The Heavyweight Boxing Federation - Page 22

kenyan_cheena · 01-29-2006, 11:06 PM

(Note: this post follows post #10 in the IBL thread)

THE PRESIDENT STRIKES BACK

Saturday 6 April 2002

Speaking from Houston's Reliant Park Pavilion (the site of this evening's HBF fight card), Heavyweight Boxing Federation president Michael Vincennes fired back at IBL Chief Director James Molk and New York Age journalist James Reynolds following the sensational revelations and comments made by the two during the past couple of days.

Having been silent since Molk rocked the boxing world with his announcement of the formation of the International Boxing League on Thursday, Vincennes didn't hold back in speaking his mind on the new organisation and its Chief Director.

"What surprises me, probably more than anything, is the gall," said Vincennes. "Just the blatant nerve James Molk displayed in his speech. It's been a rare situation where I've encountered anything like it, to be honest. For him to sit in my office last Friday and show respect, like a student would to a teacher, and then appear publicly on Thursday and disrespect myself and my organisation with that overblown trash ... it's contemptable."

SportsCenter anchor Dan Patrick countered Vincennes, saying he felt that Molk appeared to show a reasonable level of respect.

Vincennes laughed. "You have to listen to his words again, Dan," he said. "For him to say that the HBF has thumbed our noses at the lower weight divisions, that he believes we were able but unwilling to expand this sport, that's just ludicrous. And it takes no courage to make such statements, either. The IBL were not, and never will be, in a position where they've had to create something from scratch. The staff of the Heavyweight Boxing Federation have built this thing from the ground up. Honestly, do you really believe that if we hadn't done this, there would even be an International Boxing League? Do you really believe that if James Molk hadn't seen what we've achieved in less than a year, that he'd be sitting in his office one day and suddenly say to himself, "Hey! I think I'm going to start up a professional boxing league!" No, I don't care what spin you put on it. The IBL only exists because of the efforts of myself and every employee of the HBF and with the lead-in we've given them, they'd have to be the most incompetent businessmen in the world not to succeed."

Patrick asked Vincennes what he thought of the proposed IBL 72-man World Championship tournament that Molk described.

The HBF President let out an exasperated sigh, then smiled. "It makes me laugh, because like with a lot of other stuff they'll do, they stole the idea from us. In my initial meeting with Molk back in February, we discussed the future direction of the HBF after the first stage of the World Championship and 1st Defense tournaments were completed. He wanted to know what the fighters who didn't qualify would be doing. This question confused me somewhat, because we had already made it known back in December that we'd be holding American and European Championship tournaments. After his announcement on Thursday, I saw that he was just picking my brain for ideas for his league, because our Continental Americas tournament will also feature 72 fighters. I told him this and I detailed the makeup of the groups in the tournament. Now, I'll admit he's changed these, from twelve groups of six to six groups of twelve, but it shows a marvellous lack of imagination, if you ask me. And it makes me wonder about his claim that the HBF will never be able to compete "financially" with the IBL. If that's the case, why is he limiting his league to a 72-man World Championship tournament for each division? That's only 360 fighters. The HBF is already featuring 288 at present, with plans to increase that number once the first feeder league tournaments have concluded. If we can't compete financially, then why don't they have plans for 500 fighters? Or a thousand? Has anyone asked him that?"

"But you must admit that this new league will make a professional boxing career available to more people than your HBF could have ever reached," said Patrick. "That's a fact."

"I won't dispute that," replied Vincennes, nodding. "That's an obvious fact, but it's not the issue that matters at the moment. Mr. Molk has shown a lack of respect for the achievements of the HBF. Don't tell me I've got integrity one minute and then say that I'm unwilling to expand boxing the next. Don't shake my hand and then poke me in the eye. It's a coward's way."

Patrick next asked what he felt about New York Age sports journalist James Reynolds.

Vincennes took some time to reply. His countenance took on a saddened tone.

"Today, I find it hard to believe that I once called that man a valued friend," he said. "With that article yesterday, he burned up any possible bridge of friendship I might extend to him in the future. To borrow a quote from Michael Corleone, he's "nothing to me now". I can't quite believe what's happened to him and I definitely can't believe that that newspaper has allowed him to publish the drivel he's come up with during these last four months. I used to have a high regard for James Reynolds and the New York Age. No more. I'll be switching to The Times, I think."

Soon after, the interview came to a close, with Vincennes stating that he was looking forward to being ringside at a Jack Johnson fight for the first time...

kenyan_cheena · 01-30-2006, 10:07 PM

FINALLY, THE REAL JACK JOHNSON
MAKES AN APPEARANCE

Saturday 6 April 2002

Tonight, Galveston native and #3 seed in the Heavyweight Boxing Federation's World Championship tournament Jack Johnson put on a display that has been expected ever since he first showed what he's capable of during the HBF's tournament auditions back in October.

Following the absolute shock of his debut loss to the tournament's 126th seed Joe Beckett and a less than convincing 3rd round KO of Pat Valentino, many speculated that the HBF had made a bad mistake by installing Johnson as the 3rd seed. But tonight's performance left no doubt as to the validity of "The Galveston Giant". Johnson scored a comprehensive unanimous decision victory against the 94th-seeded Argentinian Pedro Lovell, 59-55 on all three cards.

With the exception of the third round, where Lovell was able to have some success trading blows with Johnson, the #3 seed was always in control, showing boxing skills that had been rarely seen in his opening two contests. Indeed, it must be said that, based on his showing in this bout, Johnson should be considered one of the best "boxers" in the HBF. His left jab was a thing of beauty, constantly jolting Lovell and keeping him off balance to allow for crisp, follow-up combinations.

The audience at Houston's Reliant Park Pavilion gave Johnson an enthusiastic enough welcoming to the ring, but it was clear that there were some who were reserving their judgment. It's been a well-documented fact that many Texans were not enamoured to Johnson's wild lifestyle in the weeks before his loss to Beckett, and it might take him some time to convince them that he's the real deal. However, the Galveston-born slugger received a standing ovation at the final bell, something that clearly meant a lot to him.

"Thank you so much for that," Johnson said soon after. "There's really nothing more important to me than making Texas proud. I know that I might have, well, alienated some of you with my foolishness, but I swear that's all behind me now. You won't see a more dedicated boxer in the HBF than Jack Johnson, believe that. So thank you all, so much, for your great support tonight."

Johnson, who is now 2-1(1), landed an impressive 205 punches at 53%, while Lovell (0-2-1), game but clearly outclassed, managed 99 at 40%.

***

While "The Galveston Giant" was everything that had been hoped for, the performance of Houston's favourite son Cleveland Williams could not have been more unconvincing.

He struggled terribly against Italy's 78th seed Franco Cavicchi, with a second round knockdown eventually proving to be the difference between a victory and a draw. Williams took a majority decision verdict, 57-56, 57-57, 57-56.

It was, to put it mildly, a sluggish performance by the 30th seed. He started slow and, besides the flash knockdown in the second, never really got into gear. Cavicchi rocked him with a series of punishing combinations in the third and was at it again late in the fifth. The lacklustre Williams was good enough to take the fourth and sixth rounds.

The victory keeps Williams in 1st place in Group Three of the World Championship tournament, but it must be said that he's going to need a vast improvement in his next bout if he wants to stay there...

kenyan_cheena · 01-31-2006, 10:33 PM

THE HOUSTON UNDERCARD

Opening Bout

A battle between two fighters sitting in 1st and 2nd in Group Six of the 1st Defense tournament kicked off the evening.

11th seed Mike Weaver, the supremely-fit 20 year-old native of Diamond Bar, California clashed with New York City's 35th seed John Lester Johnson.

Weaver had scored late TKO victories in his opening two bouts, showing an ability to wear down his opponents with volume rather than power. He hadn't recorded a single knockdown in either bout, with the referee stopping both contests. Johnson, meanwhile had been impressive in overcoming two higher seeded competitors, 27th seed Curtis Sheppard and 19th seed Joe Choynski. He defeated both men by unanimous decision and stepped into the ring tonight knowing that if he could overcome Weaver, he'd be in sole possession of the group lead.

Well, to almost everyone's surprise, including his own, that's exactly what Johnson did. The New Yorker defeated Weaver by a comfortable unanimous decision, 59-55, 58-57, 59-55. It was astonishing to see the ease with which he dominated the 11th seed. Johnson came out aggressive and didn't back down, and when he needed to, Weaver couldn't back him up. The third round was the only one that each judge awarded him and as the fourth round came to a close, he was shaking his head in frustration, appearing to conceed that he could find no solution to the John Lester Johnson puzzle.

Johnson has become the first fighter in these HBF tournaments to defeat THREE opponents seeded higher than him, and will have a chance to make that four when he clashes with the tournament's 6th seed Ron Lyle of Denver in five weeks.

"I can't believe how well things have gone for me," he said. "When I auditioned, I really had no expectations. I just knew that I had some boxing skill and I looked at this as a chance to make a living for a few years. But it's getting pretty serious now, for sure."

Serious, indeed. That fight with Lyle in five weeks will also be for the group lead, because immediately after Johnson's defeat of Weaver, Lyle was victorious in his own bout. As a result, he leap-frogged Weaver into 2nd place.

Considering that after he clashes with Lyle, his last three bouts will all be against fighters seeded lower than him, John Lester Johnson has a great chance to qualify for stage two of the tournament.

As for Weaver, well, he'll probably have to win his last four bouts to have any chance.

Preliminary 1

As just stated, Ron Lyle improved his record to 2-0-1(1) and moved into 2nd place in the group with a dominant unanimous decision victory (60-53 on all three cards) against England's Charley Mitchell.

Following his disappointing effort last time out in being held to a draw by Jose Roman, Lyle was in specatacular form tonight, dropping the Englishman at the end of the fourth and maintaining control throughout with an aggressive display.

The Denver-born 6th seed will be looking to return to what he considers to be his rightful top place in the group when he clashes with the sensationally-undefeated John Lester Johnson in his next bout.

Preliminary 2

After his shock upset victory against the World Championship tournament's 3rd seed Jack Johnson on debut, many people in Joe Beckett's native England seemed to lose touch with reality. They proclaimed that Beckett, by virtue of his win against Johnson, now had a chance to win the entire tournament and be crowned the Heavyweight Boxing Federation's first World Champion.

Beckett did his best to ignore these ludicrous statements, but it was clear when he fought Cleveland Williams in his second bout that the pressure of expectation really affected him. The popular line was "He beat Johnson, he should be able to beat Williams." It didn't turn out that way, and despite knocking the 30th seed to the canvas in the fourth round, Beckett was clearly outfought in the unanimous decision loss.

Before that bout with Williams, Jack Johnson had been quoted as saying about Beckett that "fifty years from now, he's gonna be little more than the answer to a question in Trivial Pursuit."

If tonight's performance against Mexico's Manuel Ramos is any indicator, Jack Johnson might just be right. Despite a spirited effort, Beckett was clearly outclassed by the undefeated 62nd seed, losing by unanimous decision 58-57, 59-55, 60-54.

The expression that Beckett wore in the moments after the verdict seemed to indicate that Johnson's words weren't far from his mind.

As for Ramos, he's done a fine job of taking advantage of the slip-ups that both Johnson and 46th seed Renaldo Snipes have encountered in there earlier fights. His record of 2-0-1 keeps him in 2nd place in Group Three of the World Championship tournament.

Support Bout

In a lacklustre affair, Renaldo Snipes of Yonkers, New York was victorious against San Francisco's Pat Valentino. Although the final verdict was a split decision (59-56, 57-58, 58-56), the bout itself was not as close as the cards would indicate.

While definitely unspectacular, Snipes was never really troubled by an opponent who had given both Cleveland Williams and Jack Johnson nightmares at times during his bouts with them. It was a disappointing effort this time by the Californian, because he never really made Snipes work for the victory.

The New York native is now 2-1, while Valentino remains winless at 0-3.

kenyan_cheena · 01-31-2006, 10:39 PM

SUMMARY OF RESULTS
HEAVYWEIGHT BOXING FEDERATION FIGHT CARD
SATURDAY 6 APRIL 2002
RELIANT PARK PAVILION, HOUSTON, TEXAS, USA

OPENING BOUT

HBF 1st Defense Tournament - Stage One - Group Six
5(35) John Lester Johnson UD6 2(11) Mike Weaver

PRELIMINARY 1

HBF 1st Defense Tournament - Stage One - Group Six
1(6) Ron Lyle UD6 6(43) Charley Mitchell

PRELIMINARY 2

HBF World Championship Tournament - Stage One - Group Three
4(62) Manuel Ramos UD6 8(126) Joe Beckett

SUPPORT BOUT

HBF World Championship Tournament - Stage One - Group Three
3(46) Renaldo Snipes SD6 7(110) Pat Valentino

CO-FEATURE

HBF World Championship Tournament - Stage One - Group Three
2(30) Cleveland Williams MD6 5(78) Franco Cavicchi

MAIN EVENT

HBF World Championship Tournament - Stage One - Group Three
1(3) Jack Johnson UD6 6(94) Pedro Lovell

kenyan_cheena · 01-31-2006, 10:43 PM

As I now have the Group Standings thread, there's no reason for me to include the standings for the groups that competed during the past week in this here main thread.

At the end of each week in the universe (Sunday), I'll update the Group Standings thread.

However, I'll continue to post the schedule for the upcoming week here.

I have to go out soon, so I'll try to update the standings when I get back this evening (Aus. time).

Thanks. Hope everyone's still enjoying.

kenyan_cheena · 02-01-2006, 04:51 PM

Sunday 7 April 2002

HEAVYWEIGHT BOXING FEDERATION
FIGHT CARD SCHEDULE
MONDAY 08/04/2002 - SATURDAY 13/04/2002 INCLUSIVE

MONDAY 08/04/2002 - BELL AUDITORIUM, AUGUSTA, GEORGIA, USA

1D - G7: 4(26) OLLE TANDBERG vs 8(58) MANNY BURGO
1D - G7: 3(18) DON COCKELL vs 7(50) BOB SATTERFIELD
WC - G7: 4(58) EARL WALLS vs 8(122) DAN FLYNN
WC - G7: 3(42) FRANK BRUNO vs 7(106) WILLI BESMANOFF
WC - G7: 2(26) ROLAND LASTARZA vs 5(74) MAC FOSTER
WC - G7: 1(7) YOUNG STRIBLING vs 6(90) JACK RENAULT

WEDNESDAY 10/04/2002 - ESTREL CONVENTION CENTER, BERLIN, GERMANY

1D - G7: 2(10) NATIE BROWN vs 5(34) TOM KENNEDY
1D - G7: 1(7) DOUG JONES vs 6(42) DICK RICHARDSON
WC - G10: 4(55) RANDALL COBB vs 8(119) GEORGE JOHNSON
WC - G10: 3(39) STEVE HAMAS vs 7(103) FLOYD CUMMINGS
WC - G10: 2(23) FRANK MORAN vs 5(71) JOE GRIM
WC - G10: 1(10) MAX SCHMELING vs 6(87) THAD SPENCER

FRIDAY 12/04/2002 - LUNA PARK, BUENES AIRES, ARGENTINA

1D - G2: 4(31) PETER MAHER vs 8(63) JACK ROPER
1D - G2: 3(23) JOHNNY WILLIAMS vs 7(55) KEVIN ISAAC
WC - G15: 4(50) TED LOWRY vs 8(114) ARTHUR PELKEY
WC - G15: 3(34) BRUCE SELDON vs 7(98) ALONZO JOHNSON
WC - G15: 2(18) OSCAR BONAVENA vs 5(66) GARY MASON
WC - G15: 1(15) JACK SHARKEY vs 6(82) TONY ALONGI

SATURDAY 13/04/2002 - KIEL AUDITORIUM, ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI, USA

1D - G2: 2(15) MARVIN HART vs 5(39) CHUCK WEPNER
1D - G2: 1(2) JAMES JEFFRIES vs 6(47) WIM SNOEK
WC - G2: 4(63) LOU NOVA vs 8(127) NICK BARONE
WC - G2: 3(47) CHARLEY RETZLAFF vs 7(111) PHIL SCOTT
WC - G2: 2(31) MICHAEL DOKES vs 5(79) HAROLD CARTER
WC - G2: 1(2) SONNY LISTON vs 6(95) ALEJANDRO LAVORANTE

kenyan_cheena · 02-03-2006, 02:47 AM

STRIBLING AND LISTON TO COMPLETE
HBF'S "HOMETOWN HERO" SERIES

Sunday 7 April 2002

The third series of bouts in the Heavyweight Boxing Federation's World Championship and 1st Defense tournaments will come to a conclusion this week, with eagerly-awaited fight cards in Georgia and Missouri certain to provide a fair share of highlights.

Back in early March, federation president Michael Vincennes announced that all of the sixteen #1 seeds in the WC tournament who had not fought in their home city (or home state) during the first two series would be given the opportunity to do so in the tournament's third series. As the majority of those top seeds are from the United States, the president's policy led to the third series having a very American feel to it, with venues in Los Angeles, Philadelphia, New York, Brooklyn, San Diego, Reading (Pennsylvania), Atlantic City and Houston all hosting sold-out, highly successful HBF fight cards during the past three weeks.

This coming week will see the last two remaining #1 seeds fight in their home state, with the #7 seed Young Stribling set to headline Monday night's Augusta card and Sonny Lston to fight in his hometown of St. Louis on Saturday.

17 year-old Stribling's preparation for tomorrow night's bout has been much easier than that experienced by some of the other top seeds in the World Championship tournament (especially Sonny Liston, who we'll get to in a little while).

As has been the case ever since he was named the tournament's #7 seed, Young has been able to train for his bouts with little interference from prying local eyes. The people of Macon, though tremendously proud of him, have given Stribling the space he requires to train as effectively as possible under the watchful eye of his parents, William and Lucilla. The out-of-town media scrutiny that "Team Stribling" was put under in the weeks after his debut has also all but vanished, making the task even easier.

"This will really be one of the most exciting nights of my life," said Stribling. "To be fighting as a pro, in my home state ... it just doesn't get any better than that. Mom has come up with something extra special strategy-wise, so it's going to be a special night. I'm just itching to get in the ring and start fighting."

***

As noted earlier, the World Championship tournament's #2 seed Sonny Liston has had to endure a less than ideal lead-in to this Saturday's bout.

Back in mid-February, in the weeks before his second tournament bout, Liston voluntarily made himself scarce. The 21 year-old went missing for almost two weeks due to the constant interference from both the media and public as he attempted to train in St. Louis. When he was overseas in Scotland for his fight, he remarked about how comfortable he felt there, to the point where, when he returned home, he met with President Vincennes and requested to have another bout held there in the future.

Both Liston's disappearance and his words on Scotland really should have been enough to lead to an improvement in the way the St. Louis public (and, in particular, the media) treats the powerhouse slugger. But that hasn't been the case. Despite the presence of security guards, Liston's training sessions became a media circus. This has led to Liston and trainer Willie Reddish abandoning their base of operations. It's been speculated that the two left the city in the middle of the night three days ago, because their current whereabouts are unknown.

Reddish was quoted as saying in the days before that the St. Louis media are "leeches."

"I really think some of you bastards don't want Sonny to succeed," said Reddish. 'I see it in your eyes, you know? You're all out for his blood. You want to see him fail because you can't stop yourself from looking at Sonny as an ex-convict. You all compare him to your golden boy Gene Tunney and look down your noses at him. You try to distract us while we train. Damn, I've never seen such an attempt to sabotage someone who should be a hero and an inspiration to the people of his town."

Liston's trainer might have a point regarding the St. Louis media, but that attitude doesn't apply to the city's boxing fans. The #2 seed is hugely popular and one can only imagine the extreme anticipation and hysteria that will be in the air when Charles "Sonny" Liston steps into the ring at the Kiel Auditorium on Saturday night...

kenyan_cheena · 02-07-2006, 07:04 PM

AUGUSTA MASTER:
STRIBLING STROLLS TO VICTORY
AT THE BELL AUDITORIUM

Monday 8 April 2002

Story by Randolph Cootes of the Georgia State Chronicle

The home of golf's most sought-after prize played host to a master of a different kind tonight. Georgia's newest sporting talent, boxer Young Stribling, scored a dominant six round unanimous decision victory against Canada's Jack Renault.

Competing in the main event of the Heavyweight Boxing Federation's Bell Auditorium fight card (and in his home state for the first time), Macon-born Stribling put on an eye-popping display of boxing excellence.

With the exception of the final minute of the third round, Stribling was always in control of the contest, punishing a clearly outclassed and overwhelmed Renault throughout. Stribling had said in the days before tonight's event that we'd see something "extra special strategy-wise". If you call raining power shots onto your opponent's body a strategy, then it could be said that it was "something extra-special". I'd prefer to call it an impressive display of power punching.

Of the 173 punches that Stribling landed, exactly half of them were either hooks or uppercuts. By the end of the bout, Renault was cut over the right eye and his left was badly swollen, as was his left cheek. He appeared black and blue all over. Stribling is not numbered amongst the strongest punchers in the HBF, but simply put, Renault had really taken a beating.

The Canadian had come into this World Championship tournament with quite a lot of enthusiasm, but three fights in he finds himself with an 0-3 record and no chance of qualifying for the tournament's second stage. All his losses have been by unanimous decision and with the exception of his opening bout against England's Frank Bruno (a fight where many believe he was robbed of a victory), Renault has not looked like winning. He was clearly outfought by fellow Canadian Earl Walls in his second contest, just as he was tonight. All that's left for him now is to try and make something of his remaining four World Championship tournament bouts, in order to have a good enough record to qualify for the Continental Americas tournament.

Although just 16 years old during the HBF's October tournament auditions, the federation did not hesitate to install Young Stribling (now 17) as the #7 seed in their World Championship tournament, so impressed with his ability they were. Judging by his performances so far, it's clear that they made a wise decision. Stribling has started his career in a fantastic manner, winning each of his three bouts decisively but without scoring even a single knockdown. A look at the punch stats for his bouts shows that on average he's outlanding his opponents 28-12 each round.

Considering the shaky starts that a few of the fighters seeded above him have made, he really must be considered one of the top five favourites for the HBF's inaugural World Championship. However, his next opponent, California's Mac Foster may pose quite a challenge, as he caused a sensation in the night's Co-Feature, as I'll reveal in a moment...

...

COLDCOCKED!
LASTARZA KO'D IN SECOND ROUND
AFTER ELABORATE ENTRANCE TO THE RING!

The 26th seed in the HBF's World Championship tournament, Roland LaStarza of the Bronx was sensationally knocked out cold in the second round by Mac Foster of Fresno, California in tonight's Co-Feature.

However, what made the surprising result all the more embarassing for the cocky New Yorker was that he had made a theatrical entrance to the arena just minutes earlier. Even more extraordinary was that his choice of song during that entrance almost predicted what would happen to him in the ring. That tune was "E lucevan le stelle", as performed by Luciano Pavarotti, from Puccini's "Tosca". In the song, the painter Cavaradossi, imprisoned for treason and set to be executed at dawn, sings of his complete and utter sadness and loss at leaving behind the love of his life.

LaStarza (who, playing the role of Cavaradossi, entered the ring with shackles on his wrists and wearing a black and white pinstriped prison suit) could not have known that in mere minutes he would suffer a fate akin to Cavaradossi, although not one as permanent.

2:04 into the second round of what had been a rather uneventful bout, Foster caught the 26th seed with a textbook perfect right cross which snapped LaStarza's head around on his shoulders. He lurched backwards and then fell face forward to the canvas in a heap. The audience, most of whom were rooting heavily for Foster as a result of both LaStarza's disrespectful words towards their man Stribling last month and the fact that he's the 2nd seed in Stribling's group, came to their feet as one with an animalistic howl. LaStarza did not move for the duration of the count. He had been knocked unconscious by one of the most devastating punches seen so far in these HBF tournaments, and was counted out at 2:15 of the second round.

For Foster, this win is a great breakthrough. He's improved with each bout (a loss to Earl Walls followed by a draw with Frank Bruno), and this victory ups his record to 1-1-1(1).

LaStarza, now 2-1, will drop out of the top two in the group standings as a result of 58th seed Earl Walls' split decision victory over Dan Flynn earlier in the evening. Walls is now 3-0.

kenyan_cheena · 02-07-2006, 08:12 PM

The Augusta Undercard

OPENING BOUT

Swedish fighter Olle Tandberg's frustrating 1st Defense tournament campaign hit a new low tonight when he lost by unanimous decision to the previously-winless 58th-seeded Englishman Manny Burgo.

Having fought his backside off in a draw with Tom Kennedy and a split decision loss to Dick Richardson, this latest setback has all but ended any chance the 26th seed has of progressing to the tournament's second stage.

But really, he has no one to blame but himself. Tandberg struggled for much of the bout and going into the fifth round, he had yet to win a single round on a single card. It was not a fantastic bout but Burgo was simply executing his gameplan with more precision.

The Swede breathed life into proceedings when he dropped Burgo with a single uppercut early in the fifth and when it looked like the Englishman wouldn't make the count, Tandberg appeared ecstatic. But he celebrated too soon. Burgo lurched to his feet at eight, survived the round despite Tandberg's best efforts to finish him off and then came out and dominated the final stanza to secure a 58-56 verdict on all three cards.

PRELIMINARY 1

England's Don Cockell scored his most impressive victory to date with a 4th round TKO against Chicago's Bob Satterfield.

Cockell looked fantastic while sending the winless 50th seed to the canvas early in the first and late in the third before battering him senseless in the fourth, forcing the referee to bring the bout to a close.

With his record now 3-0(1), 18th-seeded Cockell remains in contention to challenge for a top two spot in Group Seven of the 1st Defense tournament.

PRELIMINARY 2

Undefeated Canadian Earl Walls was given a much tougher time than he bargained for by the winless Boston native Dan Flynn.

In the first World Championship tournament bout of the night, Walls managed to stay perfect with a split decision victory, 59-56, 57-58, 58-57.

The 58th seed in the WC tourney, Walls started well, building an early lead with a simple jab and move startegy that Flynn seemed to have little answer for.

But towards the end of the fourth round, the Canadian started to get sloppy. Perhaps he was allowing cockiness to intervene, but his attitude change continued into the fifth and sixth, rounds that Flynn was able to win quite handily. He even hurt Walls a few times with some punishing combinations.

But, of course, it was too little, too late, as Walls had done enough early to secure the victory.

SUPPORT BOUT

England's Frank Bruno continued to struggle (and disappoint), being held to a draw for a second consecutive bout. In an ugly fight against Germany's Willi Besmanoff, Bruno once again showed precious little of the firepower that had been on display during the HBF's tournament auditions.

The 42nd seed will have trouble qualifying for the tournament's second stage if he can't show a vast improvement in quick time, as he is yet to fight the other top four group seeds, Walls, LaStarza and the top seed Young Stribling. All three of them will dominate him based on tonight's efforts.

The judge's scorecards read 58-57 (Bruno), 58-56 (Besmanoff), 58-58.

Bruno is now 1-0-2 while Besmanoff is 0-2-1.

kenyan_cheena · 02-07-2006, 08:23 PM

SUMMARY OF RESULTS
HEAVYWEIGHT BOXING FEDERATION FIGHT CARD
MONDAY 8 APRIL 2002
BELL AUDITORIUM, AUGUSTA, GEORGIA, USA

OPENING BOUT

HBF 1st Defense Tournament - Stage One - Group Seven
8(58) Manny Burgo UD6 4(26) Olle Tandberg

PRELIMINARY 1

HBF 1st Defense Tournament - Stage One - Group Seven
3(18) Don Cockell TKO4 7(50) Bob Satterfield

PRELIMINARY 2

HBF World Championship Tournament - Stage One - Group Seven
4(58) Earl Walls SD6 8(122) Dan Flynn

SUPPORT BOUT

HBF World Championship Tournament - Stage One - Group Seven
3(42) Frank Bruno D6 7(106) Willi Besmanoff

CO-FEATURE

HBF World Championship Tournament - Stage One - Group Seven
5(74) Mac Foster KO2 2(26) Roland LaStarza

MAIN EVENT

HBF World Championship Tournament - Stage One - Group Seven
1(7) Young Stribling UD6 6(90) Jack Renault

kenyan_cheena · 02-07-2006, 10:42 PM

HAYNES HEADS TO THAILAND
FOR ASIAN BOXING LEAGUE BOUT

Tuesday 9 April 2002

Accompanied by fellow Florida Alliance member Tommy Gomez, the South-East Asian Boxing League's #1 seed Terone Haynes boarded a plane at Jacksonville Airport this afternoon bound for Thailand for his next tournament bout.

His cousin Elmer Ray was there at the airport to see him off. For the first time, Ray won't be accompanying Haynes overseas for one of his bouts. The 17 year-old wasn't in a joking mood when questioned about this.

"Like I said las' week, man," he replied. "Things gettin' serious now, see? My next bout's just eight days after T's. All four o' us agreed, we gotta cut down on this flyin' round, man. Too 'xpensive, too disruptive for our preps, y'all. You know, O-Mac, he back home right now. We jus' tell 'im to go home and rest a few weeks, man. All that Manchester stuff, plus his fight last week 'gainst Stephens ... just took 'lot outta him. Stressed him, pissed him off, man. The HBF got us fightin' in New York, at the Hammerstein Ballroom. That's for Floyd, see, 'cause even though he born in NC, he been livin' in the Big Apple mos' his life. This fight jus' huge for me, see? I beat this Tony Ross dude, I still be 'head of Jimmy Young before we fight. Now, my cuz Terone, any o' y'all really think he gonna lose to this Samoan brother? Guarantee you, it be over inside o' two rounds."

Of course, some will want to dig deeper and look upon this splintering of the Florida Alliance as a sign of their coming demise. As Elmer Ray himself said last week, "Anyone sayin' that, I tell y'all right now, they ain't got no interest in this 'lliance, man. They tryin' t' be a destroyer, no doubt."

Only time will tell how long this undefeated quartet continues to support each other's endeavours in the Heavyweight Boxing Federation. For now, though, they continue to impress, with their talent, showmanship and, according to Elmer Ray's words, wiser choices in regards to their fight preparations.

Without a doubt, next week's Thailand fight card featuring Terone Haynes is already a highly-anticipated one, an event which will surely have its fair share of fireworks...

Romdawg88 · 02-07-2006, 11:39 PM

Great work as usual Kenyan, you've done a hell of a job with the Alliance storyline and with Elmer in general. Heck Group Sixteen to me is by far the most interesting of all the Groups in both tournments, can wait to see how it plays out and who ends up on top.

kenyan_cheena · 02-08-2006, 12:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Romdawg88

Great work as usual Kenyan, you've done a hell of a job with the Alliance storyline and with Elmer in general. Heck Group Sixteen to me is by far the most interesting of all the Groups in both tournments, can wait to see how it plays out and who ends up on top.

I completely agree with you. I think the reason it's such an interesting group is because it has three talented fighters in Young, Patterson and Ray who each have a chance of winning it. None of them are really great, but they're all more than capable of harming the big boys. Just like you, I'm looking forward to seeing which one of them "misses the cut", so to speak.

The absolutely amazing thing about all the groups is that I didn't plan them out. I simply chose the fighters I wanted to start the universe with and seeded them from 1 to 128, almost exactly how they were listed in the database. I put them in each group according to the system I used. With the system, 1 to 16 would each be in the same group as their seeding, eg. Gene Tunney #1 seed, Group One. Then, seeds 17 to 32 were reversed, eg. Floyd Patterson, 17th seed, Group Sixteen, Earnie Shavers, 32nd seed, Group One. From then on, each subsequent seed was put in a group in descending order (16 down to 1), eg. Elmer Ray, 33rd seed, Group Sixteen, Bruce Seldon, 34th seed, Group Fifteen.

I'm not afraid to admit that some of the groups kind of stink, eg. Larry Holmes' group, but others such as #16, plus Group Three with Jack Johnson and Cleveland Williams and Group Nine with Langford, Sharkey and Stewart are fantastic. I always look forward to their fight cards.

Thanks for the kind words, Romdawg. It always makes me happy to log in and find that someone has commented on my universe.

I'll keep on doing my best to make this story exciting and interesting.

kenyan_cheena · 02-08-2006, 02:00 AM

(Note: this post relates to post #12 of the IBL thread)

VINCENNES CALLS MOLK'S COMMENTS
"LUDICROUS AND IGNORANT"

Tuesday 9 April 2002

The war of words between Heavyweight Boxing Federation President Michael Vincennes and International Boxing League Chief Director James Molk continued today, with Vincennes issuing a stern retort to comments made by Molk yesterday in Las Vegas.

"Some of the things he said were just ludicrous," said Vincennes, during a live interview on SportsCenter. "Ludicrous and ignorant. Mr. Molk believes that some of our competitors are "simply not up to it". Well, I've got a newsflash for him: someone always has to finish last. It doesn't matter how much talent you have at your disposal, there will always be those who struggle, those who, for one reason or another, are not able to compete at the highest level. Calling our selection standards into question, that shows how ignorant he is in regards to how we run our organisation. Every fighter competing under the Heavyweight Boxing Federation banner has passed strict physical and medical examinations. Are they all as talented as each other? Of course they aren't. To even suggest that that's possible is ridiculous."

Vincennes went on to discuss Molk's claim that the IBL will not be staging mismatches.

"That really burned my you-know-what when he said that. It was a clear inference that the HBF is staging mismatches. What does he consider a mismatch? I'll freely admit that a handful of competitors have been, how should I say it, "in over their head", but that's the nature of our competition. We have a schedule, groups that have been divised based on what we saw during our auditions. Tell me this ... did James Molk think that it was a mismatch when Joe Beckett, the 126th seed, had to fight Jack Johnson, the #3 seed in his first bout? Was that a mismatch? It looked like one on paper, didn't it? But everyone knows what happened in that fight."

The HBF President had some simple parting words for his IBL counterpart.

"James Molk should just stick to running his organisation," said Vincennes. "Every time he opens his mouth and speaks about the HBF, he sounds like a fool. Now, this will be the last I probably say on this whole matter. I'm tired of this back and forth BS, so unless he continues to be a fool, you won't hear any more from me about him. It's nonsense that deverts my attention from where it really needs to be."

Of course, only the path of the coming days will determine whether Vincennes remains true to his word or not...

Romdawg88 · 02-09-2006, 12:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kenyan_cheena

I completely agree with you. I think the reason it's such an interesting group is because it has three talented fighters in Young, Patterson and Ray who each have a chance of winning it. None of them are really great, but they're all more than capable of harming the big boys. Just like you, I'm looking forward to seeing which one of them "misses the cut", so to speak.

The absolutely amazing thing about all the groups is that I didn't plan them out. I simply chose the fighters I wanted to start the universe with and seeded them from 1 to 128, almost exactly how they were listed in the database. I put them in each group according to the system I used. With the system, 1 to 16 would each be in the same group as their seeding, eg. Gene Tunney #1 seed, Group One. Then, seeds 17 to 32 were reversed, eg. Floyd Patterson, 17th seed, Group Sixteen, Earnie Shavers, 32nd seed, Group One. From then on, each subsequent seed was put in a group in descending order (16 down to 1), eg. Elmer Ray, 33rd seed, Group Sixteen, Bruce Seldon, 34th seed, Group Fifteen.

I'm not afraid to admit that some of the groups kind of stink, eg. Larry Holmes' group, but others such as #16, plus Group Three with Jack Johnson and Cleveland Williams and Group Nine with Langford, Sharkey and Stewart are fantastic. I always look forward to their fight cards.

Thanks for the kind words, Romdawg. It always makes me happy to log in and find that someone has commented on my universe.

I'll keep on doing my best to make this story exciting and interesting.

Yeah and the best part of group sixteen is that only might it be the most balance of the groups but it's got a great storyline going all with it. Jimmy Young's stuggles and Ray trashing talking him plus Patterson just cruising though his fights, it adds a real level of exitcement to the eventual fights.

Aside from those match-ups, another I'm looking forward to is when Ray Mercer meets up with Tommy Gomez an

01-29-2006, 11:06 PM	#421 (permalink)
kenyan_cheena Hall Of Famer Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Sydney, NSW, Australia Posts: 4,618	(Note: this post follows post #10 in the IBL thread) THE PRESIDENT STRIKES BACK Saturday 6 April 2002 Speaking from Houston's Reliant Park Pavilion (the site of this evening's HBF fight card), Heavyweight Boxing Federation president Michael Vincennes fired back at IBL Chief Director James Molk and New York Age journalist James Reynolds following the sensational revelations and comments made by the two during the past couple of days. Having been silent since Molk rocked the boxing world with his announcement of the formation of the International Boxing League on Thursday, Vincennes didn't hold back in speaking his mind on the new organisation and its Chief Director. "What surprises me, probably more than anything, is the gall," said Vincennes. "Just the blatant nerve James Molk displayed in his speech. It's been a rare situation where I've encountered anything like it, to be honest. For him to sit in my office last Friday and show respect, like a student would to a teacher, and then appear publicly on Thursday and disrespect myself and my organisation with that overblown trash ... it's contemptable." SportsCenter anchor Dan Patrick countered Vincennes, saying he felt that Molk appeared to show a reasonable level of respect. Vincennes laughed. "You have to listen to his words again, Dan," he said. "For him to say that the HBF has thumbed our noses at the lower weight divisions, that he believes we were able but unwilling to expand this sport, that's just ludicrous. And it takes no courage to make such statements, either. The IBL were not, and never will be, in a position where they've had to create something from scratch. The staff of the Heavyweight Boxing Federation have built this thing from the ground up. Honestly, do you really believe that if we hadn't done this, there would even be an International Boxing League? Do you really believe that if James Molk hadn't seen what we've achieved in less than a year, that he'd be sitting in his office one day and suddenly say to himself, "Hey! I think I'm going to start up a professional boxing league!" No, I don't care what spin you put on it. The IBL only exists because of the efforts of myself and every employee of the HBF and with the lead-in we've given them, they'd have to be the most incompetent businessmen in the world not to succeed." Patrick asked Vincennes what he thought of the proposed IBL 72-man World Championship tournament that Molk described. The HBF President let out an exasperated sigh, then smiled. "It makes me laugh, because like with a lot of other stuff they'll do, they stole the idea from us. In my initial meeting with Molk back in February, we discussed the future direction of the HBF after the first stage of the World Championship and 1st Defense tournaments were completed. He wanted to know what the fighters who didn't qualify would be doing. This question confused me somewhat, because we had already made it known back in December that we'd be holding American and European Championship tournaments. After his announcement on Thursday, I saw that he was just picking my brain for ideas for his league, because our Continental Americas tournament will also feature 72 fighters. I told him this and I detailed the makeup of the groups in the tournament. Now, I'll admit he's changed these, from twelve groups of six to six groups of twelve, but it shows a marvellous lack of imagination, if you ask me. And it makes me wonder about his claim that the HBF will never be able to compete "financially" with the IBL. If that's the case, why is he limiting his league to a 72-man World Championship tournament for each division? That's only 360 fighters. The HBF is already featuring 288 at present, with plans to increase that number once the first feeder league tournaments have concluded. If we can't compete financially, then why don't they have plans for 500 fighters? Or a thousand? Has anyone asked him that?" "But you must admit that this new league will make a professional boxing career available to more people than your HBF could have ever reached," said Patrick. "That's a fact." "I won't dispute that," replied Vincennes, nodding. "That's an obvious fact, but it's not the issue that matters at the moment. Mr. Molk has shown a lack of respect for the achievements of the HBF. Don't tell me I've got integrity one minute and then say that I'm unwilling to expand boxing the next. Don't shake my hand and then poke me in the eye. It's a coward's way." Patrick next asked what he felt about New York Age sports journalist James Reynolds. Vincennes took some time to reply. His countenance took on a saddened tone. "Today, I find it hard to believe that I once called that man a valued friend," he said. "With that article yesterday, he burned up any possible bridge of friendship I might extend to him in the future. To borrow a quote from Michael Corleone, he's "nothing to me now". I can't quite believe what's happened to him and I definitely can't believe that that newspaper has allowed him to publish the drivel he's come up with during these last four months. I used to have a high regard for James Reynolds and the New York Age. No more. I'll be switching to The Times, I think." Soon after, the interview came to a close, with Vincennes stating that he was looking forward to being ringside at a Jack Johnson fight for the first time... __________________ MLB: 1958 and Beyond... The Greatest Prize in Sports Last edited by kenyan_cheena : 01-29-2006 at 11:10 PM.

01-30-2006, 10:07 PM	#422 (permalink)
kenyan_cheena Hall Of Famer Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Sydney, NSW, Australia Posts: 4,618	FINALLY, THE REAL JACK JOHNSON MAKES AN APPEARANCE Saturday 6 April 2002 Tonight, Galveston native and #3 seed in the Heavyweight Boxing Federation's World Championship tournament Jack Johnson put on a display that has been expected ever since he first showed what he's capable of during the HBF's tournament auditions back in October. Following the absolute shock of his debut loss to the tournament's 126th seed Joe Beckett and a less than convincing 3rd round KO of Pat Valentino, many speculated that the HBF had made a bad mistake by installing Johnson as the 3rd seed. But tonight's performance left no doubt as to the validity of "The Galveston Giant". Johnson scored a comprehensive unanimous decision victory against the 94th-seeded Argentinian Pedro Lovell, 59-55 on all three cards. With the exception of the third round, where Lovell was able to have some success trading blows with Johnson, the #3 seed was always in control, showing boxing skills that had been rarely seen in his opening two contests. Indeed, it must be said that, based on his showing in this bout, Johnson should be considered one of the best "boxers" in the HBF. His left jab was a thing of beauty, constantly jolting Lovell and keeping him off balance to allow for crisp, follow-up combinations. The audience at Houston's Reliant Park Pavilion gave Johnson an enthusiastic enough welcoming to the ring, but it was clear that there were some who were reserving their judgment. It's been a well-documented fact that many Texans were not enamoured to Johnson's wild lifestyle in the weeks before his loss to Beckett, and it might take him some time to convince them that he's the real deal. However, the Galveston-born slugger received a standing ovation at the final bell, something that clearly meant a lot to him. "Thank you so much for that," Johnson said soon after. "There's really nothing more important to me than making Texas proud. I know that I might have, well, alienated some of you with my foolishness, but I swear that's all behind me now. You won't see a more dedicated boxer in the HBF than Jack Johnson, believe that. So thank you all, so much, for your great support tonight." Johnson, who is now 2-1(1), landed an impressive 205 punches at 53%, while Lovell (0-2-1), game but clearly outclassed, managed 99 at 40%. * While "The Galveston Giant" was everything that had been hoped for, the performance of Houston's favourite son Cleveland Williams could not have been more unconvincing. He struggled terribly against Italy's 78th seed Franco Cavicchi, with a second round knockdown eventually proving to be the difference between a victory and a draw. Williams took a majority decision verdict, 57-56, 57-57, 57-56. It was, to put it mildly, a sluggish performance by the 30th seed. He started slow and, besides the flash knockdown in the second, never really got into gear. Cavicchi rocked him with a series of punishing combinations in the third and was at it again late in the fifth. The lacklustre Williams was good enough to take the fourth and sixth rounds. The victory keeps Williams in 1st place in Group Three of the World Championship tournament, but it must be said that he's going to need a vast improvement in his next bout if he wants to stay there... __________________ MLB: 1958 and Beyond... The Greatest Prize in Sports**

01-31-2006, 10:33 PM	#423 (permalink)
kenyan_cheena Hall Of Famer Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Sydney, NSW, Australia Posts: 4,618	THE HOUSTON UNDERCARD *Opening Bout* A battle between two fighters sitting in 1st and 2nd in Group Six of the 1st Defense tournament kicked off the evening. 11th seed Mike Weaver, the supremely-fit 20 year-old native of Diamond Bar, California clashed with New York City's 35th seed John Lester Johnson. Weaver had scored late TKO victories in his opening two bouts, showing an ability to wear down his opponents with volume rather than power. He hadn't recorded a single knockdown in either bout, with the referee stopping both contests. Johnson, meanwhile had been impressive in overcoming two higher seeded competitors, 27th seed Curtis Sheppard and 19th seed Joe Choynski. He defeated both men by unanimous decision and stepped into the ring tonight knowing that if he could overcome Weaver, he'd be in sole possession of the group lead. Well, to almost everyone's surprise, including his own, that's exactly what Johnson did. The New Yorker defeated Weaver by a comfortable unanimous decision, 59-55, 58-57, 59-55. It was astonishing to see the ease with which he dominated the 11th seed. Johnson came out aggressive and didn't back down, and when he needed to, Weaver couldn't back him up. The third round was the only one that each judge awarded him and as the fourth round came to a close, he was shaking his head in frustration, appearing to conceed that he could find no solution to the John Lester Johnson puzzle. Johnson has become the first fighter in these HBF tournaments to defeat THREE opponents seeded higher than him, and will have a chance to make that four when he clashes with the tournament's 6th seed Ron Lyle of Denver in five weeks. "I can't believe how well things have gone for me," he said. "When I auditioned, I really had no expectations. I just knew that I had some boxing skill and I looked at this as a chance to make a living for a few years. But it's getting pretty serious now, for sure." Serious, indeed. That fight with Lyle in five weeks will also be for the group lead, because immediately after Johnson's defeat of Weaver, Lyle was victorious in his own bout. As a result, he leap-frogged Weaver into 2nd place. Considering that after he clashes with Lyle, his last three bouts will all be against fighters seeded lower than him, John Lester Johnson has a great chance to qualify for stage two of the tournament. As for Weaver, well, he'll probably have to win his last four bouts to have any chance. *Preliminary 1* As just stated, Ron Lyle improved his record to 2-0-1(1) and moved into 2nd place in the group with a dominant unanimous decision victory (60-53 on all three cards) against England's Charley Mitchell. Following his disappointing effort last time out in being held to a draw by Jose Roman, Lyle was in specatacular form tonight, dropping the Englishman at the end of the fourth and maintaining control throughout with an aggressive display. The Denver-born 6th seed will be looking to return to what he considers to be his rightful top place in the group when he clashes with the sensationally-undefeated John Lester Johnson in his next bout. *Preliminary 2* After his shock upset victory against the World Championship tournament's 3rd seed Jack Johnson on debut, many people in Joe Beckett's native England seemed to lose touch with reality. They proclaimed that Beckett, by virtue of his win against Johnson, now had a chance to win the entire tournament and be crowned the Heavyweight Boxing Federation's first World Champion. Beckett did his best to ignore these ludicrous statements, but it was clear when he fought Cleveland Williams in his second bout that the pressure of expectation really affected him. The popular line was "He beat Johnson, he should be able to beat Williams." It didn't turn out that way, and despite knocking the 30th seed to the canvas in the fourth round, Beckett was clearly outfought in the unanimous decision loss. Before that bout with Williams, Jack Johnson had been quoted as saying about Beckett that "fifty years from now, he's gonna be little more than the answer to a question in Trivial Pursuit." If tonight's performance against Mexico's Manuel Ramos is any indicator, Jack Johnson might just be right. Despite a spirited effort, Beckett was clearly outclassed by the undefeated 62nd seed, losing by unanimous decision 58-57, 59-55, 60-54. The expression that Beckett wore in the moments after the verdict seemed to indicate that Johnson's words weren't far from his mind. As for Ramos, he's done a fine job of taking advantage of the slip-ups that both Johnson and 46th seed Renaldo Snipes have encountered in there earlier fights. His record of 2-0-1 keeps him in 2nd place in Group Three of the World Championship tournament. *Support Bout* In a lacklustre affair, Renaldo Snipes of Yonkers, New York was victorious against San Francisco's Pat Valentino. Although the final verdict was a split decision (59-56, 57-58, 58-56), the bout itself was not as close as the cards would indicate. While definitely unspectacular, Snipes was never really troubled by an opponent who had given both Cleveland Williams and Jack Johnson nightmares at times during his bouts with them. It was a disappointing effort this time by the Californian, because he never really made Snipes work for the victory. The New York native is now 2-1, while Valentino remains winless at 0-3. __________________ MLB: 1958 and Beyond... The Greatest Prize in Sports

01-31-2006, 10:39 PM	#424 (permalink)
kenyan_cheena Hall Of Famer Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Sydney, NSW, Australia Posts: 4,618	SUMMARY OF RESULTS HEAVYWEIGHT BOXING FEDERATION FIGHT CARD SATURDAY 6 APRIL 2002 RELIANT PARK PAVILION, HOUSTON, TEXAS, USA OPENING BOUT HBF 1st Defense Tournament - Stage One - Group Six 5(35) John Lester Johnson UD6 2(11) Mike Weaver PRELIMINARY 1 HBF 1st Defense Tournament - Stage One - Group Six 1(6) Ron Lyle UD6 6(43) Charley Mitchell PRELIMINARY 2 HBF World Championship Tournament - Stage One - Group Three 4(62) Manuel Ramos UD6 8(126) Joe Beckett SUPPORT BOUT HBF World Championship Tournament - Stage One - Group Three 3(46) Renaldo Snipes SD6 7(110) Pat Valentino CO-FEATURE HBF World Championship Tournament - Stage One - Group Three 2(30) Cleveland Williams MD6 5(78) Franco Cavicchi MAIN EVENT HBF World Championship Tournament - Stage One - Group Three 1(3) Jack Johnson UD6 6(94) Pedro Lovell __________________ MLB: 1958 and Beyond... The Greatest Prize in Sports

01-31-2006, 10:43 PM	#425 (permalink)
kenyan_cheena Hall Of Famer Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Sydney, NSW, Australia Posts: 4,618	As I now have the Group Standings thread, there's no reason for me to include the standings for the groups that competed during the past week in this here main thread. At the end of each week in the universe (Sunday), I'll update the Group Standings thread. However, I'll continue to post the schedule for the upcoming week here. I have to go out soon, so I'll try to update the standings when I get back this evening (Aus. time). Thanks. Hope everyone's still enjoying. __________________ MLB: 1958 and Beyond... The Greatest Prize in Sports

02-01-2006, 04:51 PM	#426 (permalink)
kenyan_cheena Hall Of Famer Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Sydney, NSW, Australia Posts: 4,618	Sunday 7 April 2002 HEAVYWEIGHT BOXING FEDERATION FIGHT CARD SCHEDULE MONDAY 08/04/2002 - SATURDAY 13/04/2002 INCLUSIVE MONDAY 08/04/2002 - BELL AUDITORIUM, AUGUSTA, GEORGIA, USA 1D - G7: 4(26) OLLE TANDBERG vs 8(58) MANNY BURGO 1D - G7: 3(18) DON COCKELL vs 7(50) BOB SATTERFIELD WC - G7: 4(58) EARL WALLS vs 8(122) DAN FLYNN WC - G7: 3(42) FRANK BRUNO vs 7(106) WILLI BESMANOFF WC - G7: 2(26) ROLAND LASTARZA vs 5(74) MAC FOSTER WC - G7: 1(7) YOUNG STRIBLING vs 6(90) JACK RENAULT WEDNESDAY 10/04/2002 - ESTREL CONVENTION CENTER, BERLIN, GERMANY 1D - G7: 2(10) NATIE BROWN vs 5(34) TOM KENNEDY 1D - G7: 1(7) DOUG JONES vs 6(42) DICK RICHARDSON WC - G10: 4(55) RANDALL COBB vs 8(119) GEORGE JOHNSON WC - G10: 3(39) STEVE HAMAS vs 7(103) FLOYD CUMMINGS WC - G10: 2(23) FRANK MORAN vs 5(71) JOE GRIM WC - G10: 1(10) MAX SCHMELING vs 6(87) THAD SPENCER FRIDAY 12/04/2002 - LUNA PARK, BUENES AIRES, ARGENTINA 1D - G2: 4(31) PETER MAHER vs 8(63) JACK ROPER 1D - G2: 3(23) JOHNNY WILLIAMS vs 7(55) KEVIN ISAAC WC - G15: 4(50) TED LOWRY vs 8(114) ARTHUR PELKEY WC - G15: 3(34) BRUCE SELDON vs 7(98) ALONZO JOHNSON WC - G15: 2(18) OSCAR BONAVENA vs 5(66) GARY MASON WC - G15: 1(15) JACK SHARKEY vs 6(82) TONY ALONGI SATURDAY 13/04/2002 - KIEL AUDITORIUM, ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI, USA 1D - G2: 2(15) MARVIN HART vs 5(39) CHUCK WEPNER 1D - G2: 1(2) JAMES JEFFRIES vs 6(47) WIM SNOEK WC - G2: 4(63) LOU NOVA vs 8(127) NICK BARONE WC - G2: 3(47) CHARLEY RETZLAFF vs 7(111) PHIL SCOTT WC - G2: 2(31) MICHAEL DOKES vs 5(79) HAROLD CARTER WC - G2: 1(2) SONNY LISTON vs 6(95) ALEJANDRO LAVORANTE __________________ MLB: 1958 and Beyond... The Greatest Prize in Sports

02-03-2006, 02:47 AM	#427 (permalink)
kenyan_cheena Hall Of Famer Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Sydney, NSW, Australia Posts: 4,618	STRIBLING AND LISTON TO COMPLETE HBF'S "HOMETOWN HERO" SERIES Sunday 7 April 2002 The third series of bouts in the Heavyweight Boxing Federation's World Championship and 1st Defense tournaments will come to a conclusion this week, with eagerly-awaited fight cards in Georgia and Missouri certain to provide a fair share of highlights. Back in early March, federation president Michael Vincennes announced that all of the sixteen #1 seeds in the WC tournament who had not fought in their home city (or home state) during the first two series would be given the opportunity to do so in the tournament's third series. As the majority of those top seeds are from the United States, the president's policy led to the third series having a very American feel to it, with venues in Los Angeles, Philadelphia, New York, Brooklyn, San Diego, Reading (Pennsylvania), Atlantic City and Houston all hosting sold-out, highly successful HBF fight cards during the past three weeks. This coming week will see the last two remaining #1 seeds fight in their home state, with the #7 seed Young Stribling set to headline Monday night's Augusta card and Sonny Lston to fight in his hometown of St. Louis on Saturday. 17 year-old Stribling's preparation for tomorrow night's bout has been much easier than that experienced by some of the other top seeds in the World Championship tournament (especially Sonny Liston, who we'll get to in a little while). As has been the case ever since he was named the tournament's #7 seed, Young has been able to train for his bouts with little interference from prying local eyes. The people of Macon, though tremendously proud of him, have given Stribling the space he requires to train as effectively as possible under the watchful eye of his parents, William and Lucilla. The out-of-town media scrutiny that "Team Stribling" was put under in the weeks after his debut has also all but vanished, making the task even easier. "This will really be one of the most exciting nights of my life," said Stribling. "To be fighting as a pro, in my home state ... it just doesn't get any better than that. Mom has come up with something extra special strategy-wise, so it's going to be a special night. I'm just itching to get in the ring and start fighting." * As noted earlier, the World Championship tournament's #2 seed Sonny Liston has had to endure a less than ideal lead-in to this Saturday's bout. Back in mid-February, in the weeks before his second tournament bout, Liston voluntarily made himself scarce. The 21 year-old went missing for almost two weeks due to the constant interference from both the media and public as he attempted to train in St. Louis. When he was overseas in Scotland for his fight, he remarked about how comfortable he felt there, to the point where, when he returned home, he met with President Vincennes and requested to have another bout held there in the future. Both Liston's disappearance and his words on Scotland really should have been enough to lead to an improvement in the way the St. Louis public (and, in particular, the media) treats the powerhouse slugger. But that hasn't been the case. Despite the presence of security guards, Liston's training sessions became a media circus. This has led to Liston and trainer Willie Reddish abandoning their base of operations. It's been speculated that the two left the city in the middle of the night three days ago, because their current whereabouts are unknown. Reddish was quoted as saying in the days before that the St. Louis media are "leeches." "I really think some of you bastards don't want Sonny to succeed," said Reddish. 'I see it in your eyes, you know? You're all out for his blood. You want to see him fail because you can't stop yourself from looking at Sonny as an ex-convict. You all compare him to your golden boy Gene Tunney and look down your noses at him. You try to distract us while we train. Damn, I've never seen such an attempt to sabotage someone who should be a hero and an inspiration to the people of his town." Liston's trainer might have a point regarding the St. Louis media, but that attitude doesn't apply to the city's boxing fans. The #2 seed is hugely popular and one can only imagine the extreme anticipation and hysteria that will be in the air when Charles "Sonny" Liston steps into the ring at the Kiel Auditorium on Saturday night... __________________ MLB: 1958 and Beyond... The Greatest Prize in Sports** Last edited by kenyan_cheena : 02-03-2006 at 02:52 AM.

02-07-2006, 07:04 PM	#428 (permalink)
kenyan_cheena Hall Of Famer Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Sydney, NSW, Australia Posts: 4,618	AUGUSTA MASTER: STRIBLING STROLLS TO VICTORY AT THE BELL AUDITORIUM Monday 8 April 2002 Story by Randolph Cootes of the Georgia State Chronicle The home of golf's most sought-after prize played host to a master of a different kind tonight. Georgia's newest sporting talent, boxer Young Stribling, scored a dominant six round unanimous decision victory against Canada's Jack Renault. Competing in the main event of the Heavyweight Boxing Federation's Bell Auditorium fight card (and in his home state for the first time), Macon-born Stribling put on an eye-popping display of boxing excellence. With the exception of the final minute of the third round, Stribling was always in control of the contest, punishing a clearly outclassed and overwhelmed Renault throughout. Stribling had said in the days before tonight's event that we'd see something "extra special strategy-wise". If you call raining power shots onto your opponent's body a strategy, then it could be said that it was "something extra-special". I'd prefer to call it an impressive display of power punching. Of the 173 punches that Stribling landed, exactly half of them were either hooks or uppercuts. By the end of the bout, Renault was cut over the right eye and his left was badly swollen, as was his left cheek. He appeared black and blue all over. Stribling is not numbered amongst the strongest punchers in the HBF, but simply put, Renault had really taken a beating. The Canadian had come into this World Championship tournament with quite a lot of enthusiasm, but three fights in he finds himself with an 0-3 record and no chance of qualifying for the tournament's second stage. All his losses have been by unanimous decision and with the exception of his opening bout against England's Frank Bruno (a fight where many believe he was robbed of a victory), Renault has not looked like winning. He was clearly outfought by fellow Canadian Earl Walls in his second contest, just as he was tonight. All that's left for him now is to try and make something of his remaining four World Championship tournament bouts, in order to have a good enough record to qualify for the Continental Americas tournament. Although just 16 years old during the HBF's October tournament auditions, the federation did not hesitate to install Young Stribling (now 17) as the #7 seed in their World Championship tournament, so impressed with his ability they were. Judging by his performances so far, it's clear that they made a wise decision. Stribling has started his career in a fantastic manner, winning each of his three bouts decisively but without scoring even a single knockdown. A look at the punch stats for his bouts shows that on average he's outlanding his opponents 28-12 each round. Considering the shaky starts that a few of the fighters seeded above him have made, he really must be considered one of the top five favourites for the HBF's inaugural World Championship. However, his next opponent, California's Mac Foster may pose quite a challenge, as he caused a sensation in the night's Co-Feature, as I'll reveal in a moment... ... COLDCOCKED! LASTARZA KO'D IN SECOND ROUND AFTER ELABORATE ENTRANCE TO THE RING! The 26th seed in the HBF's World Championship tournament, Roland LaStarza of the Bronx was sensationally knocked out cold in the second round by Mac Foster of Fresno, California in tonight's Co-Feature. However, what made the surprising result all the more embarassing for the cocky New Yorker was that he had made a theatrical entrance to the arena just minutes earlier. Even more extraordinary was that his choice of song during that entrance almost predicted what would happen to him in the ring. That tune was "E lucevan le stelle", as performed by Luciano Pavarotti, from Puccini's "Tosca". In the song, the painter Cavaradossi, imprisoned for treason and set to be executed at dawn, sings of his complete and utter sadness and loss at leaving behind the love of his life. LaStarza (who, playing the role of Cavaradossi, entered the ring with shackles on his wrists and wearing a black and white pinstriped prison suit) could not have known that in mere minutes he would suffer a fate akin to Cavaradossi, although not one as permanent. 2:04 into the second round of what had been a rather uneventful bout, Foster caught the 26th seed with a textbook perfect right cross which snapped LaStarza's head around on his shoulders. He lurched backwards and then fell face forward to the canvas in a heap. The audience, most of whom were rooting heavily for Foster as a result of both LaStarza's disrespectful words towards their man Stribling last month and the fact that he's the 2nd seed in Stribling's group, came to their feet as one with an animalistic howl. LaStarza did not move for the duration of the count. He had been knocked unconscious by one of the most devastating punches seen so far in these HBF tournaments, and was counted out at 2:15 of the second round. For Foster, this win is a great breakthrough. He's improved with each bout (a loss to Earl Walls followed by a draw with Frank Bruno), and this victory ups his record to 1-1-1(1). LaStarza, now 2-1, will drop out of the top two in the group standings as a result of 58th seed Earl Walls' split decision victory over Dan Flynn earlier in the evening. Walls is now 3-0. __________________ MLB: 1958 and Beyond... The Greatest Prize in Sports Last edited by kenyan_cheena : 02-07-2006 at 07:12 PM.

02-07-2006, 08:12 PM	#429 (permalink)
kenyan_cheena Hall Of Famer Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Sydney, NSW, Australia Posts: 4,618	*The Augusta Undercard* OPENING BOUT Swedish fighter Olle Tandberg's frustrating 1st Defense tournament campaign hit a new low tonight when he lost by unanimous decision to the previously-winless 58th-seeded Englishman Manny Burgo. Having fought his backside off in a draw with Tom Kennedy and a split decision loss to Dick Richardson, this latest setback has all but ended any chance the 26th seed has of progressing to the tournament's second stage. But really, he has no one to blame but himself. Tandberg struggled for much of the bout and going into the fifth round, he had yet to win a single round on a single card. It was not a fantastic bout but Burgo was simply executing his gameplan with more precision. The Swede breathed life into proceedings when he dropped Burgo with a single uppercut early in the fifth and when it looked like the Englishman wouldn't make the count, Tandberg appeared ecstatic. But he celebrated too soon. Burgo lurched to his feet at eight, survived the round despite Tandberg's best efforts to finish him off and then came out and dominated the final stanza to secure a 58-56 verdict on all three cards. PRELIMINARY 1 England's Don Cockell scored his most impressive victory to date with a 4th round TKO against Chicago's Bob Satterfield. Cockell looked fantastic while sending the winless 50th seed to the canvas early in the first and late in the third before battering him senseless in the fourth, forcing the referee to bring the bout to a close. With his record now 3-0(1), 18th-seeded Cockell remains in contention to challenge for a top two spot in Group Seven of the 1st Defense tournament. PRELIMINARY 2 Undefeated Canadian Earl Walls was given a much tougher time than he bargained for by the winless Boston native Dan Flynn. In the first World Championship tournament bout of the night, Walls managed to stay perfect with a split decision victory, 59-56, 57-58, 58-57. The 58th seed in the WC tourney, Walls started well, building an early lead with a simple jab and move startegy that Flynn seemed to have little answer for. But towards the end of the fourth round, the Canadian started to get sloppy. Perhaps he was allowing cockiness to intervene, but his attitude change continued into the fifth and sixth, rounds that Flynn was able to win quite handily. He even hurt Walls a few times with some punishing combinations. But, of course, it was too little, too late, as Walls had done enough early to secure the victory. SUPPORT BOUT England's Frank Bruno continued to struggle (and disappoint), being held to a draw for a second consecutive bout. In an ugly fight against Germany's Willi Besmanoff, Bruno once again showed precious little of the firepower that had been on display during the HBF's tournament auditions. The 42nd seed will have trouble qualifying for the tournament's second stage if he can't show a vast improvement in quick time, as he is yet to fight the other top four group seeds, Walls, LaStarza and the top seed Young Stribling. All three of them will dominate him based on tonight's efforts. The judge's scorecards read 58-57 (Bruno), 58-56 (Besmanoff), 58-58. Bruno is now 1-0-2 while Besmanoff is 0-2-1. __________________ MLB: 1958 and Beyond... The Greatest Prize in Sports Last edited by kenyan_cheena : 02-07-2006 at 08:16 PM.

02-07-2006, 08:23 PM	#430 (permalink)
kenyan_cheena Hall Of Famer Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Sydney, NSW, Australia Posts: 4,618	SUMMARY OF RESULTS HEAVYWEIGHT BOXING FEDERATION FIGHT CARD MONDAY 8 APRIL 2002 BELL AUDITORIUM, AUGUSTA, GEORGIA, USA OPENING BOUT HBF 1st Defense Tournament - Stage One - Group Seven 8(58) Manny Burgo UD6 4(26) Olle Tandberg PRELIMINARY 1 HBF 1st Defense Tournament - Stage One - Group Seven 3(18) Don Cockell TKO4 7(50) Bob Satterfield PRELIMINARY 2 HBF World Championship Tournament - Stage One - Group Seven 4(58) Earl Walls SD6 8(122) Dan Flynn SUPPORT BOUT HBF World Championship Tournament - Stage One - Group Seven 3(42) Frank Bruno D6 7(106) Willi Besmanoff CO-FEATURE HBF World Championship Tournament - Stage One - Group Seven 5(74) Mac Foster KO2 2(26) Roland LaStarza MAIN EVENT HBF World Championship Tournament - Stage One - Group Seven 1(7) Young Stribling UD6 6(90) Jack Renault __________________ MLB: 1958 and Beyond... The Greatest Prize in Sports

02-07-2006, 10:42 PM	#431 (permalink)
kenyan_cheena Hall Of Famer Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Sydney, NSW, Australia Posts: 4,618	HAYNES HEADS TO THAILAND FOR ASIAN BOXING LEAGUE BOUT Tuesday 9 April 2002 Accompanied by fellow Florida Alliance member Tommy Gomez, the South-East Asian Boxing League's #1 seed Terone Haynes boarded a plane at Jacksonville Airport this afternoon bound for Thailand for his next tournament bout. His cousin Elmer Ray was there at the airport to see him off. For the first time, Ray won't be accompanying Haynes overseas for one of his bouts. The 17 year-old wasn't in a joking mood when questioned about this. "Like I said las' week, man," he replied. "Things gettin' serious now, see? My next bout's just eight days after T's. All four o' us agreed, we gotta cut down on this flyin' round, man. Too 'xpensive, too disruptive for our preps, y'all. You know, O-Mac, he back home right now. We jus' tell 'im to go home and rest a few weeks, man. All that Manchester stuff, plus his fight last week 'gainst Stephens ... just took 'lot outta him. Stressed him, pissed him off, man. The HBF got us fightin' in New York, at the Hammerstein Ballroom. That's for Floyd, see, 'cause even though he born in NC, he been livin' in the Big Apple mos' his life. This fight jus' huge for me, see? I beat this Tony Ross dude, I still be 'head of Jimmy Young before we fight. Now, my cuz Terone, any o' y'all really think he gonna lose to this Samoan brother? Guarantee you, it be over inside o' two rounds." Of course, some will want to dig deeper and look upon this splintering of the Florida Alliance as a sign of their coming demise. As Elmer Ray himself said last week, "Anyone sayin' that, I tell y'all right now, they ain't got no interest in this 'lliance, man. They tryin' t' be a destroyer, no doubt." Only time will tell how long this undefeated quartet continues to support each other's endeavours in the Heavyweight Boxing Federation. For now, though, they continue to impress, with their talent, showmanship and, according to Elmer Ray's words, wiser choices in regards to their fight preparations. Without a doubt, next week's Thailand fight card featuring Terone Haynes is already a highly-anticipated one, an event which will surely have its fair share of fireworks... __________________ MLB: 1958 and Beyond... The Greatest Prize in Sports

02-07-2006, 11:39 PM	#432 (permalink)
Romdawg88 Hall Of Famer Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Winter Park, FL Posts: 3,703	Great work as usual Kenyan, you've done a hell of a job with the Alliance storyline and with Elmer in general. Heck Group Sixteen to me is by far the most interesting of all the Groups in both tournments, can wait to see how it plays out and who ends up on top. __________________ Romy "Iceman" Alvarez First TBCB Forum Tournament Champion, 10-6 (5). IBL: 5-0 (3) UTBA-II: Muckboys 1-0, 1st Place, 17-15 (13), 56 points Fighter of the Week 1. Sergei Artemiev 2-0

02-08-2006, 02:00 AM	#434 (permalink)
kenyan_cheena Hall Of Famer Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Sydney, NSW, Australia Posts: 4,618	*(Note: this post relates to post #12 of the IBL thread)* VINCENNES CALLS MOLK'S COMMENTS "LUDICROUS AND IGNORANT" Tuesday 9 April 2002 The war of words between Heavyweight Boxing Federation President Michael Vincennes and International Boxing League Chief Director James Molk continued today, with Vincennes issuing a stern retort to comments made by Molk yesterday in Las Vegas. "Some of the things he said were just ludicrous," said Vincennes, during a live interview on SportsCenter. "Ludicrous and ignorant. Mr. Molk believes that some of our competitors are "simply not up to it". Well, I've got a newsflash for him: someone always has to finish last. It doesn't matter how much talent you have at your disposal, there will always be those who struggle, those who, for one reason or another, are not able to compete at the highest level. Calling our selection standards into question, that shows how ignorant he is in regards to how we run our organisation. Every fighter competing under the Heavyweight Boxing Federation banner has passed strict physical and medical examinations. Are they all as talented as each other? Of course they aren't. To even suggest that that's possible is ridiculous." Vincennes went on to discuss Molk's claim that the IBL will not be staging mismatches. "That really burned my you-know-what when he said that. It was a clear inference that the HBF is staging mismatches. What does he consider a mismatch? I'll freely admit that a handful of competitors have been, how should I say it, "in over their head", but that's the nature of our competition. We have a schedule, groups that have been divised based on what we saw during our auditions. Tell me this ... did James Molk think that it was a mismatch when Joe Beckett, the 126th seed, had to fight Jack Johnson, the #3 seed in his first bout? Was that a mismatch? It looked like one on paper, didn't it? But everyone knows what happened in that fight." The HBF President had some simple parting words for his IBL counterpart. "James Molk should just stick to running his organisation," said Vincennes. "Every time he opens his mouth and speaks about the HBF, he sounds like a fool. Now, this will be the last I probably say on this whole matter. I'm tired of this back and forth BS, so unless he continues to be a fool, you won't hear any more from me about him. It's nonsense that deverts my attention from where it really needs to be." Of course, only the path of the coming days will determine whether Vincennes remains true to his word or not... __________________ MLB: 1958 and Beyond... The Greatest Prize in Sports Last edited by kenyan_cheena : 02-09-2006 at 08:18 PM.