The Heavyweight Boxing Federation

[Romdawg88]

Jeez now Cooney watch blow Riddick out in a round or something like that but yeah he ain't got any chance at making it to the second round huh. Oh well maybe once this Tourment is over the guy can pull himself together and actually accomplish something.

[kenyan_cheena]

Originally Posted by Romdawg88

Jeez now Cooney watch blow Riddick out in a round or something like that but yeah he ain't got any chance at making it to the second round huh. Oh well maybe once this Tourment is over the guy can pull himself together and actually accomplish something.

Yep, there's a few fighters who you could say that about. Gerrie Coetzee is 0-3, as is Nathan Mann.

[kenyan_cheena]

VINCENNES AND BOWE TO THROW
FIRST PITCH(ES) AT DODGERS SEASON OPENER

Tuesday 26 March 2002

Today, the management of the Brooklyn Dodgers baseball club contacted both HBF President Michael Vincennes and the #5 seed in the federation's World Championship tournament Riddick Bowe and requested that they be available to throw opening pitches at the Dodgers home opener against the New Jersey Titans this coming Monday the 1st of April.

Both Brooklyn natives and Dodger fanatics, Bowe and Vincennes gladly accepted the offer.

"The Dodger organisation will be honored when Riddick Bowe and Michael Vincennes throw the opening pitches this coming Monday," said Dodgers GM Lamar Rydell. "I heard Mr. Vincennes speaking about baseball on Saturday night, and it really just took my admiration for the man to another level. The fact that he is a lifelong Dodgers fan just makes it all the more better. As for Riddick Bowe, how could anyone in Brooklyn not be proud of the man? To see him enter the ring last night proudly wearing the white and blue, plus the words he spoke after the bout ... He is someone who every Brooklynite can look up to and be proud of. And he really has a genuine chance of bringing the HBF's first World Championship here to Brooklyn. That would be just incredible. It will be an honor to have both of these men at our home opener on Monday."

"This is every boy's dream," said Vincennes, a huge smile on his face. "I never thought I'd experience anything like this during my life. It really does make me feel like a kid again and I can't tell you how grateful I am to Mr. Rydell for honoring me with this opportunity."

"I'm just blown away," said Bowe. "You know, I'm only 22 years-old and to be given this chance, to throw out the season-opening pitch at a Dodgers game? That's the kind of thing they let people who have actually achieved something in their life do. I ain't done squat yet, but there's no way I'd refuse this chance. Me and President Vincennes, side-by-side at Ebbets. That's gonna be surreal, man."

President Vincennes was also keen to discuss the pair of New York City fight cards that have taken place during these past three days.

"They were just great events, both of them," he said. "I have to say, they were really worth the wait. Our New Yorkers did themselves proud with their behaviour on the nights and this is just the beginning. The HBF is going to be visiting our birthplace more frequently from now on. But as for the cards themselves, just fascinating. Earnie Shavers and Joe Bugner really made strong statements with their performances. It's fair to say that they were more explosive than Tunney and Bowe, who were both exceptional in their own right. I can really envision MSG and Ebbets hosting the back-to-back cards when Tunney clashes with Shavers and Bowe takes on Bugner. That's something we'll really try to make happen, because it would just be a terrific double act."

[kenyan_cheena]

SACTOWN SMACKDOWN:
TOLES AND MARTIN RUN RIOT AT ARCO

Tuesday 26 March 2002

Tonight, at Sacramento's Arco Arena, Detroit's Rosco Toles and Philadelphia's Leotis Martin duplicated their fantastic debuts of five weeks ago with easy victories during the second fight card of the United States Pacific Coast Boxing League.

The #2 seed in the league, 24 year-old Martin was in sizzling form, sending New York's Greg Williams to the canvas three times on the way to a unanimous decision victory (59-52, 57-54, 59-52). The New Yorker had been victorious on debut but tonight, against Martin, he was given a boxing lesson.

17 year-old Toles (the league's #1 seed) pitched a near shutout against Reno's Howard King, with the verdict reading 60-54, 59-55, 60-54. Toles once again topped the 200 mark in punches landed, connecting with 201 blows. As in his debut, the Michigan native dominated proceedings behind a piston-like left jab. King was never in the contest.

Judging by their first two bouts, it appears certain that these two slick east coast combatants are on a collision course for the west coast tournament's final. They are a class above the rest of the league and it's bound to be quite a tussle when Toles and Martin eventually meet...

UNDERCARD RESULTS

* Home state fighter Jim Barry put in a disappointing performance as he was comprehensively defeated by Colorado's Jim Flynn. The scorecards read 59-53, 59-55, 59-54. Barry was almost KO'd in the second round, and is now 0-2 after a similar loss to Greg Williams on debut. Flynn, on the other hand, is perfect at 2-0.

* In an uneventful bout, Terry Daniels of Beaumont, Texas scored something of an upset when he defeated the league's #5 seed David Bey by unanimous decision, 59-56 on all three cards. Bey, a native of Philadelphia, is now 0-1-1 while Daniels improved to 1-1.

* In a tougher contest than expected, New York's Graham Jefferson scored a unanimous decision victory against San Diego's Charley Powell, 59-56, 60-55, 59-56. Although those scorecards might not have shown it, Powell gave Jefferson quite a challenging time, in particular during the first and fourth rounds. Unfortunately, he wasn't nearly consistent enough and his record is now 0-2. Jefferson is 2-0.

* In perhaps the most even, hard-fought contest of the night, the judges were unable to separate Freddie Beshore of El Monte, California and Tony Doyle of Salt Lake City after six rounds of action. The final verdict was a majority draw, 58-56 (Beshore), 57-57 (x2). Considering that Beshore is the #3 seed and Doyle is #11, it could be looked upon as quite an upset. Both men remain winless with 0-1-1 records.


SUMMARY OF RESULTS
HEAVYWEIGHT BOXING FEDERATION FIGHT CARD
TUESDAY 26 MARCH 2002
ARCO ARENA, SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA, USA

THE U.S. PACIFIC COAST BOXING LEAGUE

OPENING BOUT

(7) Jim Flynn UD6 (6) Jim Barry

PRELIMINARY 1

(8) Terry Daniels UD6 (5) David Bey

PRELIMINARY 2

(4) Graham Jefferson UD6 (12) Charley Powell

SUPPORT BOUT

(3) Freddie Beshore D6 (11) Tony Doyle

CO-FEATURE

(2) Leotis Martin UD6 (10) Greg Williams

MAIN EVENT

(1) Rosco Toles UD6 (9) Howard King

[kenyan_cheena]

A MARRIAGE MADE IN BOXING HEAVEN

Wednesday 27 March 2002

Back on Saturday night, Heavyweight Boxing Federation President Michael Vincennes was interviewed by Stuart Scott on ESPN's SportsCenter. During the interview, Scott asked Vincennes about claims that the federation was negotiating a sponsorship deal with a major sports clothing label. Scott stated that speculation had pointed towards Lonsdale and Nike, and while the HBF Presdient confirmed that negotiations had taken place and were in fact completed, he would not divulge the name of the company they had been with. He would only say that all would be revealed "in the next few days."

Well, today Vincennes announced the name of the company that the sponsorship deal had been made with, and for many who had supposedly been in the know, it was quite a surprise.

"Everlast is a company that has an association with boxing stretching back to the 1950's," said Vincennes at today's midday press conference. "Amateur boxing has been an almost constant employer of Everlast products since that time, fitting out their competitors the world over. Our USA Olympic Boxing Team has been decked out in Everlast gear at every Olympic tournament since 1960. It seems to be a natural step for the Heavyweight Boxing Federation to enter into an agreement with the company."

(to be continued)

[kenyan_cheena]

(continuation)

The sponsorship deal with the Bronx-based company is believed to be in the high eight-figure region. One of the conditions of the agreement is that a number of commercials promoting Everlast and featuring most of the high profile HBF competitors (Tunney, Liston, Johnson, Holmes, Bowe, etc.) will be made. These will be shown on television, on the internet and in movie theaters.

"As I said on Saturday, this is a deal that will be of great benefit to both organisations," said Vincennes. "I know that Mr. Jacob Golomb Jr., whose father created this great company some 65 years ago, is just ecstatic with it. Unfortunately, he could not be here today, but he will be commenting on our partnership in the coming days."

Vincennes went on to say that the federation will use the majority of the sponsorship money to develop the sport of boxing, both here in the United States and overseas, particularly in Africa, a region which Vincennes has previously said "holds unlimited potential".

"Before this deal was made, the HBF was already in a healthy financial position, a position where all of our expenses, including such things as prize money for fighters, were more than adequately covered," said Vincennes. "This sponsorship deal will allow us to strengthen the future of this sport, to put systems in place that will remain productive for many years to come."

However, Vincennes would not say if the funds would enable the federation to expand the sport into the lower weight divisions, a topic that was hot for a short time five weeks ago but has all but died since. The HBF President's response to this line of questioning sent a murmur through the gathered media.

One journalist pressed Vincennes on the matter.

"Surely, President Vincennes, this would be an ideal time to announce an expansion of your federation?" said the journalist. "Those 'unnamed businessmen' who met with you seem to have vanished off the face of the earth. Why not pre-empt any announcement they may make?"

"I'm sure that boxing expansion will become a reality in the future, either through the HBF or elsewhere," said Vincennes. "But if you believe that this sponsorship deal will enable the Heavyweight Boxing Federation to expand from one division to four, or even five or six, you're greatly mistaken."

Vincennes would not answer any more questions on the subject and moments later the HBF President politely excused himself, stating that he was due to host a business luncheon within the next thirty minutes...

[kenyan_cheena]

Sorry about the lack of updates the last few days. I was halfway through writing up the Manchester fight card three days ago, but haven't had time to finish it. I'll get it done in the next day or two.

[kenyan_cheena]

MANCHESTER MADNESS!
MERCER AND MCCALL TRADE BOMBS AT RINGSIDE!!

Wednesday 27 March 2002

It was a fight card that promised much and delivered even more. Much more.

Tonight, at the MEN Arena in Manchester, England, the simmering animosity between Ray Mercer and Elmer Ray's "Florida Alliance" exploded into a full-blown, wild brawl in the minutes after Mercer's unanimous decision victory against New York's Tommy Jackson.

An account of the evening's extraordinary events follows...

***

Opening Bout

Pasadena's Carl Morris and Chicago's Toxie Hall clashed in an absolute barnstormer of a contest. It was a terrific beginning to the night, with both men simply tearing into each other for six rounds.

Hall made a great start and was leading by two points on all three cards going into the fourth round. He was just being more aggressive, throwing more punches and really looked like he'd be good enough to pull off the upset. But in a stirring display, Morris (12th seed in the 1st Defense tournament) rallied to sweep the remaining rounds on two of the scorecards. He pummeled Hall in the fifth round, having the Californian on the verge of defeat before the bell saved him.

In the end, the verdict was a split decision, with Morris the victor, 58-57, 57-58, 58-57.

This bout will surely have to be given heavy consideration for Fight of the Year. The crowd was constantly coming to their feet during the bout as the two combatants traded toe-to-toe. Morris landed 160 punches at 41%, while Hall connected with 183 at 47%, the majority of his good work coming in the opening two rounds.

Morris is now 2-1, while the 36th-seeded Chicago native dropped to 1-2, but gained a bunch of new fans...

Preliminary 1

The 5th seed in the 1st Defense tournament, Cuba's Nino Valdes put on another impressive display tonight, defeating Chicago's Bill Tate by a one-sided unanimous decision, 60-51, 60-52, 59-52.

Valdes sent Tate to the canvas in the first, second and fifth rounds. All three knockdowns were from single punches, as the Cuban showed once again that he has some serious firepower. If he stays on his present course and qualifies for the second stage of the tournament, Valdes will find himself in Group Two and will therefore more than likely avoid a clash with the tournament's almost unbackable favourite, Rocky Marciano.

It goes without saying that this 17 year-old slugger is the pride of Cuba right now. One can only guess what will happen if he manages to make it all the way to the tournament final...

Preliminary 2

The first World Championship tournament bout of the night brought with it the first (but not last) appearance of "The Florida Alliance."

Tampa's Tommy Gomez was accompanied to the ring by fellow Florida fighters Elmer Ray, Terone Haynes and Oliver McCall. The trio created an imposing presence in the ring as the announcer introduced the combatants.

However, the audience wasn't going to let the Florida quartet intimidate their man. Blackpool's Brian London stood across the ring from Gomez, his 0-2 record including a split decision defeat to tournament 12th seed George Chuvalo on debut and a hard- fought 6th round KO loss to Ray Mercer. This crowd was going to give him all the support they could muster, and they roundly booed Gomez and his companions.

Sadly, nothing they did was going to help Brian London on this night. Tommy Gomez dominated the willing Englishman, winning by unanimous decision 59-55 (x2), 58-56. He was in control of every round but the second, which London won quite handily to the audience's delight. But that was all he gave them. Gomez, a slugger through-and-through, just punished London with hooks and crosses, rocking him on five separate occasions during round four and cutting him above the left eye towards round's end.

The punch totals for the fight showed the hopelessness of London's situation. Gomez connected with 142 of 268 punches (53%), while London threw 406 shots and landed only 86 of them (21%).

Gomez and his fellow "Alliance" members made sure they celebrated loud in the ring afterwards. Their combined record is now 10-0(5), and judging by their two most recent efforts (Gomez and Ray) and the upcoming opposition, they might stay undefeated for some time to come.

"Jus' a great showin' from Tommy G., y'all," said Elmer Ray. "Brother was never troubled, man. Jus' dominant."

Soon after, they departed the ring, but Oliver McCall left some parting words.

"We ain't leavin' the building," he said. "No way we're gonna leave Manchester without sayin' hello to our good buddy, Ray Mercer..."

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Support Bout

On Monday, Miami's Al Jones made a bold prediction.

"After I be done with Al Ettore on Wednesday night, Elmer Ray gonna be beggin' me to join his alliance, y'all," Jones said.

When asked today about the #37 seed's boast, Ray laughed.

"The brother might be big, but what he done so far been pretty small, man," Ray said. "He lucky he ain't 0-2. I ain't ever see such a weak big man before. Al Jones ain't 'lliance material, sho nuff. "

On the Miami fighter's chances against Ettore, Ray had this to say.

"The brother's gon' get 'is ass handed to him on a platter, y'all."

Well, Elmer Ray couldn't have known how right he would end up being. A fighter with even less physical strength than Jones, Phiadelphia's Al Ettore gave the Miami native a boxing lesson, landing some 203 punches (almost twice as many as Jones) on the way to a dominant unanimous decision victory (60-55, 60-56, 60-55).

Whether or not this result can be considered an upset is debatable, because it now appears that the HBF made quite a big mistake when they inserted Jones as the 37th seed in the World Championship tournament. The 6'6" fighter has been a major disappointment and it seems that his size impressed HBF scouts more than it should have during the October auditions. Jones has shown that he is limited as a boxer and, as Elmer Ray intimated, he must be the weakest big man in the entire Heavyweight Boxing Federation. He has yet to fight any of the three other top four seeds in the group, but he is already a terrible 1-2.

As for Ettore, he was jubilant in the moments after the verdict was announced. With a record of 1-1-1, the 101st seed will be placed above Jones in the next set of group standings.

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Co-Feature

Moments after Al Jones had departed the ring with head bowed, Elmer Ray and the Florida Alliance took up their ringside seats, ready to play the role of spectators (and scouts) during Ray Mercer's bout with New York's Tommy Jackson. Dressed in various combinations of the "Alliance" colours (black, red and white), their presence caused quite a commotion amongst the audience.

It wasn't long before Mercer and Jackson had made their way to the ring, Mercer accompanied by an entourage that was larger than that from his previous bout. It was a clear indicator that the possibility of a confrontation with Elmer Ray and co. was not far from the Jacksonville native's mind and it gave a good deal of amusement to the Florida Alliance members observing at ringside.

When the fight finally got under way, it turned out to be a much tougher affair than Mercer would have anticipated. Indeed, like the night's opening contest, it was an absolutely thrilling contest. Jackson, who had split his first two bouts against Tommy Gomez (a loss) and Al Jones (a victory), was able to tag Mercer with alarming regularity, connecting with a surprising 147 punches at 64%. Although he never really hurt Mercer, Jackson was a more than willing competitor during the first half of the bout and also during the final round. But as impressive as he was, the Florida fighter was even better. Mercer put on an offensive display that was a joy to witness, working his backside off on the way to a unanimous decision victory (60-54, 59-55, 60-54). The 21st seed in the World Championship tournament landed 214 punches at 38%, throwing 334 more punches than his New York opponent. Jackson was sporting a nasty cut above his right eye at the final bell.

Mercer was ecstatic afterwards, despite what many considered a sub-standard defensive effort.

"He didn't hurt me, so that doesn't matter," Mercer said. "Look at the scorecards, you'll see I almost pitched a perfect game."

Mercer was asked how he felt about his chances of qualifying for the second stage of the tournament.

"I'm confident," he said. "I'm 2-0-1 now, that's probably gonna be just a half-win behind both Gomez and Chuvalo by the end of the night. So I'm in touch with the top two, and I've just got to concentrate on staying undefeated the rest of the way through. If I do that, I'll qualify, no doubt about that."

A few minutes later, Mercer and his entourage left the ring. But as they were moving towards the aisle, Oliver McCall started shouting at them. He left his seat and followed the entourage, heading straight for Mercer and spitting out some hot words. With Elmer Ray, Terone Haynes and Tommy Gomez trailing behind him, McCall unloaded a verbal spray on the 21st seed.

"You a big man when you don't have to say that s%#t to somebody's face, hey, Ray?" was what McCall apparently said. He emphasised his words with expressive hand movements. "Come on, man, we're right here in front o' y'all: tell us all what cowards we are, man? Tell us how the big, bad Ray Mercer is too good to train with his Florida-"

At that point a member of Mercer's camp named David Mason tried to king-hit the #3 seed in the HBF's 1st Defense tournament, coming at him from the left with a right hand. But Terone Haynes pushed McCall out of harm's way and absorbed the punch, which connected with his shoulder and only resulted in a sprained wrist for Mason. Moments later, Mason was flat on his back, out cold from a Terone Haynes sledgehammer that it was later confirmed broke Mason's jaw. In an instant, all hell broke loose. Two of Mercer's supporters charged Haynes and tried to tackle him to the ground, but Haynes fended the smaller men off quite easily, clocking one with a left hook and giving the other an almighty shove that sent him sprawling back into the rest of Mercer's entourage, a number of them falling to the ground. At the same time, Mercer and McCall started going at it, grappling each other and trading wild lefts and rights as Elmer Ray and Tommy Gomez stepped in to back up Haynes. The look in Oliver McCall's eyes was one of pure rage. He put Mercer on his back with a crushing right hand that cut the Jacksonville native on the bridge of his nose before moving on to Mercer's head trainer. All the while, the audience was in an uproar, every one of them on their feet, some absolutely loving what they were seeing, others booing and calling for the spectacle to end. Still others jumped the barriers and joined in the chaotic brawl. It was only at this point, when the crowd became involved, that waves of security officers rushed in to break up the situation, after it had carried on for almost an entire minute. The general consensus was that the Florida Alliance pretty much cleaned house against superior numbers, with reports that Terone Haynes had "choke-slammed" one of Mercer's entourage unable to be confirmed.

Licking their wounds and shouting obscenities at each other, the two warring camps were escorted back to the dressing rooms separately, leaving an empty ring and a crowd buzzing with enough electricity to light up the MEN Arena itself...

[kenyan_cheena]

Above post edited and completed. Next post will cover the Main Event, featuring Canada's George Chuvalo!

[kenyan_cheena]

Main Event

Fifteen minutes later, Wally Jackson was introducing the competitors for the evening's final bout. But the audience was not as focused on that as they might have been, the craziness of what had transpired at ringside still fresh in their minds and being discussed in a lively fashion.

As had been the case in his first two bouts, Canada's undefeated World Championship tournament 12th seed George Chuvalo wore his national pride into the ring: a robe of mainly white with red piping and a Canadian flag blazed across his shoulder blades and at the left breast. A victory against Rueben Vargas was an absolute necessity, because a loss would see him drop out of the top two in the group standings.

A native of Richmond, California, Vargas had been resilient and gutsy in losses to Al Jones and Tommy Gomez. That unfortunate pattern continued tonight, as Vargas put in an admirable showing against Chuvalo but once again suffered defeat. The Canadian moved to 3-0 with a unanimous decision victory 60-54 (x2), 59-55. Vargas tried hard but was simply outfought. The 12th seed landed 165 punches at 36%, while Vargas connected with 113 at 37%. The Californian was competitive in the second, fourth and sixth rounds, taking the fight up to Chuvalo aggressively. However, a single straight right late in round two sent him to the canvas, destroying any chance of the round being scored in his favour.

Without a doubt, this was George Chuvalo's most polished performance to date. Following a scare on debut against Brian London and an uneven effort against Al Ettore, the Canadian had everything working nicely tonight. Almost two-thirds of the blows he landed were power shots. Vargas really looked like he'd been in a war afterwards, a nasty cut over his right eye and some unpleasant swelling a testament to this.

Chuvalo, Gomez and Mercer remain the top three fighters in Group Twelve of the World Championship tournament and it will be interesting to see if any of the three men stumble when they're in action again five weeks from now.

What will be even more interesting is the reaction that tonight's chaotic events will receive over the coming days, and what type of disciplinary action the HBF will take against those who were involved...

[kenyan_cheena]

SUMMARY OF RESULTS
HEAVYWEIGHT BOXING FEDERATION FIGHT CARD
WEDNESDAY 27 MARCH 2002
MEN ARENA, MANCHESTER, ENGLAND


OPENING BOUT

HBF 1st Defense Tournament - Stage One - Group Five
2(12) Carl Morris SD6 5(36) Toxie Hall

PRELIMINARY 1

HBF 1st Defense Tournament - Stage One - Group Five
1(5) Nino Valdes UD6 6(44) Bill Tate

PRELIMINARY 2

HBF World Championship Tournament - Stage One - Group Twelve
4(53) Tommy Gomez UD6 8(117) Brian London

SUPPORT BOUT

HBF World Championship Tournament - Stage One - Group Twelve
7(101) Al Ettore UD6 3(37) Al Jones

CO-FEATURE

HBF World Championship Tournament - Stage One - Group Twelve
2(21) Ray Mercer UD6 5(69) Tommy Jackson

MAIN EVENT

HBF World Championship Tournament - Stage One - Group Twelve
1(12) George Chuvalo UD6 6(85) Rueben Vargas

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VINCENNES "DISAPPOINTED" BY
MANCHESTER BRAWL

Thursday 28 March 2002

Today, Heavyweight Boxing Federation President Michael Vincennes spoke about the wild brawl that took place yesterday at the federation's Manchester, England fight card.

The event was broadcast live on ESPN from 2pm and concluded at 6pm. It led right into the night's edition of SportsCenter, which dedicated its first fiteen minutes to dissecting the brawl between Ray Mercer's bloated entourage and Elmer Ray's "Florida Alliance".

The story has received front page attention in a number of national newspapers, including the New York Age which controversially displayed a photo of an infuriated Oliver McCall being held back by a pair of security guards. The fact that the brawl itself took place only a handful of hours after Vincennes announced a major sponsorship deal between the HBF and Everlast has been heavily highlighted, with some speculating that the incident might put the kybosh on the agreement.

However, speaking at midday, Vincennes did not seem that worried about such a possibility.

"Of course, I'd prefer that it didn't happen," said Vincennes. "I'm disappointed, to say the least. But I don't think that this will have any consequences as far as our deal with Everlast is concerned. I've looked at video footage of the brawl today, and at no time leading up to when the first punch is thrown does it appear that Oliver McCall or anyone else is about to start a fight. Whether the retaliation was justifiable or not, we'll have to see. You have to understand the circumstances of the relationship between Ray Mercer and the "Florida Alliance". Some might say that Oliver McCall shouldn't have spoken to Ray Mercer to begin with, but I didn't see anything wrong with that. This sport that we're involved in, it can really bring up a lot of passion and emotion. With the help of James Reynolds, Ray Mercer disrespected a group of young men who only wanted to help him be the best fighter he can be. I have to say, when I found out the details of that whole incident, I found Ray Mercer's actions to be quite cowardly. I think Oliver McCall was within his rights to confront Ray Mercer."

Vincennes was asked about any possible punishment for those involved in the brawl.

"Again, we'll have to take a detailed look at the footage before determining that," he replied. "By no means will I rule it out. But some people have been insisting today that they should all be chucked out of the federation. I'll confirm right now that that won't be happening. But some sort of monetary punishment is a definite possibility."

The members of both the Florida Alliance and Ray Mercer's entourage will be arriving back in America tomorrow (on separate flights, of course) and there will surely be a considerable media presence waiting for them...

[kenyan_cheena]

YANTCHEV TESTED ON
NIGHT OF UPSETS IN AUSTRIA

Thursday 28 March 2002

While much of the boxing public was concerning itself with the ramifications of yesterday's Manchester brawl, a Heavyweight Boxing Federation fight card was being held in Vienna, Austria. It was the second card of the HBF's Southern Europe Boxing League, and by its conclusion, three of the league's top six seeds had suffered upset defeats.

However, although pushed by his Italian opponent Nini Perroni, Russia's #1 seed Genadi Yantchev was not one of them. He was able to overcome an especially strong showing from Perroni (particularly in the third and fourth rounds) and escape with a majority decision victory, 58-56, 57-57, 58-56 to improve his record to 2-0.

Yantchev is the ONLY Russian in the entire Heavyweight Boxing Federation, and as such, expectations for the 21 year-old are high in his homeland. But he seemes to be a level-headed young man and after tonight's event remains the favourite to win the league's initial tournament.

ON THE UNDERCARD

Opening Bout

Croatia's #7 seed Lovro Alanovic scored his second victory over a higher seed when he defeated South Africa's Shakes Qoboza by unanimous decision, 59-54 on all three cards. Qoboza exploded out of the gates, but by the end of the opening round Alanovic had taken control of the contest. He maintained his dominance throughout the next three rounds, before Qoboza rallied in the fifth. But when the Croatian sent him to the canvas a minute into the final round, any chance of a Qoboza victory vanished.

Preliminary 1

In a less than enthralling contest, Alexander Dafouska of Bulgaria was awarded a split decision victory over Belgium's Jean-Pierre Coopman, 59-55, 57-58, 57-56. Coopman tasted the canvas in the third, which was for him, in the end, the difference between a defeat and a draw.

Preliminary 2

Slovenia's 12th seed Drago Bencek scored a big upset when he stopped Italy's #4 seed Vittorio Campollo on cuts in the fourth round. Campollo had everything his way through the first two rounds before Bencek shocked the Vienna crowd when he landed a flush left hook thirty seconds into the third that put the Italian on his backside. If that wasn't a big enough surprise, he did it again late in the round. Campollo returned to his corner with a stunned expression on his face. Emboldened by his success, Bencek became more agressive and was able to cut the Italian early in the fourth. He targeted the cut as the round progressed, to the point where the ring doctor declared that Campollo could not continue and called the contest off 21 seconds from the end of the round.

Support Bout

Bencek's upset of Campollo was immediately followed by another, as Lithuania's 11th seed Leonidas Jaskucionis took a surprisingly easy unanimous decision victory against the league's 3rd seed, Germany's Hans Birkie. The scorecards showed a 59-56, 58-57, 59-56 verdict and it was quite astonishing how the Lithuanian improved as the bout wore on, while Birkie was even less impressive than he had been in his debut loss to the Croatian Lovro Alanovic. With his record 0-2, it appears that only a miracle will allow Birkie to qualify for the tournament semi-finals.

Co-Feature

The #2 seeded German Markus Stober made up for the poor showing of his countryman Birkie with a no-nonsense unanimous decision win over Spain's Pablo Ramirez, 58-54 (x2), 59-53. A single, lightning bolt of a left hook put the Spaniard on the canvas in round three, and with the exception of some moments in the second and sixth rounds, Stober was never troubled. He appears to be the only competitor in the league who might have a chance of defeating the #1 seed Genadi Yantchev.


SUMMARY OF RESULTS
HEAVYWEIGHT BOXING FEDERATION FIGHT CARD
THURSDAY 28 MARCH 2002
EISSTADION, VIENNA, AUSTRIA

THE SOUTHERN EUROPE BOXING LEAGUE


OPENING BOUT

(7) Lovro Alanovic UD6 (6) Shakes Qoboza

PRELIMINARY 1

(5) Alexander Dafouska SD6 (8) Jean-Pierre Coopman

PRELIMINARY 2

(12) Drago Benchek TKO4 (4) Vittorio Campollo

SUPPORT BOUT

(11) Leonidas Jaskucionis UD6 (3) Hans Birkie

CO-FEATURE

(2) Markus Stober UD6 (10) Pablo Ramirez

MAIN EVENT

(1) Genadi Yantchev MD6 (9) Nini Perroni