TBCB 2.5 - The Chilton Cup

[Romdawg88]

Ha, that might have been the best writeup yet.

[Lee]

A division so bad there will not even be a Chilton Cup competition for the second year running as there are not the mandated 16 fighters ranked presently. There is talk amongst the CCBF board that this division may even be abolished due to the underage fighter scandal and overall lack of talent/interest. 1886 will be an important year for the future of this division as someone is desperately needed to step up and capture the publics imagination.

Pedro Valles, a former circus clown and side show performer had begun to attract a loyal following due to his eccentric nature and colorful ring attire. However, an upset loss at the hands of Juan Serrano cast serious doubt on both his integrity and work ethic, and he will need to redeem himself in the coming year. A step in the right direction would be a bout against Japanese whirlwind Terumoto Koda, an exciting fighter who has somehow failed to excite the boxing cranks. Another who could help make a niche for this fledgling divsion is Keeran Rayment, 1885's Flyweight fighter of the year who fought to a draw with Koda in 1881.

[Lee]

Early touts from the oddsmakers have been released showing the favorites in each division for the 1886 Chilton Cup competition.

HW
John L Sullivan 2-1
George Godfrey 3-1
Charles Hadley 6-1
Tom Sayers 6-1

LHW
Bob Fitzsimmons 1-2
Danny Green 6-1
Martin O'Neil 18-1
Joe Smith 24-1

MW
Peter Newton 4-1
John Banks 4-1
Jim Pettengill 7-1
Starlight Rollins 12-1

WW
Bob Smith 3-1
Charles Kemmic 4-1
Paddy Duffy 5-1
Elesbaan Arazi 16-1

LW
Bat Mullins 3-2
Arthur Chambers 3-1
Horace Leeds 5-1
Harry Gilmore 6-1

FW
George Seddons 2-1
Torpedo Billy Murphy 7-2
Young Pluto 7-1
Tommy Barnes 8-1

BW
Jed Gentry Even
Bill Hook 5-2
Richard Goodwin 8-1
Berde Gade 20-1

Fly
No competition

Edit: Just finished the HW Cup competition and it was incredble!!! Probably the most brutal tournament I have ever seen in TBCB with an abundance of twists. Topped off by a final that was an all-time classic. Will post results tomorrow........

[Romdawg88]

Damn, now I'm pumped to see how that HW Cup turned out.

[Lee]

The 1886 Heavyweight Chilton Cup was a wild ride that ended in a rematch of last years final that more than equaled the associated hyperbole. The irony is that this years final could have easily not included either of these fighters. Sullivan found himself down in the 3rd round of this first round matchup against Frank Herald, and barely survived the round. Incensed, the Boston Strongboy swarmed Herald in the 4th, before finally finding the distance in the 5th. One round and four knockdowns later it was over. Speaking of knockdowns, Sullivan registered an eye popping 15 knockdowns in his 4 Cup matchs. Over his career Sullivan now has 50 knockdowns, while being down 5 times himself (3 at the hands of Godfrey)

Godfrey had an even more tenuous ride the final, tasting the canvas against Bill Farnan in the quarterfinals in wild brawl, then going down for a count of 9 against John C Heenan in the 5th round of their semi-final clash. The escape was so narrow, that referree Steven Smoger had actually begun to raise his hand to count 10 when Godfrey regained his feet.

Overall the 1886 competition featured 28 knockdowns (over half scored by Sullivan) 8 knockouts and enough blood to fill a milk maids bucket.

John C Heenan became the first professional Fighter in CCBF history to reach 40 wins with his victory over Mike cleary in the quarterfinals.

John L Sullivan ran his winning streak to 14 straight with his victory over Godfrey in the finals. Impressive, but still well short of the all-time HW record of 25 held jointly by Professor Charles Hadley and Yankee Sullivan.

A change in the guard at Heavyweight is in the offing as perenial Chilton Cup contenders John Scholes, Tom Hyer and Tom Allen all joined Charles Hadley at post-prime in this years tournament. John C Heenan, whose next bout will be his 50th remains at prime with no signs of slowing down. Perhaps yet another run at the cup in 1887 is in the cards for Mr. Heenan.

Highly touted Peter Jackson, who has stumbled a bit at 16-3-1 (7) appears to finally be on course, as he cracked the post cup top 16 for the first time. If he can maintain his position he will be a welcome addition to next years competition for sure.

[Lee]

Yet another easy march to glory for Ruby Robert Fitzsimmons, by all accounts he did not decisively even lose a round in the competition, with no fighter making it out of the 4th round against him. Fitz has now scored 15 consecutive knockouts and has not been taken the distacne since October of 1882, when John Turner lasted 10 with him. For his career to date Fitzsimmons has scored 35 knockdowns, while meeting the canvas only once himself. (against Jamie Kendall in 1884, whom he dropped 5 times) Of his 19 knockouts 11 have come inside of 4 rounds. By all measures he is more dominant in his division than probably any fighter in the world.

Joe Butler, William Long and Frank Shannon are 3 decent young Fighters that did not qualify for this years cup (Not enough fights) but should all be there next year. They should shake things up a bit in the seedings, though none stands much of a chance to unseat Fitzsimmons.

Of the 18 Fighters that now qualify for ranking in the division 8 have losing records!

Lennart Didenksen is one of the most streaky fighters going today. He lost his first 2 pro fights. Then ripped off an 8 fight unbeaten streak (including a draw). Then lost 4 straight. Then won 5 of 6 before being blasted out in the 2nd round of the cup by Fitzsimmons. The reason? He can hit (11 KO'd in 12 wins) and can also be hit. (5 of 8 loses by KO)

[Brooks TVB]

Good stuff as always Lee.

[Lee]

Many scoffed at Krechs #3 ranking coming in, but he proved to be worthy, cutting a violent swath through through the field. His only scare came when he was dropped by Pettengill early, before storming back to take him out. Krech's sudden surge in power is puzzling. In his first 18 fights he was 11-5-2 with only 2 knockouts and loses to the likes of Jorge Valdez and Gigi Lin. Since his 1st round KO loss to Newton in last years cup he has gone 7-0-0 (5) with knockouts in his last 5 fights, including a KO upset of Jack "Non-Pareil" Dempsey last October to win the EBU crown.

Krech's Chilton Cup win makes him the first duel title holder in the history of CCBF boxing.

Jack Dempsey, Mike Lucie and Young Mitchell will all reach their 15th fight in 1886 and will look to turn up the heat in next years cup. At this stage of the game Mitchell 10-2-0 (5) appears the most polished, though Dempsey has the greatest upside.

Three fighters (Newton, LaBlanche and Robbins) had winning streaks of at least 5 bouts in a row (Newton had won 12 straight, all by KO) stopped in this years Chilton Cup.

[Romdawg88]

The HW Cup sure lived up to the hype. I was rooting for Godfrey to take it but Sullivan is a tough bastard to mount that comeback.

I loved the MW Cup but you might need to start testing for PEDs cause Krech's sudden power boost seems abit suspicious.

[Lee]

Originally Posted by Romdawg88

The HW Cup sure lived up to the hype. I was rooting for Godfrey to take it but Sullivan is a tough bastard to mount that comeback.

I loved the MW Cup but you might need to start testing for PEDs cause Krech's sudden power boost seems abit suspicious.

Sullivan is just a terror at the moment, we will see how he handles Jackson in the mix next year. There is also a strong possibility Fitz may move up after next year as well.

It is killing me that a 1 rated auto gen fighter is taking out all these RL middleweights. Krech is on one of those magical rides, that I expect to end this year. There will likely be a rematch with Dempsey for the EBU title. LaBlanche also hit prime in his Chilton Cup loss so he will be tough as well. Krech has earned his respect though, I need a good nickname for him now.

[mh2365]

How did you decide to put RFG's in the mix?

[Lee]

Originally Posted by mh2365

How did you decide to put RFG's in the mix?

To start I put a few 0's and 1's on the Game to beef up the opponent types based on how many RL Fighters were in each division. Right now LHW and FLY are almost all RFG's

As each year passes I put the 0 rated RFG Fighters into play = to the number of RL Fighters that debut. This will change as more RL fighters enter later.

[mh2365]

gotcha ... I am using it to fill when there aren't many new fighters coming in. With using 3 years worth of new fighters I am betting they will be mostly in the lesser divisions.

[Lee]

This years cup was a sequel to lasts, with the divisions two most gifted Boxers meeting in the Finals. Smith's tactics were beyond curious as he practically gave the fight away in the last two rounds. As curious as this was however, it was the scoring that made one scratch one's head even more....145-140 for Smith was preposterous and has already sparked rumors that Kemmic is not a popular fighter amongst those with power.

What the hell is wrong with Paddy Duffy?? A first round exit and losses in 4 of his last 6 fights??? This was supposed to be the best Welter in the World. Can he be washed up after only 17 pro fights? Does he need a new trainer, or does he even train at all. Until he can reach the potential he showed early on in his career, Duffy appears in danger of becoming boxings biggest and most disappointing enigma.

[mh2365]

I don't think I have Kemmic ... Duffy was a bust in the LBA also retired at 21-20-4

[Lee]

One of the stronger fields in Boxing outside of the Heavyweight division this years cup saw sentimental favorite Bat Mullins again filling the role of Bridesmaid against a man he was able to beat in last years competition. It seems Bat just does not have that extra push to take the big fights and with 45 career fights one has to wonder how many more opportunites he will get. For Leeds it was sweet revenge and also ended the Mullins curse (2 of 3 career losses are to Mullins as Bob took his USBA Title in October of 1885) and established him firmly as the top LW in the world, at least for now.

Snee did not make the finals, as was expected, though the loss to Marcellus Baker was not the fight he was expected to be eliminated in. Billy Edwards showed some fortitude gaining the semis and beating Arthur Chambers on the way. Chambers only win over Edwards in 3 fights was his EBU title winning performance last June and you can bet that Edwards will be chomping at the bit for one more crack at it!!

[mh2365]

welcome back

[Lee]

Thanks, I have had so little free time the last two weeks getting ready for Football and some other stuff. Hopefully I can finish FW and BW next weekend and get this rolling again.