The Heavyweight Boxing Federation

[Romdawg88]

Originally Posted by kenyan_cheena

Glad you liked it, Romy. I really enjoyed writing it because it seems more real to be writing about someone who has followed the story with so much interest. I enjoyed it a lot, as I'm sure I will when I write about Mike, Chris and the others.

It was a great job, honestly, reading it felt like me I could see myself saying that same stuff in real life the only thing really missing is the nervous stumbling over words, stuttering, and cussing from being interview by someone I don't know.

Yeah, I'm sure it's alot more fun to write about people that you interact with often and are actively following your story.

[kenyan_cheena]

(continuation of post #878)

While Alvarez has been, without a doubt, the most impressive of all those who auditioned in Miami, he hasn't been the only one to catch the federation's attention.

19 year-old Orlando native David Kane is perhaps the definition of raw talent. Standing just 5'9", the young man weights in at 215 pounds and has a sledgehammer for a right hand. It was reported that he had broken the jaws of two fellow auditioners with it, but HBF scouts have said that his boxing skills are less than exceptional.

"He's like a ball of clay," said Gil Roberts. "Undeveloped, unfocused. He's not the most mature kid for his age. He just knows that he can hurt people with that right hand and wants to get paid doing it. He seems to have that whole unfortunate "bling bling" mentality thing happening, you know? The cars, jewellery, women. We're going to arrange for him to be placed with a trainer who will be able to help him develop some skills, someone who can help him develop as a young man. We could have a pretty devastating competitor on our hands if he works out."

As Roberts said, Kane lacks maturity. He's quite hot-headed and emotional and showed his frustration when he stepped in the ring against Romy Alvarez during one of his audition bouts.

"He couldn't lay a hand on Romy," laughed Roberts. "Just kept throwing air balls, you know? I felt a bit sorry for the kid, 'cause Romy would just evade his shots with ease and then catch him with a solid left-right counter. Halfway through round two the kid'd had enough, just walked out of the ring cursing. He gave Romy one of those death stares, but it just came off as redundant because he literally did not lay a hand on Alvarez. But I think Michael saw enough in him so that we'll give him a shot in the Qualifying League."

Cuban-born local Ariel Reyes is another who will certainly find himself a spot in the federation's Qualifying League. Aggressive and busy in the ring, the 25 year-old earned the admiration of everyone at the trials with his good-natured disposition out of it.

Sharing a common background with Romy Alvarez, the two competitors have struck up a friendship during these past four days, despite engaging in a spirited three round tussle on Wednesday.

"Our mothers were both born in the same neighbourhood in Havana," said Reyes. "Just shows you what a small world it really is. He's a nice guy, you know? I hope we can both be successful in the league."

Reyes is tall and wiry, a long 6'5". With an expansive reach, he possesses an impressive left jab and an uppercut that is thrown with knockout intentions.

With two days still to run in these auditions, the Heavyweight Boxing Federation will no doubt be more than satisfied with the talent they've found here in Miami. It will be fascinating to follow the progress of Alvarez, Reyes and Kane once action in the Qualifying League kicks off...

[Romdawg88]

Hey, it looks like I made myself a new friend maybe I could bring Kane into the Alliance along with me. I love it I've been around for like 3 days of universe time and I already have people who want to kill me that sounds about right, hopefully, Kane ends up in my group so I can embarrass him when it counts.
Question, I was looking for info on David Kane and Ariel Reyes but couldn't find any so are they fictional fighters?

[kenyan_cheena]

Originally Posted by Romdawg88

Hey, it looks like I made myself a new friend maybe I could bring Kane into the Alliance along with me. I love it I've been around for like 3 days of universe time and I already have people who want to kill me that sounds about right, hopefully, Kane ends up in my group so I can embarrass him when it counts.
Question, I was looking for info on David Kane and Ariel Reyes but couldn't find any so are they fictional fighters?

Both fictional. In fact, I made their names up just last weekend, back when I said I'd worked out all the fighters who would be picked from the auditions.

[Romdawg88]

Originally Posted by kenyan_cheena

Both fictional. In fact, I made their names up just last weekend, back when I said I'd worked out all the fighters who would be picked from the auditions.

Ah, cool. David Kane looks like he'll be fun to follow he should add some drama to the Qualifying league with his attitude.

[kenyan_cheena]

Coming up in the HBF...

* All the news from the Los Angeles and London auditions
* Norton dodges a bullet in Arkansas
* Battle of the undefeated: Holmes vs Thomas in Tampa

[kenyan_cheena]

EX-CON TURNING HEADS AT WEMBLEY

Friday 7 June 2002

A surly, tattoo-covered ex-convict has stolen the show at London's Wembley Conference Centre during the first week of the Heavyweight Boxing Federation's European auditions.

32 year-old Yeti Yates of Coventry is a brooding, anti-social individual but his unusual fighting style and toughness has fascinated observers and intimidated his opponents.

Yates is definitely not the type of person you'd like to run into in a dark alley. There's a menacing nature to this man who apparently served nine years in prison, with the reasons behind his incarceration a mystery.

"He's completely unlike anyone we've seen in the HBF," said the federation's European representative Matthew Hutchinson. "And there really is the potential for a freak show type of vibe to be attached to him. But he can definitely fight, even though it's a pretty ugly type of fighting at times. He's an individual, a man of few words and he has that sense of danger about him. He's going to intrigue people, I'm certain of that."

An American-born Irishman named Kent "Clancy" Ares has also impressed during these auditions. The 24 year-old is shy and introverted out of the ring, but when he steps between those ropes it's like a switch is flicked and he turns into a fiery, aggressive slugger.

While he is an attacking fighter, his defense is nothing short of excellent and Ares has the ability to absorb the heavy artillery when it finds its mark.

He's been quoted as saying that he would love to bring the HBF World Championship to Ireland and his hometown of Dublin, where his family's roots run deep.

LOS ANGELES AUDITIONS "SOMEWHAT UNDERWHELMING"

With the exception of a self-professed "Army brat" and a Mexican-born Arizona native, the HBF's Los Angeles auditions have turned out to be, in the words of a federation scout, "somewhat underwhelming".

It was understandably assumed that a number of talented boxers would bring themselves to the HBF's attention this week, but it just hasn't happened. It's a situation that federation president Michael Vincennes was at a lost to explain.

"I only arrived here yesterday, but from what I've been told the standard of these auditions have been below our expectations. It's disappointing, to say the least, but we have to move on from that and go with what we've got."

Vincennes went on to say that it's best to look at the positive in everything, and the main positive to come out of these auditions is a 31 year-old named Sean Hargraves who, besides being a highly-talented fighter, has a fascinating life story.

Born in South Korea, Hargraves was adopted by an American GI and his Korean wife within weeks of his birth. They named him and had moved to the United States before his first birthday where, according to the demands of his father's position in the army, they never stayed in one place for very long.

"I've spent a lot of time around military people, and much of my childhood packing a suitcase," said Hargraves reflectively. "I never really went to one school long enough to develop any sort of attachment or make friends, and I guess that's fostered in me a desire to stay put at this time in my life. I've been living here in LA since I left home at 22 and I plan on staying. This is my home."

Hargraves has stood out from the crowd at these auditions with his friendly, sarcastic dispostion, in addition to his strong work ethic while in the ring. He's a tough fighter who can take a shot and fire back in kind.

"You know, I'm 31 years old but I don't feel it," said Hargraves. "I've always kept myself in good shape: I eat well and I guess you could call me an exercise junky, really. I've never fought as an amateur but have done a lot of boxing training during the last five years or so, so there's no reason why I can't still be fighting until I'm 40. I'm looking forward to this challenge."

A resident of Nogales, Arizona, Mexican-born Luis Gomez has KO power in abundance, a trait that will buy you a ticket to the big dance any day of the week. He's displayed a dedication to training that has exceeded all others at these LA auditions and is a 5'10" ball of muscle, a superbly fit competitor.

Something that has puzzled HBF scouts is the man's evasiveness when it comes to his age. He looks to be in his late 20's, but word has circulated around the Staples Center that, according to his driver's licence, he could be as old as 39. Whatever the case is, it's pretty certain that Gomez's age is the least concern of the HBF. He's a talented fighter and has already been told that he's earned himself a spot in the federation's upcoming Qualifying League...

[kenyan_cheena]

I'll be getting back to the HBF/IBL in a couple of days, as I'll be working on updating my NFL dynasty (compiling the stats, writing up the week six games).

[kenyan_cheena]

The HBF will be back in action in approximately five hours from...

now.

[kenyan_cheena]

Originally Posted by kenyan_cheena

The HBF will be back in action in approximately five hours from...

now.

Scratch that. Been busy cooking dinner and washing clothes since I got home from work.

[kenyan_cheena]

NORTON DODGES A BULLET IN ARKANSAS

Friday 7 June 2002

After an event where the verdicts in both the Main Event and Co-Feature were somewhat questionable, San Diego's Ken Norton is still undefeated and still sitting on the top of the mountain in Group Thirteen of the Heavyweight Boxing Federation's World Championship tournament.

The sculpted Californian was pushed all the way by Michigan's Buster Mathis and, in the opinion of many, was lucky to escape with a draw when all was said and done. Coming off a draw with the tenacious Tom McNeeley in his previous bout, Mathis showed that he has the ability and determination to compete with the big guns in the HBF, giving Norton all manner of trouble and finishing like a winner.

However, if you had only watched the opening two rounds of the bout, you would have thought the opposite. Norton was in control, especially in round two. He hurt Mathis on a number of occasions and frustrated the Michigan native when he tried to mount an offense of his own. It appeared that the Californian was going to cruise to a 5-0 record.

But it all changed in round three as Mathis made a conscious decision to be more aggressive. He swarmed Norton in the opening minute, having more success in those sixty seconds than in the entire first two rounds. He worked in close, catching Norton with short lefts and rights before stepping back and spearing a stiff right hand through the 13th seed's defenses. Norton more or less held his own for the remainder of the round, but the challenge had been laid down. Buster Mathis was not going to go quietly.

In the fourth, the action slowed somewhat, with neither man doing much before Mathis really put his foot down in round five. Withstanding a crushing Norton uppercut early in the round, Mathis went on to dominate proceedings, peppering the Californian with a succession of jabs, throwing in a solid right hand every now and then for good measure. It culminated with a flurry of punches late in the round, two of which jolted Norton's head, bringing a look of concern to his face. The exclamation point was a fierce uppercut that rubberised Norton's legs just moments before the bell. Mathis pumped his fist as he returned to his corner, determination and belief showing on his countenance.

In the final round, it was clear that Mathis looked like a winner while Norton appeared inexplicably spent. He threw only a handful of punches, most of them ineffective jabs whose purpose was only to keep Mathis at a distance. The World Championship tournament's 36th seed did more than enough to take the round, although if he had really pushed himself he might have been able to score a knockdown.

When the verdict was revealed, a chorus of boos sounded out in the arena. Two of the judges had scored it 57-57 while the third had actually given it to Norton, 58-56.

"I had Mathis winning 58-56," said the New York Sun's ringside expert Peter Roman. "Gave each of the last four rounds to him, although I can see how the judges might have gone either way in the fourth. It was a much better fight than I expected, but what I didn't expect was Kenny Norton fading like that. He's one of the top two or three guys in the whole federation fitness-wise, so that was a shock. Maybe he had his circuits scrambled by all those jabs Mathis was landing."

A look at the punch totals shows that Mathis was, without a doubt, the better man:

Norton 89/268 (33.2%)
Mathis 139/333 (41.7%)

Obviously, his slow start cost Mathis a victory, something the young man who had turned 23 on Wednesday was lamenting afterwards.

"Two draws in a row, man," he said, shaking his head. "I could accept it last time, because Tommy just gave me one helluva fight. But this one, it's ... it ain't right. I was in control of the fight from the third round on but it still wasn't good enough for them. This one stings, 'cause it means I fall out of the top two."

Norton was not in the most talkative mood, the right side of his face showing some considerable swelling from the volume of jabs that Mathis landed. The Michigan native is not a physically strong fighter, but the cumulative effect of those punches was enough to give Norton a bad headache.

The Californian congratulated Mathis on a great performance and criticised his own, saying that if he's serious about winning the World Championship, he's going to have to go to the next level in his upcoming bouts.

"I've seen the way guys like my man Sammy McVey, Langford and Bowe have raised their game," he said. "That was something I needed to do tonight, and I failed. I was just lucky it didn't cost me the fight."

***

As Mathis said, the drawn verdict has meant that he's fallen out of the top two. The man who has replaced him there is Canada's 20th seed Donovan Ruddock, who scored a split decision win over Sioux City's Gerald Griffith.

In a brutal slugfest, it was a knockdown that Ruddock scored in round two that turned out to be the difference, as he took the verdict with scores of 57-56, 56-57 and 57-56. Many in attendance felt that despite the knockdown, Ruddock had not done enough to earn the victory, that Griffith's effort was a superior one and the decision shoudl have been at least a draw.

The Iowa native had the better of the opening round, landing a strong left hook early on and showing more aggression than the Canadian as it progressed. But Ruddock would answer back strongly in the second, hurting Griffith with a pair of head-snapping uppercuts early on before a third one had the 52nd seed on his backside until the count of eight with a minute remaining.

Round three was a difficult one to pick, as Griffith started it impressively and seemed to have done enough to win it before Ruddock staggered him with a smashing combination ten seconds from the bell. A look at the scorecards reveal that two of the judges gave Ruddock the round, seemingly based solely on that late flurry.

Both men were sucking them in as they came out for round four, the pace of the contest wearing on them. Enjoying a four inch height and twenty pound weight advantage, it was surprising that the 19 year-old Canadian had not used them to greater effect. He failed to do so in round four, which Griffith won with a busier, bustling three minutes that was highlighted by a crunching uppercut that had Ruddock back on his heels at the midpoint.

Round five would prove to be the best of the fight, as far as competitiveness goes. Ruddock started in explosive fashion, catching Griffith with a sweetly-timed uppercut and then a left-right-left combo within the first thirty seconds before Griffith answered back with a flush right hand soon after. As the round progressed, Ruddock held the upper hand, banging home a strong right cross and a series of stiff jabs. But Griffith scored with a hard right and then, when the two men went ballistic in the centre of the ring for ten fantastic seconds, the ALLTEL Arena audience was on their feet applauding, Griffith encouraging Ruddock to bring it on.

Sitting on their stools before the final stanza, the two undefeated men must have both known that an impressive final round would be vital to their chances of victory, and it was Griffith who produced the effort. He came off his stool like a house on fire and crunched a right hand off Ruddock's forehead, stunning the Canadian. Following up with a pair of uppercuts and then another right hand, all during the first minute, Griffith muscled his way inside and worked Ruddock's body before the bigger man fired back, landing a left rip to Griffith's ribcage.

The middle section of the round was much less eventful, but as the bout entered its final minute, much of the crowd rose to their feet, cheering the two brave combatants home. Ruddock backed up the Iowa native with a three punch salvo, snapping Griffith's head around on his shoulders and momentarily stopping his momentum. They went toe-to-toe briefly before the 52nd seed finished the contest strongly, stuffing his left jab into Ruddock's face a half-dozen times before the bell sounded to signal the end of a great bout.

Griffith did a few laps of the ring with his arms raised, but when the decision was revealed, all he could do was shake his head, with the boos from the audience doing nothing to ease the disappointment. On the other side of the ring, Donovan Ruddock was jubilant, howling in delight and exchanging high fives with his corner crew.

Punch totals

Ruddock 109/382 (28.5%)
Griffith 160/348 (46.0%)

"That don't matter," said Ruddock, when told that Griffith had landed some fifty more punches than he had. "If you want to just give the win to the guy who lands the most punches, what good is it to have the judges? It's about each round, and when you look at the fight round-by-round, I think it's fair to say I won three and he won three. But the knockdown got me over the line, so that's all that matters."

Griffith had stormed from the ring a few minutes after the verdict, shaking his head and making frustrated shouting noises as he headed back to the dressing rooms, leaving Ruddock in the ring to celebrate.

He would be even happier after watching the evening's Main Event, with the drawn verdict putting Ruddock into 2nd place in the group standings.

1st: 1(13) Kenny Norton 4-0-1(2)
2nd: 2(20) Donovan Ruddock 3-0-2(1)

3rd: 3(36) Buster Mathis 3-0-2
4th: 4(52) Gerald Griffith 3-1-1(1)

Series six will match 1st against 2nd and 3rd against 4th. For Kenny Norton, a win against Ruddock will secure his passage to stage two of the tournament, while a loss could see him drop to 3rd place. Gerald Griffith finds himself in a must-win situation and while it's not as dire for Mathis and Ruddock, it's not far from it.

The possibilities are many as to which two combatants will progress from this competitive group. In five weeks, the picture might become a little clearer...

(Still to come: the Arkansas Undercard)

[Romdawg88]

I see that the HBF is becoming more and more like real boxing. That sucks for Mathis and Griffith.

[kenyan_cheena]

The Arkansas Undercard

OPENING BOUT

Norway's Steffen Tangstad scored a convincing 4th round TKO win over New Jersey's Mel Turnbow to improve his record to 2-3(1).

Coming off two KO losses himself, Tangstad dominated the bout, dropping Turnbow with a solid uppercut late in the second round before the contest was stopped at the end of round four due to a bad cut over Turnbow's right eye.

The New Jersey native is now 0-5 and has been stopped before the fourth round in each of his last four bouts.

PRELIMINARY 1

37th seed Alfredo Evangelista kept his chances of progressing to stage two of the 1st Defense tournament alive with a 6th round knockout of New York's Jeff Merritt.

Having achieved upset victories over two of the fighters seeded higher than him and five weeks after testing tournament 4th seed Trevor Berbick, Evangelista was clearly the better man in this bout. He sent Merritt to the canvas in both the first and second rounds with single punches, maintained control the rest of the way and then finished the New Yorker off with a left hook midway through the final stanza.

Merritt was counted out 1:43 into the round. Evangelista is now 3-2(1) and if he can win his final two bouts (both of which are against lower seeds), he could very well find himself in the second stage of the 1st Defense tournament.

PRELIMINARY 2

Two fighters who had shown a truckload of determination and courage in their opening four bouts clashed in a highly-entertaining matchup.

Both bringing 0-2-2 records into the contest, Harlem's Coley Wallace and Tom McNeeley of Arlington, Massachusetts bumped shoulders, heads and fists in a six round trench war.

Wallace emerged as the victor by unanimous decision (58-57, 58-56, 58-57), but no one could fault McNeeley's effort as he went toe-to-toe with the New Yorker until the final bell.

McNeeley had pushed top seed Ken Norton on debut and held both Donovan Ruddock and Buster Mathis to draws in subsequent bouts, while Wallace had performed admirably in draws against Ruddock and Gerald Griffith and a majority decision loss to Mathis. Considering those results, it was a toss-up as to who would prevail.

In the end, it was Wallace's impressive work in the fourth and fifth that was the difference, with each judge awarding him both rounds. McNeeley showed the type of guts and resolve that fans of the HBF have come to expect from him, staggering Wallace late in round two with a straight right that sent the sweat flying into the front row before finishing the bout strongly with a flurry of activity in the final round.

SUPPORT BOUT

In a bout that meant nothing as far as progression to stage two was concerned but plenty to the two competitor's chances of staying in the federation beyond August, Philadelphia's Jesse Ferguson defeated Denver native Leroy Jones by majority decision.

Both men were 0-4 beforehand, but after a slow start Ferguson rallied in the bottom half of the bout, sweeping the final three rounds on two of the judge's cards to secure a 58-57, 58-58, 58-57 win.

[kenyan_cheena]

SUMMARY OF RESULTS
HEAVYWEIGHT BOXING FEDERATION FIGHT CARD
FRIDAY 7 JUNE 2002
ALLTEL ARENA, NORTH LITTLE ROCK, ARKANSAS, USA


OPENING BOUT

HBF 1st Defense Tournament - Stage One - Group Four
6(45) Steffen Tangstad TKO4 8(61) Mel Turnbow

PRELIMINARY 1

HBF 1st Defense Tournament - Stage One - Group Four
5(37) Alfredo Evangelista KO6 7(53) Jeff Merritt

PRELIMINARY 2

HBF World Championship Tournament - Stage One - Group Thirteen
6(84) Coley Wallace UD6 8(116) Tom McNeeley

SUPPORT BOUT

HBF World Championship Tournament - Stage One - Group Thirteen
7(100) Jesse Ferguson MD6 5(68) Leroy Jones

CO-FEATURE

HBF World Championship Tournament - Stage One - Group Thirteen
2(20) Donovan Ruddock SD6 4(52) Gerald Griffith

MAIN EVENT

HBF World Championship Tournament - Stage One - Group Thirteen
1(13) Ken Norton D6 3(36) Buster Mathis

[kenyan_cheena]

Damn, that card had every type of result you can have in a fight besides a DQ and a NC.

A TKO, a KO, a unanimous decision, a majority decision, a split decision and a draw.

Pretty certain that's never happened on any other HBF card.

[Ian Lord]

Originally Posted by kenyan_cheena

EX-CON TURNING HEADS AT WEMBLEY

Friday 7 June 2002

A surly, tattoo-covered ex-convict has stolen the show at London's Wembley Conference Centre during the first week of the Heavyweight Boxing Federation's European auditions.

32 year-old Yeti Yates of Coventry is a brooding, anti-social individual but his unusual fighting style and toughness has fascinated observers and intimidated his opponents.

Yates is definitely not the type of person you'd like to run into in a dark alley. There's a menacing nature to this man who apparently served nine years in prison, with the reasons behind his incarceration a mystery.

"He's completely unlike anyone we've seen in the HBF," said the federation's European representative Matthew Hutchinson. "And there really is the potential for a freak show type of vibe to be attached to him. But he can definitely fight, even though it's a pretty ugly type of fighting at times. He's an individual, a man of few words and he has that sense of danger about him. He's going to intrigue people, I'm certain of that."

An American-born Irishman named Kent "Clancy" Ares has also impressed during these auditions. The 24 year-old is shy and introverted out of the ring, but when he steps between those ropes it's like a switch is flicked and he turns into a fiery, aggressive slugger.

While he is an attacking fighter, his defense is nothing short of excellent and Ares has the ability to absorb the heavy artillery when it finds its mark.

He's been quoted as saying that he would love to bring the HBF World Championship to Ireland and his hometown of Dublin, where his family's roots run deep.

LOS ANGELES AUDITIONS "SOMEWHAT UNDERWHELMING"

With the exception of a self-professed "Army brat" and a Mexican-born Arizona native, the HBF's Los Angeles auditions have turned out to be, in the words of a federation scout, "somewhat underwhelming".

It was understandably assumed that a number of talented boxers would bring themselves to the HBF's attention this week, but it just hasn't happened. It's a situation that federation president Michael Vincennes was at a lost to explain.

"I only arrived here yesterday, but from what I've been told the standard of these auditions have been below our expectations. It's disappointing, to say the least, but we have to move on from that and go with what we've got."

Vincennes went on to say that it's best to look at the positive in everything, and the main positive to come out of these auditions is a 31 year-old named Sean Hargraves who, besides being a highly-talented fighter, has a fascinating life story.

Born in South Korea, Hargraves was adopted by an American GI and his Korean wife within weeks of his birth. They named him and had moved to the United States before his first birthday where, according to the demands of his father's position in the army, they never stayed in one place for very long.

"I've spent a lot of time around military people, and much of my childhood packing a suitcase," said Hargraves reflectively. "I never really went to one school long enough to develop any sort of attachment or make friends, and I guess that's fostered in me a desire to stay put at this time in my life. I've been living here in LA since I left home at 22 and I plan on staying. This is my home."

Hargraves has stood out from the crowd at these auditions with his friendly, sarcastic dispostion, in addition to his strong work ethic while in the ring. He's a tough fighter who can take a shot and fire back in kind.

"You know, I'm 31 years old but I don't feel it," said Hargraves. "I've always kept myself in good shape: I eat well and I guess you could call me an exercise junky, really. I've never fought as an amateur but have done a lot of boxing training during the last five years or so, so there's no reason why I can't still be fighting until I'm 40. I'm looking forward to this challenge."

A resident of Nogales, Arizona, Mexican-born Luis Gomez has KO power in abundance, a trait that will buy you a ticket to the big dance any day of the week. He's displayed a dedication to training that has exceeded all others at these LA auditions and is a 5'10" ball of muscle, a superbly fit competitor.

Something that has puzzled HBF scouts is the man's evasiveness when it comes to his age. He looks to be in his late 20's, but word has circulated around the Staples Center that, according to his driver's licence, he could be as old as 39. Whatever the case is, it's pretty certain that Gomez's age is the least concern of the HBF. He's a talented fighter and has already been told that he's earned himself a spot in the federation's upcoming Qualifying League...

Wow, that Yeti Yates sounds like mean dude. I've been looking out for his first appearance and I can't beleive I overlooked it .
Excellent stuff KC.

[kenyan_cheena]

Originally Posted by Ian Lord

Wow, that Yeti Yates sounds like mean dude. I've been looking out for his first appearance and I can't beleive I overlooked it .
Excellent stuff KC.

I also overlooked telling you about it, which I apologise for. I hope that Mr. Yates has a long and successful career in the HBF.

[kenyan_cheena]

LOW-KEY LEWIS PRAISES TOP SEEDS
IN WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP TOURNAMENT

Saturday 8 June 2002

Reigning Olympic Super-Heavyweight Champion Lennox Lewis has been more or less out of the news since scoring a 5th round TKO of Joe Lannon back on May 7. The #1 seed in the HBF's Canadian Boxing League has been keeping a low profile in his hometown of Kitchener, Ontario, concentrating on his training and keeping an eager eye on the happenings in the federation's various tournaments.

The 24 year-old will be back in action on Tuesday night, but has ventured down to Florida for tonight's card at Tampa's Ice Palace, where World Championship tournament 4th seed Larry Holmes will face Harry Thomas in the main event. Lewis spoke live from the Palace on this evening's SportsCen