The Greatest Prize in Sports

[kenyan_cheena]

NOTTINGHAM POST

Thursday 22 June 2006

"OUR BOY" CHARLIE
PASSES FIRST IBL TEST

Story by Michael Jenkins

Nottingham featherweight Charlie Beniston made a fantastic start to his time in the International Boxing League last night, scoring a majority decision win over the tough, undefeated South African Welcome Ncita in stage one of the Inter-Continental Championship tournament at Milan's Agora Stadium (59-55, 57-57, 58-56). Fighting in the evening's fourth contest, 12th-seeded Beniston was up against the biggest challenge of his brief professional career and in the opinion of ringside observers the 19 year-old passed with flying colours. He signalled his intentions early when he snapped Ncita's head back with a jolting uppercut just ten seconds into the opening round. A flush right cross staggered the South African a minute later and a stinging left hook to the ribs had him grimacing in pain just before the two minute mark.

Ncita made it a much more even fight the rest of the way, with rounds two to five all close and competitive. Both men were showing not just fantastic hand speed but also outstanding defenses with numerous punches dodged, slipped or parried throughout. Beniston's ability to evade Ncita's blows had some at ringside gasping in awe. This made it difficult to know which way the judges would go with their verdict but Beniston dominated the final round against a tiring Ncita to put the result beyond doubt. He'd cut Ncita outside the left eyebrow early in the 5th and the fight was almost stopped due to the severity of it early in the 6th. Beniston landed 111 of 479 punches (23.2%), Ncita 96 of 675 (14.2%). Beniston remains undefeated at 6-0(3), Ncita suffering his first defeat and falling to 7-1(4).

Following an impressive but short stay in the amateur ranks Beniston turned pro this past October, winning his first five fights through to April. He had openly expressed his ambition to dethrone Jim Driscoll as the featherweight division's champion but not long after his last bout on April 16 he was approached by the IBL with an offer to fight under its banner. Despite his words on Driscoll (who turned down the IBL), Beniston signed a contract with the new organisation. When asked to explain his change of heart Beniston had pointed to the uncertainty surrounding the sport, claiming that a bout against Driscoll would always remain a possibility "down the track". Beniston is one of a number of promising young fighters in the IBL's ranks and it will be interesting to see how far he goes in the tournament. His next opponent is another African fighter in 13th-seeded Ghana native Joe Tetteh. He joined Beniston in achieving an upset win by taking a razor-thin split decision verdict against Japanese 4th seed Kazuyoshi Omura in the very next bout on the card.

In the evening's main event #1 seed Loris Stecca put on a pleasing performance for his fellow countrymen in defeating the Filipino Rolly Santiago by a comfortable unanimous decision (59-55, 58-55, 59-55). After a willing start Santiago was floored two minutes into the 1st and it seemed to take a lot of the steam out of him as he struggled to get himself into the fight from that point on. Blackpool's Ronnie Clayton was on fire in the evening's co-feature, destroying the Korean Dong-Kyun Yum inside of two rounds to improve to 9-0-1(7). Clayton is another young man British fight fans should keep an eye on. With the very real possibility of an all-English final in the middleweight division's Inter-Continental tournament it would be fantastic to also see one in the featherweight division between Clayton and Beniston.

[kenyan_cheena]

The next couple days of "universe time" will be busy ones as I'll be reviewing both world championship fight cards and both challenger's tournament cards. There'll also be an extra post slotted in between.

After that's done we'll be onto week four and the flyweights and heavyweights. There's more forum fighters in the HW division than any other so I'm really excited about running those fights. I'll be doing that tomorrow and should be able to start reviewing them in about a week, hopefully earlier.

[Romdawg88]

Originally Posted by kenyan_cheena

The next couple days of "universe time" will be busy ones as I'll be reviewing both world championship fight cards and both challenger's tournament cards. There'll also be an extra post slotted in between.

After that's done we'll be onto week four and the flyweights and heavyweights. There's more forum fighters in the HW division than any other so I'm really excited about running those fights. I'll be doing that tomorrow and should be able to start reviewing them in about a week, hopefully earlier.

Can't wait for week four to start up. Looking forward to seeing how all the guys at HW do.

[kenyan_cheena]

The Daily Telegraph

SATURDAY 24 JUNE 2006

Business as usual for
Darcy at the Ent-Cent

Story by John Brown

Australia's premier boxer Les Darcy was back in the ring last night, fighting for the first time since successfully defending his now-relinquished WBA middleweight title against Juan Roldan back in mid-March. The venue was the same, the Sydney Entertainment Centre, but the opponent was the Frenchman Laurent Boudouani in a quarter-final of the International Boxing League's World Middleweight Championship tournament.

Darcy progressed to the semi-finals with a knockout victory at the end of round eight, the Maitland native bullying and battering Boudouani throughout and flooring him twice before the final fight-ending knockdown came seven seconds before the bell. According to IBL rules the bell cannot save a fighter and Boudouani was counted out, Darcy's record improving to 27-1(23). Darcy's niggling tactics resulted in a point deduction in round four. He sent Boudouani to the canvas for the first time thirty seconds later.

Darcy was accompanied to the ring by his good friend and fellow boxer Jeff Fenech, the Marrickville bantamweight who is also contracted by the IBL. He'll make his own debut for the organisation on July the 9th in Korea and was a vocal observer from ringside throughout Darcy's bout. In the semi-finals Darcy will once again take on the man he defeated back in March, Argentina's Juan Roldan. The tournament's 4th seed secured his semi-final berth when his bout against the American Marvin Blanks was stopped in the 3rd round, the referee disqualifying Blanks after a particularly nasty low blow had Roldan on his knees in pain.

Blanks had produced an admirable effort in a challenge for Freddie Steele's IBF title in February but one can only wonder what was going through his mind when he unloaded on Roldan, especially after he'd appeared to be in control going into round three. His record now stands at 25-5(19) while the South American's mark is 29-3(26). Roldan will have to make a vast improvement on his efforts in the first matchup with Darcy in order to earn a place in the championship bout and will go into the fight as a big underdog.

Earlier in the evening California's James Toney looked a mere shadow of his former self while being soundly defeated by Japan's Koichi Wajima. The 3rd seed lost a unanimous decision verdict (98-90, 95-93, 97-91), his efforts likely to lead many to proclaim his days are numbered in the sport. After going undefeated through his first 32 professional bouts Toney lost back-to-back contests to Fresno's Bert Lytell, the first a defense of the WBC title and the second an attempt to reclaim it. Both fights took place in 2004. Toney bounced back with a pair of victories through the first half of '05, which gained him a shot at IBF king Freddie Steele, who defeated him quite easily this past October.

Toney's last outing was a TKO win over Marcus White in March and he was expected to follow that up with a victory over Wajima. The first four rounds were very competitive but much of the fight left Toney after he was sent to the canvas at the end of the 5th. Wajima floored him again with a single, smashing right cross early in the 8th, after which Toney looked badly shaken. The Japanese fighter was strangely subdued after the verdict was announced while Toney could only shake his head, a nasty knot showing under his right eye. Having now lost four of his last seven bouts the 28 year-old's record is 34-4-1(29) while Wajima improved to 22-1-2(16) with what was, without a doubt, the biggest win of his career to date.

The challenge Wajima faces in the semi-finals might be too much for him to handle, though, as he'll take on the former WBO junior-middleweight champion John "The Beast" Mugabi, who defeated a competitive Leo Starosch via 5th round TKO. The German was surprisingly effective in evading most of Mugabi's devastating power shots and absorbed the ones that found their target in admirable fashion. But his resistance ran dry in round five, Mugabi obliterating him with a succession of sledgehammer blows late in the frame. The referee stopped the fight seven seconds from the bell with Starosch out on his feet and slumped against the ropes.

It was Mugabi's twenty-first consecutive victory and thirteenth straight inside the distance. During his run as the WBO champion Mugabi (now 31-2-2(29)) had tried unsuccessfully to arrange a clash with current WBC/IBF junior-middleweight champion Mike McCallum but he'll now have his sights firmly set on a likely matchup with Darcy for the IBL's inaugural middleweight title. If it eventuates that fight figures to be one of the most fascinating of all the league's world championship bouts.

---

(#4) Juan Roldan DQ3 (#5) Marvin Blanks
(#6) Koichi Wajima UD10 (#3) James Toney
(#2) John Mugabi TKO5 (#7) Leo Starosch
(#1) Les Darcy KO8 (#8) Laurent Boudouani

Semi-final matchups

(#2) John Mugabi (31-2-2(29)) vs (#6) Koichi Wajima (22-1-2(16))
(#1) Les Darcy (27-1(23)) vs (#4) Juan Roldan (29-3(26))

---

[Beno999]

That update that featured me was awesome, thanks so much for that i had a grin from ear to ear reading it. Bring on my next opponent! That fight with Ncita i didn't personally feel i had a chance of winning! Great stuff!

[kenyan_cheena]

Originally Posted by Beno999

That update that featured me was awesome, thanks so much for that i had a grin from ear to ear reading it. Bring on my next opponent! That fight with Ncita i didn't personally feel i had a chance of winning! Great stuff!

No problem, Beno. I'm glad you enjoyed it. You've shown great enthusiasm and support for this uni and that's really encouraged me. The least I could do was come up with a good write-up for your fighter's IBL debut.

As the win-loss records show both you and Ncita are inexperienced so it was really a toss-up as to who would win. Fortunately your guy came through and now has a great chance to make it to at least the semi-finals, as Tetteh is an easier opponent than Ncita. But we'll see what happens.

[Mad Bomber]

Another great write-up, keep em comin.

[kenyan_cheena]

LOS ANGELES DAILY MAIL

Sunday, 25 June, 2006

SMITH CLIMBS OFF CANVAS TWICE,
RALLIES TO STOP MEZA!

Story by Frank Jackson

In the space of 48 hours heavyweight boxer Ken Norton experienced the highs and lows that being a fan of the sweet science can bring. On Friday morning he could only watch with frustration on satellite television as, half a world away in Australia, his long-time friend James Toney was eliminated from the International Boxing League's World Middleweight Championship tournament in a poor showing against Japan's Koichi Wajima. Then on Saturday night Norton was sitting nervously at ringside in Saltillo, Mexico to witness the biggest upset seen since competition in the new league kicked off earlier this month. Los Angeles featherweight Solly Smith came back from being floored twice in round four to score a 6th round TKO win against the World Featherweight Championship tournament's #1 seed and absolute crowd favourite Juan Meza.

Although he has not known Smith for as long as Toney, Norton considers the 25 year-old Irish-Mexican slugger a close friend. The trio have often been referred to collectively as USC (United Southern Californians), with the young heavyweight Sam McVey believed to have made the clique a quartet in recent months. It's a nickname Norton has previously said "sounds stupid", one he cringes at but has grown to reluctantly put up with. With Toney yet to return from down under and McVey in Las Vegas preparing for Tuesday's Americas Heavyweight Championship card it was up to Norton to provide Smith with just about the only support he received at the Estadio Saltillo. Despite Solly's Mexican heritage the crowd was almost entirely behind Meza, the former IBF junior-featherweight champion who had not lost a fight since a four-round split decision defeat in his third pro bout back in 2002.

After the first five rounds it appeared that he would continue his streak against Smith. Meza dominated round one, finding the target with a succession of flush right hands and some damaging body work. The Californian held his own in rounds two and three, opening up the possibility that he would be a competitive opponent. But the contest swung firmly in Meza's favour in the 4th, a left-right-left flurry dropping Smith on his backside midway through the frame and a hard, jolting cross putting him down again twenty seconds from the bell. Smith was up quickly following both knockdowns but appeared dejected as he slumped on his stool during the intermission. Things didn't improve for him in the 5th, Meza continuing to control the bout. Heading into the 6th he held a five-point lead on two scorecards and a three-point advantage on the other. He also had that parochial, adoring crowd cheering him on.

But that was when the contest took an extraordinary and immediate turn. Early in the 6th Smith connected with a hard left hook that clearly hurt Meza. He initiated a clinch but once the action continued Smith kept on landing punches. Sensing an opportunity that might not come again he unloaded with a two-fisted assault, lefts and rights bombarding the now stunned #1 seed and bringing howls of consternation from the equally bamboozled crowd. As the round drew to a close referee Benji Esteves was watching Meza closely and when Smith found the mark with a quintet of unanswered power shots he jumped in to save Meza from further punishment. The 23 year-old was out on his feet and almost fell to the canvas moments after Esteves ended it. An exhausted Smith started walking to his own corner, arms raised in victory before falling to his knees, overwhelmed by his achievement. Norton and his corner crew flooded the ring to congratulate and celebrate with him, Norton lifting Smith up on his shoulders and parading him around in front of the shocked crowd. It must rank as one of the most stunning and sudden turnarounds in a fight for many years. Smith is now 23-1(17) while Meza fell to 27-2-2(22).

While the main event was a bitter disappointment for the Saltillo crowd the other two Mexican fighters in the tournament were victorious beforehand. But only just. #2 seed Jesus Carrillo improved to 26-1-1(17) with a dramatic split decision win over Nigeria's Julius Siasia (96-94, 94-96, 96-94). Carrillo was the WBC junior-featherweight champion before joining the IBL and Mexican fight fans were hoping that they'd finally get to see the eagerly anticipated clash between him and Meza in the featherweight championship bout. If Siasia had been a little bit more aggressive we might have seen both of the top two seeds out of the running but Carrillo's whirlwind start helped him secure the win in the end. He swept the opening three rounds and did enough to keep his nose in front the rest of the way. It was Carrillo's first outing since a 4th round knockout of San Francisco's Michael Tate in March.

3rd seed Gilberto Vasquez had not fought since last September as a result of the highly-publicised and messy legal squabble with the IBF. That inactivty and the IBF situation appeared to have an adverse effect on him as he struggled to a split decision win against the Filipino Ricardo Unabia (96-94, 93-96, 97-93). It was not a particularly exciting bout, at least until Vasquez floored Unabia late in the final frame. Carrillo will more than likely go into the semi-finals as a favourite to defeat Vasquez.

In the evening's opener Texas native Keith Harrison produced a fantastic final six rounds to take a unanimous decision verdict against Germany's Michael Schneider. Going into the 5th it was a very even affair but Harrison slowly wore his man down, culminating in a smashing right-handed knockdown as the 9th round was ending. The final scorecards were 97-94, 98-93 and 97-93, Harrison improving to 30-4-1(22) and Schneider falling to 28-3-2(22). It was rumoured that Schneider's preparation for the fight was not an ideal one and that rumour appeared to be confirmed as truth as he struggled to keep pace with the Dallas-born Harrison.

Coming into the tournament Mexican fight fans were confident of seeing an all-Mexican championship bout but last night's events have put an end to that dream, although one of their competitors will be contesting the title bout come December. As for who is standing across the ring from them, that's up for debate. Harrison has the edge over Smith as far as experience is concerned but he's previously lost two shots at world titles, indicating that he's not a big-time fighter. Smith will take tremendous confidence and self-belief out of his defeat of Meza and that might just be enough to propel him into the championship bout.

(#4) Harrison UD10 (#5) Schneider
(#3) Vasquez SD10 (#6) Unabia
(#2) Carrillo SD10 (#7) Siasia
(#8) Smith TKO6 (#1) Meza

Semi-finals

(#4) Keith Harrison (30-4-1(22)) vs (#8) Solly Smith (23-1(17))
(#2) Jesus Carrillo (26-1-1(17)) vs (#3) Gilberto Vasquez (27-2(19))

[kenyan_cheena]

The New York Age

SUNDAY, 25 JUNE, 2006

Brawl ensues after insults traded
at weigh-in for Atlantic City fight card

Story by James Reynolds

For the last seven days middleweight boxers Jake Morrison and Nigel Benn have been taking shots at each other through the media ahead of their anticipated clash at Bally's in Atlantic City tonight. Yesterday the two combatants finally met face-to-face at the official weigh-in and, unsurprisingly, emotions boiled over. After Benn got into Morrison's face one too many times a brief but fierce brawl erupted on the stage of the venue's conference room. Neither man was seriously hurt although they had to be physically restrained and taken out of the room seperately. Some of their support staff suffered a few cuts and bruises in their haste to either break up the melee or take part in it.

The Englishman Benn is the 3rd seed in the Middleweight Challenger's tournament and brings an impressive 13-0(11) record into the fight while Morrison, a native of Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, has won all of his eight professional bouts by knockout. Their clash tonight is not even the main event but both men are counted amongst the most promising, damaging individuals in the division and to see two fighters of such talent face off so early in their careers is a rarity. With them both out to destroy each other most observers are predicting that the fight won't last more than three rounds, Benn a slight favourite to emerge as victor on the basis of his greater experience.

Apparently there was also a verbal altercation between the camps of Florida's Holman Williams and New Jersey slugger Mickey Walker. According to reports Williams' fellow "Florida Alliance" member Elmer Ray was seen trading some heated words with a friend of Walker's not far from the conference room, although it's not known how the argument started. Williams and Walker have some history, as it was the Pensacola native who eliminated Walker from the Athens Olympic selection trials. It was the fourth and final amateur meeting of the two, with Williams winning three of the clashes. If both men are victorious in their respective bouts tonight they'll then meet in the tournament quarter-finals. Like Benn and Morrison both Walker and Williams are regarded as future world title contenders in the middleweight division. If their quarter-final clash does eventuate Walker will have a golden opportunity for some revenge and redemption while it'll present Williams with the chance to continue his domination of the Elizabeth-born 23 year-old.

Alphabet organisations
are own worst enemies

With the International Boxing League taking the sporting world by storm this month you would think that their competitors would be doing everything they can to take advantage of the boost in interest boxing has received. Instead the leaders of the WBA, WBC, IBF and WBO are too busy either getting themselves arrested or squabbling over what the IBL has left for them. True, there are still some fantastic fighters competing for the alphabet soup gang, such as the multi-title trio of Mike McCallum (WBC/IBF junior-middleweight), Jim Driscoll (WBA/WBC featherweight) and Mexico's Patricio Marquez (WBA/WBC lightweight). But when one looks at the overall picture, the established sanctioning bodies took a huge body blow from the IBL.

The WBA will be staging what they're calling a "Night of Champions" next Saturday at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas. The card is scheduled to feature four 12-round world title fights, with vacant titles in the heavyweight, middleweight, welterweight and junior-lightweight divisions to be contested. The organisation's president Pedro Vielma held a press conference at the venue yesterday during which he tried to "talk up" the event but when one looks at the fighters who will actually be involved in the bouts it seems to be an unappealing evening, at best. The heavyweight title fight in particular is beyond laughable, with Oakland's Marcelo Franks squaring off against Pittsburgh native James Anders. Yes, it's the very same Marcelo Franks who was knocked out in three rounds by Ken Norton on the 15th of April in a challenge for Norton's WBC belt and the same James Anders who hasn't fought since scoring a KO win over Tyrell Biggs fourteen months ago.

Meanwhile WBC boss Luis Velazquez has been more concerned with bringing down the IBF following the recent death threat-related charges made against that organisation's president Michael Jacobs. Velazquez has stated that he believes the IBF is "corrupt to its very core" and has "no business being involved in the sport of boxing". It must be said that of the alphabet "gang of four" the WBC can hold its head above the others as the most reputable but Velazquez will only harm that status by bad-mouthing the IBF. Like the WBA, Velazquez's organisation also lost a number of world champions to the IBL and he should be making it a priority to fill the void that has been left.

In April Vielma floated the possibility of a WBA/WBC merger in order to combat James Molk's new organisation but dismissed such talk yesterday, confirming that he's determined to "go it alone" and meet the challenge of the IBL head on. They were fighting words but I seriously doubt how he'll live up to them, especially with either Marcelo Franks or James Anders as his heavyweight champion...

[kenyan_cheena]

The Press
OF ATLANTIC CITY

Monday 26 June 2006

Armstrong eliminated after
Carter and Walker progress

Story by Michael Ciferito

Elizabeth native Gene Armstrong was dumped out of the International Boxing League's Middleweight Challenger's tournament last night, the #1 seed losing a six-round unanimous decision verdict to Puerto Rico's Jose Basora (58-56, 57-56, 58-55). Armstrong was floored by a right cross late in the opening round and struggled to find his way back into the contest. He appeared to have the better of the final two rounds but it wasn't enough to overcome that knockdown and a slow start. It was only the second defeat of his career and he fell to 15-2(12), Basora improving to 9-1(6). He showed his absolute jubilation after the verdict, hollering and exchanging high fives with his corner crew. The event had been promoted as "The USA vs The World" as, by some coincidence of the IBL's seeding, each bout was a clash of one United States fighter and one international fighter. The internationals ended the night with a slight edge, winning four of the contests while the Americans took three, one ending as a draw.

While Armstrong failed to make the most of his tournament status his fellow New Jersey sluggers Mickey Walker and Rubin Carter both scored wins to progress to the quarter-finals. In the evening's opener 8th-seeded Carter turned back a determined challenge from the Brazilian Fabio Autran, winning by majority decision to improve to 19-3-1(15). Walker pitched a shutout against the Italian Oddone Piazza in the very next bout, dropping him with a brutal left hook midway through round two before winning by unanimous decision (60-53 on all three cards). Walker landed 221 of 540 punches, the outclassed but courageous Piazza 125 of 234. He is now 12-0(9), Piazza dropping to 13-2-1(7). Walker earned himself a shot at the #2 seed Holman Williams in the quarters after the Florida native did just enough to defeat the Jamaican Hastings Gayle by unanimous decision (58-56 on all three cards). It was a less than thrilling affair but Williams was the aggressor throughout and it would have been highway robbery if he'd been denied the victory. Williams eliminated Walker at the Olympic selection trials in 2004 before going on to claim a silver medal in Athens so it figures to be an exciting clash.

Panama's two-time Olympic gold medallist Joe Gans made a successful start to his time in the IBL with a comfortable unanimous decision win over Detroit's Ted Wright (58-56, 59-55, 58-56). In an entertaining fight Gans employed a potent left jab with great effect, the accumulation of shots leading to some serious swelling around Wright's right eye by the time the contest was over. 4th-seeded Gans is now 13-0(8) and with Armstrong out of the tournament he appears to have a great chance of qualifying for the final from the top half of the bracket. A hero in his homeland, Gans won gold in Athens with a breathtaking, brilliant win over Holman Williams and will be intent on putting on a repeat performance if the two men end up meeting in the tournament final.

The most eagerly aniticpated fight on the card was the matchup of English 3rd seed Nigel Benn and Wisconsin's Jake Morrison. There had been some bad blood between the two in the lead up to last night's card, the ill feeling culminating in a wild brawl between their camps at Saturday afternoon's weigh-in. In the moments before the opening bell it was as if two rival gangs were standing on either side of the ring sizing each other up. When the fight eventually started it was, as predicted, over quickly. Both men had said their sole intention was to destroy the other and when Morrison landed a smashing right cross and a big lead right within the first thirty seconds Benn was clearly rattled. But his response was devastating and immediate, the Englishman flooring Morrison with a flush left hook just past the one minute mark. He was up at two but looked perturbed after tasting the canvas for the first time in his career.

Benn was relentless in the aftermath, dominating the rest of the round against an opponent who didn't appear to be all there, the knockdown still affecting Morrison. Benn kept his foot down in the 2nd, a jolting left hook, a big uppercut and a flush right cross stunning Morrison further before a barrage of shots dropped him for a second time 2:20 into the frame. Benn stood over him, smiling like a maniac for a couple of seconds before moving to a neutral corner. This time Morrison took longer to rise, making it back to his feet at the eight count. He had that glazed look in his eyes but referee Raul Caiz allowed him to continue. Benn walked in and unloaded a crunching uppercut and a left-right salvo that sent a punch drunk Morrison into Caiz's arms, at which point he called the fight over at the 2:46 mark. He had to ease Morrison to the canvas before medical officials entered the ring to attend to him, Benn showing an angry scowl to the crowd and no regard for his fallen opponent. It was one of the most comprehensive and statement-making knockouts this writer has seen for some time. After such a fantastic display Benn must now be the outright favourite to win the tournament and earn himself a shot at the world championship.

[Romdawg88]

Well, Benn/Morrison sure did live up to the hype. That sounded brutal. Sucks to see him go out of the tournament that early.

[kenyan_cheena]

Originally Posted by Romdawg88

Well, Benn/Morrison sure did live up to the hype. That sounded brutal. Sucks to see him go out of the tournament that early.

Yep, and if things go as expected our buddy Holman has to face Walker and then Benn JUST to make the final.

[Jeff1787]

Benn was just too much for Jake...he needs more experience...

[kenyan_cheena]

Originally Posted by Jeff1787

Benn was just too much for Jake...he needs more experience...

Sorry, buddy.

It was just one of those fights where whoever landed the first big punch was gonna win. I'm confident that Jake'll bounce back in his upcoming fights. He still has a good chance to get himself a starting ranking inside the top 20 once the tournaments are over.

[kenyan_cheena]

NOTE: Just added an extra paragraph to the middle of that last write-up after I realised that I forgot to mention Panama Joe's fight.

[Beno999]

Nigel Benn is a vicious bleeder i tell ya!

[kenyan_cheena]

EL UNIVERSAL

Monday 26 June 2006

SANCHEZ VS SALDIVAR
A REALITY FOLLOWING DR CARD

Story by Miguel Trelles

Two of boxing's most talented young fighters have set up an August showdown following victories on an International Boxing League fight card in the Dominican Republic last night. Both gold medallists in Athens, Mexican featherweights Salvador Sanchez and Vicente Saldivar progressed to a blockbuster quarter-final matchup in the Challenger's tournament. Sanchez was fantastic in scoring a unanimous decision win over the tough Puerto Rican Juan LaPorte (58-56, 59-56, 58-56). There were no knockdowns but Sanchez overwhelmed LaPorte with a superior workrate, landing more than twice as many puches as him (150-72). Both combatants came into the contest undefeated, 4th-seeded Sanchez improving to 16-0(13) and LaPorte falling to 12-1-1(8).

In the evening's previous bout Saldivar escaped with nothing more than some aching private parts as his opponent Sebastian Coupet was disqualified just two minutes into the opening round for a blatant and painful low blow, the shot dropping Saldivar to his knees in agony. Referee Gelasio Perez Huerta immediately DQ'd the Frenchman and when Coupet tried to apologise to Saldivar soon after the 5th seed rebuffed him, leaving it to his corner crew to speak to him. Saldivar was still in a foul mood when he departed the ring, mostly from the low blow but also, as he revealed later, because he had wanted to get a good workout in against Coupet. Like Sanchez he is now 16-0.

It cannot be understated how huge this quarter-final clash will be. Simply put, these two young dynamos do not like each other, an animosity that stems from their mutual hot-headedness and mutual quest to be known as Mexico's best during their amateur careers. They have had more than one fiery exchange outside the ring in recent times, and one can only imagine the combustible atmosphere that will be present when they finally trade punches. They've harboured a genuine dislike for each other literally since the moment their paths first crossed back in 2003 at a tournament in Los Angeles when they were both only fifteen years old. A number of fiery incidents followed, as they engaged in a heated game of one-upmanship and psychological warfare.

Their intense rivalry was pushing each to dominant performances and during a three-month period towards the end of the year Sanchez and Saldivar were tournament winners in their respective weight divisions (featherweight and bantamweight) in four consecutive events. At the June '04 Olympic selection trials they came to blows in a locker room before each had even fought a single bout. While at the Olympics, they were deliberately housed in separate sections of the athlete's village. But that wasn't enough to stop them from bumping into each other and when they did, a brief scuffle ensued that was quickly broken up. Each one wanted the other to fail and they did not offer mutual congratulations upon their Gold medal wins. In the time since Athens the hatred and bitterness between the two has only escalated. Their desire to be known as the best fighter in Mexico is an all-consuming, burning passion that has grown stronger following each victory. It will only go to another level come August.

"That will just be a war," said boxing observer Emmanuel Marquez. "They're both eighteen years old and for their whole lives, have lived just an hour away from each other: Sanchez in Tianguistenco and Saldivar in Mexico City. Now, if you know anything of the history between these two cities, you'll know that there will be a tribal-like atmosphere when these two men fight. It's really something to look forward to. The IBL would be absolutely crazy to not hold that bout here in Mexico."

Last night's card proved to be a perfect one for the Mexican fighters in action. Apart from Sanchez and Saldivar's victories, 3rd seed Daniel Zaragoza defeated Panama's Rafael Ortega by a comfortable unanimous decision (59-55, 59-56, 59-55) and 9th seed Orlando Salido was just a little bit too good for the Jamaican Robert Brown. Salido took a majority decision verdict (58-56, 57-57, 59-55) to improve to 16-2-2(8) while Zaragoza recorded his 19th career win and is now 19-2-1(13). Though slightly more experienced than both Sanchez and Saldivar most observers don't consider Zaragoza in the same ballpark as them as far as talent is concerned. He's a tough customer, though, and would be mighty eager to prove the doubters wrong.

***

Summary of results

#9 Orlando Salido MD6 #8 Robert Brown
#7 Antonio Esparragoza UD6 #10 Nobuhiro Yokoyama
#6 Barry McGuigan UD6 #11 Antonio Herrera
#5 Vicente Saldivar DQ1 #12 Sebastian Coupet
#4 Salvador Sanchez UD6 #13 Juan LaPorte
#3 Daniel Zaragoza UD6 #14 Rafael Ortega
#2 Jet Bally D6 #15 Dylan Price
#1 Miguel Bautista UD6 #16 Shaun Smith

***

[kenyan_cheena]

AMERICAN | PUGILIST

*** Published bi-weekly out of Chicago, Illinois since 1950 ***

Monday 26 June 2006
Volume 57, Edition 13

ONE LAST SHOT
AT GLORY FOR DOKES

Story by Larry Masters

On Friday night Ohio's Michael Dokes returns to the ring for what, in his own words, is the "biggest fight" of his life against former WBC Champion Ken Norton in the quarter-finals of the International Boxing League's World Heavyweight Championship tournament. The 33 year-old has not fought since December 2004 when he was stopped in three rounds by Andrew Golota, a defeat that in the opinion of most signalled the end of the road for him. But back in April IBL president James Molk gave Dokes a chance to extend his career, personally calling him and not only offering him a one-year contract but also stating that he wanted him to take part in the league's tournament to crown their first world heavyweight champion.

Dokes thought it was some kind of crazy prank call at first. Living in modest accomodation and working at a local factory in his hometown of Akron, boxing had been the farthest thing from his mind for some months. But after realising that Molk was entirely serious he accepted the offer, humbled by the league president's words of praise and admiration. Molk spoke of his sadness and frustration back in October '99 when Dokes was robbed of the undisputed World Heavyweight Championship challenging Laurence Mays. Dokes appeared to defeat him but lost the bout by split decision. Reminiscing over that infamous contest brought back some painful memories for Dokes but in the days after their phone conversation he used it and other disappointments to push himself as he resumed training.

It must be said that Dokes has had more than his fair share of misfortune and near-misses during his career. Starting with the slimmest of defeats in the gold medal match at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics and moving through his pro career Dokes has never really been able to "get over the hump". After entering the final round with a three-point lead he lost 22-21 to Cuba's Juan Rodrigues in Atlanta and had to settle for the silver medal. He immediately turned professional and went through the first couple years of his career undefeated, winning the NABF title, accumulating a 28-0 record and earning himself the nickname "Dynamite" and a shot at Mays' WBC, WBA and IBF belts. After the controversial result a rematch was held in March 2000. Most thought Dokes would sweep the floor with the aging champion but Mays dug deep to produce what ended up being the last great performance of his career. He dominated the fight from the opening bell and stopped a cut, bruised and swollen Dokes late in the 9th round.

After those shattering back-to-back defeats Dokes stepped away from the sport for almost twelve months. During that time he learned that his promoter Gerry Goldman had embezzled a large proportion of his prize money from the two Mays bouts. Dokes severed ties with the promoter soon after. When he returned to the ring he was a man on a mission and won his next five bouts by knockout before challenging Donnie Bates for the WBC crown in September 2002. Controlling most of the fight, it looked like Dokes' moment in the sun had finally arrived but once again he was screwed by a horrendous piece of judging. Bates retained the title after the fight was declared a majority draw, one judge favouring Dokes 117-112 but the other two both scoring it even at 114-114. To make matters worse Dokes suffered a shoulder injury while training for a rematch that was to be held in May 2003. It saw him out of action until August. In the meantime Bates retained the title with a win over Louisville's Frankie Goddard.

In another example of WBC incompetence, the organisation forced Dokes to earn his rematch with Bates by putting him up against rising Sydney gold medallist Tyrell Biggs in a September elimination bout. Dokes struggled to get motivated for the fight, rightfully insisting that it was unnecessary and he should have received a shot at Bates as soon as he had recovered from his injury. He looked listless and uninterested for most of the contest, which Biggs won by a comfortable unanimous decision. The Philadelphia native went on to be TKOd by Bates the following March in what turned out to be Bates' final successful defense of the title, Ken Norton obliterating him inside of three rounds to take the strap in October.

Meanwhile, Dokes commenced a steady descent towards oblivion in the aftermath of the loss to Biggs. His confidence, enthusiasm and optimism had been stripped away by the quartet of disheartening results and during the next fifteen months he fought four times, going 0-3-1 in those bouts. He had developed a serious drinking problem and struggled to train properly for each fight, two of which were against rising contenders in the Nigerian Ike Ibeabuchi and, in his most recent bout, Poland's Golota. After the pummeling he took in that fight Dokes' record stood at 33-6-2(24), meaning that in his last six bouts he was 0-4-2. As mentioned earlier, the Golota contest appeared to signal the end of Dokes' career. He looked spent, shot, washed-up, with nothing left to give. And at just 32 years of age. That assessment prompted many to ask what Molk was thinking when he went out of his way to involve the silver medallist in the IBL.

Molk has confirmed since that he believes in second chances and in his opinion, Michael Dokes deserves a second chance. In this writer's opinion it'll be Dokes' only chance but when I spoke to him last week I found a man who appears to be grabbing it by the scruff of the neck and making a real fist of it. Dokes has duplicated the training regime of the man he's scheduled to face by rising at 5.30 every morning and running mile after mile through the quiet and dark streets of Akron. Thanks to the IBL contract he's been able to quit his factory job and is training full-time, spending hours at the gym each day to get himself back into fighting shape.

"I feel like Mr. Molk has done more for me than just giving my career another chance," Dokes said. "I think he's given me a second chance at life, also. I've already said it a bunch of times since April, you know? I was on the scrap heap. Done. Finished. Yeah, I may have had some setbacks and suffered injustices but that doesn't excuse the way I let everything go down the toilet after the Bates fight. I should o' schooled Biggs but I had already lost that fight in my mind before I stepped in the ring. Everything after that is like some terrible nightmare. Sittin' here today it's hard for me to believe it even happened."

Dokes is only too aware of the fact that Norton is an unbackable favourite to win Friday's fight but that hasn't stopped him from pushing himself beyond exhaustion in preparation for it.

"This is the biggest moment of my career, no doubt," he said, running a hand over his cornrows. "Bigger than the Olympics, bigger than those title fights. It ain't for a title but if I can get past Kenny Norton I'll prove to everyone that I've still got what it takes, that I can beat anyone. And if I lose, well, no one's expecting me to win, anyway. And I'll still have another twelve months of fightin' ahead of me. Mr. Molk guaranteed I'd be fightin' at least four times during my contract term regardless of what happens on Friday and that just excites me. It's gonna be like how it was when I was comin' up back in '97 and '98."

As others have said, Dokes is one of a number of American heavyweights that are now closing in on the end of their careers and have "underachieved" during them. Two of the others in Tyrell Biggs and Ray Mercer will also be in action on Friday and Dokes told me that he was wondering recently why it was they they'd struggled to live up to the expectations that Olympic medals had brought down upon them.

"Tyrell, he's still got some good years left in him," Dokes said. "But he's gotta get his act together quick or he could turn out like I did. He had that one shot against Bates and didn't take it. He's struggled ever since and it ain't gonna be any easier against Haynes. That brother could destroy him easily so T's gotta be real smart in that fight. Real smart and real quick. Same for Ray against Anyukov. I don't envy him one bit havin' to go up 'gainst that giant. But I'll be hopin' and prayin' for both of 'em, without a doubt. It's gonna be hard for all three of us 'cause if we fail it'll just lead to people havin' more ammo to shoot us down, to say we're through. I ain't about to let that happen so I'll be doin' my best to shock the world."

In all reality Dokes' chances of upsetting Ken Norton are slim, but that won't stop a large section of the boxing following public from hoping for a miracle come Friday night in San Diego. After visiting with the man I am proud to say that I'll be numbered amongst them...

[comicfanman]

awesome stuff - thanks

[Romdawg88]

Can't wait for Sanchez/Saldivar that should be a war. Also, go Dokes! That story on him really has me rooting for him to take the IBL title.