The Federal Boxing Alliance

[Romdawg88]

A bunch of good fights so far, though man those WBO boys ain't having alot of luck right now. Pretty suprised Ali stopped Lennox I figured he just win a UD. Has there been a more unimpressive looking undefeated fighter then Meldrick Taylor, has he had one great fight yet I can't remember any, well lucky for him the some of the other top fighters, Judah and Harris, in his divison seem to be as flakly as him. Must say it was cool to see Terrell break out the Ram Form of the Zodiac Sword School and attempt to break Bowe's hands with his head, to bad it didn't work.

[GForce]

April '05: Notable Results Cont.

WBA Jr. Lightweight: Hector 'Macho' Camacho (3-1, 2 KO) vs Rocky Lockridge (3-2)

They share TKO losses to champion Alexis Arguello, Lockridge in the semifinal and Camacho in the final. Camacho hasn't fought since his loss, while Lockridge has fought twice, his latest a shocking loss to Roberto Garcia, who dropped Lockridge in the 10th to steal the decision. Camacho controls most of the first half of the fight, but after a cut on the outside of his right eye in the 6th, Camacho seems to leave himself more open to solid shots from Lockridge, who dominates the second half of the fight, including a 10th round in which he commands the first 2 minutes before holding off a Camacho charge in the final minute. Lockridge threw many more punches and was the aggressor, particularly in the second half. That said, Camacho lands 37% of his blows while Lockridge lands 19%, despite throwing nearly twice as many punches. In the end, bouyed by a clean sweep in the 10th round, Lockridge eeks out the narrow unanimous decision, 98-93, 96-95, 96-95.

Rocky Lockridge UD 10 Hector Camacho

WBC Light-Heavyweight: Michael Spinks (3-1, 3 KO) vs Jimmy Dupree (2-2)

Spinks takes to the ring for the first time since losing the tournament final to Antonio Tarver. On his way there, he knocked out Dupree in 8, so these guys know each other well. Apparently, Spinks didn't know Dupree could punch, because 20 seconds into the fight Spinks is flat on his back. He rises at 8, looking like he was hit with a crowbar, and Dupree mauls Spinks for the rest of the way. Many refs would have stopped it, but Lupe Garcia allows it to go on. Spinks wakes up and gets his act together, battering Dupree for much of the rest of the fight, closing his left eye in the process before, after a brutal 6th and 2:30 minutes of domination in the 7th, Garcia saves Dupree from further punishment.

Michael Spinks TKO 7 Jimmy Dupree

WBC Flyweight: Eric Morel (3-1) vs Prudencio Cardona (3-1)

Morel dominated Cardona last July, but this fight would mark Morel's return to the ring after a devastating TKO loss to Miguel Canto in their title fight, when Morel broke his hand in three places and was unable to continue. He was ahead on all cards at the time of the stoppage. Cardona thought he could avenge his loss, Morel figured he could return against an opponent he dominated the first time around. Cardona sets a frantic pace, but Morel more or less keeps up with him and lands far more power blows. He seems to tire late, though, and Cardona works him over badly in both the 9th and the 10th. He can't put Morel down, and when the fight goes to the judges, Cardona's last ditch effort is not enough. Morel returns victorious, 98-93, 97-94, 96-95.
Canto pledged to give Morel a rematch after their first fight, given the ending. It remains to be seen if he'll honor that promise.

Eric Morel UD 10 Prudencio Cardona

More to come...

GH

[GForce]

April '05: Notable Results Cont.

IBF Light-Heavyweight: Matthew Saad Muhammad (3-1, 3 KO) vs Mate Parlov (2-1)

The always exciting Muhammad takes on former Gold Medalist Parlov. Parlov is polished, but his lack of power puts him at a vast disadvantage. But here, he comes ready to rumble and lets it all hang out. With heavy leather flying, it's Muhammad who hits the canvas in the 4th. But from that point on, Muhammad assumes control. There are a couple of rounds that are debatable, but none Parlov wins clearly. Still, when the ring announcer says "we have a split decision," Muhammad's camp looks the 50/50 blend of panicked and angry. All cards are 95-94...two of those are for Muhammad, who eeks out the decision. The fight was tied on all cards through 9. Two gave Muhammad the 10th, giving him the win. The busy Muhammad throws twice as many blows, but the tactical, economical Parlov still lands more, landing at near 50% to Muhammad's 20%. It's a questionable decision, but not a terrible one. Most ringside analysts agreed with the decision.

Matthew Saad Muhammad SD 10 Mate Parlov

WBA Featherweight: Naseem Hamed (2-2-2) vs Manny Pacquiao (4-1, 3 KO)

It's guaranteed entertainment when you put pretty much any two guys in the WBA's Featherweight division together, but this one was such an intriguing style matchup that analysts had a field day. Hamed has been thoroughly enigmatic, showing flashes of brilliance but often having looked lost. His losses came to Erik Morales and Calvin Grove, an excellent fighter and a good one, respectively. Pac's only loss was a shocker to Freddie Norwood, whose Cinderella run in the tournament took him through Barrera and Pacquiao before Salvador Sanchez ended his dreams.

Hamed controls the opening round and much of the second, as Pacquiao seems confused how to handle him. But ultimately, he simply decides to bang ahead. And the war is on. These two land lots of hard, HARD shots, and miss many more that would have decapitated each other. And through 7 rounds, Hamed is up a point on two cards and 2 points on the third.

Forty seconds into the 8th, Pacquiao blasts Hamed with a hook, and Hamed tastes the canvas. He tries to get up, but slips. But he makes it to his feet at nine, and he is allowed to continue. Pacquiao puts him down again at 2:10, and again Hamed struggles but makes it back to his feet at 9. He survives the round.

Hamed's heart has been questioned, but he shows a ton in the 9th, as he comes out loaded for bear. Pacquiao is sent reeling throughout the round, Hamed just unleashing from every angle, and at round's end Pacquiao looks nearly out on his feet.

But that's the last in Hamed's tank, and Pacquiao wasn't on empty. Hamed goes down again in the 10th, as Pacquiao dominates the round and Hamed is left, despite a strong effort - arguably his best - on the short end again.

Pacquiao wins 95-91, 95-91, 94-93.

Manny Pacquiao UD 10 Naseem Hamed

April was a good month for fights...lots of fun ones to watch. We'll see what May has in store after the WBO fights are wrapped up.

GH

[meade95]

Love that Rocky Lockridge beat "Macho" Camacho! Though too bad he didn't knock him out!! (Hard to catch that "running" macho man though!)

[GForce]

Originally Posted by meade95

Love that Rocky Lockridge beat "Macho" Camacho! Though too bad he didn't knock him out!! (Hard to catch that "running" macho man though!)

Agreed...it's funny how even in a game like this you find yourself rooting for/against some guys. Love seeing Camacho get beat

GH

[Romdawg88]

I'm kind sad that Camacho lose, I was rooting for him though adimttly he's not the kind of fighter I normally like at all but my dad is good friends with some of Camacho's family and even hung with Macho a few times.

[meade95]

Originally Posted by Romdawg88

I'm kind sad that Camacho lose, I was rooting for him though adimttly he's not the kind of fighter I normally like at all but my dad is good friends with some of Camacho's family and even hung with Macho a few times.

That's pretty cool. Camacho really was extremely talented. Had a heck a career. Just not a style I like.

[GForce]

May Title Fights

A tame month title-wise here, but each have interest. Jones and Monzon make their first defenses, though both are expected to be walkovers. Kobozev and Chang make their allowed interim defenses before needing to give mandated rematches to Wayne Braithwaite and Fernando Montiel, respectively. And Arguello, Lopez and Tszyu look to hold on to their belts as Arguello makes his second defense and Tszyu and Lopez make their third. With mandatory defenses slated to be defined after June, it would be easy for these guys (particularly Lopez and Tszyu) to sit back and get ready, but they're staying active.

Champs listed first.

WBA Cruiserweight: Sergei Kobozev vs Brian LaSpada
WBA Light-Heavyweight: Roy Jones Jr. vs Reggie Johnson
WBA Jr. Lightweight: Alexis Arguello vs Acelino Freitas
WBA Jr. Bantamweight: Tae-Il Chang vs Celes Kobayashi
WBA Flyweight: Ricardo Lopez vs Yuri Arbachakov

WBC Middleweight: Carlos Monzon vs Gomeo Brennan
WBC Jr. Welterweight: Kostya Tszyu vs Allan Vester

IBF: No titles defended

GH

[meade95]

Originally Posted by GForce

May Title Fights

A tame month title-wise here, but each have interest. Jones and Monzon make their first defenses, though both are expected to be walkovers. Kobozev and Chang make their allowed interim defenses before needing to give mandated rematches to Wayne Braithwaite and Fernando Montiel, respectively. And Arguello, Lopez and Tszyu look to hold on to their belts as Arguello makes his second defense and Tszyu and Lopez make their third. With mandatory defenses slated to be defined after June, it would be easy for these guys (particularly Lopez and Tszyu) to sit back and get ready, but they're staying active.

Champs listed first.

WBA Cruiserweight: Sergei Kobozev vs Brian LaSpada
WBA Light-Heavyweight: Roy Jones Jr. vs Piero DelPapa
WBA Jr. Lightweight: Alexis Arguello vs Acelino Freitas
WBA Jr. Bantamweight: Tae-Il Chang vs Celes Kobayashi
WBA Flyweight: Ricardo Lopez vs Yuri Arbachakov

WBC Middleweight: Carlos Monzon vs Gomeo Brennan
WBC Jr. Welterweight: Kostya Tszyu vs Allan Vester

IBF: No titles defended

GH

Ok. Lets see how I do -

I'll go with -

Sergei Kobozev
Roy Jones
Alexis Arguello
Celes Kobayashi
Ricardo Lopez (only if you have R. Lopez adjusted to fight at Fly...in real life moving up to Fly Wt to take on Yuri would have been too much).

Carlos Monzon
Allan Vester (my upset).

[Romdawg88]

I'm taking Kobezev, Jones Jr., Arguello, Zoo, and Monson. The other two fights I don't know anything about three of the fighters so I'm taking Lopez and Kobayashi, cause Meade's taking him and the man knows is lighter weight fighters.

[GForce]

Meade...yes, Lopez is adjusted to fight at Fly. To do otherwise since I eliminated the strawweight class seemed a bit unfair. Same with Super Middleweights I put at light-heavy like Chris Eubank and Nigel Benn.

Vester over Tszyu is an interesting pick. I think Arbachkov is going to give Lopez a tough time. Kobayashi over Chang would create yet another round-robin type scenario for the belt, much like the Roman/Tapia/Jensen situation.

I expect all champions to hold serve, though Chang's complete lack of power puts him at a real risk. He's fighting at pre-prime, with Kobayashi still at beginner, that difference could tilt an expected decision his way.

Of course, if Kobayashi wins the guy who may really get hosed is Khaosai Galaxy, since champions have a year to make a mandatory defense against the #1 contender. Galaxy is fighting this month and looms near the top contender position. Despite his two shocking losses, Galaxy would be fully expected to take out Montiel, Kobayashi or Chang if they met. But another champion change could put Galaxy on a waiting list of sorts.

GH

[GForce]

May Signings

The following fighters were eligible to be let out of their WBO contracts. Signings, or rejections, are listed below.

Lonnie Bennett (LHW) - WBA
Rita Ruvalcaba (MW) - unsigned
Ki-Soo Kim (JMW) - WBA
Carlos Santos-Robles (JMW) - WBC
Joe Louis Manley (JWW) - unsigned
Jesse James Leija (JWW) - WBA
Joel Perez (JWW) -WBA
Justin Juuko (LW) - WBA
Hiroshi Kobayashi (JLW) - WBA
Vuyani Bungu (FW) - WBA
Jose Legra (FW) - IBF
Kaokor Galaxy (FW) - WBA
Cuahtemoc Gomez (BW) - WBA
Kenji Matsumura (JBW) - WBA
Yo-Sam Choi (FLY) - unsigned

GH

[GForce]

The Roy Jones title fight has been changed...he's fighting Reggie Johnson. Scheduling error on my part.

GH

[GForce]

A few other good/interesting fights of note to occur in May:

Manny Pacquiao vs Marco Antonio Barrera
Ray Leonard vs Ricardo Mayorga
Khaosai Galaxy vs Gustavo Ballas
Gerry Cooney vs John Ruiz
Corey Spinks vs Donald Curry
Tim Austin vs Jeff Chandler

GH

[Romdawg88]

Damn Pac-Man vs MAB should be fun times, well as long as it doesn't turn out like it did in real life. Poor Mayorga is going to get his face smashed in, that fight is going to be ugly. On a final note, WAR Curry and Cooney the faster we can get rid of Spinks and espically Ruiz the better life will be.

[meade95]

Originally Posted by GForce

A few other good/interesting fights of note to occur in May:

Manny Pacquiao vs Marco Antonio Barrera
Ray Leonard vs Ricardo Mayorga
Khaosai Galaxy vs Gustavo Ballas
Gerry Cooney vs John Ruiz
Corey Spinks vs Donald Curry
Tim Austin vs Jeff Chandler

GH

All interesting fights - Look forward to seeing how they pan out -

I'll take -

Manny TKO
SRL UD
KG KO
GC KO (this will be an interesting one...if Ruiz survives early..he'll win)
DC TKO
JF TKO

[GForce]

May Title Fight Recaps

WBC Jr. Welterweight Title Fight: Kostya Tszyu (6-0-1, 6 KO) vs Allan Vester (4-1)

Another WBO promotee gets a title shot. And it's an eventful one. Vester shows early he's going to try and wage war with Tszyu and, the first round is a slugfest. With a furious last 30 seconds, Vester takes the round, but Tszyu smiles walking back to his corner, seeming pleased this is the course the fight will take. He's less pleased when a minute into the second, and with Vester throwing him off, the two crack heads in a clinch and it's Tszyu who emerges with a gash over the outside of his left eye. A bloody Tszyu pummels Vester in the final minute but Vester survives. Battling an eye that's getting worse by the moment, Tszyu is ferocious over the next two rounds, dropping Vester in both the 3rd and 4th. But by the 5th, it's clear the cut can't be stopped and Tszyu is a mess while Vester tries to keep the pressure on. Vester wins an ugly 5th round, and early in the 6th the physician determines enough is enough. The fight goes to the cards, and Tszyu, on the strength of his two knockdowns, eeks out the decision 48-45, 47-46, 47-46.

Kostya Tszyu UD 6 Allan Vester

WBC Cruiserweight Title Fight: Sergei Kobozev (3-1, 1 KO) vs Brian LaSpada (0-2)

Kobozev wastes no time in defending his belt, taken last month from Wayne Braithwaite. LaSpada tries to fight a measured, controlled bout, and he's doing so efficiently through an even first three rounds. Kobozev, meanwhile, is just throwing everything but the kitchen sink at LaSpada, missing 80% of the time but controlling him a bit by keeping him on the defensive with sheer volume, hoping something big will break through at some point. It does in the 4th, when a combination blasts LaSpada and puts him down for the count. Kobozev impresses in his first defense.

Sergei Kobozev KO 4 Brian LaSpada

More to come...

GH

[Romdawg88]

Originally Posted by GForce

May Title Fight Recaps

WBC Jr. Welterweight Title Fight: Kostya Tszyu (6-0-1, 6 KO) vs Allan Vester (4-1)

Another WBO promotee gets a title shot. And it's an eventful one. Vester shows early he's going to try and wage war with Tszyu and, the first round is a slugfest. With a furious last 30 seconds, Vester takes the round, but Tszyu smiles walking back to his corner, seeming pleased this is the course the fight will take. He's less pleased when a minute into the second, and with Vester throwing him off, the two crack heads in a clinch and it's Tszyu who emerges with a gash over the outside of his left eye. A bloody Tszyu pummels Vester in the final minute but Vester survives. Battling an eye that's getting worse by the moment, Tszyu is ferocious over the next two rounds, dropping Vester in both the 3rd and 4th. But by the 5th, it's clear the cut can't be stopped and Tszyu is a mess while Vester tries to keep the pressure on. Vester wins an ugly 5th round, and early in the 6th the physician determines enough is enough. The fight goes to the cards, and Tszyu, on the strength of his two knockdowns, eeks out the decision 48-45, 47-46, 47-46.

Kostya Tszyu UD 6 Allan Vester

WBC Cruiserweight Title Fight: Sergei Kobozev (3-1, 1 KO) vs Brian LaSpada (0-2)

Kobozev wastes no time in defending his belt, taken last month from Wayne Braithwaite. LaSpada tries to fight a measured, controlled bout, and he's doing so efficiently through an even first three rounds. Kobozev, meanwhile, is just throwing everything but the kitchen sink at LaSpada, missing 80% of the time but controlling him a bit by keeping him on the defensive with sheer volume, hoping something big will break through at some point. It does in the 4th, when a combination blasts LaSpada and puts him down for the count. Kobozev impresses in his first defense.

Sergei Kobozev KO 4 Brian LaSpada

More to come...

GH

Well I'm 2-0 in my picks so far but damn Meade almost called the upset on that Vester-Zoo fight.

[GForce]

May Title Fight Recaps Cont.

WBA Flyweight Title Fight: Ricardo Lopez (6-0, 4 KO) vs Yuri Arbachkov (4-0, 4 KO)

Arbachkov was devastating in his WBO stint, and Lopez gets a ton of credit for taking on yet another tough opponent, making his third defense of his title in five months. He's trying to turn himself in to a draw, and fights like this will do it. Just a war, both guys rattling each other time and time again. Arbachkov is a tough customer, and Lopez is hurt several times during the bout. But his pinpoint punching ultimately takes its toll on Arbachkov, who wears down as the fight proceeds. Lopez drops him in the 8th and the 10th, before knocking him out in the 11th, a third successive defense of his title. Technically, he can wait until the end of the year to fight whoever is #1, but it's unlikely Lopez will take that route.

Ricardo Lopez KO11 Yuri Arbachkov

WBC Middleweight Title Fight: Carlos Monzon (4-0, 2 KO) vs Gomeo Brennan (1-2)

Monzon makes his first defense, and several reports came in that he had overtrained for the bout, taking Brennan very seriously despite his 1-2 record. Brennan didn't have the power to hurt Monzon, but he was crafty enough to give him trouble if he was on his game. On this night he was, and Brennan seems to be getting support because he's fighting well enough not to be destroyed by the ferocious Monzon. He's not letting Monzon get going, and as such, he's keeping the fight close. In fact, it comes out afterward, after 11 rounds, the fight is even on 1 card and Brennan trails by only a point on another. It may not have been THAT close, but Brennan was doing a good job of keeping himself in the fight. That changes in the final 4 rounds though when he just runs out of steam. Monzon dominates 12 and 13, nearly knocks Brennan cold in the 14th before cruising to a dominant 15th. That puts it 5 points in his favor, and makes it a bit wider margin that the fight really was. Monzon takes the unanimous decision 145-140, 145-139, 145-139.

Carlos Monzon UD 15 Gomeo Brennan

More to come...

GH

[GForce]

May Title Fight Recaps Cont.

WBA Light-Heavyweight Title Fight: Roy Jones Jr. (4-0, 3 KO) vs Reggie Johnson (2-2)

Jones makes his first defense since his questioned stoppage victory over Bob Foster in the tournament final. Johnson comes in off an impressive, hard-fought close decision victory over the well-regarded Jeff Harding. But Jones' camp felt sure Johnson couldn't hurt him and was a safe fight. They were right. After starting typically slowly, Jones opens up and Johnson spends most of the next half hour chomping on leather as Jones hits Johnson - a fair defensive fighter - essentially at will before stopping him by TKO with 10 seconds left in round 8. One defense in, Jones has his eyes on unifying with IBF Champ Virgil Hill, but he has some work to do before that, including a likely rematch with Foster as his mandatory later this year.


Roy Jones Jr. TKO 8 (punishment) Reggie Johnson

WBA Jr. Lightweight Title Fight: Alexis Arguello (5-0, 5 KO) vs Acelino Freitas (2-1, 1 KO)

Arguello, coming off a dominant first defense against Idelfonso Bethelmy takes on a much stronger opponent in the exciting Freitas, whose willingness to fire away and go toe-to-toe makes him thrilling to watch but, arguably, tailor made for Arguello. He had some issues during training, it was reported. No way to tell how much they affected him, but this was a scintillating performance by Arguello, who nearly puts Freitas out on his feet in the first and dominates the rest of the way, dropping him in the 5th for a flash late, and twice more in the 6th before referee Fred Steinwinder says it's enough. Arguello looks thoroughly unstoppable at this point, as Freitas is taken completely out of his gameplan...Arguello throws 90+ punches per round...Freitas, known for his fast and wild pace: 19.

Alexis Arguello TKO 6 (punishment) Acelino Freitas

More to come...

GH