The International Boxing League

[kenyan_cheena]

SAO PAULO MAIN EVENT ENDS IN DRAW

Friday 13 September 2002

Fighting in front of his fellow countrymen, Brazil's Joao Henrique was held to a draw by the Argentinian Ubaldo Sacco (57-57, 58-57, 57-57). It was an entertaining fight, especially during the middle four rounds with Sacco having the better of rounds two and three before Henrique rallied to take an action-packed 4th and then control the 5th.

Sacco actually outlanded the Brazilian 164-122 but was inconsistent, offering little offense in the 1st, 5th and 6th rounds. Boxing is not a hugely popular sport in Brazil and Henrique is one of nine fighters representing the nation in the IBL. He's considered the most talented amongst them so much of the responsibility for his country's success in the sport rests on his shoulders.

UNDERCARD HIGHLIGHTS

* Skillful Argentinian boxer Nicolino Locche scored a dominant unanimous decision victory over Venezuela's Mauricio Bravo (59-55, 60-54, 59-55). Locche is one of the favourites to secure a top four finish in the South American group and he handled Bravo with ease, outlandig him 200-74.

* Regarded as the best Welterweight in South America, Colombia's bronze medallist Antonio Cervantes had a tough time proving it against his determined Argentinian opponent Federico Thompson. After one helluva slugfest Cervantes emerged as a majority decision victor (58-56, 57-57, 58-56).

The two men landed a combined total of 312 punches (Cervantes 170, Thompson 142) in a bout that had the audience gasping and at times stunned by the quality of the exchanges. After Cervantes jumped out of the gates Thompson responded impressively in the 2nd before the Olympic medallist was back in control in round three. The 4th proved to be the round of the fight and, no doubt, of the evening as the two combatants traded hard, fast shots, bringing the audience to their feet. Cervantes just had the edge in it and he dominated a tiring Thompson in the 5th before the bout ended with an underwhelming final stanza.

This was a great first-up test for Cervantes, who along with the Middleweight Rodrigo Valdez represents Colombia's greatest chance for glory in the International Boxing League...

[kenyan_cheena]

SUMMARY OF RESULTS
INTERNATIONAL BOXING LEAGUE FIGHT CARD
FRIDAY 13 SEPTEMBER 2002
PACAEMBU STADIUM, SAO PAULO, BRAZIL

IBL WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
REGIONAL QUALIFYING TOURNAMENT, SERIES ONE
WELTERWEIGHT DIVISION
REGION: SOUTH AMERICA


OPENING BOUT

James Lombardo UD6 Roman Guardia

PRELIMINARY 1

Nicolino Locche UD6 Mauricio Bravo

PRELIMINARY 2

Pedro Castellini TKO2 Tito Marshall

SUPPORT BOUT

Juan Martin Coggi KO6 Hugo Pineda

CO-FEATURE

Antonio Cervantes MD6 Federico Thompson

MAIN EVENT

Joao Henrique D6 Ubaldo Sacco

***

Series Two Matchups...

JAMES LOMBARDO (1-0-0) vs NICOLINO LOCCHE (1-0-0)
ANTONIO CERVANTES (1-0-0) vs UBALDO SACCO (0-0-1)
MAURICIO BRAVO (0-1-0) vs TITO MARSHALL (0-1-0)
JOAO HENRIQUE (0-0-1) vs HUGO PINEDA (0-1-0)
FEDERICO THOMPSON (0-1-0) vs JUAN MARTIN COGGI (1-0-0(1))
ROMAN GUARDIA (0-1-0) vs PEDRO CASTELLINI (1-0-0(1))

[kenyan_cheena]

TORRES TRIUMPHANT IN QUEZON CITY

Saturday 14 September 2002

Promising Filipino Welterweight Emmanuel Torres made a successful start to his professional boxing career this evening, scoring a six-round unanimous decision victory over New Zealand's David Crowe at Quezon City's Araneta Coliseum. The bout was the main event of an IBL Asia/Oceania regional qualifying fight card, the slick punching Torres taking the verdict by scores of 59-56, 58-56 and 59-55.

There were no knockdowns throughout the contest but Torres showed himself to be a competitor to keep an eye on, his potent left jab frustrating Crowe time and again. Torres landed 144 of 396 punches (.364), Crowe 110 of 382 (.288). There were moments during the fight when Crowe had opportunities to step up his aggression but he failed to do so, a strategy that ruined any chance of victory for him.

UNDERCARD HIGHLIGHTS...

* The anticipated clash between the two Thailanders Saman Sukothai and Saensak Muangsurin did not disappoint, with Muangsurin winning by unanimous decision (59-55, 60-54, 59-55). The fight was not as one-sided as the cards indicate, although Muangsurin was never really troubled.

* This was a fantastic evening for the Japanese fighters in the group as they were victorious in all three fights they were involved in. 20 year-old Hiroki Gushiken looked particularly impressive in dominating Australia's Michael Taylor, Gushiken landing 217 punches along the way to a 59-55, 60-54, 59-55 unanimous decision win.

Jiro Suzuki also topped the 200 punch mark in defeating compatriot Akio Kameda. Despite Suzuki clearly controlling the bout he was only awarded a split decision in another case of questionable judging in an IBL fight. He floored Kameda in the final round and if not for that may have lost the contest.

In the fight of the night and possibly the best IBL contest to date, Shoji Ohashi took a majority decision verdict against Australia's George Barnes (58-56, 57-57, 58-56). Barnes outlanded Ohashi 189-167, 84-39 in the last two rounds where he gave the Japanese fighter a terrible beating. Ohashi survived the onslaught and had done enough in the early rounds to secure a victory.

***

The Welterweight division's Asia/Oceania group is regarded as a very balanced one, with no single fighter really standing out as a favourite to top it. Considering that, it's likely to be a fascinating tussle all the way through to the finish...

[kenyan_cheena]

SUMMARY OF RESULTS
INTERNATIONAL BOXING LEAGUE FIGHT CARD
SATURDAY 14 SEPTEMBER 2002
ARANETA COLISEUM, QUEZON CITY, PHILIPPINES

IBL WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
REGIONAL QUALIFYING TOURNAMENT, SERIES ONE
WELTERWEIGHT DIVISION
REGION: ASIA/OCEANIA


OPENING BOUT

Jack Carroll UD6 Roberto Cruz

PRELIMINARY 1

Saensak Muangsurin UD6 Saman Sukothai

PRELIMINARY 2

Shoji Ohashi MD6 George Barnes

SUPPORT BOUT

Jiro Suzuki SD6 Akio Kameda

CO-FEATURE

Hiroki Gushiken UD6 Michael Taylor

MAIN EVENT

Emmanuel Torres UD6 David Crowe

***

Series Two Matchups...

ROBERTO CRUZ (0-1-0) vs AKIO KAMEDA (0-1-0)
HIROKI GUSHIKEN (1-0-0) vs EMMANUEL TORRES (1-0-0)
MICHAEL TAYLOR (0-1-0) vs DAVID CROWE (0-1-0)
SAMAN SUKOTHAI (0-1-0) vs SHOJI OHASHI (1-0-0)
SAENSAK MUANGSURIN (1-0-0) vs GEORGE BARNES (0-1-0)
JACK CARROLL (1-0-0) vs JIRO SUZUKI (1-0-0)

[kenyan_cheena]

MOLK DISCUSSES LONDON BRAWL

Saturday 14 September 2002

Interviewed this afternoon on CNN, International Boxing League Chief Director James Molk has spoken about the wild brawl that occured yesterday at the London Arena during an IBL fight card. Molk defended the actions of his organisation's officials, stating in no uncertain terms that the crowd's behaviour was completely unreasonable.

"That's what we've instructed our officials to do," said Molk. "It doesn't matter if it's round one or round six and it doesn't matter how much time is left in the fight. It doesn't matter who they might think is winning the fight, either. We've told them that the safety of the competitors is to be paramount. Nothing is more important than that. Taking yesterday's incident as an example, Ted Lewis was clearly winning that bout but the ringside doctor came to the conclusion that he could not continue as a result of the cut he sustained. It really was his own fault that he lost. The young man said it himself afterwards. Now, his supporters have a right to be disappointed about what happened but they have no right to question the decision that was made. Their reaction was a terrible case of sour grapes, as far as I can see."

Molk also discussed how happy he was with the viewing figures for Thursday night's Ray Leonard - James Ray bout.

"There's no doubt that it stuck out as the biggest fight of series one after the draw was made," Molk agreed. "And it lived up to the hype, it really did. I was on the edge of my seat through the whole fight because there was a sense that something extraordinary was going to happen at any moment. They both showed themselves to be fantastically skillful fighters and I'm sure everyone would agree with me when I say that I hope they meet again down the road."

[kenyan_cheena]

PROMISING CANADIAN DEBUTS IN OAKLAND

Saturday 14 September 2002

Following an impressive showing at his hometown selection trials there were high expectations placed on Toronto's Leroy Jackson. He was looked upon as a Welterweight with great promise, possessing a lightning-fast jab and a fantastic defence. The International Boxing League took those expectations into consideration when they decided to place the 18 year-old in the Future Contender series and tonight Jackson made his professional debut at the Oakland Arena.

While he didn't set the world on fire Jackson did just enough to take a majority decision verdict against Mexico's Ahmed Santos (58-56, 57-57, 58-56). Santos showed more resistance than expected and Jackson's support team were happy with the testing nature of the bout. Jackson's best moments came in round five when he opened up for the first time in the bout, tagging Santos with a succession of pinpoint combinations and landing 42 punches during the stanza.

Dominican Republic native Pedro Cabrera suffered an surprising defeat in the Co-Feature, losing by unanimous decision against the Venezuelan Carlos Hernandez (58-56 on all three cards). Along with Jackson, Cabrera has been picked as the class of this particular FC series group but he never looked comfortable against Hernandez...

***

SUMMARY OF RESULTS
INTERNATIONAL BOXING LEAGUE FIGHT CARD
SATURDAY 14 SEPTEMBER 2002
OAKLAND ARENA, OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA, USA

IBL FUTURE CONTENDER SERIES
WELTERWEIGHT DIVISION - GROUP THREE, SERIES ONE


OPENING BOUT

Patrizio Oliva UD6 David Flemming

PRELIMINARY 1

Jimmy Clabby UD6 Carlos Alou

PRELIMINARY 2

Johnny Jadick UD6 Ifeani Adamu

SUPPORT BOUT

Bernard Docusen D6 Sandro Lopopolo

CO-FEATURE

Carlos Hernandez UD6 Pedro Cabrera

MAIN EVENT

Leroy Jackson MD6 Ahmed Santos

[kenyan_cheena]

TALENTED THAI UPSTAGED AT HOME

Sunday 15 September 2002

Regarded as the class of his Future Contender series group, Thailand's Boon-Nam Panomyaong fell to a surprise unanimous decision defeat at the hands of Filipino fighter Danilo Viloria today (58-56, 59-55, 58-56). The fact that the bout was held at Cholburi's Ambassador City Jomtien Hotel made the loss even more of a disappointment for Panomyaong, who holds lofty ambitions as far as his professional career is concerned.

Viloria only landed one more punch than the Thai over the course of the bout (121-120) but outlanded him in four of the six rounds, Panomyaong only looking comfortable and in control during a dominant 4th. It's been a promising 24 hours for the Filipino Welterweights with Emmanuel Torres victorious in his World Championship regional qualifying bout yesterday in Quezon City. Tonight's card completed the opening week of competition in the Welterweight division...

***

SUMMARY OF RESULTS
INTERNATIONAL BOXING LEAGUE FIGHT CARD
SUNDAY 15 SEPTEMBER 2002
AMBASSADOR CITY JOMTIEN HOTEL, CHOLBURI, THAILAND

IBL FUTURE CONTENDER SERIES
WELTERWEIGHT DIVISION - GROUP FOUR, SERIES ONE


OPENING BOUT

Gregory Mullins UD6 Justin Rowsell

PRELIMINARY 1

Miguel Velasquez KO3 Vince Martinez

PRELIMINARY 2

Billy Alger SD6 Everaldo Azevedo

SUPPORT BOUT

Alexis Ortiz TKO3 Nino LaRocca

CO-FEATURE

Virgil Akins D6 Hector Thompson

MAIN EVENT

Danilo Viloria UD6 Boon-Nam Panomyaong

[kenyan_cheena]

If anyone is interested, James Molk's father Kelvin has just made his first appearance in my MLB thread.

MLB: 1958 and Beyond...

[kenyan_cheena]

Sunday 15 September 2002

INTERNATIONAL BOXING LEAGUE
FIGHT CARD SCHEDULE
MONDAY 16/09/2002 - SUNDAY 22/09/2002 INCLUSIVE

MONDAY 16/09/2002
LIGHTWEIGHT DIVISION: REGION - AFRICA
CARNIVAL CITY BIG TOP ARENA, JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA

SAMUEL MENSAH vs RAY ADIGUN
EMAD ALLAM vs MOSES KANGWA
OBAFEMI ROTIMI vs BENNI WILLIAMS
WILLIE TOWEEL vs JONATHAN DELE
FREDERICK TSHILOLO vs CORNELIUS BOZA-EDWARDS
BRIAN MITCHELL vs AZUMAH NELSON

TUESDAY 17/09/2002
LIGHTWEIGHT DIVISION: REGION - EUROPE
MEN ARENA, MANCHESTER, ENGLAND

FRED GALIANA vs JIM WATT
ALDO SPOLDI vs SERAPHIN FERRER
MICHAEL AYERS vs LOTHAR ABEND
KEN BUCHANAN vs JEAN-BAPTISTE MENDY
PAOLO ROSI vs FREDDIE WELSH
SERGEI ARTEMIEV vs DAVE CHARNLEY

WEDNESDAY 18/09/2002
LIGHTWEIGHT DIVISION: REGION - CARIBBEAN
GRAN STADIUM, HAVANA, CUBA

ANGEL ROBINSON GARCIA vs DOUG VAILLANT
GREGORIO PUMARES vs SAMMY SERRANO
FELIX BROWN vs TEO CRUZ
CLAUDE NOEL vs EDWIN ROSARIO
ALFREDO ESCALERA vs HECTOR CAMACHO
ORLANDO ZULUETA vs VILOMAR FERNANDEZ

THURSDAY 19/09/2002
LIGHTWEIGHT DIVISION: REGION - SOUTH AMERICA
LA MACARENA, PANAMA CITY, PANAMA

ANTONIO AMAYA vs CARLOS ARO
ALFREDO PITALUA vs ANDRES MONDRAGON
ERNESTO ESPANA vs LEONEL HERNANDEZ
VICENTE DERADO vs VICENTE SANTANA
ISMAEL LAGUNA vs ALEXIS ARGUELLO
ROBERTO DURAN vs CARLOS CANETE

THURSDAY 19/09/2002
LIGHTWEIGHT DIVISION: FUTURE CONTENDER SERIES - GROUP ONE
SYDNEY STADIUM, SYDNEY, NEW SOUTH WALES, AUSTRALIA

ENRIQUE BOLANOS vs BOB ALLOTEY
SAMMY ANGOTT vs GEORGE DUNN
EMORY CABANA vs MARIO MARTINEZ
JOSE LUIS RAMIREZ vs JACKIE BEARD
SAMMY FULLER vs ALFREDO MARCANO
JACK BLACKBURN vs HUGO BARRAZA

FRIDAY 20/09/2002
LIGHTWEIGHT DIVISION: REGION - NORTH AMERICA
MOUNTAINEER RACE TRACK & RESORT, CHESTER, WEST VIRGINIA, USA

ARTURO LOMELI vs ROCKY LOCKRIDGE
RUBEN NAVARRO vs RAFAEL LIMON
PAUL ARMSTEAD vs JOE BROWN
RAY LAMPKIN vs RICHIE PLUNKETT
TONY CANZONERI vs ARTHUR KING
TYRONE EVERETT vs PERNELL WHITAKER

FRIDAY 20/09/2002
LIGHTWEIGHT DIVISION: FUTURE CONTENDER SERIES - GROUP TWO
ROSE GARDEN ARENA, PORTLAND, OREGON, USA

FRANKIE BALTAZAR vs RAY MANCINI
STEVE SULLIVAN vs GEORGE CHANEY
LIVINGSTONE BRAMBLE vs RICHARD HOWARD
BILLY PETROLLE vs ANATOLY ALEXANDROV
FREDDIE DAWSON vs TOMMY COLLINS
IKE WILLIAMS vs ISHIMATSU SUZUKI

SATURDAY 21/09/2002
LIGHTWEIGHT DIVISION: REGION - ASIA/OCEANIA
AMBASSADOR CITY JOMTIEN HOTEL, CHOLBURI, THAILAND

HWAN-KIL YUH vs TERUO KOSAKA
HIROSHI KOBAYASHI vs RENATO CORNETT
RENE BARRIENTOS vs GABRIELE ELORDE
JOHNNY SATO vs KUROKAWA TAIKI
BEN VILLAFLOR vs YAMADA TSUBASA
JAGUAR KAKIZAWA vs DAOMAI SITHKODOM

SATURDAY 21/09/2002
LIGHTWEIGHT DIVISION: FUTURE CONTENDER SERIES - GROUP THREE
ROBERTO CLEMENTE COLISEUM, SAN JUAN, PUERTO RICO

RICARDO ARREDONDO vs ROBERTO GARCIA
RAY MILLER vs KENNY BOGNER
OSCAR NELSON vs GREG HAUGEN
PEDRO MONTANEZ vs SHINICHI YAMABE
BEAU JACK vs GIL CADILLI
ESTEBAN DEJESUS vs LARRY STANTON

SUNDAY 22/09/2002
LIGHTWEIGHT DIVISION: FUTURE CONTENDER SERIES - GROUP FOUR
ADAMS MARK HOTEL, PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, USA

GEORGE ARAUJO vs AL FORD
MAXIE DOCUSEN vs LARRY BOARDMAN
WILLIE RITCHIE vs RODOLFO GONZALEZ
LUDWIG LIGHTBURN vs BERNABE VASQUEZ
LOU AMBERS vs IDELFONSO BETHELMY
LEW TENDLER vs JUSTIN JUUKO

[Ric915]

Woo Hoo almost time. Ray Lampkin is gonna get a whoopin

[kenyan_cheena]

TIME FOR THE LIGHTWEIGHTS TO SHINE

Sunday 15 September 2002

With opening action in the Welterweight division coming to a conclusion today, tomorrow brings with it the first week of competition in the International Boxing League's Lightweight division. Before the league's selection trials it was expected that American gold medallist Pernell Whitaker would make an unfettered run to the Lightweight World Championship but those trials unveiled a goldmine of talent in the division, meaning that Whitaker's task will be much more difficult than expected.

The week's activity opens in Johannesburg where promising Ghanian fighter Azumah Nelson clashes with local favourite Brian Mitchell in what should be an exciting contest. Nelson has already been picked as the class of the African regional group and he'll be looking to live up to that belief on debut. Tuesday's Manchester card showcases British hopefuls Ken Buchanan and bronze medallist Freddie Welsh, although England's Dave Charnley headlines the event.

On Wednesday Cuban silver medallist Orlando Zulueta makes his debut at home and there's no doubt the Gran Stadium will be packed to capacity. Also featuring on the card are Puerto Rican rivals Hector Comacho and Edwin Rosario. It will be interesting to see which one of them produces the more impressive performance in their respective bouts, therefore claiming early bragging rights. Thursday sees the action switch to South America with Panama hopeful Roberto Duran fighting in front of his fellow countrymen at La Macarena in Panama City. Hard-hitting Nicaraguan Alexis Arguello will be in action in the co-feature.

Friday's card is the most anticipated of the week with Olympic Champion Pernell Whitaker debuting in West Virginia. It's hoped that he'll make an explosive start to his career and Whitaker himself has said that he's perfectly comfortable with those expectations. A pair of New Yorkers in Tony Canzoneri and Richie Plunkett are regarded as his biggest threat within the North American group and they'll be out to impress during the evening, also. Saturday night concludes the week's regional qualifiers with Thailand's Ambassador City Jomtien Hotel hosting its second IBL card in the space of a week. Local favourite Daomai Sithkodom headlines the card but it's the bout between Japan's Yamada Tsubasa and the Filipino Ben Villaflor that everyone's talking about. It promises to be an absolute thriller.

So as you can see, there's a bunch of contenders who will be out to defy the belief that the Lightweight Championship already has Pernell Whitaker's name on it. It all adds up to a fascinating week of boxing...

[Romdawg88]

I bet your excited for your debut KC.Hopefully, you can pull off the win against Villaflor that would be a huge boost for your chances of advancing.

[kenyan_cheena]

Originally Posted by Romdawg88

I bet your excited for your debut KC.Hopefully, you can pull off the win against Villaflor that would be a huge boost for your chances of advancing.

It's weird but I haven't really thought that much about it. Kind of like when your birthday sneaks up on you, I guess. I get so much enjoyment from all the other storylines I've got going in this thing that writing about my own boxer doesn't seem that exciting. Maybe that will change when I get to the stage where I'm actually about to run the fight.

[Romdawg88]

Hm, that is a little surprising I would have thought that you would be looking forward to being able to do something that dealt with you, or at least the Japanese version of you. Maybe getting to his match will spark some interest in you or maybe once Tsubasa gets into the next round and starts dealing with some of the more important characters to the story.

[kenyan_cheena]

MITCHELL HOLDS NELSON TO DRAW IN JO'BURG

Monday 16 September 2002

The International Boxing League's Lightweight regional qualifiers got off to a lively start tonight in Johannesburg, South Africa with local favourite Brian Mitchell producing an impressive effort to hold the highly regarded Ghanian Azumah Nelson to a draw in both men's professional debuts. Nelson is considered the best Lightweight in Africa but he had to fight his way into the contest after Mitchell exploded out of the blocks in the opening two rounds. Nelson put the bout back on level terms with some great work in rounds three and four. The South African only just had the edge in a comparatively quiet 5th before Nelson finished the contest with a fantastic final stanza.

Two judges scored the fight a 57-57 draw while the third favoured Nelson 58-56. The Ghanian was clearly disappointed by his failure to achieve victory on debut, shaking his head in the moments after the verdict was announced. It must be said that Mitchell is a talented fighter and Nelson could not have asked for a more difficult debut assignment. Nonetheless, he was unhappy with his performance, stating that if he'd been at his best the result "would have never been in doubt".

"Those opening two rounds were just terrible," said Nelson. "I allowed him to be the aggressor, to set the tempo. It's hard to win a six-rounder when you give the other guy a headstart and that's what I did."

Punch totals

Mitchell: 133/559 (.238)
Nelson: 148/502 (.295)

Although he was dissatisfied with the outcome, Nelson should take heart from the fact that, with a couple of exceptions, there's not really anyone else in the group who will threaten him like Mitchell did. His run through the rest of the regional stage should be a comfortable one.

***

Uganda's Cornelius Boza-Edwards won an absolute slugfest in the evening's Co-Feature, defeating Congo native Frederick Tshilolo by majority decision (58-56, 57-57, 59-55). This was a bout where the punches came thick and fast, numerous fiery exchanges bringing the crowd to their feet in applause. Despite being a clear aggressor throughout Boza-Edwards had actually been outlanded when it was all over. He connected with 160 of an incredible 836 punches (.191) while Tshilolo found the mark with 167 of 335 (.498).

After controlling the opening half of the bout Boza-Edwards looked set to cruise to an untroubled victory but Tshilolo made him earn the decision with some stubborn resistance and hard punches in the final three rounds. Boza-Edwards appears to be one of those "exceptions" that could give Azumah Nelson a difficult evening. His workrate was jaw-dropping as he averaged almost 140 punches per round, something that if repeated against Nelson would surely trouble the Ghanian...

[Romdawg88]

If he can't do better then .191 landing % then that workrate ain't going to do Boza-Edwards any good no matter how high it goes. Throwing that many punches is just going to get Cornelius's face counter-punched in if he keeps missing so many.

[kenyan_cheena]

SUMMARY OF RESULTS
INTERNATIONAL BOXING LEAGUE FIGHT CARD
MONDAY 16 SEPTEMBER 2002
CARNIVAL CITY BIG TOP ARENA, JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA

IBL WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
REGIONAL QUALIFYING TOURNAMENT, SERIES ONE
LIGHTWEIGHT DIVISION
REGION: AFRICA


OPENING BOUT

Samuel Mensah UD6 Ray Adigun

PRELIMINARY 1

Moses Kangwa UD6 Emad Allam

PRELIMINARY 2

Obafemi Rotimi UD6 Benni Williams

SUPPORT BOUT

Johnathan Dele MD6 Willie Toweel

CO-FEATURE

Cornelius Boza-Edwards MD6 Frederick Tshilolo

MAIN EVENT

Brian Mitchell D6 Azumah Nelson

***

Series Two Matchups...

SAMUEL MENSAH (1-0-0) vs AZUMAH NELSON (0-0-1)
EMAD ALLAM (0-1-0) vs JONATHAN DELE (1-0-0)
OBAFEMI ROTIMI (1-0-0) vs CORNELIUS BOZA-EDWARDS (1-0-0)
BRIAN MITCHELL (0-0-1) vs RAY ADIGUN (0-1-0)
WILLIE TOWEEL (0-1-0) vs MOSES KANGWA (1-0-0)
FREDERICK TSHILOLO (0-1-0) vs BENNI WILLIAMS (0-1-0)

[kenyan_cheena]

MANCHESTER HOSTS IBL THRILLER

Tuesday 17 September 2002

Manchester's MEN Arena was the venue for tonight's exciting International Boxing League fight card, the event featuring a number of fantastic performances. The action was in the Lightweight division and the opening card of the European regional qualifiers.

Scotland's Jim Watt kicked off the night with a comprehensive unanimous decision win over the Spaniard Fred Galiana (59-55 on all three cards), flooring his opponent midway through an opening round in which he landed 47 punches. Watt kept up the pressure in round two and then went to another level in the 5th, punishing Galiana with some pinpoint flurries. When it was all over Watt had connected with 193 of 809 punches (.239).

Quick-fisted German Lothar Abend showed he'll be one to keep an eye on as he decimated the Englishman Michael Ayers, outlanding him 238-78. One of the judges somehow managed to score the bout a draw, the final cards reading 58-56, 57-57 and 59-55, Abend a majority decision victor.

Considered one of the favourites for a top four finish, Ken Buchanan joined fellow Scotsman Watt in victory as he had little trouble in overcoming France's Jean-Baptiste Mendy. Buchanan won by unanimous decision (58-55, 57-56, 58-55). Mendy was on the canvas late in the opening round after a barrage of flush shots and only just beat the count. With the exception of some brief moments during the 4th and 6th, he was never in the contest.

Bronze medal winner Freddie Welsh was also a comfortable winner, UD6ing the Italian Paolo Rosi (58-56 on all three cards). The native of Pontypridd, Wales topped the 200 punches landed mark, connecting with more than twice as many blows as his opponent in an impressive effort.

In the Main Event hometown favourite Dave Charnley had a real challenge on his hands in the shape of Russia's Sergei Artemiev. After a tough six rounds Charnley was awarded a majority decision verdict (58-56, 57-57, 58-56) in what was the most even bout of the night. There were no knockdowns but plenty of jaw-dropping exchanges, both men prepared to absorb shots in order to land them. Charnley found the mark with 230 of 704 punches (.327), Artemiev 140 of 446 (.314).

The United Kingdom appears to have a solid quartet to represent them in the Lightweight division. Whether or not Buchanan, Watt, Welsh and Charnley will all progress to the World Championship tournament remains to be seen but based on tonight's performances it's going to be exciting finding out...

[kenyan_cheena]

SUMMARY OF RESULTS
INTERNATIONAL BOXING LEAGUE FIGHT CARD
TUESDAY 17 SEPTEMBER 2002
MEN ARENA, MANCHESTER, ENGLAND

IBL WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
REGIONAL QUALIFYING TOURNAMENT, SERIES ONE
LIGHTWEIGHT DIVISION
REGION: EUROPE


OPENING BOUT

Jim Watt UD6 Fred Galiana

PRELIMINARY 1

Aldo Spoldi TKO3 Seraphin Ferrer

PRELIMINARY 2

Lothar Abend MD6 Michael Ayers

SUPPORT BOUT

Ken Buchanan UD6 Jean-Baptiste Mendy

CO-FEATURE