Notes From A Title Bout Universe

[Ian Lord]

Excellent stuff Jim. Great write-ups.

[Tommysixfingers]

This is good. Can't believe that Cavicchi won over Holmes

[Jersey-Jim]

Hard Knocks Promotions Presents:

THE MAN WHO WOULD BE KING
Live From Madison Square Garden

Vitali Klitschko vs. James Jeffries
(To Unite the Heavyweight Championship of the Word!).

Early Line: Klitschko and Jeffries have both put a lot of miles behind them between the two of them. Both have overcome multiple obstacles throughout their careers to make it to this night.

Two champs. One crown. Only one will be King when the smoke clears.
Both fighters have acknowledged this as the final fights in their careers.

Arthur Mercante Sr. will be the third man in the ring. The fighters should be making their entrance shortly....

Here comes Vitali Klitschko! He's making his way toward the ring. Klit's best punch is a huge right cross right down the middle. It'll be interesting to see what happens if Jeffries finds himself on the end of one. Big Jeff needs to glue himself to Vitali chest make him fight for his life. Klitschko is in the ring. At 6' 7", he's as physically opposing as they get.

And now... here comes Jim Jeffries. The look on his face says it all. It's not the look of a man who's come here to box or counterbox his way to a 15 round decision. This is the look of man who's ready to rumble.

This is Jersey-Jim, talking to you live from Madison Square Garden in New York. Traffic was hell getting into New York from the Jersey side.

I'll be taking the red home tonight. Considering a few whiskey shots on the way, maybe deepen the red a bit.

Stay tuned.

[Jersey-Jim]

Hard Knocks Promotions Presents:

THE MAN WHO WOULD BE KING
Live From Madison Square Garden

Vitali Klitschko vs. James Jeffries
(To Unite the Heavyweight Championship of the Word!).


The Fight:
ROUND 1: Fighters have received their final instructions from Mercante and the seconds are leaving the ring. The long wait is over! There's the bell! Jeffries surprises Klitschko with a right to the temple! Jeff with a left to the body, a right to the head! Klitschko answer with weak left. Jeffries nails Klitschko with a right hand to the forehead. Klitschko's cut! Klitschko's cut! He's bleeding from a cut on the forehead! Klitschko's starting to swell a bit around the left eye. And there's the bell.

Not a good start for Vitali Klitschko at all!

ROUND 2: Jeffries nails Klitschko with a good right to the chin. Klitschko wobbles a bit. Klitschko freezes Jeffries a combination to the body and a left hook to the head. Klitschko's fighting back! Jeffries bulls Klitschko into the ropes. It's all the line, baby!! There's the bell.

ROUND 3: Klitschko's finding his rhythm here in the 3rd. Oh, Klitschko rips Jeffries with a tremendous left hook to the chin. Jeff's knees sag but he remains upright. Here comes Klitschko! Klitschko's digs to the body. Jeffries turns Klitschko sideways with a titanic right to the temple. Klitschko's staggers back! They tie up at ring center. Mercante separates them.

They're going toe-to-toe! The crowd's on it's feet. We're in boxing heaven, friends!

There's blood coming from Klitschko's forehead again. And there's the bell.

ROUND 4: Klitschko's eye is swelling up pretty good now. Here's comes Jeff. Jeff with a left to the body. Klitschko backs Jeff up with a left to the chin. Oh, there's a huge right - right down the pipe! Jeff staggers! Klitschko opens up! This is the first time I've seen Jeffries backing up. He's trying to lesson the impact with a crab-like, cross-armed defense. But Klitschko's shots are getting through. There's the bell!


ROUND 5: Klitscho's out fast for round 5. The cut on his forehead and the left eye could wind up ending the night for Klitschko. But not yet. Klitschko's on the attack. Have mercy! Klitschko just exploded a humongous right hand off Jeffrie's temple. Big Jeff trying to hand on!! Klitschko's goes hard to the body. Jeff's moving away. A big hook to Jeff's jaw. Right to the temple, left to the body... big uppercut. Down goes Jeffries!! His mouth piece is out on the canvas and he's fumbling to put it back in. Jeff rises slowly at the count of 3... and now he's up and waiving Klitschko on. This is crazy! There's the bell!

ROUND 6: Big Jim Jeffries talking to Vitali Klitschko from across the ring. I'm not sure what he's saying but he's waving on. The crowd is deafeningly loud right now. Just goes to show... the man who doesn't mind pain can walk where other's have fallen.

Jeff explodes a big hook off Klitschko's temple! A right to Klitschko's chin! Here comes Big Jim Jeffries! Both fighters unloading the works again. It's like watching two titans taking chunks of energy out of one another with colossal punches to the head and body. Jeff's backing Klitschko up with two big lefts to the body. Klitschko digging in and firing back. Blood pouring down his forehead, now. Both fighters teeing off again, their faces masks of pain, grit and determination! And there's the bell.

I'd be interested to see how the judges are scoring this. My fellow boxing writing, Veal Polaski, sitting next to me just showed me his card. He's got it 57-55 Klitschko.

I think Klitschko's gotta go for a knockout. If not, I think the ref or ringside doctor will stop this one the next time that cut opens.

ROUND 7: There's the bell for round 7. Klitschko must have heard me. He's opening up like a man whose got nothing to lose. Three big right hands back Jeffries up. Jeff starting to swell up now around the left eye. Jeff's storming back, digging to the body! Klitschko slows Jeff's attack with two huge rights to the body. Both fighters exchange big shots to the head. The crowd's going crazy. Hey, someone's beer just covered several of us here in the press row. Now we smell like cigarettes, sweat AND beer. We're packed in here like sardines and I think the AC is broken?

The two fighters are separated from a rare clinch. There's the bell for the end of the 7th.

ROUND 8: Jeffries opens the 8th with a hook to the body. Klitschko with a left to the head. They exchange heavy leather in right center. Blood starts spurting from Klitschko's forehead. The ref's stopping the action and leading Klitschko over to the ringside doctor. They're wiping the blood away. I think this one's finally over.

Wait... they're letting it go on. The crowd roar's its approval. Klitschko and Jeffries bringing down the thunder upon one another - here again in the 8th! I haven't seen this kind of action since King Kong met Godzilla in Tokyo. These two men are doing much more than beating the hell out of one another.

They're literally beating one another into boxing history! Years from now, some young, punk boxing writer may look at these fighters as having fought in the stone age. But having been here, and having seen this, all I can say is; I hope you'll weigh the accounts of those who were here in higher opinion than those who were not. These two men could have stood with anyone in any era. That's what makes a champion a champion.

There's the bell. Round 9 in sixty seconds!

ROUND 9: Klitschko detonates several, long, looping, righthand bombs off Jeffries' head! Oh, the humanity!! Jeff's trying to answer back but Klitschko's in overdrive. He's going for broke! Jeff teeters... but he's standing. Jeff rips Klitschko's head all the way back with an uppercut brought all the way up from the floor! Oh, bloods spurting again from Klitschko's forehead. They tie up in ring center.

Oh great, here comes the doctor again. He's wiping the blood away. Wait. They're letting this one go on again! I think even the doctor realizes he's seeing something special here tonight. In my 30 years watching fights, this one stands right up there with the best of them.

ROUND 10: Here we are. We've made it to the tenth! Jeffries opens up with three or four punches. Klitschko's bleeding again...

Oh, here we go... the doctor's being brought up to the ring again. He's taking a look at the cut.

That's it ladies and gentleman. This fight is over!

The crowd is up on its feet and both fighters hold one another's hands up - acknowleging one another's efforts.

I'm working my way up judge's table at ringside. Just curious how this fight was shaping up on the cards.

Okay, just a moment. Here's how the scoring was after 9 rounds:

Mickey Vann: 85-84 Jeffries
Carlos Berrocal: 85-84 Klitschko
Hwan-Soo Yuh: 86-84 Jeffries

Just what I was hoping to see, the scorecards reflect the give and take of what turned out to be nothing less than an Epic Struggle between two champions in the twilight of two magnificent careers. They came up the ranks slowly, each facing their own setback along the way... and tonight, they went out like two comets!

Let's take a quick look at the punches landed.

James Jeffries: 201
Vitali Klitschko: 222

Klitschko landed 32.8% of his punches.
Jeffries landed 43.9 % of his.

Well, I'm out of time, out of energy, but not out of beer. So, for now, this is Jersey-Jim signing off and thanking you for tuning in. Until the next time, take it easy out there.

[Jersey-Jim]

Orlin Norris will fighting O'Neil Bell to unify the Cruiserweight championship of the world.

Norris found a home in the CW division several years ago after an unsuccessful run in the the HW Division.

O'Neil Bell: "There's no way Norris is going to beat me. I put my whole life savings on myself to win this fight. Ain't no way I'm gonna lose!"

Introduction:

Hello, my friends, this is Jersey Jim coming to you live from Madison Square Garden where we're about to see the Cruiserweight Championship of the World united when Orlin Norris and O'Neil Bell step into the ring. Times are tough out there and Hard Knocks Promotions have lowered the ticket prices so the hard working New Yorkers could afford to see this fight live. As usual, I'll be heading back over to Jersey after tonight's bout. I'm renting a room over Tony Galento's bar. It's real nice. None of the creditors or ex-wives know I'm there so I'm chronicling Two-Ton's comeback without any of the usual distractions.

But that's enough about me - here comes Orlin Norris entering the ring. It's time to get down to business.

[Jersey-Jim]

Orlin Norris vs. O'Neil Bell
(To Unify the Cruiserweight Championship of the World)

The Fight:

Both fighters starting out cautiously. Norris using the jab and movement. Bell pawing with the jab and throwing a few shots to the body. Things heat up a little in the second. Bell's power seems to giving him the edge. Norris settles down in 3rd and stings Bell with several hard shots.

Bell suffers a bad cut on the right eyelid in the 4th and a sense of urgency begins to set in. I can't believe the guy put his own money on the line. He'd better have a plan B!

I'm not sure why these guys stopped fighting? We're in the 5th, Bell's cut is closed and they're doing more clinching than fighting. I just put out my last cigarette in my coffee. I hope something lights up in the ring, soon.

We're in the 6th. Oh, Bell just nailed Norris with a big left to the body and right to the chin. Norris is in trouble. Bell's letting it go, here in the 6th! Norris covering well. He's not out of the woods yet, though! Bell digs hard to the body. Norris flurries off the ropes!

There's the bell.

Alright, I'm feeling better. We've got a unification going on here - finally!

We're in the 7th now and, Oh - Norris just cracked Bell with a solid right hand. Bell's cut eye is torn open again! The doctor's gonna take a look at it. They're wiping the blood away....

He's letting it continue! Here comes Bell! O'Neil Bell bangs Norris with three good shots to the head. And there's the bell.

You know, I've gotta confess, it's sort of hard getting excited about Cruiserweights sometimes. Don't get me wrong, there's some good fighters in the division and some good up and coming guys... but the money's in the Heavyweight Division. That's all I've got to say about that.

There's the bell for round 8. Norris and O'Neil trade lefts in the center of the ring. Wait the ref's calling time? I'm not sure what's going on? Oh, I see it now. Bell's eye is really bleeding badly right now. They're taking him over to have the doctor take a look.

This doesn't look good...

And that's it! They're stopping this fight. Orlin Norris has done it! He's defeated O'Neil Bell, here in the 8th round by technical knockout and is the new.... Cuiserweight Champion of the World.

Just goes to show, you can have good power like O'Neil had, but unless you can hit the better fighters on the chin enough times to stop them, it still isn't enough.

Orlin's younger brother Terry Norris is with his brother in the ring as they're strapping the belts on him. Terry is an up can coming Jr. Middleweight. I haven't seen him fight yet but they say he's slick, fast, and has power. Hopefully I'll get to see him fight in the near future.

So that's it for tonight. This is Jersey-Jim signing off for now. I'm going back to the Jersey side and hope to get a ticket to the All-Time Heavyweight Championship taking place in a nearby universe.

See you soon!

[Jersey-Jim]

It's dreary, dark and raining in Newark today - the perfect setting for Tony Galento's second comeback fight!

This is Jersey-Jim, and I'll have more for you shortly.

[Jersey-Jim]

Hello Friends,

This is Jersey Jim coming to you live from the East Orange New Jersey where tonight, Two-Ton Tony Galento climbs into the ring for the second fight in his much anticipated comeback. Tony has gone back to work to raise money to keep his Fan Favorite bar in Newark, N.J. opened.

In this universe, I've been sleeping in a small, one room apartment above the bar. I help Tony with his train during the day. After that, I write freelance articles which I submit to Boxing Rags across the country by night.

In between, I dodge creditors and a few ex-wives wanting me to send money. But all in all, life is good. As long as a guy can get a decent cigar, several packs of cigarettes, a few shots of whiskey, and a broad or two you can call a few times a week... hey, I can't complain.

In this universe, anything can happen. For instance, I picked up Mark Twain hitchhiking last week on the Jersey Turnpike. What are the chances of that?!

Yeah, that's what I was thinking. What's the guy doing in Jersey? Shouldn't he be in Connecticut with Willie Pep or somebody like that? So anyways, we greet our friends around here with a happy, "Hey, how you bums doing?" And then wait to hear the answer. If they're doing good, they buy the drinks. If they're doing bad, you buy the drinks.

If you're both doing bad and this conversation is taking place in the parking lot instead of the bar, you find another bum with some dough and promise him a ticket to the next Tony Galento fight. That's how things basically work in this universe.

So, pull up a chair if you're doing good and enjoy the show.

If you're not doing too good, grab yourself a cinderblock from what's left of that demolished joint across the street, sit on that... and enjoy the show.

[Jersey-Jim]

Tony Galento vs. Charles Hostetter (Heavyweights)

Early Line:
Galento comes into this fight the heavy favorite. Hostetter brings with him a respectable 16-4 record with 8 knockouts to his credit.

The Fight:
Galento comes into the ring with a nice sweat already built up. He’s a not so lean, fighting machine and he looks ready to go. Hostetter is already there. He looks a little anxious. Some guy told me a few hours ago that Hostetter lost a pile of cash last week in some pyramid scheme.

Well, they’re receiving their last minute instructions and they’re going back to their corners.

Okay, the seconds are out and we’re ready to go. There’s the bell to begin the first round.

Galento throws two lefts and a right to the body. He looks like a solid oak in trunks in there. Galento rocks Hostetter with two good right to the head and a left uppercut. Tony’s pressing the action. Hostetter looks like he’s looking to survive already and we’re still in the first round. A good left hook from Galento and there’s the bell.

Galento look relaxed out there. It’s good to see Two-Ton back in the ring again. Jim Jeffries is expected to announce his retirement and the division is wide open. I’m hoping that Tony will be able to fight his way into contention again. I don’t see why he can’t. But it’s a long way to the top, baby. A long, long way.

There’s the bell for round two. Oh, Galento’s pounding Hostetter! Charlie’s finally firing back. There’s nothing on his punches, but at least he’d doing something. They’re clinching. There’s not too much going on right now. Pawing and clinching. There’s the bell.

Hey, there’s a cute little thing selling cigarettes walking down the isle… be right back.

And there’s the bell for round number 3. Galento clubs a few shots to Hostetter’s side. There’s a big uppercut to the chin! Down goes Hostetter! He took a big uppercut to the chin and he’s down! He’s up at the count of 8 and he looks pretty shaky.

The ref’s going to let this one go on. Tony blasts Hostetter with a right to the head. Hostetter’s left eye is swelling up badly. And Galento just landed a big left hook and down goes Hostetter again. Tony had all two-tons behind that hook and Hostetter crashed hard.
That’s it, the count reached 10! This fight is over! There was about 35 seconds left in the third but that’s irrelevant now. Hostetter is down and out in East Orange, New Jersey! The Galento express continues down the tracks!

That’s all for now, friends. I’ll be tuning into the All-Time Heavyweight Tournament next. It’s a great tournament in the 3rd round at the time of this writing.

Stay tuned…

[Jersey-Jim]

This is Jersey Jim reporting on Mark Breland's professional debut here in the wastelands of South Jersey. I mean - here in Atlantic City. Breland scored two knockdowns and coasted to an one sided 6 round decision over Ray Acosta.

I rode all the way down here from Newark in a rental car with my manual typewriter in the back seat - all ready to do the story. My freelance writing is picking up and I sold a story about Ant-Farms in America to these guys who own a Farming Magazine in Nebraska. So I figured I'd use the extra dough to rent a car rather than drive my station wagon with the wood paneling on it all the way down here.

Back to business -

Breland looked good. If they would have scheduled the fight for 8 rounds instead of six - he would have stopped Acosta, no doubt.

So now I'm going to take a few days off and get ready for the Louis-Dempsey finals in the 2008 All-Time Tournament. I'm taking the $300 bucks I was saving for an Air-Boat - Jersey Swamp Tour Business and I'm putting it all on Dempsey who is a 7-5 underdog going in.

After that, it's back to Tony Galento's bar and training camp and we'll see what happens from there.

Until the next time, my friends, this is Jersey-Jim signing off.

[Jersey-Jim]

I didn't get a chance to see it, but neither did the guy who didn't make it back to his seat from the John in time -

Tony Galento vs. Bobby Crabtree
Galento TKO1

They suspected that Tony was slightly drunk going into the ring, but the Boxing Commission refused to pursue the issue citing - "We've all been under a lot of stress lately."

This is Jersey-Jim, reporting from good old - AC (Atlantic City).

[Jersey-Jim]

Hello, this is Jersey-Jim coming to you live from the damp, muggy Jersey Shore. I just took the barge back from Title Bout Island where last night I saw Jack Dempsey overcome all kinds of setbacks in his fight with Joe Louis to win the All-Time Heavyweight Champions tournament in the 12th round.

So there I was, walking through the sand on my way back to my car and what do I see? I see Mark Breland in his 2nd fight as a professional knocking some guy named Barry Allison stiff in the 2nd. And Lou Duva was there, too! It was one of those fights they set up real quick in a parking lot. The ring takes about 30 minutes to put together. You pay the lot attendant a few bucks, you film it on one of those mini-things with 3 or 4 guys recording from different angles, then you sell it (in this case) to the Welterweight Network.

So, moving on - the big news right now is, James Jeffries who unified the Title against Vitali Klitschko about a month or so ago - announces his retirement. I dunno what they're going to do to find his successor? Maybe a tournament?

Anyway, here's a list of the current champions in this world of mine where people like Tony Galento, Jack Dempsey and Lou Duva feel right at home.

It's a world that's part 1930's, part 2008, bundled up together and dipped into a pot of boiling Jersey. So now, back to what I was saying... here's the current champs.

Heavyweight: Vacant

Cruiserweight: Orlin Norris (World)

Light Heavyweight: Antonio Tarver (World)

Super Middleweights: Mikkel Kessler/Joe Calzaghe

Middleweights: Jermain Taylor/Ike Kingsley

Jr. Middleweights: Fernando Vargas (World)

Welterweights: Zab Judah (World)

Jr. Welterweights: Ricky Hatton/Shane Mosley

Lightweights: Joel Casamayor (World)

Jr. Lightweights: Erik Morales (World)

Featherweights: Manny Pacquiao (World)

Jr. Featherweights: Oscar Larios (World)

Bantamweights: Silence Mabuza (World)

Jr. Bantamweights: Eric Morel (World)

Flyweights: Jorge Arce (World)

Jr. Flyweights: Eric Ortiz (World)


So that's my world in a nutshell. You may be thinking, where's the Strawweights? Well, we encouraged them to eat more and drink more, so they're all Jr. Flys now. No big deal.

People don't like divided titles these days. And usually, they're only divided when someone retires or moves up. Then, if a unification doesn't happen in a reasonable amount of time, people as a whole just stop showing up for the fighters in question and they're basically boycotted until they fight one another.

You know, who knows how these things come to be... it just is what it is.

That's about it for now, I'm going to take my winnings from last night's fight and take a look at some new wheels. The station wagon with the wood paneling isn't sounding too good these days. I saw a real beauty, a Dodge Dart Swinger on Hooper Avenue yesterday at Punchy's Cars and Mopeds for $500 bucks and I'm thinking about making the leap.

It would sure be nice taking that beauty all the way back to Newark!

So, I'll write more when I get back to Tony's Bar. See you there

[Jersey-Jim]

Universe News and Update

Shane Mosley and Ricky Hatton will meet for the Undisputed Jr. Welterweight Championship of the World. The Jr. Welterweight division is one of the last divisions to not have an undisputed champion sitting atop the division. Mosley and Hatton should really light it up in a much anticipated matched.

Meanwhile, in the Heavyweight division, Wlad Klitschko and Ruslan Chagaev will face off for the vacant Heavyweight Championship of the World. The title became vacant after the retirement of reigning champion - James Jeffries.

The highly annoying Zab Judah will also be putting his World Welterweight Title on the line against unknown Samoan, Ali Afakasi. Ali Afakasi claims that it is his destiny to defeat Judah decisively and then run for public office back in his homeland of Samoa.

And last but certainly not least, Two-Ton Tony Galento is in negotiations to face the Italian Heavyweight Champ Franco Cavicchi who defeating up and coming prospect, Larry Holmes earlier this year in New Orleans.

[Ian Lord]

It will be interesting to see who wins the Hatton/Mosley fight. I'll be rooting for Hatton.
Good stuff

[Ric915]

Really Great Stuff Jim

[Jersey-Jim]

Thanks Guys

[Jersey-Jim]

Shane Mosley vs. Ricky Hatton
(Jr Welterweight Title Unification 15 Rounds).

Early Line:
Jack Mosley: "Shane's got too many weapons for Hatton. Hatton's a pressure fighter. He only can win coming forward. Shane's got speed, power, boxing skill. Ricky's gonna be in for one long night."

Ricky Hatton: "I'm in the greatest shape of my life. Shane's never fought a Ricky Hatton before. It doesn't matter what the experts say. When we fight, it's just Shane and me in the ring. It's going to be a great fight."

[Jersey-Jim]

Shane Mosley vs Ricky Hatton

Round 1: Hatton eats leather chasing Mosley down in the first. He seems a bit wary of Mosley's power and gets stunned by several big shots. Mosley opens up with seconds remaining in the round with fast, hard combinations and brings the crowd to its feet!

Round 2: Hatton weaves beneath several Mosley jabs and punishes Shane to the body. It seems as though Hatton has his stride in the second. Both fighters go to war in the trenches where Hatton seems to be a bit more effective.

[Jersey-Jim]

Round 3: The pace has slowed noticeably here in the 3rd. Hatton pursues but is slow to unload. Mosley seems to be pacing himself. Fifteen rounds is a long journey into God only knows. Mosley and Hatton both seem to be conserving energy this round. The exchanges are brief and they tie up several times. This round could go either way.

[Jersey-Jim]

Round 4: We're in round four and only one fighter is going to exit the ring tonight as the Undisputed Jr. Welterweight Champion of the World! Mosley's in constant motion - blasting Hatton with sharp hooks to the head and body. Hatton tries to answer to Mosley's already moving. Shane Mosley rocks Ricky Hatton with a savage right cross to the chin! Haton backs away. Mosley with a left-right combination to the body and there's the bell!