The Heavyweight Boxing Federation

[kenyan_cheena]

(continuation)

Ramos actually had the upper hand going into the bottom half of the bout, having gotten the better of an exciting second round and clearly winning the third. But Valentino would not be denied during the last three rounds, doing enough to claim an impressive victory. He rattled Ramos in the fourth with a left hook, right uppercut sequence and again in the final stanza with a crushing straight right.

The Mexican left the ring a dejected figure, the pain of losing his first bout and the knowledge that this loss would possibly cost him two spots in the group standings clear to see on his countenance...

Preliminary 2

Joe Beckett's shocking debut victory against Jack Johnson continued to fade further into insignificance as he fell to his third straight loss, going down by unanimous decision to New York's Renaldo Snipes (58-56, 59-55, 58-56).

"The Angry Englishman" put up a game showing, especially in rounds two, four and five, but he was simply outclassed by an opponent determined to capitalise on Manuel Ramos's defeat in the previous bout.

With his victory, Snipes improved his record to 3-1 and guaranteed that he would be placed at least 3rd in the Group Three standings by the time the night was over.

There were no knockdowns in the bout, but Snipes was able to put on a performance that was closer to his debut drubbing of Pedro Lovell than either of his last two showings were.

"I've got the big guy Jacky J. in my next bout," Snipes said. "So this was a must win fight, 'cause I can't see him losing in tonight's main event. I think that if I can train to the best of my ability and come without any doubts in my mind, I have a good chance of beating him. I mean, Joe showed back in January that the guy can be beaten. I'll take a lot of encouragement from that."

As for Joe Beckett, he'll return home with a 1-3 record but he was positive about his future during the post fight interview.

"Well, the most difficult fights are out of the way for me now," he said. "I guess another victory would have been nice, but I'm looking forward to my upcoming bouts. I'm confident that I can score a few wins before this tournament is over for me."

(to be continued)

[kenyan_cheena]

(continuation)

Support Bout

It's fair to say that, to date, the professional boxing career of Houston's Cleveland Williams has been underwhelming. Yes, he's 3-0 and sitting in 1st place in Group Three of the HBF's World Championship tournament, but the 18 year-old has looked anything but spectacular for much of those three bouts, something that a number of boxing experts had made a point of discussing in recent days.

Tonight, Williams entered the ring with that criticism an irritating ring in his ears and answered it in pretty comprehensive style, knocking out Argentina's Pedro Lovell 52 seconds into round four with a single shot to the ribs.

The contest could well have been all over in the opening round as Williams came out with murderous intent, hurting the Argentinian with a series of powerful lefts and rights and dropping him two minutes in with a flush left hook. Lovell just managed to beat the count but didn't receive any mercy in round two, as the Houston native continued his relentless attack.

Lovell's only bright spot was a brief rally at the end of a quieter third round, when he connected with a stiff straight right hand and a crunching uppercut. But it did little to slow Williams down, and the end came when he unloaded on the 94th seed's left ribcage 41 seconds into round four. Lovell was clearly hurt as he remained on his haunches for a number of minutes after being counted out.

"Critics were gettin' on my case, so I had to respond," said Williams after. "You know, I agree wtih some of what they said. I ain't set the world on fire, but wins is wins, you know? I felt good tonight, felt strong and confident and I'm still leading the group. Can't complain about that."

Indeed, Williams' victory has improved his record to 4-0(1) and allowed him to maintain his hold on 1st place in the group standings, something that will be hotly contested during the final three bouts of stage one. Next up for Williams will be the 62nd-seeded Mexican Manuel Ramos, who will be eager to rebound from tonight's loss to Pat Valentino...

Co-Feature

Denver's Ron Lyle brought the overachieving run of John Lester Johnson to an end with a convincing unanimous decision victory, 58-54 on all three cards.

Both men came into the contest undefeated but Lyle, the 1st Defense tournament's 6th seed, was able to start stronger and put his New York City opponent on the canvas midway through the second round with a single right uppercut. This had followed a barnstorming effort in round one, where he had staggered Johnson with a scintillating three punch combination early on.

Johnson is the 35th seed in the tournament and had defeated three fighters seeded higher than him to start his career (Mike Weaver (11), Joe Choynski (19), Curtis Sheppard (27)) but never really looked like threatening Lyle, despite some strong work in rounds four and five.

Lyle put an exclamation point on his performance when he floored Johnson right on the final bell with a wicked shot to the body.

The win improved Lyle's record to 3-0-1(1), gave him 1st place in the group standings and also prevented 11th seed Mike Weaver from returning to the top two. Johnson and Weaver share identical 3-1 records, but Johnson retained his top two positioning due to his unanimous decision victory over Weaver five weeks ago.

The chances of all three men being victorious in their next bouts are quite good, with the schedule for them as follows:

5(35) John Lester Johnson (3-1-0) vs 7(51) Jose Roman (0-3-1)
2(11) Mike Weaver (3-1-0(2)) vs 4(27) Curtis Shepperd (2-2-0(1))
1(6) Ron Lyle (3-0-1(1)) vs 3(19) Joe Choynski (2-2-0)

They are clearly the class of the group, but one of them is destined to miss out on progressing to the second stage...

[kenyan_cheena]

SUMMARY OF RESULTS
HEAVYWEIGHT BOXING FEDERATION FIGHT CARD
SATURDAY 11 MAY 2002
GRAN STADIUM, HAVANA, CUBA


OPENING BOUT

HBF 1st Defense Tournament - Stage One - Group Six
2(11) Mike Weaver UD6 6(43) Charley Mitchell

PRELIMINARY 1

HBF World Championship Tournament - Stage One - Group Three
7(110) Pat Valentino MD6 4(62) Manuel Ramos

PRELIMINARY 2

HBF World Championship Tournament - Stage One - Group Three
3(46) Renaldo Snipes UD6 8(126) Joe Beckett

SUPPORT BOUT

HBF World Championship Tournament - Stage One - Group Three
2(30) Cleveland Williams KO4 6(94) Pedro Lovell

CO-FEATURE

HBF 1st Defense Tournament - Stage One - Group Six
1(6) Ron Lyle UD6 5(35) John Lester Johnson

MAIN EVENT

HBF World Championship Tournament - Stage One - Group Three
1(3) Jack Johnson KO4 5(78) Franco Cavicchi

[kenyan_cheena]

Damn, took me two months to chronicle the happenings in a single week of the HBF/IBL. That's pitiful. I'll try to get things moving a bit quicker from now on.

[kenyan_cheena]

Sunday 12 May 2002

HEAVYWEIGHT BOXING FEDERATION
FIGHT CARD SCHEDULE
MONDAY 13/05/2002 - SATURDAY 18/05/2002 INCLUSIVE

MONDAY 13/05/2002 - BRENTWOOD INTERNATIONAL CENTRE, BRENTWOOD, ESSEX, ENGLAND

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

WEDNESDAY 15/05/2002 - BILL GRAHAM CIVIC CENTER, SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, USA

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

FRIDAY 17/05/2002 - VAN ANDEL ARENA, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN, USA

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

SATURDAY 18/05/2002 - BRAEHEAD ARENA, GLASGOW, LANARKSHIRE, SCOTLAND

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

[kenyan_cheena]

Coming up in the HBF...

* Vincennes to Shavers: Shape up or ship out
* From the UK to the US and back again
* Back in Glasgow: Liston ready to entertain

[kenyan_cheena]

VINCENNES SOUNDS OFF ON SHAVERS:
"SHAPE UP OR SHIP OUT"

Sunday 12 May 2002

Heavyweight Boxing Federation President Michael Vincennes has issued a stern public warning to Ohio state fighter Earnie Shavers over his recent behaviour.

"He really is pushing it," Vincennes said. "What he did in Vegas was pretty low, and his actions last night were just ridiculous. I know that in sports, some will resort to mind games to try and gain an advantage. Personally, I don't like the practice but I know that it's here to stay. But what Mr. Shavers did in Vegas went beyond simple "mind games". We haven't been told exactly what he said to Gene Tunney, but it was vile enough to extract a violent reaction from Gene, who in my experience is a perfect gentleman. I'm sure that the majority of people would share the opinion that Jack Johnson voiced on Mr. Shavers, and in fact I know that many would have chosen even stronger words. Taking that into account, Mr. Shavers' actions of last night are even more ludicrous. He must surely realise that public opinion is severely against him and he must also know that the possibility of a bout between himself and Jack Johnson is zero. Does he really think we would put either man's chances of success in the World Championsip tournament in jeopardy by staging some silly grudge match over comments that were completely justified? Earnie Shavers seems to be completely out of his mind. Some have said that the HBF is soft in regards to these matters, but I'm here to tell Mr. Shavers today that if he continues along this course, I will not hesistate to tear up his contract and kick him out of the World Championship tournament. He has a simple choice: shape up, or ship out."

It will be interesting to see how Shavers reacts to the federation president's words. His trainer Ted Bentham has said today that he had no idea that Shavers was planning his trip to Havana, but confirmed that the World Championship tournament 32nd seed has been harbouring a "me against the world" attitude in recent weeks.

"I really don't know why he's been acting this way," said Bentham. "I guess he wants to feed off the supposed hate he thinks everyone's feeling towards him, but I told the guy that any hatred people are feeling for him, he brought onto himself. But he didn't want to hear that. I'll have to try and talk some sense into him when he gets back from Havana."

FROM THE UK TO THE US AND BACK AGAIN

Vincennes was much happier when discussing the federation's coming week of fight cards, the sixteenth for the World Championship / 1st Defense tournaments and the one that will conclude the fourth series of tournament bouts. It will be a rarity for the International-centric HBF, with all four cards held in either the United Kingdom or the United States.

"There are just so many exciting bouts coming up," said Vincennes. "The card in Michigan on Friday is going to be huge. We'll have four guys clashing who are all tied for the lead in Group Fifteen of the World Championship tournament, so that will go a long way to helping determine who qualifies and who doesn't. Before that, on Wednesday, you'll see three guys in Schmeling, Moran and Hamas who are all 3-0 and trying to stay undefeated. Just knowing that one of them will miss out when all is said and done makes every win so valuable."

The HBF President also spoke on Georgia's great hope for the World Championship.

"Tomorrow night, Young Stribling's attempting to stay perfect against the guy who knocked out Roland LaStarza with one punch, Mac Foster. That just looms as a fascinating bout, and LaStarza himself will be out to put himslef back on track on the undercard, no doubt."

Vincennes reserved his most animated words for "The Missouri Monster."

"Of course, I can't forget to mention Sonny Liston," he said. "He's already back over there in Glasgow and from what I've heard he's trained really well. I know that everyone's looking forward to seeing him back in action on Saturday night."

[kenyan_cheena]

BACK IN GLASGOW AND LOVING IT:
LISTON READY TO ENTERTAIN "HIS PEOPLE"

Monday 13 May 2002

It's been three days since Missouri's Sonny Liston jetted into Glasgow for this coming Saturday night's Heavyweight Boxing Federation fight card, and to say that he's happy would be an understatement.

This is the second time that Liston and the other members of Group Two in the federation's World Championship and 1st Defense tournaments have come to the city for a fight card (following the event back on March 9) and it was Liston's insistence that it happen that has led to it.

An ex-convict, Liston has encountered considerable difficulty in regards to being accepted and training effectively in his hometown of St. Louis. But during that first visit to Glasgow in March, he found a community that was much more willing to embrace him for the talented athlete he is, a community that didn't frown upon the more unfortunate aspects of his past.

"I can't tell you how happy he is to be back here," said Liston's trainer Willie Reddish. "It's like night and day, the change in his personality and attitude. He feels relaxed here, at peace. There's just something about him that these people have taken into their hearts. I guess it could be because there aren't any Scottish fighters in the HBF. Maybe they feel like he's representing them. I know that they're supporting him more than any other guy in the federation. They just love him and that's why he feels so comfortable here."

Based on certain things that Liston had said to him, Reddish speculated that the man known as "The Missouri Monster" might be considering living in Glasgow permanently.

"As I've said before, I haven't known the guy more than six or seven months," said Reddish. "But I've never seen him as happy during that time as when he's been over here. He feels like these are his people, a lot more so than back in St. Louis. I could easily understand him deciding to live here."

It must be said that a contented, focused Liston will be an even more dangerous opponent than a disgruntled one, so I wouldn't want to be in Harold Carter's shoes come Saturday night...

[kenyan_cheena]

ESSEX EXCELLENCE:
STRIBLING DOMINATES FOSTER,
IMPROVES TO 4-0

Monday 13 May 2002

17 year-old Macon, Georgia native Young Stribling has scored one of the Heavyweight Boxing Federation's most lopsided victories to date, defeating California's Mac Foster by unanimous decision (60-54, 59-55, 60-54).

In his European debut, Stribling put on his most impressive display to date, which is something considering the ease in which he had won his first three bouts. Foster came into the fight full of confidence following his upset 2nd round knockout of Roland LaStarza five weeks ago, but the bout was less than five minutes old before it was clear that Stribling would be an entirely different proposition.

From the outset Stribling went to work, baffling his opponent with constantly changing tactics. One moment he'd be flicking out four and five jabs in quick succession, the next he'd be rattling the Fresno native with powerful uppercuts and haymakers before unleashing crippling body shots. He also occasionally returned to the tactics of his debut, where he would feint with both hands before unloading with a flush right. Stribling battering Foster into submission with quality and volume and by the time the bout was over, he had landed 206 of 507 punches, more than six times as many as Foster (34/125).

Stribling and his parents William and Lucilla (who are also his trainers) had spoken in the days leading up to the bout of their excitement at being in England.

"Before the HBF tournament began, we'd never been out of the States," said William. "But in the last few months, we've been to Argentina and now England. These are things we never could have done, if not for the federation. It's been an exciting time."

"Team Stribling" may have been happy to be in England, but tonight they were all business as Young maintained what is, without a doubt, one of the best career starts of all the HBF's competitors. The 17 year-old has won each of his four bouts by clear cut unanimous decisions and has outlanded his opponents by an average of 29-10 per round. If he can continue with this rich vein of form, there's no telling how far he'll go in the Heavyweight Boxing Federation's World Championship tournament...

[kenyan_cheena]

THE BRENTWOOD UNDERCARD

Opening Bout

Chicago's Bob Satterfield scored his first victory as a professional boxer, defeating Swedish fighter Olle Tandberg by a comfortable unanimous decision (58-55, 59-56, 58-55). Embarassingly, the loss was Tandberg's third consecutive against fighters who had been winless coming into the bout and has seen the 26th seed in the HBF's 1st Defense tournament claim an unenviable record. He is the ONLY top four seed in both the World Championship and 1st Defense tournament to have failed to record a victory in his first four bouts.

Tandberg was the better man during the opening two rounds but offered very little from that point on. Satterfield rallied strongly in the third and fourth and then all but sealed victory when he dropped the Swede with a single right cross midway through round five. He dominated the final round just for good measure and is now 1-3, while Tandberg fell further into the abyss at 0-3-1.

Preliminary 1

England's Don Cockell maintained both his perfect record and pressure on the top two placed fighters in Group Seven of the 1st Defense tournament with a hard-earned majority decision victory over his tough fellow countryman Manny Burgo.

In a bout which had the partisan crowd on their feet, Cockell was able to overcome Burgo's impressive start and take a 59-56, 57-57, 59-55 verdict, sweeping the middle four rounds on two of the judge's cards. Burgo had scored his first tournament victory against Olle Tandberg five weeks ago and although he is Cockell's senior by almost a decade, he put up a game showing against his young opponent.

The 18th seed in the 1st Defense tournament, Cockell is a native of London and has become something of a heartthrob with the young ladies in his hometown in the months since the HBF tournaments started. With his perfect record of 4-0(1), he'll now be able to sit back and watch as Group Seven's top two seeds Natie Brown and Doug Jones attempt to join him in perfection on Wednesday night.

(to be continued)

[kenyan_cheena]

(continuation)

Preliminary 2

Canada's Earl Walls stumbled at the last hurdle in his attempt to sweep the bottom four seeds in Group Seven of the World Championship tournament. The 21 year-old was held to a draw by Germany's Willi Besmanoff in an action-packed bout.

Walls started strongly, taking the first round before Besmanoff (the 106th seed in the World Championship tournament) rallied in fine style, taking the next three rounds on two of the judge's cards and looking like scoring a considerable upset. He was simply outmuscling the Canadian, overwhelming him with aggression and outworking him. But Walls was able to take back control of the contest in the final two rounds, pummeling his German opponent in round six to save himself from the first defeat of his career. Each judge scored the bout 57-57.

The result was a disappointing one for Walls. He's scheduled to fight the tournament's #26 seed Roland LaStarza in his next bout and would have been hoping to take a perfect record into that contest. While this drawn bout won't cost him his 2nd placing in the group standings, it's still not the ideal preparation.

"I ain't got no excuses," said Walls. "I probably deserved to lose the fight, but I think he got pretty tired in those last two rounds there. But he just kicked my butt early on, made me look real ordinary. But I have to forget it as quickly as I can and start getting ready for LaStarza."

For Besmanoff, it was a second consecutive draw. His record now stands at 0-2-2, with all four of those bouts being against the group's top four seeds. Hopefully, he'll be able to score a couple of wins before the tournament is over, as he's always been competitive in his four bouts to date.

(to be continued)

[kenyan_cheena]

(continuation)

Support Bout

Having struggled through a 1-0-2 start to his career, London's Frank Bruno was desperate for a victory in order to maintain his chances of progressing in the World Championship tournament. His opponent this evening was the 0-3, 122nd-seeded Bostonian Dan Flynn, so anything less than a win would be a huge disappointment for Bruno.

As it turned out, the powerful Brit did not disappoint himself or his many fans, scoring a unanimous decision victory (59-54, 59-55, 59-54) over the durable Flynn. Although it wasn't a fantastic performance, the win will surely give Bruno some confidence going into his next bout against the tournament's 7th seed Young Stribling.

The first four rounds were evenly split, with Bruno content to cruise through the second and fourth, allowing Flynn to do enough to take them. But Bruno really stepped up his workrate in round five, coming close to finishing the Boston native before dropping him twice in the bottom half of the final stanza to secure his victory.

Co-Feature

Bronx native Roland LaStarza bounced back from last month's shock 2nd round KO loss to Mac Foster, taking a comfortable unanimous decision win (59-55, 58-56, 60-54) over Canada's Jack Renault.

LaStarza had been quick to dismiss the loss to Foster as an "unfortunate fluke" and showed tonight that he will continue to be an opponent that others will have to be weary of as he dominated Renault, winning all but the third round in convincing style, highlighted by an impressive round five where he had the Canadian out on his feet before the bell saved him.

"Nothing has changed," said LaStarza. "I'm not going to do anything differently just because a guy landed a lucky punch on me. I'm still confident that I'll finish stage one on top of Group Seven. I don't care what Stribling does against these other guys, because I'll be a completely different challenge for him and I don't think he'll be able to rise to that. I'm just relishing and looking forward to stepping in the ring against him. When that happens, everyone will see what I've been talking about."

[kenyan_cheena]

SUMMARY OF RESULTS
HEAVYWEIGHT BOXING FEDERATION FIGHT CARD
MONDAY 13 MAY 2002
BRENTWOOD INTERNATIONAL CENTRE, BRENTWOOD, ESSEX, ENGLAND


OPENING BOUT

HBF 1st Defense Tournament - Stage One - Group Seven
7(50) Bob Satterfield UD6 4(26) Olle Tandberg

PRELIMINARY 1

HBF 1st Defense Tournament - Stage One - Group Seven
3(18) Don Cockell MD6 8(58) Manny Burgo

PRELIMINARY 2

HBF World Championship Tournament - Stage One - Group Seven
4(58) Earl Walls D6 7(106) Willi Besmanoff

SUPPORT BOUT

HBF World Championship Tournament - Stage One - Group Seven
3(42) Frank Bruno UD6 8(122) Dan Flynn

CO-FEATURE

HBF World Championship Tournament - Stage One - Group Seven
2(26) Roland LaStarza UD6 6(90) Jack Renault

MAIN EVENT

HBF World Championship Tournament - Stage One - Group Seven
1(7) Young Stribling UD6 5(74) Mac Foster

[kenyan_cheena]

"ONLY FOOLS ARE SATISFIED"

Tuesday 14 May 2002

story by David Gomez for espn.com

"We started right back into it the day after we got back," says Rocky Marciano's trainer Allie Colombo as he watches his charge pound another sparring partner senseless. "You know, the guy never laid a hand on him and the bout was over in the first, so Rock was still fresh, ready to go."

It's been seventeen days since Brockton's Rocky Marciano returned home from Japan following his one round obliteration of Cincinnati's Mike Schreck at Tokyo's Ariake Coliseum. In the time since, the man known as "The Brockton Blockbuster" has been out of the public eye, bunkered down at his training headquarters in preparation for his bout against Stan Ward on May 29. I spent some time with Marciano and Colombo yesterday afternoon and found a duo that are working as perhaps the most perfectly oiled unit in boxing, two men with a common goal who won't allow any compromise in their quest to achieve it.

The banner over the ring in Colombo's Brockton gym reads "ONLY FOOLS ARE SATISFIED". Now, besides being a line from Billy Joel's 1977 song "Vienna", it's a mantra that Marciano has embraced as he continues along the path to what many believe will be a shot at (and a claiming of) the Heavyweight Boxing Federation's World Championship title.

"That's something that I've just drilled into him," said Colombo. "Everyone says that Rock shows no emotion, that he's like a stone. That ain't true, but the guy knows that unless we reach that goal that we've set, all these impressive wins that he's getting now won't mean a thing. I won't let him be satisfied and neither will he. That mindset is gonna just make him an even better fighter as the months and bouts come and go. He knows that there's always something he can improve on. That attitude is a big part of the reason for the results he's had so far."

Indeed, Marciano boasts a record that no one else in the HBF can claim. He's won all four of his professional bouts by KO and all inside of three rounds. He's only been in the ring for a total of nine rounds, and many people have started to wonder if anyone will be able to last beyond three rounds against him for the entire duration of the 1st Defense tournament.

"See, that's the type of thing that I won't even mention to him," Colombo said. "That type of long term thinking does him no good. See, we don't even focus on what any of the top guys are doing. If they aren't on our schedule, what good does it do? There'll be plenty of time for studying those guys when the time comes where Rocky goes up against them. Right now, all we are focused on is Stan Ward, Stan Ward and Stan Ward."

A look at Marciano's results so far in the 1st Defense tournament show that he's pretty much improved with each successive fight, and against (apparently) progressively tougher competition:

WEDNESDAY 9 JANUARY 2002: KO3 vs 8(64) Oscar Pharo
WEDNESDAY 13 FEBRUARY 2002: KO3 vs 7(56) Jose Luis Garcia
WEDNESDAY 20 MARCH 2002: TKO2 vs 6(48) Frank Slavin
WEDNESDAY 24 APRIL 2002: TKO1 vs 5(40) Mike Schreck

(to be continued)

[Romdawg88]

I don't think Rocky and his team got much to worry about. It'll be a minor miracle if anyone gives Rocky alot of trouble during the 1st Defense Tournment.

[kenyan_cheena]

(continuation of post #674)

"Those results just show that he was well prepared," said Colombo. "We've come up with an effective strategy for each of those bouts. Rocky hasn't always executed it to perfection, but I guess you could say he's been effective."

The 24 year-old slugger is a very private individual, perhaps the absolute opposite of publicity hungry fighters like Jack Johnson and Elmer Ray. Marciano only spoke briefly to me during my time at Colombo's gym. In the past, he has often been content to let Colombo talk for him and today was little different. However, what he did say gave me a nice insight on his feelings towards his career in the Heavyweight Boxing Federation.

"It is hard sometimes to stop myself from looking too far ahead," Marciano said. "I don't read the papers, but when I'm out in the neighbourhood training, people say things. They get in my ear and tell me that I'm going to be the World Champion. It's difficult, hearing those things and not getting excited. But even if I do make it that far in my career, that's something that I can't afford to think about, right here in 2002. I've got ambitions just like everyone else in the federation, but the most important thing is to stay in the present, to take things one day, and one fight, at a time."

It's clear that Marciano is modest to a fault, but there's little doubt in the minds of most boxing experts that he will find himself challenging for the HBF's World Championship in 2004. And if he was to win it, what then? After all, only fools are satisfied...