The Greatest Prize in Sports

[comicfanman]

Originally Posted by kenyan_cheena

Thanks. Won't be going away anywhere, just chilling at home.

That is the best vacation at times

[kenyan_cheena]

THURSDAY 9 NOVEMBER 2006

INTERNATIONAL BOXING LEAGUE
PRESS RELEASE

Following is the schedule for the second series of International Boxing League World Ranking fight cards. The purpose of these fight cards is to determine the initial IBL world rankings in each weight division from rank #56 through to rank #71. Each bout on these fight cards will be six rounds in duration.

WEEK ONE

***

WEDNESDAY 15 NOVEMBER 2006

BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA

WELTERWEIGHT WORLD RANKING FIGHT CARD

GENE BURTON (USA, 5-2-0(3)) vs RAMON TISCARENO (MEX., 4-2-1(2))
IDRISSA DIONE (CON., 5-2-0(3)) vs TSUYOSHI HAMADA (JAP., 4-1-1(2))
FLOYD MAYWEATHER (USA, 4-1-0(2)) vs GERALD DREYER (SA, 4-2-0(2))
DEMARCUS CORLEY (USA, 5-1-1(3)) vs GLENWOOD BROWN (USA, 6-2-2(4))
RODOLFO GOMEZ (MEX., 5-1-1(2)) vs ALVARO GUTIERREZ (MEX., 5-0-0(3))
ISAAC HLATSHWAYO (SA, 7-0-1(4)) vs SILVANO BERTINI (ITA., 6-1-1(3))
JIMMY FULTON (UK, 23-1-1(18)) vs JIMMY DOYLE (USA, 6-1-1(3))
JUAN VILLEGAS (ARG., 16-4-0(12)) vs CLYDE GRAY (CAN., 4-0-1(2))

***

FRIDAY 17 NOVEMBER 2006

JUNIOR-HEAVYWEIGHT WORLD RANKING FIGHT CARD

PROVIDENCE, GUYANA

AKIM TAFER (FRA., 4-1-0(2)) vs FRANCISCO PALACIOS (PR, 3-1-0(2))
VALERY BRUDOV (RUS., 4-1-1(3)) vs CHISANDA MUTTI (ZAM., 4-1-1(2))
GARY WILCOX (USA, 5-2-0(3)) vs ROB CALLOWAY (USA, 3-1-1(2))
JAMIE WITHERS (AUS., 5-1-1(3)) vs RAVEA SPRINGS (USA, 5-1-0(4))
MAGNE HAVNAA (NOR., 5-0-0(4)) vs SAMMY REESEN (UK, 4-0-0(3))
EZRA SELLERS (USA, 6-0-2(4)) vs ANDRE PROPHET (USA, 5-1-1(2))
GIACOBBE FRAGOMENI (ITA., 8-1-1(5)) vs AARON WILLIAMS (USA, 5-0-1(2))
TROY ROSS (GUY., 6-0-1(3)) vs VINCENZO ROSSITTO (ITA., 6-0-0(3))

***

SATURDAY 18 NOVEMBER 2006

LIGHTWEIGHT WORLD RANKING FIGHT CARD

PARIS, FRANCE

YURI ROMANOV (BEL., 5-1-1(3)) vs ALI FUNEKA (SA, 4-1-1(2))
IWAO OTOMO (JAP., 5-1-1(4)) vs GILBERTO SERRANO (VEN., 5-1-2(3))
PHILLIP N'DOU (SA, 6-2-0(3)) vs RICKY QUILES (PR, 4-1-0(3))
AUSTIN GIBBONS (UK, 8-2-1(5)) vs FABIAN TEJEDA (ARG., 5-1-0(3))
SAMMY MANDELL (USA, 5-0-1(2)) vs MIGUEL ANGEL GONZALEZ (MEX., 4-0-0(3))
JUAN CARLOS RAMIREZ (MEX., 7-1-1(4)) vs JOEY ANGELO (USA, 5-0-1(2))
JAVIER LOPEZ (MEX., 24-4-1(17)) vs ALDO NAZARENO RIOS (ARG., 5-0-1(3))
JACQUES PRIGENT (FRA., 8-1-0(5)) vs BOBBY SCANLON (USA, 4-0-0(2))

***

WEEK TWO

***

WEDNESDAY 22 NOVEMBER 2006

LIGHT-HEAVYWEIGHT WORLD RANKING FIGHT CARD

LONDON, ENGLAND

HUGO GARAY (ARG., 4-2-1(2)) vs BOB GODWIN (USA, 3-1-0(2))
PIERO DEL PAPA (ITA., 4-1-0(1)) vs LOTHAR STENGEL (GER., 4-1-1(2))
ROCCO MAZZOLA (ITA., 4-1-0(2)) vs BRUNO GIRARD (FRA., 4-2-0(2))
MIKE QUARRY (USA, 5-2-2(2)) vs BOB AMOS (USA, 4-1-0(2))
CHRIS FINNEGAN (UK, 6-0-1(4)) vs FRANKIE SWINDELL (USA, 5-0-2(3))
OLE KLEMETSEN (NOR., 6-1-1(5)) vs EDDIE DAVIS (USA, 6-0-2(4))
CHARLEY BELANGER (CAN., 7-0-1(4)) vs BOBBY CASSIDY (USA, 6-0-1(3))
FREDDIE MILLS (UK, 8-0-1(5)) vs BATTLING SIKI (SEN., 6-0-0(4))

***

FRIDAY 24 NOVEMBER 2006

MIDDLEWEIGHT WORLD RANKING FIGHT CARD

MOBILE, ALABAMA, USA

JOE DENUCCI (USA, 6-1-2(3)) vs HEROL GRAHAM (UK, 4-1-0(3))
ERIC REGAN (USA, 5-2-1(3)) vs WILLIE GIBBS (USA, 5-2-0(3))
JIMMY BEAU (USA, 7-2-1(4)) vs PEDRO MIRANDA (CUB., 6-2-0(4))
VITO ANTUOFERMO (ITA., 11-3-1(7)) vs TROY ROWLAND (USA, 6-2-1(3))
LAURENT DAUTHUILLE (FRA., 6-0-1(3)) vs LOU GUTIERREZ (NIC., 6-0-1(3))
HARRY SCOTT (UK, 5-0-1(2)) vs CARLOS BOJORQUEZ (MEX., 6-1-0(3))
FREDDIE STEELE (USA, 34-2-1(30)) vs GARY STRETCH (UK, 7-1-1(3))
GENE WELLS (USA, 13-3-1(8)) vs ITALO SORTICHINI (ITA., 5-1-0(2))

***

SATURDAY 25 NOVEMBER 2006

FEATHERWEIGHT WORLD RANKING FIGHT CARD

MEXICO CITY, MEXICO

CARMELO COSTA (USA, 5-2-1(2)) vs LUIS FUENTE (MEX., 5-2-0(3))
OSCAR LEON (COL., 5-2-1(3)) vs LUISITO ESPINOSA (PHI., 3-1-0(1))
ELINO FLORES (PHI., 6-1-2(3)) vs SERGIO CAPRARI (ITA., 5-2-0(3))
DAVE CROWLEY (UK, 7-1-1(4)) vs RED CHAPMAN (USA, 4-1-1(2))
BILLY HARDY (UK, 6-1-0(3)) vs ANSEL BELL (PAN., 5-0-0(3))
CALVIN GROVE (USA, 5-0-0(2)) vs TIM HEGARTY (AUS., 5-0-1(2))
OSCAR GARDNER (USA, 9-1-2(5)) vs PEDRO GOMEZ (VEN., 5-1-0(3))
AURELIO HERRERA (MEX., 7-0-1(4)) vs PATRICK FORD (GUY., 6-1-0(3))

***

WEEK THREE

***

WEDNESDAY 29 NOVEMBER 2006

HEAVYWEIGHT WORLD RANKING FIGHT CARD

BERLIN, GERMANY

NATIE BROWN (USA, 4-2-1(2)) vs DANNY WILLIAMS (UK, 4-1-0(3))
ALEJANDRO LAVORANTE (ARG., 4-1-0(2)) vs LUIGI MUSINA (ITA., 4-1-0(3))
THAD SPENCER (USA, 4-1-0(2)) vs BARTLEY MADDEN (IRE., 4-1-1(2))
MARK LYONS (USA, 7-1-0(7)) vs OLLE TANDBERG (SWE., 3-1-1(2))
LUIS FIRPO (ARG., 5-0-0(2)) vs FLOYD JOHNSON (USA, 4-1-1(2))
LAWRENCE CLAY-BEY (USA, 8-0-1(5)) vs LARRY GAINS (CAN., 4-0-1(2))
RON E. VINCENT (USA, 7-0-0(3)) vs MARVIN HART (USA, 4-0-0(2))
TIMO HOFFMANN (GER., 6-0-0(3)) vs JOHNNY ARTHUR (SA, 6-0-1(4))

***

FRIDAY 1 DECEMBER 2006

FLYWEIGHT WORLD RANKING FIGHT CARD

TURMERO, VENEZUELA

ALBERTO JIMENEZ (MEX., 5-1-0(3)) vs KIMIO FURESAWA (JAP., 4-1-1(2))
YUL-WOO LEE (KOR., 4-1-1(3)) vs HIROSHI NAKANO (JAP., 5-1-1(3))
JONG-KWAN CHUNG (KOR., 5-2-1(3)) vs FERNANDO ATZORI (ITA., 4-0-2(3))
CHOKCHAI CHOCKVIVAT (THA., 10-2-1(7)) vs PAUL GONZALES (USA, 6-2-0(4))
JOHNNY MCCLUSKEY (UK, 7-1-2(4)) vs SUZUKI CABATO (PHI., 6-1-0(3))
JUN KITANO (JAP., 7-2-2(4)) vs CHARTCHAI CHIONOI (THA., 7-1-1(5))
JEAN GUERARD (FRA., 10-2-1(7)) vs ARISTIDE POZZALI (ITA., 6-1-1(3))
RAMON CALATAYUD (VEN., 7-0-2(3)) vs GABRIEL BERNAL (MEX., 7-1-0(3))

***

SATURDAY 2 DECEMBER 2006

BANTAMWEIGHT WORLD RANKING FIGHT CARD

ATLANTIC CITY, NEW JERSEY, USA

SATOSHI SHINGAKI (JAP., 5-1-0(3)) vs STAN ROWAN (UK, 4-1-1(2))
RUSH DALMA (PHI., 4-1-1(3)) vs EFRAIN PINTOR (MEX., 5-2-0(3))
TETSUYA YAMAGAMI (JAP., 5-2-1(3)) vs JOHNNY VACCA (ITA., 4-2-0(3))
JOSE TOLUCO LOPEZ (MEX., 7-1-2(4)) vs ELLYAS PICAL (IND., 5-1-0(3))
JOSE MONTIEL (MEX., 7-1-2(3)) vs HOWARD MAYBERRY (USA, 4-0-0(3))
GEORGE DIXON (CAN., 4-0-0(2)) vs LEO ESPINOSA (PHI., 6-1-0(3))
TOMMY KELLY (USA, 7-1-1(4)) vs STEVE DOTSE (GHA., 5-1-1(4))
JIMMY KRUG (USA, 6-0-0(3)) vs RAFAEL PEDROZA (PAN., 6-0-1(3))

***

[kenyan_cheena]

The Hartford Courant

SUNDAY 12 NOVEMBER 2006

"The Punching Accountant"
comes home

Story by Howard Byers

In August 2002 Hebron's Christopher Scott Mundt was a young man with a promising future in accountancy ahead of him. Having completed a degree at UConn the previous year, Scott (as he prefers to be known) had secured himself a position with renowned Hartford firm Baines & Co. and, at just 23 years of age, appeared to be set on his course for the future. But within twelve months he was no longer employed by the company. He was no longer residing in the United States, either. In March '03 Mundt made a decision that shocked and surprised his family and friends when he chose to leave America and move to his grandfather's hometown of Zeitz, an old mining town in Germany.

What he planned to achieve or do there was not immediately clear, even to Scott himself. He has since called it "the most impulsive decision" of his life but flash forward to today, November 2006, and in hindsight it almost seems like destiny was at work. Last week Mundt returned home to Connecticut for the first time since his abrupt departure. Not as an accountant, but as one of the most promising heavyweight boxers in the world. To understand why and how, one has to look back to Mundt's teenage years. He had been a keen boxer in high school and at one point was thinking of starting an amateur career. But at UConn he discovered lacrosse and developed a passion for it. Boxing was soon an afterthought.

"I boxed for a few years in school, right up until I was eighteen," Mundt recalled. "But I tried lacrosse and really enjoyed it. I weighed up the appeal of running around trying to propel that little rubber ball into a net against the appeal of getting hit in the head and, well ... chose the rubber ball."

When Mundt moved to Germany in '03 boxing was not even close to being on his mind. Besides having given up on it he'd also stopped following it as a spectator. But within a few months it was back in his life again after, almost by chance, he attended a fight card at the local convention hall. As if a switch had been flicked in his brain, Mundt's hunger and excitement for the sport returned to him on that night and all of a sudden he knew why he'd come to Germany.

"It was amazing," he said. "Almost like a long-forgotten memory. I watched the first couple of fights and that was it. I was hooked. I'd caught "the bug" again. Right then I knew that boxing was going to be a huge part of my future."

The very next day Mundt started training. He's always been a fit individual, much of that as a result of the countless hours of work on his family's farm during his youth. Even so, he had some work to do to get himself to where he'd be fighting fit. By the end of the year he felt confident enough to step into a boxing ring and participated in a number of amateur tournaments in Germany throughout 2004. Mundt made the jump to the professional ranks in early 2005, making his pro debut in February. His minders brought him along slowly, putting him in against limited opposition during those first twelve months. Despite that, it was clear to see that Mundt was a talented pugilist. Many were comparing him to Germany's Olympic bronze medallist Max Schmeling, something that Mundt found quite unnerving. He earned the nickname "The Punching Accountant", with others offering up "The Number Cruncher" as a more witty alternative.

On the 6th of April this year Mundt improved his professional record to 10-0(8) with a 1st round knockout of Philipp Jansen in Berlin. One week later he signed a contract with the International Boxing League and was selected to take part in their Inter-Continental Championship tournament. Things did not go as expected for him there as he was defeated by New Zealand's Neemia Sivivatu in his opening bout on June 26. Mundt was floored four times on the way to a unanimous decision loss. Since then he's recorded wins over Omovo Okocha (KO3) and Nelson Ndungane (UD6) in world ranking bouts to take his record to 12-1(9). With his next fight not scheduled to take place until Christmas Day in Italy, Mundt has taken the chance to make the trip back home and visit with his family and friends.

"I'm not really sure where my next fight will be after Italy," Mundt said. "So I don't know when I'll be coming back to the States again. I'm happy living in Germany and I'll be going straight back home after this trip but I've really missed seeing my family these last three-plus years. It'll be nice to talk to them face to face."

According to the rules of the IBL Mundt will be ranked somewhere between forty and fifty when the organisation releases their initial heavyweight world rankings on the first day of 2007. It means that he has a tough road ahead of him to make it to the top, but it's a road he's looking forward to travelling.

"Nothing worthwhile comes without a struggle," he said. "That loss to Sivivatu has made it more difficult for me because if I'd stayed in the tournament all the way through and kept on winning I'd be starting in the mid-twenties as far as the rankings go. It'll take me at least a good two or three wins once '07 starts just to get that far, so I've got a lot of hard work ahead of me."

He may have some testing times ahead but for now all Scott Mundt is worried about is catching up with those closest to him, who have been out of his life (at least physically) for these last three years and eight months. There's no doubt that they're proud of what he's made of himself during that time and that they'll be following his career every step of the way in the years to come.

[kenyan_cheena]

ESPN

Boxing

Updated: November 18, 2006, 11.30 AM ET

Marquez-Brown tops one-million sales

By Larry Holman
ESPN.com
Archive

With the blockbuster lightweight bout between Mexico's Patricio Marquez and Louisana's Joe Brown still one week away Showtime announced today that sales for it have already passed the one-million unit mark. This means that if previous trends are anything to go by the final figure will most likely exceed 1.5 million. Although the bout is for Brown's IBF title it's being promoted simply as the World Lightweight Championship. Boxing experts are of an almost unanimous opinion that Marquez is the unofficial world champion by virtue of his defeat of Francisco Ortiz in March. In the time since then he relinquished both the WBA and WBC belts in order to secure the fight with Brown. So if Brown is able to achieve victory he'll not only retain his belt but also be recognised as the real world champion.

The evening's co-feature should also be a fantastic stoush with the very same Francisco Ortiz that Marquez overcame eight months ago taking on the Filipino Benny Diaz for the vacant WBO lightweight belt. Although he does not hold a contract with any of the four fighters New Jersey-based promoter Robert Tattaglia has been heavily involved in promoting the event. As boxing fans would be aware, Tattaglia takes on the role of president of the International Boxing Organisation when it comes into being on January 1 following the merger of the IBF and WBO. It's already been confirmed that the winners of next Saturday's two title fights will meet in March with the inaugural IBO lightweight championship on the line.

Experts have been divided over who will emerge as the victor of Saturday night's main event showdown, but one thing they all agree on is that it will be an absolute war. It seems the two men's styles will make for an absolute thriller. Brown is a swarmer who loves to come at his opponent with rapid-fire combinations while Marquez will do much of his work behind a potent left jab. While he's the more conventional of the two he's also the stronger and Brown will certainly have to be weary of his power. Marquez claimed the WBC title in June 2003 and defended it seven times before adding the WBA belt to his collection with his defeat of Ortiz. But when the two organisations stood adamantly in the way of a clash with Brown, Marquez gave up both titles to make the fight a reality. He brings an outstanding record of 42-2-1(34) into the bout. Brown won the IBF championship in late 2004 and will be making his fifth title defense. His record stands at 33-2-1(24).

Larry Holman is ESPN.com's boxing writer.

[kenyan_cheena]

Sorry about the lack of posts lately, folks. Even though I'm on holiday I haven't had much time to spend on TBCB during the last four days.

The time I have had has been dedicated to preparing the initial IBL rankings for the time when the tournaments are over. With the completion of the semi-finals I'm able to work out within a couple of places where each fighter will be ranked. All I'll need to do is make the necessary adjustments once each division completes their tourneys.

Just to let you know the next three posts will be 1) an article on one of the fictional community guys (not telling who, though ). 2) the review of the blockbuster lightweight world championship bout between Patricio Marquez and Joe Brown. 3) review of the IBL heavyweight world ranking card featuring Lyons & Vincent.

Those three posts will take us through to the end of November and will be followed, as usual, by the Boxing Monthly fight reviews, World Boxing Review notes & quotes and a EuroBox magazine article.

[Romdawg88]

Man, those Marquezs are money just breaking a million buys all over the place. Look forward to that fight hopefully it lives up to the fight.

[CONN CHRIS]

'The Number Cruncher' Ha

Great job Dan, I love the story!

[kenyan_cheena]

Originally Posted by Romdawg88

Man, those Marquezs are money just breaking a million buys all over the place. Look forward to that fight hopefully it lives up to the fight.

Woo hoo, Romy's back! I've missed you, buddy. How is everything?

Originally Posted by CONN CHRIS

'The Number Cruncher' Ha

Great job Dan, I love the story!

Glad you liked it, Chris. That number cruncher nickname just came to me while I was out walking last week. Might be a bit corny, I guess, but it fits with his previous occupation as an accountant.

[Romdawg88]

Originally Posted by kenyan_cheena

Woo hoo, Romy's back! I've missed you, buddy. How is everything?

Thanks have been going good, been pretty busy lately. I've got a pretty brutal day coming up tomorrow as I'm going to be working all day pretty much which is going to suck.

[kenyan_cheena]

The Chippewa Herald

Wednesday 22 November 2006

MORRISON READY TO
MAKE A STATEMENT

Story by John Harrison

On Monday morning I made a visit to Jackie Goldberg's South Bridge Street boxing gym hoping to get an interview with the latest talent to come off his production line, the hard-hitting middleweight Jake Morrison. When I walked through the door Morrison was over in a corner going through a series of warm-up exercises but within moments Jackie made it clear to me that Morrison doesn't talk to the media. As a compromise I asked Jackie if he would talk to me about Jake and he had no problem with that. I found out that journalists aren't the only people the 26 year-old slugger refuses to converse with. I'd heard the stories before about him being a difficult man to deal with and Goldberg didn't hesitate to confirm them as being absolutely true. He described his charge as hot-headed, ill-tempered, aggressive and hostile, adding that Morrison has "a chip on his shoulder the size of Mount Everest".

"Ever since I've known him there's been this barely controllable rage constantly burning beneath the surface," Goldberg said, glancing over at the fighter. "Three years and I was never able to persuade him to open up about it, so I just gave up eventually and accepted that's how he is. I've never met anyone who appears to have as many demons inside them as Jake does. There's a sinister, scary, dark vibe about him and that's attracted some people to him but it's repelled a whole lot of others. Some say he's like one of those characters in the WWE, but it ain't an act. He really is all those things I've described him as. There aren't many people in the world he can stand being around but I just happen to be one of them and that's why our arrangement works."

Morrison's involvement with the sweet science only came about because of his association with Goldberg. Back in early 2003 he was a young man walking a path of destruction that was going to take him to an early grave. Morrison was angry and directionless, unable to hold down a job for more than a couple of months at a time. His inability to control his emotions would lead to constant run-ins with co-workers and supervisors and almost resulted in some serious criminal charges. All it took to change his life was one incident of an individual returning Morrison's hostility with assistance and goodwill, advice that led Jake to South Bridge Street, where he found an outlet for his pent-up frustrations. Despite the fact that he packed one helluva punch Morrison had never before considered the possibility of a boxing career and during those early weeks and months with Goldberg it looked like his stubborness might sabotage any chance of it happening before it had even begun.

However, Goldberg was eventually able to overcome Morrison's headstrong attitude and convince him that he had a future in the sport. After learning his trade during two years in the amateur ranks Morrison made his professional debut in July 2005 and went undefeated and untroubled through his first eight professional bouts, each of which ended inside the distance. Morrison was building a reputation as a frightening power-puncher, a hard-hitting aggressor who was merciless on his opponents and enjoyed inflicting pain. He signed a contract with the International Boxing League and was held in such high regard that they placed him in their middleweight division Challenger's tournament, where his opening bout would be against England's 2004 Olympics bronze medallist Nigel Benn on June 25. In a bout that indicated he might not be quite ready for the big time yet Morrison was sent crashing to his first defeat, Benn destroying him inside of two rounds.

"That loss really screwed him up for a couple of weeks," Goldberg reflected. "See, in his head Jake felt he was invincible and for Benn to come along and make it known so comprehensively that it wasn't true ... that kind of put him in shock. He felt like everything he'd achieved to that point was now worthless because everyone knew he was beatable. The aura was shattered and he found that hard to accept. It took me some time to build him back up from that and get him thinking positively again."

Goldberg clearly did a great job at that because in his next bout Morrison scored an upset 8th round TKO victory over Oakland's former world title challenger Marvin Blanks. Even though Blanks brought a two-fight losing streak into the evening he was expected to be too experienced for Morrison to handle but that belief was blown away by an outstanding showing from the Chippewa Falls slugger. While his efforts in overcoming Blanks were fantastic, Morrison has since told Goldberg that he wants to produce the type of performance in his next outing that will "make a statement". That bout will be a headliner against Bronx native Davey Moore in New York on December 24. It's a huge fight for both men as the winner could be ranked as high as #12 when the IBL releases its initial middleweight world rankings on Christmas day.

"Jake's told me he wants to get it over early," said Goldberg. "He wants to bring back the Jake Morrison who was destroying guys within two rounds when he started. I've said to him that'll be all fine and good but if it doesn't turn out that way he can't get frustrated and lose his focus. I don't care if it goes the distance, I just want the kid to win."

Towards the end of my stay Goldberg took Morrison through a series of drills on the hand pads and watching the man train it was obvious to me that he won't stop until he has reached the top of the middleweight mountain. He may have anger management issues and he may be hostile and inhospitable and downright nasty. I still don't know why that's the case but right now I don't really care, because he's also a fearfully fantastic fighter. I went to Jackie Goldberg's gym on Monday hoping to get an insight into what makes Jake Morrison tick. I left being little the wiser but one thing I'm confident of is that in the times to come the name Jake Morrison will strike fear into the top contenders of the middleweight division. I'm hoping that in three or four years from now we can all look back on this article and say that I was absolutely correct.

[kenyan_cheena]

The Times-Picayune

SUNDAY, 26 NOVEMBER, 2006

BROWN STOPS MARQUEZ IN 3RD, CLAIMS
WORLD LIGHTWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP

Story by Kevin Hammond

New Orleans boxer Joe Brown produced the performance of his life last night to stop Mexican legend Patricio Marquez in the 3rd round of their World Lightweight Championship bout at the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino in Las Vegas. In the most anticipated clash of 2006 Brown decimated Marquez with an effort that few saw coming, referee Sean Curtin ending the contest with Marquez defenseless and slumped on the ropes at the 2:57 mark. While Brown was defending his IBF championship it was Marquez who was recognised as the world's top lightweight coming into the evening by virtue of his defeat of the Dominican Republic's Francisco Ortiz in March. Following that victory Marquez was the WBA and WBC champion but relinquished both titles in September when the two organisations refused to allow him to fight Brown. As a result of his status the unusual situation came about where Marquez actually made the walk to the ring after Brown, although the Louisiana slugger agreed to it.

In a tribute to his hometown Brown entered the arena in a robe of black with gold and white trim, under which he wore a New Orleans Saints jersey and knee-length trunks that were predominantly gold with black and white tassels running up each side, his surname stencilled in gold over a black waistband. He was accompanied by a large entourage and Champion Jack Dupree's classic blues tune "Shake Baby Shake" booming from the speaker system. Marquez followed soon after drapped in his nation's colours of red, white and green, appearing surprisingly apprehensive in contrast to Brown's calm confidence. He also had a considerable following, his support team at least a dozen strong. Both men received deafening applause from the capacity crowd, which seemed split 50/50 over who they were backing.

Once both camps were in the ring there was no repeat of the shoving match and scuffle from the previous afternoon's press conference, which had involved members of each fighter's entourage but neither Brown or Marquez themselves. Marquez had weighed in at 134.5 pounds, Brown 134.9, both looking in superb shape and ready to go. The opening bell was greeted by a wave of excitement amongst the crowd, the long-awaited clash finally under way. Some experts had predicted that Brown would take a cautious approach through the opening rounds in order to avoid Marquez's power but that assessment was quickly shot to pieces as the IBF champion was the clear aggressor in round one, pressing Marquez and catching him with a series of combinations. With the bout just ninety seconds old Marquez was already wearing a perturbed gaze but when he landed a strong right cross soon after Brown backed off.

However at the two minute mark Brown stepped in and caught Marquez with a flush left hook, the shot snapping the Mexican's head around. Brown also connected with a short uppercut from inside and a blinding three-punch salvo as the round drew to a close. He hollered as he returned to his corner. Those who had said that Brown's hand speed and workrate would be too much for Marquez certainly would have been smiling. Brown did not consolidate on his good work in the 2nd, Marquez taking what was a mostly uneventful frame. He landed a nice uppercut early on and finished the round strongly behind that fantastic jab of his and some punishing body work. The crowd was ready to settle in for an enthralling contest but could not have predicted what would take place during round three.

Coming out aggressive Brown took control much like he had in the opening frame, strafing Marquez with combinations and wobbling him thanks to a flush uppercut during the final minute. It was that punch which, in hindsight, signalled the beginning of the end as Brown followed it up soon after with a smashing left hook that sent Marquez into the ropes. His eyes had a vacant look to them and when Brown moved in and used Marquez's head as a punching bag for the next five seconds the fight was suddenly over, Marquez helpless with only the ropes keeping him upright. Replays showed that during those five seconds Brown landed all nine punches he threw, all head shots, in the following order: left jab, straight right, left hook, right hook, left jab, right hook, right hook, left hook, straight right. After Curtin pulled him away Brown walked a couple of steps and then leapt into the air, pumping his fist and screaming as his corner crew flooded the ring to celebrate with him.

In just under nine minutes of action Brown had landed an extraordinary 146 of 276 punches (52.9%), Marquez 51 of 147 (34.7%). For some five minutes after the fight's end Marquez was lying on the canvas being attended to by a ringside doctor before he was allowed to walk back to his corner, a stunned expression on his face. Brown was clearly overwhelmed by his achievement, being close to tears during the post-fight interview. His trainer Michael Louis did most of the talking, explaining how only a handful of Marquez's previous opponents had pressured him early in their fights and on each occasion the tactic had troubled the Mexican. Louis had decided to go with it and it worked spectacularly. Marquez stayed in the ring long enough to congratulate Brown and acknowledge that he'd been unable to cope with his quickness and aggression. He also said that such a disappointing defeat was not how he wanted to end his career and that he'd be back in 2007 looking to earn a rematch.

Brown is now 34-2-1(25), Marquez suffering just his third career defeat and falling to 42-3-1(34). Next up for Brown will be the Dominican Republic's Francisco Ortiz, who captured the vacant WBO lightweight belt in the evening's co-feature. In an absolute cracker of a bout Ortiz defeated Benny Diaz of the Philippines by majority decision (116-114, 115-115, 115-114). There were no knockdowns but that didn't stop it from being a classic confrontation. Employing a counter-punching style Ortiz attempted to stay on the outside for the duration but Diaz made that difficult for him, the former junior-lightweight titleholder muscling his way inside on numerous occasions and swinging for the fences in the later rounds. Ortiz held a three-point lead on all three scorecards through eight rounds and that really came in handy as Diaz finished strongly over the final four stanzas despite some nasty swelling around his right eye and a cut over his left.

The Filipino fighter's rally came just a little bit too late, though, Ortiz outlanding him 334-246 and improving his record to 37-2(30). Diaz had been dethroned as WBO junior-lightweight champion by compatriot Floriano Becite back in June and as is now 22-3-1(17). Brown and Ortiz will clash to become the inaugural IBO lightweight champion on a date to be determined, but it will almost certainly be in March. Last month the WBO and IBF came to an agreement to form a merger which will see them known collectively as the International Boxing Organisation with effect from January 1. The IBO will be staging a series of fight cards through the early months of 2007 to crown champions in each weight class, a fact that added some extra importance to last night's championship bouts. New Jersey promoter Robert Tattaglia will take on the role of IBO president once it comes into being and he was present at ringside and congratulated the combatants after each fight.

No matter what transpires next year, last night's events have seen Joe Brown take on the mantle of the best lightweight in world boxing today. There were many who doubted him and thought that Marquez would give him a boxing lesson but the shocking ease of Brown's victory almost made it appear that Mexico's premier fighter got old real fast since his fantastic display against Ortiz in March. No doubt Marquez will be put in against an opponent of considerably less talent than Brown in his next outing, and it will be interesting to see if last night was simply not his night or the beginning of the end for him. As for Brown, he now joins the likes of Bert Lytell and Jim Driscoll as one of the top non-IBL pound-for-pounders in the sport. However, if as expected he signs an exclusive contract with the IBO next year it will limit his options as far as future big money fights are concerned. Right now, though, that's probably the last thing on his mind.

[kenyan_cheena]

Suffolk
NEWS-HERALD

Thursday, November 30, 2006

VINCENT SCORES
1ST ROUND KO IN GERMANY

Story by Larry Russo

Fighting outside of the United States for the first time in his brief career Suffolk heavyweight boxer Ron E. Vincent knocked out Kentucky's Marvin Hart with a single left hook to the ribs two minutes into the opening round of their clash at the Sportpalast in Berlin, Germany. The contest was an International Boxing League world ranking bout and as a result of his victory the "REV" will be at #56 when the IBL releases their initial heavyweight world rankings in January. Vincent had not shown himself to be much of a power puncher in the past, preferring to work behind a surprisingly quick jab in most of his bouts before now. But he came out firing against Hart, connecting with a hard left hook early and a flush right hand that wobbled his opponent midway through the frame before delivering a wicked shot to the body that had Hart on his knees in pain. He was counted out at 2:16 of the opening round.

Vincent's record is now 8-0(4) while Hart fell to his first career defeat and is now 4-1(2). Earlier in the evening promising Baltimore heavyweight Mark Lyons bounced back from the disappointment of his shock knockout loss at the beginning of the month to score a 6th round TKO of Sweden's Olle Tandberg. Although he controlled most of the fight Lyons was not his usual aggressive self. He displayed a more patient and weary disposition but still floored Tandberg twice on the way to victory. Both knockdowns came from left hooks, the first two minutes into the 2nd and the other late in the 5th. The end came at the 2:32 mark of the final round, Lyons pummeling his foe throughout the frame before a hard right to the ribs had Tandberg clutching at his side with one hand and holding the ropes with the other. The referee stopped the contest moments later. Despite that Tandberg was a competitive opponent, especially in rounds one and four.

Tandberg actually landed the same amount of punches as Lyons (135) but couldn't overcome the deficit that those two knockdowns caused. Going into the final frame Lyons led by five points on two cards and four on the other. He improved his record to 8-1(8) and will be placed eight positions below Vincent at #64 in the world rankings. Tandberg dropped to 3-2-1(2) with his second loss under the IBL banner. Other winners in the early bouts were the Englishman Danny Williams, Italy's Luigi Musina and Portland's Thad Spencer. San Francisco's Floyd Johnson was unable to follow up his upset of Lyons with another victory as he was knocked out by Argentina's Luis Firpo in the 2nd round. Connecticut's Lawrence Clay-Bey maintained his undefeated record with a unanimous decision win over Larry Gains and hometown favourite Timo Hoffmann was defeated by the hard-working South African Johnny Arthur in the main event.

[kenyan_cheena]

Gonna take a break from TGPiS for the next couple of days. I'll be back at work on Tuesday and will start on the November month-end posts then during my lunch break.

[Jeff1787]

Good reading.....thanks for the time you put into this!!

[franklin_1]

Looks like I've bounced back well with two wins. Hopefully I can win my last ranking bout and start to get back to working my way towards a title fight.

[Romdawg88]

That was almost Pac-Man/Hattonish, hell of a win for Joe Brown. You know the IBO must be happy as they got the almost unbreakable claim to having the top LW in the world under their banner.

[kenyan_cheena]

Originally Posted by Romdawg88

That was almost Pac-Man/Hattonish, hell of a win for Joe Brown. You know the IBO must be happy as they got the almost unbreakable claim to having the top LW in the world under their banner.

That's certainly true. The way it worked out at the beginning is that the IBL couldn't persuade the division's alphabet champs to come over but were able to sign three of the JLW champs, two of whom (Limon and Nakata) will be fighting for the title in December.

Just to let you all know I have to post the schedule for the IBL finals before I get to the regular month end summaries. I've started working on it (week one of five is completed) but it could take some time to get done. I'll keep you updated on my progress.

[kenyan_cheena]

Originally Posted by franklin_1

Looks like I've bounced back well with two wins. Hopefully I can win my last ranking bout and start to get back to working my way towards a title fight.

Yep, your guy has done well, franklin. Even though he was unlucky in the tournament he's still undefeated and I don't think it'll be too long before he manages to secure a shot at the Americas title.

[kenyan_cheena]

Originally Posted by Jeff1787

Good reading.....thanks for the time you put into this!!

Thanks, Jeff. I enjoyed doing that story about your fighter. I'm really hoping he becomes one of the top contenders in the middleweight division. It would be great to see him reach the top of the mountain and claim the world championship.

[kenyan_cheena]

Originally Posted by kenyan_cheena

Just to let you all know I have to post the schedule for the IBL finals before I get to the regular month end summaries. I've started working on it (week one of five is completed) but it could take some time to get done. I'll keep you updated on my progress.

Progress report: I've got all the matchups done. Now I just have to update each fighter's record and select some of the locations for the various fight cards. So I'd say in about 55 hours from now it should be posted.