The International Boxing League

[kenyan_cheena]

SUMMARY OF RESULTS
INTERNATIONAL BOXING LEAGUE FIGHT CARD
WEDNESDAY 2 OCTOBER 2002
EMERALD QUEEN CASINO, TACOMA, WASHINGTON, USA

IBL WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
REGIONAL QUALIFYING TOURNAMENT, SERIES TWO
MIDDLEWEIGHT DIVISION
REGION: NORTH AMERICA WEST


OPENING BOUT

Lupe Aquino D6 James Toney

PRELIMINARY 1

Terry Norris UD6 Michael Olajide

PRELIMINARY 2

Freddie Apostoli TKO2 Marcos Geraldo

SUPPORT BOUT

George Duke D6 Bert Lytell

CO-FEATURE

Bobby Jones MD6 Javier Aguirre

MAIN EVENT

Freddie Steele TKO4 Denny Moyer

***

Series Three Matchups...

DENNY MOYER (0-1-1) vs TERRY NORRIS (1-1-0)
MARCOS GERALDO (0-2-0) vs BERT LYTELL (1-0-1)
LUPE AQUINO (0-1-1) vs GEORGE DUKE (0-1-1)
FREDDIE APOSTOLI (2-0-0(1)) vs JAVIER AGUIRRE (1-1-0)
JAMES TONEY (0-0-2) vs MICHAEL OLAJIDE (1-1-0)
FREDDIE STEELE (2-0-0(2)) vs BOBBY JONES (1-1-0)

[Romdawg88]

Damn, I can't believe Javier dropped that fight and the next one is going to be pretty tough as well. Javier better pick up the efort if he wants to avoid a 1-2 start.

[kenyan_cheena]

Originally Posted by Romdawg88

Damn, I can't believe Javier dropped that fight and the next one is going to be pretty tough as well. Javier better pick up the efort if he wants to avoid a 1-2 start.

I hope it doesn't prove to be a costly loss for him. it genuinely caught me by surprise, despite some of the other upsets that have occured so far. The Apostoli fight will be huge, definitely one I'll be going the round-by-round route with on the write-up.

[kenyan_cheena]

MEXICO IN SHOCK FOLLOWING AGUIRRE DEFEAT

Thursday 3 October 2002

In a clear indication of how seriously the nation regards the sport of boxing, last night's defeat of Middleweight slugger Javier Aguirre at the hands of the Californian Bobby Jones has been the premier story amongst all Mexican news agencies today. The former amateur standout is the country's favourite boxer and was expected to have little trouble against Jones. Instead, Aguirre struggled for much of the bout before losing a slim majority decision verdict to fall to 1-1.

"It's just incomprehensible," said Mexico City sports journalist Eric Velasquez. "We knew that Jones would be a tough opponent but nobody really believed he'd be able to beat Yepe. But he really did school him, no matter what the scorecards say. He won that fight decisively and it's hard for us to believe it. And it gets even tougher for him in the next series when he goes up against Apostoli. Aguirre's gonna have to be on fire to defeat him."

Featherweight gold medallist Salvador Sanchez has drawn the ire of many with his comments on the fight. Asked his opinion on Aguirre's defeat, Sanchez was quoted as saying "It looks to me like they backed the wrong horse." His words were clearly in reference to the announcement back in early July that Aguirre had been named as Mexico's "most liked and admired boxer" according to a poll taken on the ESPN Deportes website, an announcement that Sanchez did not appreciate.

There have already been a number of upsets in these International Boxing League tournaments. Taking that into account, Aguirre's defeat is not a huge surprise. It's likely that Mexican fight fans will have to absorb others as the tournaments progress...

[kenyan_cheena]

FIVE DRAWS ON ONE FIGHT CARD?
ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!?

Thursday 3 October 2002

The International Boxing League experienced a first tonight when the opening five bouts of a Middleweight Future Contender series fight card in Rosario, Argentina were all scored as draws. There was only one winner on the night, coming in the main event when local favourite Hugo Corro defeated the South African Michael Cronje by majority decision. What makes the occurrence of draws even more bizarre is that in the group's series one fight card, four of them took place. So after tonight's second series of bouts only three of the twelve fighters in the group have recorded a victory. Corro is the only one who has not been involved in a drawn bout.

"I feel pretty lucky," he admitted afterwards. "Yeah, I won the fight pretty convincingly but I'm sure there was some weird voodoo in the air here tonight, you know? I'm fortunate it didn't catch me, too. One of the judges tried to help out but it didn't work."

It goes without saying that this is one of the more bizarre stories from the early months of IBL competition. Just looking at the standings for this group confirms that:

1st: Tony Sibson 1-0-1
1st: Laurent Dauthuille 1-0-1(1)
3rd: Hugo Corro 1-1-0
4th: Carmelo Bossi 0-0-2
4th: Hastings Gayle 0-0-2
4th: Jose Gonzalez 0-0-2
4th: Solly Krieger 0-0-2
4th: Artie Levine 0-0-2
4th: Tiberio Mitri 0-0-2
4th: Jae-Do Yuh 0-0-2
11th: Julio Alvares 0-1-1
11th: Michael Cronje 0-1-1

It will certainly be interesting to see if this strange situation continues in series three...


SUMMARY OF RESULTS
INTERNATIONAL BOXING LEAGUE FIGHT CARD
THURSDAY 3 OCTOBER 2002
ESTADIO NORTE, ROSARIO, ARGENTINA

IBL FUTURE CONTENDER SERIES
MIDDLEWEIGHT DIVISION - GROUP ONE, SERIES TWO


OPENING BOUT

Carmelo Bossi D6 Tony Sibson

PRELIMINARY 1

Julio Alvares D6 Hastings Gayle

PRELIMINARY 2

Artie Levine D6 Solly Krieger

SUPPORT BOUT

Tiberio Mitri D6 Jae-Do Yuh

CO-FEATURE

Jose Gonzalez D6 Laurent Dauthuille

MAIN EVENT

Hugo Corro MD6 Michael Cronje

[kenyan_cheena]

WALKER TOO GOOD FOR MCCALLUM IN JAMAICA

Thursday 3 October 2002

Olympic gold medallist Mike McCallum was defeated by New Jersey's Mickey Walker in the main event of tonight's Sabina Park fight card, the local favourite falling to 0-2 to start his professional career. McCallum was the first high profile International Boxing League competitor to suffer defeat on debut when he was TKO'd by Elisha Obed of the Bahamas five weeks ago and while he produced a much improved performance tonight, it wasn't enough to get past Walker.

McCallum made his way to the ring to thunderous applause, the capacity crowd of almost 12,000 having forgiven his terrible debut effort and right behind him in his quest to defeat the talented American. One of McCallum's main problems from his bout against Obed was that he had undertrained, stepping into the ring in less than perfect condition. That was not the case tonight as he presented a trim, cut physique and a much more determined disposition. Through the top half of the bout it looked like he had a good chance of victory as, after a less than spectacular first two frames McCallum opened up in the 3rd and hurt Walker with some punishing blows.

Unfortunately, the contest would turn permanently in Walker's favour midway through round four when a smashing left hook staggered McCallum. The Elizabeth-born slugger followed it up with a jolting uppercut and another hard left to end the round, shouting encouragement to himself as he returned to his corner. Round five was a thriller just within itself, an epic three minutes that had the crowd on their feet in awe. McCallum caught his man with a hard uppercut early on but Walker responded strongly, a booming straight right chased by a succession of left-right salvos swinging the round in his favour before a brutal five-punch flurry had McCallum on the verge of defeat. But he rallied in the final thirty seconds, bouncing a hard jab off Walker's head before rubberising his legs and bringing screams of delight from the crowd with a head-snapping right cross moments before the bell.

Any momentum that McCallum may have gained was quickly taken away as Walker hurt him early in the final round, a right cross and a flush uppercut taking all the steam out of McCallum. He tried to produce a last burst of activity but connected with nothing more substantial than a hard left hook as the round entered its final thirty seconds. The two men embraced in the centre of the ring but five minutes later came confirmation what everyone already knew: Walker was the winner by unanimous decision, 58-56, 59-55, 58-56. With fellow Jersey Pride members Joe Jeannette, Bruce Seldon and Ike Williams at his side, Walker spoke of his relief at getting the victory.

"The guy's an Olympic Champion," he said. "I didn't care how bad he looked on debut 'cause I knew he'd be ready for business tonight and he was. He fought a great fight but I always felt like I was in command, you know? There were times where he was controlling the fight, 'specially in the top half but I just had this confidence that I'd be able to wear him down and that's how it worked out."

Punch totals

Mickey Walker: 162/462 (.351)
Mike McCallum: 124/338 (.367)

McCallum departed the ring shortly after the verdict, congratulating Walker and making his way back to the dressing room to a chorus of appreciative applause. It was left to Walker to partly speak on his behalf.

"I'm sure he's hurting," Walker said. "0-2 ain't great no matter how you spin it. I'm grateful to be where I am, still undefeated and near the top of the standings. Mike's gonna have to fight his way back into it but the good thing is he's still got plenty of time. I mean, he could win his next nine bouts and top the group for all we know. I wouldn't dare write the guy off just 'cause he lost his first two fights."

ON THE UNDERCARD...

* Elisha Obed followed up his debut upset of McCallum with another strong effort, defeating Gene Armstrong by majority decision (58-56, 57-57, 58-56). Obed won the bout during the middle rounds, sweeping the 3rd, 4th and 5th on all three cards. He's now 2-0(1) while Armstrong is still looking for his first victory at 0-1-1.

* At the start of what turned out to be a great evening for Jersey Pride, Paterson's Rubin Carter destroyed the Canadian Donato Paduano inside of three rounds. After controlling rounds one and two Carter sent Paduano to the canvas with a stinging body shot and then pummeled him mercilessly until the referee halted the contest three seconds before the bell.

* Florida's Holman Williams was untroubled by Obed's compatriot Yama Bahama in scoring a unanimous decision victory (59-56 on all three cards), the Pensacola native looking impressive in improving to 2-0. He's dominated both of his opening opponents, outlanding them by an average of 33-16 per round.

* Held to a draw by fellow New Yorker Harry Smith on debut, Jeff Smith had to settle for the same result against the tough Cuban Kid Tunero (59-55 (Smith), 58-56 (Tunero), 57-57). In a bout that was less than spectacular, Smith appeared to have done enough to win but may have paid the price for putting the gun back in the holster following round four.

* After taking on Jeff Smith on debut Harlem's Harry Smith was up against another New Yorker in Joey Archer, the two producing a fantastic fight. In the end Smith remained undefeated via a split decision verdict (60-55, 56-58, 59-55). While two of those cards indicate that Smith was dominant that wasn't really the case. Archer appeared to be the busier fighter through the first two rounds but Smith showed his brilliance in the 3rd and 4th, controlling each stanza with aggression and power. Archer roared back into the fight in the 5th with the final round being a pretty even affair.

[kenyan_cheena]

SUMMARY OF RESULTS
INTERNATIONAL BOXING LEAGUE FIGHT CARD
THURSDAY 3 OCTOBER 2002
SABINA PARK, KINGSTON, JAMAICA

IBL WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
REGIONAL QUALIFYING TOURNAMENT, SERIES TWO
MIDDLEWEIGHT DIVISION
REGION: NORTH AMERICA EAST/CARIBBEAN


OPENING BOUT

Elisha Obed MD6 Gene Armstrong

PRELIMINARY 1

Rubin Carter TKO3 Donato Paduano

PRELIMINARY 2

Holman Williams UD6 Yama Bahama

SUPPORT BOUT

Jeff Smith D6 Kid Tunero

CO-FEATURE

Harry Smith SD6 Joey Archer

MAIN EVENT

Mickey Walker UD6 Mike McCallum

***

Series Three Matchups...

MIKE MCCALLUM (0-2-0) vs YAMA BAHAMA (0-2-0)
HOLMAN WILLIAMS (2-0-0) vs MICKEY WALKER (1-0-1)
RUBIN CARTER (1-1-0(1)) vs GENE ARMSTRONG (0-1-1)
HARRY SMITH (1-0-1) vs KID TUNERO (0-1-1)
JEFF SMITH (0-0-2) vs JOEY ARCHER (1-1-0)
ELISHA OBED (2-0-0(1)) vs DONATO PADUANO (1-1-0)

[kenyan_cheena]

DARCY OUTDUELS TIGER
ON EXPLOSIVE SYDNEY CARD

Friday 4 October 2002

Australia's Les Darcy passed the first major test of his young professional boxing career this evening, defeating fellow Olympic medallist Dick Tiger by majority decision (58-56, 58-58, 58-56) in front of a passionate, parochial crowd that included fellow Aussie fighters Jeff Fenech and Peter Jackson. Headlining a fight card that featured three stoppage victories Darcy looked every bit a World Championship contender against his Nigerian opponent. Tiger was expected to be his biggest challenge throughout these regional qualifiers and while he put up a great fight there was never really any doubt that Darcy would emerge victorious.

Darcy started strongly in the opening round, rattling Tiger with a smashing uppercut a minute in before maintaining control with an accurate left jab. Tiger showed some promise in round two and into the 3rd but Darcy produced a fantastic final minute to steal the frame. He caught Tiger with another booming uppercut, came out of a toe-to-toe exchange with the upperhand, drove a stinging right into the Nigerian's ribs and caught him with a jolting left-right salvo ... all in the space of sixty seconds!

The action slowed somewhat in the 4th and 5th although the crowd didn't seem to mind, their man looking untroubled. The two warriors went at it hard through the final round, by far the best stanza of the contest. Darcy kicked things off with a hard right before Tiger came on strong through the round's middle section, a hard right and a left-right-left combo genuinely hurting Darcy. They traded punishing blows as the last sixty seconds ticked away: Tiger landing a counter left hook, Darcy responding with a short uppercut on the inside. The Nigerian then let his hands go and connected with at least two hard shots but Darcy ellicited a howl of delight from the crowd when he snapped Tiger's head back with a flush right uppercut. Tiger looked unsteady but kept on throwing, planting a left hook on Darcy's forehead as the fight ended.

Punch totals

Darcy: 146/434 (.336)
Tiger: 121/361 (.335)

"It's a big relief to get past this fight unscathed," said Darcy. "Like everyone was saying, he was gonna be my biggest challenge and knowing I've defeated him is a great feeling. But I'll still have to keep my head down and prepare the best I can for each fight. I've seen too many upsets already in these tournaments and I don't wanna become another, what's the word? Statistic. I'll be doing everything I can to avoid that happening."

UNDERCARD HIGHLIGHTS...

* In the Co-Feature Darcy's fellow Australian Dave Sands improved to 2-0 after a tougher than expected victory over the South African Charlie Weir. Sands went into the final round leading by three points on one card, one on another and trailing by one on the third. Weir had benefitted from an aggressive disposition, catching Sands with a number of powerful shots througout the bout. But the New South Wales central coast native was just as damaging and he staggered Weir early in the 6th before flooring him forty seconds from the bell with a flush left hook. Weir was up at four but looked out on his feet. Sands pounded away at him, missing more often than not but his persistence paid off as the referee called off the bout just three seconds from the final bell, Sands a winner by TKO.

The 17 year-old has shown himself to be a real talent in his first two bouts, making the promise of his eventual clash with Darcy all the more appetising.

* Olympic bronze medallist Koichi Wajima sent the brave Australian Troy Waters to the canvas FIVE times before finally being declared the winner eighteen seconds from the end of round five. In an action-packed contest Wajima asserted his will in the opening two rounds before dropping Waters a minute into the 3rd, then midway through the 4th and three times in the 5th. All the way through the crowd cheered like crazy for Waters but he was simply outclassed. Amazingly, he argued the point with the referee after the stoppage but soon came to his senses.

Having defeated another tough Aussie on debut (Michael Dyson by majority decision) Wajima is now 2-0(1), his campaign off to an ideal start.

[kenyan_cheena]

SUMMARY OF RESULTS
INTERNATIONAL BOXING LEAGUE FIGHT CARD
FRIDAY 4 OCTOBER 2002
SYDNEY ENTERTAINMENT CENTRE, SYDNEY, NEW SOUTH WALES, AUSTRALIA

IBL WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
REGIONAL QUALIFYING TOURNAMENT, SERIES TWO
MIDDLEWEIGHT DIVISION
REGION: ASIA/OCEANIA/AFRICA


OPENING BOUT

Ceferino Garcia TKO6 Shinji Takehara

PRELIMINARY 1

Tadashi Mihara UD6 Michael Dyson

PRELIMINARY 2

Giovanni Pretorious D6 Masashi Kudo

SUPPORT BOUT

Koichi Wajima TKO5 Troy Waters

CO-FEATURE

Dave Sands TKO6 Charlie Weir

MAIN EVENT

Les Darcy MD6 Dick Tiger

***

Series Three Matchups...

SHINJI TAKEHARA (0-2-0) vs CHARLIE WEIR (0-2-0)
DICK TIGER (1-1-0) vs MASASHI KUDO (1-0-1)
KOICHI WAJIMA (2-0-0(1)) vs CEFERINO GARCIA (1-1-0(1))
TADASHI MIHARA (1-1-0) vs LES DARCY (2-0-0)
GIOVANNI PRETORIUS (1-0-1) vs MICHAEL DYSON (0-2-0)
DAVE SANDS (2-0-0(1)) vs TROY WATERS (0-2-0)

[Ric915]

As always KC love these write ups

[kenyan_cheena]

Originally Posted by Ric915

As always KC love these write ups

Thanks, Ric. I've been less active than usual during the last couple of weeks due to the MLB dynasty and an online soccer league I'm involved in over at the TSW boards, aswell as a desire just to take a brief time out from the HBF/IBL. I'll be back at it again as usual starting today.

[kenyan_cheena]

KAMAMOTO WINS IN OSAKA,
IMPROVES TO 2-0

Friday 4 October 2002

Promising 19 year-old Middleweight Hiromi Kamamoto has followed up his impressive debut showing with a hard-earned majority decision victory against Argentina's Juan Rivero in Future Contender series action tonight. Energised by an excited crowd at Osaka's Municipal Auditorium Kamamoto overcame a determined opponent to take a 58-56, 57-57, 58-57 verdict. Rivero actually had a slight edge through the first two rounds but the crowd favourite came home strong over the final four, dominating proceedings in the 3rd and then to an even greater degree in both the 5th and 6th. He landed a fantastic 210 punches during the fight.

Kamamoto appears to be a real star of the future for Japanese boxing. He was treated like a champion by the crowd and had his return to the dressing rooms delayed by close to an hour as he stayed in the arena to sign autographs and pose for photos with some of the audience.

***

Earlier on the card Nigeria's Tebiro Diaw was surprisingly held to a draw by the Brazilian fighter Mariano Ronaldo (57-57, 58-56 (Diaw), 57-57). After a slow start Diaw appeared to be in the driver's seat with some solid work in rounds two, three and four. However, Ronaldo rallied strongly in the 5th and 6th, two judges scoring both rounds in his favour to bring about the unexpected result.


SUMMARY OF RESULTS
INTERNATIONAL BOXING LEAGUE FIGHT CARD
FRIDAY 4 OCTOBER 2002
MUNICIPAL AUDITORIUM, OSAKA, JAPAN

IBL FUTURE CONTENDER SERIES
MIDDLEWEIGHT DIVISION - GROUP TWO, SERIES TWO


OPENING BOUT

Diego Kempes TKO3 Charley Joseph

PRELIMINARY 1

Tebiro Diaw D6 Mariano Ronaldo

PRELIMINARY 2

Steve Belloise D6 Lomana Wamba

SUPPORT BOUT

Coley Welch UD6 Don Fullmer

CO-FEATURE

Guillermo Carriles SD6 David Gibbs

MAIN EVENT

Hiromi Kamamoto MD6 Juan Rivero

[kenyan_cheena]

ANOTHER KILLER BOUT FOR SERIES THREE

Friday 4 October 2002

The schedule for series three of the International Boxing League's Middleweight regional qualifiers received another big boost last night with the confirmation that Florida's Holman Williams will go toe-to-toe against New Jersey native Mickey Walker come 7 November. The matchup was revealed following the fight card in Kingston, Jamaica where Walker scored a unanimous decision victory over Olympic Champion Mike McCallum. Williams has looked fantastic to date in wins against Yama Bahama and Rubin Carter so it figures to be an exciting bout.

The clash makes it a trio of blockbusters already booked in for series three, with Tony Zale and Charley Burley set for the 4th of November and Mexico's Javier Aguirre to take on Freddie Apostoli on the 6th. All three fights are compulsory viewing for fans of the IBL and boxing in general and will be vital in regards to the eventual makeup of each group's top four World Championship qualifiers.

"I'm pretty happy with that, actually," Walker had said last night. "I'd rather be having these tough fights now than at the end of the qualifying. I can scratch McCallum's name off the list and in five weeks I'll be able to do the same with Williams. That's two fights right there that I'm really happy about getting out of the way. I'm gonna have to train my ass off for this next fight because Holman has been outstanding so far and I'll have to be better than I was tonight to beat him."

[Jeff1787]

Keeping my fingers crossed for Javier!!

[kenyan_cheena]

LOCAL FAVOURITE EEKS OUT
SPLIT DECISION WIN IN DETROIT

Saturday 5 October 2002

In one of the more bizarre main events in the International Boxing League's short history 23 year-old local Dwight Davison almost blew a dominant opening three rounds before holding on for a split decision win against the Frenchman Rene Jacquot at Detroit's Arena Gardens (58-57, 57-58, 58-56). Fighting in front of his fellow countrymen Jacquot had produced an upset win on debut and almost did the same tonight, rallying from an antrocious start to come close to stealing an improbable victory.

Both men showed up in less than ideal shape, Davison looking soft while Jacquot appeared to be carrying some extra pounds around his midsection. Surprisingly, they both made the weight but their lack of condition made for a strange contest. As mentioned, Davison was in complete command through the first three rounds although only two of the judges awarded each of them to him. But the Frenchman came back strong in the 4th and got the better of an explosive round five before finishing well. Davison looked rather sheepish afterwards, almost embarassed that he was announced as the winner. Even so, he's now 2-0 and that's nothing to complain about.

***

California's Dave Shade was the man that Jacquot had scored a surprise win against five weeks ago and tonight things only got worse for him as Maryland's Vincent Pettway defeated him by unanimous decision (58-56 on all three cards). Pettway made a fast start and although Shade responded well in round two he just couldn't get into a consistent rhythm, the 17 year-old distraught afterwards. He was regarded as the class of this particular Future Contender series group and would not have contemplated an 0-2 career start.


SUMMARY OF RESULTS
INTERNATIONAL BOXING LEAGUE FIGHT CARD
SATURDAY 5 OCTOBER 2002
ARENA GARDENS, DETROIT, MICHIGAN, USA

IBL FUTURE CONTENDER SERIES
MIDDLEWEIGHT DIVISION - GROUP THREE, SERIES TWO


OPENING BOUT

Claudio Fernandez UD6 Jimmy Beau

PRELIMINARY 1

Robert Villemain UD6 Jesus Enamorado

PRELIMINARY 2

Vincent Pettway UD6 Dave Shade

SUPPORT BOUT

Davey Moore KO2 Franz Szuzina

CO-FEATURE

Tony Janiro UD6 Anthony Jones

MAIN EVENT

Dwight Davison SD6 Rene Jacquot

[kenyan_cheena]

GANS LOSES IN COLOMBIA

Saturday 5 October 2002

There appears to be no end in sight to the upsets that have rocked the International Boxing League since competition commenced in its regional qualifiers six weeks ago, with Panama's Olympic silver medallist Joe Gans becoming the latest name added to the list. He lost a slim unanimous decision verdict (58-57 on all three cards) to Argentina's Carlos Herrera tonight at the Estadio El Campin in Bogota, Colombia. Herrera was the one who scored an incredible final round KO victory over Gans' compatriot Omar Endara last month and he improved his record to 2-0 with a gutsy, determined showing.

Gans himself had cruised to a unanimous decision win over Colombia's Santiago Lopez on debut and was expected to have little trouble in overcoming Herrera. After a thoroughly uneventful opening round the contest exploded in the 2nd, the combatants exchanging a series of damaging blows to the delight of the crowd. It was surprising to see Gans backed up by some of Herrera's shots and when the Argentine had the better of the 3rd and (to a lesser degree) the 4th it was clear that an upset was in the making.

It was a combination of economical offense and defensive excellence that gave Herrera the upperhand, as the Olympic medallist had been the aggressor to that point. Gans put himself back into the contest with a strong effort in round five but after starting the final stanza impressively he inexplicably faded, Herrera rocking him with a flush straight right thirty seconds from the bell. The shot rubberised Gans' legs and was in itself probably the reason all three judges awarded the round to Herrera.

Punch totals

Herrera: 127/263 (.483)
Gans: 130/488 (.266)

Herrera was jubilant afterwards, his corner crew carrying him around on their shoulders. He pounded his chest and pumped his fists to the heavens, tears streaming down his face.

"I can't believe that I've defeated an Olympic silver medallist!" Herrera exclaimed, overwhelmed by his achievement. "Against Endara, it was fantastic but this tops that 'cause it's Joe Gans and he's an incredible fighter!"

Gans was at a loss to explain the outcome.

"You know, I'm in great shape," he said, shrugging his shoulders. "I had a perfect preparation and I was ready to go. I guess he just wanted it more than me, I don't know. A couple of things went wrong for me in the fight and that's all it took."

***

The evening's main event was a thriller, with local hero Rodrigo Valdez defeating Miguel Castellini by unanimous decision (59-53, 58-54, 59-53). The disparity in those scores didn't do Castellini justice as, after being floored in both the 1st and 3rd rounds the Argentine made a real fight of it the rest of the way, even cutting Valdez with a left hook midway through the 5th. Valdez landed 175 of 463 punches (.378), Castellini 137 of 281 (.488). Valdez is now 2-0 and the outgoing teen had the crowd eating out of his hand after the verdict had been announced, cracking some amusing jokes during the post-fight interview and dancing with a pair of curvaceous round card girls to the Cumbia music that was playing from the arena's speaker system...

[kenyan_cheena]

SUMMARY OF RESULTS
INTERNATIONAL BOXING LEAGUE FIGHT CARD
SATURDAY 5 OCTOBER 2002
ESTADIO EL CAMPIN, BOGOTA, COLOMBIA

IBL WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
REGIONAL QUALIFYING TOURNAMENT, SERIES TWO
MIDDLEWEIGHT DIVISION
REGION: SOUTH AMERICA


OPENING BOUT

Miguel DeOliveira UD6 Omar Endara

PRELIMINARY 1

Fabio Autran UD6 Rolando Lombardo

PRELIMINARY 2

Andres Selpa SD6 Juan Roldan

SUPPORT BOUT

Santiago Lopez KO5 Kenny Bristol

CO-FEATURE

Carlos Herrera UD6 Joe Gans

MAIN EVENT

Rodrigo Valdez UD6 Miguel Castellini

Series Three Matchups...

FABIO AUTRAN (1-1-0) vs SANTIAGO LOPEZ (1