9 17-4-1 TKO8 Lefty Flynn #7 15-3-0

Retirees
HW J. van de Neut 0-7-0 (Real Life Record 0-4-0)

Current Rankings and Analysis

Heavyweight Division
Champ – Alfio Righetti
1. Greg Page
2. Audley Harrison
3. Frankie Daniels
4. Rex Layne
5. Kevin Isaac
6. Jimmy Clark
7. Tom Kennedy
8. Denver Ed Martin
9. Walter Neusel
10. Maurice Harris

Page moves to #1 with win over Santamaria who falls out of top ten. Neusel falls to #9 with loss to Righetti, Harris debuts at #10.

Light Heavyweight Division
Champ – Vacant
1. Michael Bennett
2. Victor Robledo
3. Jacob Mofokeng
4. Don LaLonde
5. Leslie Stewart

Mofokeng moves to #3 with win over Stewart who falls to #5.

Middleweight Division
Champ – Vacant
1. George Abrams
2. Rocky Mosley Jr.
3. Mike O’Dowd
4. Eric Lucas
5. Robin Reid
6. Daniel Santos
7. Vergil Cooper
8. Charley Burley
9. Yoshiaki Tajima
10. Esteban Cervantes

Santos moves to #6 with win over Cooper who falls to #7. Tajima debuts at #9, while Graziano falls out of top ten.

Welterweight Division
Champ – Vacant
1. Packy McFarland
2. Sharmba Mitchell
3. Felix Trinidad
4. Reuben Shank
5. Paul Fugii
6. Billy Backus
7. Vince Martinez
8. Jimmy Leto
9. Lefty Flynn

McFarland moves to #1 with win over Reuben Shank who falls to #4. Mitchell moves to #2 with win over Trinidad who falls to #3. Fugii moves to #5 with win over Flynn who falls to #9.

Lightweight Division
Champ – Vacant
1. George Lavigne
2. Jack McAuliffe
3. Larry Boardman
4. Mario Trigo
5. Isaac Hlatshwayo

Boardman debuts in rankings at #3.

Featherweight Division
Champ – Vacant
1. Jaime Garza
2. Vuyani Bungu
3. Ricardo Cardona

No Change

Bantamweight Division
Champ – Vacant
1. Jiro Watanabe
2. Ruben Olivares
3. Mark Johnson
4. Felix Friedemann

No Change

Flyweight Division
Champ – Vacant
1. Little Dado
2. Rosendo Alvarez
3. Tancy Lee

No Change

[Gunsmoke]

WWBU Monthly,
Volume 15, July 1903

June was another fascinating month of WWBU action with the WWBU Middleweight title being decided in a rematch and the first Mandatory Challenger being determined in the Heavyweight division. The first fight between George Abrams and Rocky Mosley Jr. was a close fight that many thought Mosley Jr. had done just enough to take the verdict. It was not to be however as the judges saw the fight too close to call. With both fighters familiar with other now it will be interesting to see how their strategic thinking has altered in the two months since the last fight.

The first Mandatory Eliminator is being held in the Heavyweight division to determine the first Mandatory Challenger to Alfio Righetti’s reign as WWBU Champion. The Italian has been busy since winning the title in January of this year with two successful defenses. The two fighters selected by the WWBU board of governors were number one and two ranked Greg Page and Audley Harrison; however Page was forced to withdraw after suffering a bad cut in his fight with Louie Santamaria in May. Stepping into Page’s spot is the feisty Rex Layne, currently ranked number four. This should be an explosive fight with both fighters known to be powerful punchers, with Layne being remembered for his first round knockdown of the now champion Righetti in a bout late last year.

[Gunsmoke]

25-06-1903 WWBU HW Mandatory Eliminator, Harrison v Layne

In this battle to determine the first Mandatory challenger for the WWBU HW title, the second ranked Audley Harrison (#2, 25-5-0) would fight Rex Layne (#4, 18-6-0). Some newspaper space was spent anticipating a Page v Harrison match up however it was not to be with Page still healing from the cut he received in his bout with Louie Santamaria. Harrison is on a three fight winning streak, with wins over Kevin Isaac, Jimmy Clark and Tom Kennedy is rightfully the favourite but experts don’t count the rugged Layne out dispite his looking soft around the middle at the weigh in.

At the start of the bout Layne came out of the blocks well, perhaps knowing his best chance is early, beating Harrison to the punch consistently through the opening stanza with overhand rights and hard combination work. A quieter second followed as Harrison started to establish his pace and preferred range while Layne winged away in a wild manner. The third round was a crowd pleaser with first one fighter then the other taking the bout by the throat. However, Harrison dominated the fourth laying into Layne and putting him in trouble on the ropes the entire period, and barely defending himself as the round ended with perhaps only the ropes and the bell staving off the stoppage and an ugly swelling forming over Layne’s left eye. Layne’s corner was very animated during the break and he emerged with a new purpose hurting Harrison with a couple of nasty hooks and then pounding him till the bell turning around the situation of only three minutes before. That round would be Layne’s last hurrah as the swelling around his eye severely reduced his effectiveness and his lack of stamina meant that he could no longer do anything more than throw on punch at a time, after three aggressive rounds Harrison was content to clinch and hold while doing the minimum to ensure he won the bout. Harrison takes the unanimous decision 117-111, 117-111 and 116-112 to become the Mandatory Challenger.

Undercard
LHW Don LaLonde #4 17-1-0 KO7 Victor Robledo #2 18-4-0
WW Billy Backus #6 17-2-2 TKO4 Cody Eddinger
FLY Kid Socks 11-0-0 UD10 Duke McKenzie 12-4-1
HW Bennie Knoetze 15-6-0 SD10 Luis Acosta 13-7-1
MW Johnny Wilson 12-0-0 UD10 Jack Hyams 10-2-2

[Gunsmoke]

29-06-1903 WWBU MW Tournament Final Rematch, Abrams v Mosley Jr.

This is the rematch of the excellent drawn MW Tournament final where George Abrams (#1, 22-4-1) fought well in the last five rounds to earn the draw against the tough Rocky Mosley Jr. (#2, 18-4-3). Mosley Jr. is in the best form of his career and betting has been much tighter, as expected, for this contest though Abrams is still the favourite. It was a typically close contest in the first stanza with Mosley Jr. trying to establish room inside he is warned for an intentional head butt. Mosley Jr. protests but manages to regain his composure to box his way though the rest of the round. Abrams took it upon himself to enforce the law in the second round with a well disguised head butt that instantly started to form swelling on Mosley Jr’s left eye. Abrams would work the eye the next several rounds taking a strangle hold on the fight. With the action slow and Mosley Jr. struggling to mount any offence the crowd quickly loose patience with the contest. The eighth round saw Abrams hit Mosley Jr. with a right cross that opens a nasty cut on the bridge of his nose further limiting his vision. From this point on the cut would be re-opened every round, and with the swelling only getting more pronounced the referee stepped in to stop the contest in the twelfth round. The brave Mosley Jr. argued vociferously with the referee but was eventually calmed by his corner, and went over to congratulate the new Middleweight world champion, George Abrams. The scores for each of the judges at the time of the stoppage were, 108-102, 108-104 and 108-104 all for Abrams.

Undercard
BW Mark Johnson #3 18-0-0 KO4 Danny Rodgers
LHW Michael Bennett #1 24-1-0 KO9 Gorazd Hinova
WW Raul Athos Landini 11-4-2 SD10 Eddie Flynn 11-1-0 (Undefeated Flynn loses the zero)
FW Danny Kramer 14-1-1 UD10 Jackie Graves 13-2-0
LW Isaac Hlatshwayo #5 16-3-1 UD12 Justin Roa

[Gunsmoke]

Other Results of Note
HW Frankie Daniels #3 25-5-1 UD12 Jimmy Clark #6 18-9-0
MW Daniel Santos #6 17-4-0 TKO7 Esteban Cervantes #10 15-4-0
MW Robin Reid #5 18-1-0 TKO1 Glenn Hodges
BW George Dixon 11-0-1 UD10 Ronnie Jones 13-3-1
FLY Rosendo Alvarez #2 18-4-0 TKO2 David Dorr

Retirees
N/A

Current Rankings and Analysis

Heavyweight Division
Champ – Alfio Righetti
1. Audley Harrison
2. Greg Page
3. Frankie Daniels
4. Rex Layne
5. Kevin Isaac
6. Jimmy Clark
7. Tom Kennedy
8. Duncan Dokiwari
9. Denver Ed Martin
10. Walter Neusel

Harrison takes #1 ranking with victory over Layne, who remained #4. Dokiwari debuts at #8. Harris falls out of top 10.

Light Heavyweight Division
Champ – Vacant
1. Michael Bennett
2. Jacob Mofokeng
3. Don LaLonde
4. Victor Robledo
5. Leslie Stewart

LaLonde moves to #3 with win over Robledo who falls to #4

Middleweight Division
Champ – George Abrams
1. Mike O’Dowd
2. Eric Lucas
3. Robin Reid
4. Rocky Mosley Jr.
5. Daniel Santos
6. Vergil Cooper
7. Charley Burley
8. Denny Moyer
9. Yoshiaki Tajima
10. Rocky Graziano

Abrams defeats Mosley Jr. to become champ, Mosley Jr. falls to #4. Reid rises to #3 on run of good results. Santos moves to #5 with win over Cervantes who falls out of top ten. Moyer debuts at #8 and Graziano moves back into #10.

Welterweight Division
Champ – Vacant
1. Packy McFarland
2. Sharmba Mitchell
3. Felix Trinidad
4. Reuben Shank
5. Paul Fugii
6. Billy Backus
7. Vince Martinez
8. Jimmy Leto
9. Lefty Flynn

No Change

Lightweight Division
Champ – Vacant
1. George Lavigne
2. Jack McAuliffe
3. Larry Boardman
4. Mario Trigo
5. Wallace Smith
6. Isaac Hlatshwayo

Smith debuts at #5, Hlatshwayo falls to #6 despite win.

Featherweight Division
Champ – Vacant
1. Jaime Garza
2. Vuyani Bungu
3. Floyd Robertson
4. Ricardo Cardona

Robertson debuts in rankings at #3, Cardona falls to #4.

Bantamweight Division
Champ – Vacant
1. Jiro Watanabe
2. Ruben Olivares
3. Mark Johnson
4. Felix Friedemann

No Change

Flyweight Division
Champ – Vacant
1. Little Dado
2. Rosendo Alvarez
3. Tancy Lee

No Change

Coming Next Month
Scheduled in July:

Packy McFarland v Sharmba Mitchell
The Welterweight WWBU Tournament Final

George Abrams v Robin Reid
WWBU MW Title First Defense

[Gunsmoke]

Just a quick note that I will be changing the month designations on the WWBU Monthly from this point on as I thought it was a bit stupid to label the issue July 1903 while the action was from June (and probably slightly confusing as well). I did this at the start as I was intending to write the monthly as a magazine which reports on the action of the previous month. However that doesn't really suit the style of what I am doing at the moment from next issue the month on the mag will be the month of the action.

[Gunsmoke]

WWBU Monthly,
Volume 16, July 1903

Surprisingly, newly crowned Middleweight champion George Abrams would choose to defend his crown against the streaking and hard hitting Robin Reid, coming off a string of seven straight stoppage wins. A dangerous opponent for such a quick turnaround between fights, but Abrams contends that the recent World championship victory over Mosley Jr. will give him the advantage with his skills being battle hardened and prepared to go the distance,

The other big fight of the month is the Welterweight Tournament final with Packy McFarland and Sharmba Mitchell in a rematch for the WWBU title. In their previous encounter, Mitchell was too quick for McFarland as he took a unanimous decision. Experts are expecting a similar fight this time with Mitchell in grand form with his recent domination of the hard hitting Felix Trinidad in the semi-finals at the fore-front of beat writer’s minds.

[Gunsmoke]

13-07-1903 WWBU MW Title, Abrams (c) v Reid

George Abrams (Champ, 23-4-1) steps straight back into the ring to defend his hard won title for the first time. His chosen opponent is the hard hitting Robin Reid (#3, 18-2-0) who is coming off an impressive streak of seven straight stoppage wins, including 4 first round stoppages highlighted by a first round knockout of the once hyped prospect Rocky Graziano. Reid is a big Middleweight and fights a rugged fight and is a tough first defence for the new champ. Reid starts the bout with murderous intent throwing a chin checker within the first 30 seconds that had Abrams stunned for a moment before he regained his composure and boxed well through the remainder of the round. Over the next few rounds the action moved back and forth as Abrams started to work out his timing and Reid’s style. From the fifth round it was apparent that Reid was tiring and while the sting had not gone from his gloves, Abrams was able to stay one step ahead of him at all times. It was masterful display that while it was not thrilling, the crowd appreciated his skill and dominance as he won every round through Round 14. The last round an exhausted Reid emerged from his corner looking like a leaf could blow him over, and Abrams abliged knocking him down for the first time for the full measure with 18 seconds remaining in the last round. At the time of the stoppage all three judges had scored the bout 137-129, an impressive showing for Abrams young championship reign.

Undercard
BW Ruben Olivares #2 17-1-0 TKO9 Bruce McCarver
FW Jaime Garza #1 21-1-1 KO3 Justin Ecker
FLY Betulio Gonzalez 14-0-0 KO10 Fermin Gomez 14-4-0
LHW Fred Lenhart 9-1-0 UD8 Albert Yvel 9-2-2
LW Davey Abad 12-4-1 UD10 Roy Andrews 11-3-3

[Gunsmoke]

22-07-1903 WW WWBU Tournament Final, McFarland v Mitchell

This highly anticipated finale to the Welterweight WWBU Title Tournament matched the wiles of Packy McFarland (#1, 19-3-0) against the brilliance of the less experience but undeniably more skillful Sharmba Mitchell (#2, 17-1-0). Mitchell coming off his dismantling of Felix Trinidad will have his confidence sky high, and with his previous unanimous decision victory over McFarland he is rightfully the favourite going into tonight.

The crowd roaring at the opening bell, Mitchell displayed his edge in raw speed with a blinding combination that set the tone for the period and the early part of the fight. It took till the fourth round before McFarland took the fight to Mitchell with nasty right hook stunning Mitchell early in the round and the two fighters trading shots through the stanza as McFarland got the better of the action. With swelling emerging on his left eye, Mitchell went into his shell in the fifth and McFarland grew in confidence throwing hard winging shots, drawing blood with an overhand right and the momentum was firmly with McFarland. Mitchell however had seen enough and went on measured attack in the sixth as he methodically broke McFarland down with punches from odd angles and cunning movement, punctuating his work at the bell with beautiful left hook that had McFarland hearing bells all break long.

The beating continued after the bell, but McFarland once again reached deep and with resolve mounted an attack that re-opened the cut above Mitchell’s left eye. With his vision limited, Mitchell went into his shell handing the round to McFarland. A defensive Mitchell managed to hold off McFarland in the eighth but he would have no such luck in the ninth as the swelling and the worsening cut badly hampering his defence allowing McFarland to throw anything at his left side and have a chance of landing. The referee would warn Mitchell’s corner in between rounds that he needed to show something or the fight would be called. Mitchell emerged with a never say die attitude but a stray, badly aimed right caught the cut and once again the crimson was flowing. The referee took Mitchell over the doctor and it was determined that he could not continue, McFarland the winner by TKO on cuts. The unofficial cards had the fight 87-84 for Mitchell through the nine completed rounds.

Undercard
LW Jack McAuliffe #2 21-1-1 KO11 Alan Newell
MW Eric Lucas #2 20-5-2 Maj. Draw Rocky Graziano #10 15-3-1
BW George Dixon 12-0-1 UD10 Toshioka Nishioka 10-1-0
HW Walter Neusel #10 16-4-1 UD12 Tom Kennedy #7 15-9-0
MW Andrew McKenna KO9 Lou Cafaro 13-3-3

[Gunsmoke]

Other Results of Note
HW Maurice Harris #11 16-3-1 UD12 Louie Santamaria #13 14-13-0
HW Al Fay #14 16-4-2 TKO4 John Hinds
LHW Don LaLonde #3 18-1-0 TKO2 (cuts) Henry Tully
MW Charley Burley #7 17-0-0 TKO2 Fred Alex
WW Paul Fugii #5 18-4-1 KO2 Tristan Firth
LW Issac Hlatshwayo #5 17-3-1 TKO9 (cuts) George Lavigne #1 23-2-1 (Even fight a time of stoppage, Hlatshwayo had knocked Lavigne down the previous round)
FW Vuyani Bungu #2 19-2-1 TKO10 (cuts) Randy Dennison
BW Mark Johnson #3 19-0-0 TKO5 Felix Friedemann #4 18-7-0
FLY Little Dado #1 23-1-0 UD12 Phil Jeckyl

Retirees
None

Current Rankings and Analysis

Heavyweight Division
Champ – Alfio Righetti
1. Audley Harrison
2. Greg Page
3. Frankie Daniels
4. Rex Layne
5. Kevin Isaac
6. Jimmy Clark
7. Walter Neusel
8. Tom Kennedy
9. Duncan Dokiwari
10. Maurice Harris

Neusel moves to #7 with win over Kennedy who falls to #8. Harris moves to #10 with win over Santamaria, Denver Ed Martin falls out.

Light Heavyweight Division
Champ – Vacant
1. Michael Bennett
2. Jacob Mofokeng
3. Don LaLonde
4. Victor Robledo
5. Leslie Stewart

No Change

Middleweight Division
Champ – George Abrams
1. Mike O’Dowd
2. Rocky Mosley Jr.
3. Eric Lucas
4. Daniel Santos
5. Robin Reid
6. Vergil Cooper
7. Charley Burley
8. Denny Moyer
9. Yoshiaki Tajima
10. Rocky Graziano

Reid falls to #5 with loss to champion Abrams. Lucas falls to #3 due to draw with #10 Graziano.

Welterweight Division
Champ – Packy McFarland
1. Felix Trinidad
2. Sharmba Mitchell
3. Reuben Shank
4. Paul Fugii
5. Billy Backus
6. Vince Martinez
7. Jimmy Leto
8. Lefty Flynn

McFarland is champion after win over Mitchell, #2.

Lightweight Division
Champ – Vacant
1. Isaac Hlatshwayo
2. Jack McAuliffe
3. George Lavigne
4. Larry Boardman
5. Mario Trigo
6. Wallace Smith
7. Mel Middleton
8. Tracy Harris Patterson

Hlatshwayo takes #1 with win over Lavigne who falls to #3. Middleton joins rankings at #7 and Patterson debuts at #8. With 8 ranked fighters WWBU LW Title Tournament will begin in September with Hlatshwayo v Boardman and McAuliffe v Lavigne.

Featherweight Division
Champ – Vacant
1. Jaime Garza
2. Vuyani Bungu
3. Floyd Robertson
4. Ricardo Cardona

No Change

Bantamweight Division
Champ – Vacant
1. Jiro Watanabe
2. Mark Johnson
3. Ruben Olivares
4. Felix Friedemann

Johnson takes #2 ranking with win over Friedemann, #4.

Flyweight Division
Champ – Vacant
1. Little Dado
2. Rosendo Alvarez
3. Tancy Lee

No Change

Coming Next Month

Packy McFarland v Paul Fugii
WWBU Welterweight Title Fight

[Gunsmoke]

WWBU Monthly,
Volume 17, August 1903

I have implemented the new beta ranking module to test the functionality out in a “live fire” situation, i.e. my universe (took a backup first to be sure). I spent some time replicating the rankings as at the end of July 1903, however I expect the rankings to more fluid than normal for roughly 6 months or so of universe time till the new ranking method works it’s way through all the fighters.

The newly crowned Welterweight champion would go straight back to work this month as he accepted the challenge of hard punchin Paul Fugii. Fugii is a tough, honest slugger but most experts expect that McFarland will box rings around him unless he is still suffering from his recent bout with Sharmba Mitchell. The early defense has been a trend started by George Abrams, who took 5 weeks between winning his championship and defending it for the first time against Robin Reid. McFarland will beat that record with only four weeks having passed since he lifted the title. The question on everybody’s mind is will he be able to go the distance?

With the Lightweight WWBU title tournament slated to start next month, many have been calling for it to be delayed to allow recent #1 contender George Lavigne to recover before his fight. Lavigne suffered a severe cut in his July loss to current #1 Isaac Hlatshwayo, which his camp is reporting is highly unlikely to be healed in time for Lavigne to participate. WWBU has a policy for the tournaments that if a fighter is unable to participate in his fight, his spot will be offered to other ranked fighters. If no other fighters take the position then the fighter who was to oppose the absent fighter will progress through to the next round of the tournament. There has been talk of the Lavigne camp testing the rule in court to ensure that their fighter gets his shot, however there has been no official word as yet. Lavigne himself has been assuring supporters that he will be ready with promotional appearances resulting in fiery pronouncements that he will be ready no matter what. Unfortunately for Lavigne it will not be his decision as WWBU appointed doctors will need to declare him fit to proceed.

[Gunsmoke]

13-08-1903 WWBU WW Title, McFarland (Champ) v Fugii

McFarland (Champ, 20-3-0) is following Middleweight champion George Abrams example in getting back in the ring quickly following his moment of glory accepting the challenge of streaking Paul Fugii (#4, 18-5-1). Fugii has won his last 5 bouts including a victory over fellow contender Lefty Flynn, but many feel that McFarland took this fight because of his past Unanimous Decision victory over Flynn in 1901. Fugii however is known for his power and if he can land enough he could give McFarland’s chin a real check.

The bout opened with McFarland on the offensive with a hard left followed by a right hook that shook Fugii up. Fugii however bounced back off the ropes and backed McFarland up with a succession of hard shots to take the early advantage at rounds end. McFarland would establish his space in the second picking his shots through Fugii’s defence and gaining control of the fight. Fugii would not stop throwing leather and occasionally landing making the rounds closer than they otherwise would’ve been. The fifth round saw Fugii suddenly take the momentum back with a series of solid jabs followed by a right cross that knocked McFarland right around in a circle and had him in la la land for the remainder of the stanza. It was noticeable in the break that the challenger’s heavy hands where doing damage as the champ’s corner worked on the swelling now becoming evident on his right eye.

The sixth round saw the champ in loads of trouble with Fugii now landing at will with searing power punches and McFarland was rapidly fading. With the ref looking to step in and McFarland in trouble on the ropes he finally showed some life with a hard straight right that caught Fugii clean as he came in for the kill. This bought McFarland enough time to make it to the bell. Things would not improve for McFarland however as in the seventh Fugii felled him for a five count with a strong right hook, but he survived once again with some savvy clinching. McFarland however showed his heart with a slugging eighth round that found both fighters casting defense aside throwing haymakers that landed every other time. Fugii was showing signs of fatigue by the ninth and McFarland took advantage with clever boxing in at least 2 of the next three rounds. Fugii found McFarland’s chin once again the 12th and had the champ in survival mode once again. That would the last real fireworks of the night as McFarland took two of the last three lacklustre rounds of action. WWBU Monthly’s unofficial scorecard showed a score of 144-142 in favour of the challenger, the official judges scored the bout 143-142 for McFarland, 144-142 for Fugii and 142-141 for the champion McFarland. Not a herendous decision but Fugii can feel a little hard done by.

Undercard
BW George Dixon 13-0-1 KO7 Domingo Guillen 9-4-0 (Dixon down in fourth)
FW Rolf French DQ11 Floyd Robertson #3 15-3-0 (Robertson disqualified for continued rule violations, the final one holding and hitting.
LHW Leslie Stewart #5 17-4-0 KO9 Marcus Antill
HW Amos Lincoln 15-2-0 UD10 Bombardier Billy Wells 9-2-0 (Wells looked unprepared for the bout)
BW Leo Espinosa 12-1-2 Draw Billy Peacock 13-4-1

[Gunsmoke]

Other Results of Note
HW Rex Layne #4 19-6-0 UD12 Kevin Isaac #5 20-11-0 (Isaac down three times in round 11)
HW Denver Ed Martin #11 16-2-0 KO2 Louie Santamaria #14 14-14-0

LHW Fred Lenhart 10-1-0 UD10 Victor Galindez 11-1-0

MW Mike O’Dowd 26-1-1 TKO7 (cuts) Vergil Cooper 20-5-0
MW Rocky Graziano #10 16-3-1 KO2 Yoshiaki Tajima #9 15-3-1
MW Eric Lucas #3 21-5-2 TKO9 Sean Becker

WW Billy Backus #5 18-2-2 MD12 Jimmy Leto #7 16-4-1
WW Vince Martinez #6 16-2-0 UD12 Joshua Kerns

LW Mario Trigo #5 16-2-2 TKO7 (cuts) Mel Middleton #7 15-3-1 (Middleton ahead on cards at stoppage)
LW Wallace Smith #6 16-2-1 KO9 Victor Barefoot

BW Jiro Watanabe #1 21-1-0 KO5 Tony Weldon

FLY Tancy Lee #3 18-2-1 TKO2 Jesse Boren

Retirees
None

Current Rankings and Analysis

Heavyweight Division
Champ – Alfio Righetti
1. Audley Harrison
2. Rex Layne
3. Greg Page
4. Frankie Daniels
5. Jimmy Clark
6. Walter Neusel
7. Kevin Isaac
8. Tom Kennedy
9. Denver Ed Martin
10. Duncan Dokiwari

Layne moves to #2 with victory over Isaac who falls to #7. Martin moves into top 10 in #9 slot with win over Santamria, Harris falls out.

Light Heavyweight Division
Champ – Vacant
1. Michael Bennett
2. Jacob Mofokeng
3. Don LaLonde
4. Leslie Stewart
5. Victor Robledo

Stewart moves to #4 with win.

Middleweight Division
Champ – George Abrams
1. Mike O’Dowd
2. Rocky Graziano
3. Eric Lucas
4. Rocky Mosley Jr.
5. Daniel Santos
6. Robin Reid
7. Charley Burley
8. Denny Moyer
9. Esteban Cervantes
10. Vergil Cooper

Graziano moves to #2 with win over Tajima who falls out of top ten. Lucas moves to #3 with win. Cooper falls to #10 with loss to O’Dowd who maintains #1.

Welterweight Division
Champ – Packy McFarland
1. Felix Trinidad
2. Sharba Mitchell
3. Reuben Shank
4. Billy Backus
5. Vince Martinez
6. Paul Fugii
7. Lefty Flynn
8. Jimmy Leto

Backus moves to #4 with win over Leto, who falls to #8. Martinez moves to #5 with victory, Fugii falls to #6 with failed challenge to McFarland.

Lightweight Division
Champ – Vacant
1. Isaac Hlatshwayo
2. Mario Trigo
3. Jack McAuliffe
4. George Lavigne
5. Wallace Smith
6. Larry Boardman
7. Tracy Harris Patterson
8. Mel Middleton
9. Courtney Burton

Trigo moves to #2 with win over Middleton who falls to #8. Smith moves to #5 with win. Burton debuts in rankings at #9.

Featherweight Division
Champ – Vacant
1. Jaime Garza
2. Vuyani Bungu
3. Ricardo Cardona
4. Floyd Robertson
5. Gerardo Espinoza
6. Kid Tano

Robertson falls to #4 with Disqualification loss. Espinoza and Tano debut in rankings at #5 and #6 respectively.

Bantamweight Division
Champ – Vacant
1. Jiro Watanabe
2. Mark Johnson
3. Ruben Olivares
4. Felix Friedemann

No Changes

Flyweight Division
Champ – Vacant
1. Little Dado
2. Tancy Lee
3. Rosendo Alvarez

Lee moves to #2 with win.

Coming Next Month

Isaac Hlatshwayo v Larry Boardman
Jack McAuliffe v George Lavigne
LW WWBU Title Tournament Semi – Finals

[mh2365]

Heavyweight Division
Champ – Alfio Righetti
1. Audley Harrison ???????


must be a fairly weak HW division for you right now.

[bigMatt]

Glad to see Denver Ed get back into the hunt. He'd been hanging around that 8-9 spot for a while. Looks like he just needed a chance to break out the leather.

Given the dearth of quality HW above him, I'd say he had a reasonable chance at a title run.

[Gunsmoke]

Heavyweight Division
Champ – Alfio Righetti
1. Audley Harrison ???????


must be a fairly weak HW division for you right now.

Got to remember mh that my universe only has around 17 ranked HWs at the moment (that is starting to change slowly). Harrison had the advantage of being one of the first 5 active fighters in this universe.

Given the dearth of quality HW above him, I'd say he had a reasonable chance at a title run.

Denver Ed has had chance but lost to the current champ Righetti before he was prime. He should beat most of the guys in front of him if he is matched up correctly, but some talent is starting to seep into the division and he may've missed his time.

Thanks for reading guys,

Mark

[Gunsmoke]

WWBU Monthly,
Volume 18, September 1903

The Lightweight WWBU Title Tournament will kick off this month without the participation of George Lavigne. The WWBU’s independent doctors have ruled that he is not sufficiently healed to take part in his bout this month. Under the WWBU tournament rules all fighters must be ready to participate in the initial round of the tournament within two months of the announcement of the brackets. This is not the case for the final which can be delayed till the fighters are able to compete. This allowed the WWBU to invite other fighters willing to fight this month to participate in the tournament, young slugger Tracy Harris Patterson took up the call. Though the public seemed to be disappointed on missing out on McAuliffe v Lavigne III, Patterson is generally a thrilling fighter and should provide an entertaining alternate.

Lavigne meanwhile is reported to have considered legal action to allow the bout to be delayed till he was ready to fight, but decided against that course of action figuring that he would be an early contender to fight the newly crowned champion. The WWBU has stated that it will review the rules of future tournaments but to make it fair all of the weight divisions' initial tournaments will operate in this manner.

In other news British HW mandatory challenger Audley Harrison has been talking to the press lately about how the champion Righetti doesn’t really want to fight and that the Italian is making negotiations difficult. Righetti has refused to comment but off the record some have reported that the Righetti camp have spoken for the champ in labeled Harrison’s allegations outrageous and that it is the big Britisher that is to blame for the delay. All that is for certain is that Righetti has three months to get in the ring with Harrison or he will be stripped of his crown. One can only hope that it will not come to that.

[Gunsmoke]

27-09-1903 LW WWBU Title Tournament Semi-Finals

In the main event tournament favourite Jack McAuliffe (#3, 22-1-1) would fight late replacement Tracy Harris Patterson (#5, 15-4-0). Patterson has heavy fists and may trouble McAuliffe if he lands with power but he lacks the finesse or experience of the self professed Napoleon of the Prize Ring who should take a comfortable victory. That opinion changed in the week leading up to the fight as McAuliffe was seen around town in various night spots living the high life. Could McAuliffe’s lack of focus finally cost himself a shot at glory? In the opening stanza it was all the Irishman as he worked Patterson over with deft scientific boxing as well as some barn yard stuff. The next few round’s would see McAuliffe alternate between a defensive counter attack in the second, to the dancing ball of lightening in round three and the whirling dervish of destruction in round four after which Patterson looked dazed and befuddled as to what to do. It took till the sixth before Patterson hit the deck for the count of five and McAuliffe went into cruise control the rest of way, with the minimum amount of flurries keeping him well on top of the damaged Patterson. Patterson would last till the twelfth when he could hardly see out his swollen bleeding eyes McAuliffe hit with a cross that he could not rise from. Jack McAuliffe the winner of the bout by KO in the twelfth round, but many new fans for Patterson’s bravery in a hopeless situation.

In the support the unfancied but highly ranked Isaac Hlatshwayo (#1, 18-3-1) fights Larry Boardman (#6, 15-2-1). With his victory over George Lavigne in July, Hlatshwayo assumed the #1 ranking. But his win has not won over the experts or the punters who are convinced that he will not get past Boardman. Boardman was ranked #4 some two months ago but a month of inactivity has seen him slip in the rankings since. Boardman has been relatively inactive this year and some are worried that may have some effect on the later rounds.

Hlatshwayo got off to a flyer, testing Boardman early in the first before laying into him in the second opening a nasty cut on Boardman’s nose and having the referee looking at the continuance of the fight very carefully. The third round saw further trouble for Boardman when an accidental head butt opened a second cut, this time on his left cheek. The fourth was a close but more subdued round that Hlatshwayo may have shaded Boardman for. But the lull presaged the action of the fifth as Boardman floors Hlatshwayo with a brutal shot after a minute. Hlatshwayo just makes his feet at the count of nine and is in great trouble before a flurry at the bell held Boardman off long enough for him to make the bell. With Hlatshwayo now equally bloodied the momentum shifted to Boardman and he would take advantage in the next round and a half before Hlatshwayo regained his composure in the middle of the seventh. Hlatshwayo would force Boardman onto the back foot with a solid jab before following with two crosses before landing a massive uppercut that had Boardman motionless on the canvas for the full measure.

Undercard
HW Greg Page #3 29-1-0 SD12 Maurice Harris #11 16-4-1 (Harris pushes Page to the end but just falls short on a tough fight to judge)
FLY Betulio Gonzalez 15-0-0 UD10 Dommy Ursua 14-3-1
FW Victor Callejas 11-0-0 KO2 Leo Roy 12-2-1
HW Luis Acosta 14-7-1 UD10 Hans Friedrich 11-2-1

[Gunsmoke]

Looks like I've been absent for a while... well finally starting to see some sunshine out from the hole I've been in at work, so it's time to continue with the WWBU, the next post will be the completion of September 1903.

Cheers,
Mark