The Heavyweight Boxing Federation

[kenyan_cheena]

Hello, everyone. Sorry for the delay in getting that last post up (#940 on previous page). I hope the guys whose fighters are featured in it enjoy how I've created them.

This is my "schedule" for the upcoming posts in the HBF/IBL:

Thursday 13 June

HBF

* Review of African Boxing League fight card

Friday 14 June

HBF

* Review of Tokyo fight card

IBL

* Review of Indiana, NZ and Russian selection trials

Saturday 15 June


HBF

* Review of Madison Square Garden fight card

[kenyan_cheena]

4-0:
IBEABUCHI, ELDREN AND OKOCHA
STAY ON COURSE IN AFRICAN BOXING LEAGUE

Thursday 13 June 2002

The Heavyweight Boxing Federation's African Boxing League is set for a thrilling conclusion following tonight's fourth series of bouts at the Stade de la Revolution in Brazzaville, Congo.

A trio of the league's competitors maintained their perfect records, but only one of them will most likely go on to be the eventual winner of the tournament and earn a shot at a birth in the federation's upcoming World Ranking tournament.

In the evening's Main Event, #1-seeded Nigerian Ike Ibeabuchi came out smoking against Egypt's Grantham Abdul-Kafar, taking the first round in convincing fashion before dropping the 4th seed in round two with a short, clean cross. The Egyptian gave a better account of himself as the fight progressed, but Ibeabuchi almost finished him off for good in the fifth as he landed a series of punishing combinations.

When it was all said and done, Ibeabuchi claimed a unanimous decision win, 58-55, 57-56, 58-55 to improve to 4-0 and seal top spot in Group A of the league.

Earlier, in the Co-Feature, #2 seed and homeland favourite Anaclet Wamba saw his chances of participating in the tournament semi-finals extinguished as he fell to his second consecutive defeat. Despite the urging of the parochial home crowd, 3rd-seeded New Orleans native James Eldren was simply too good for Wamba. Eldren jumped to an early lead and finished strongly to take a 59-56, 58-57, 59-56 verdict.

The win wrapped up a semi-final birth for Eldren, but there's still another important fight for him before then. That fight will be against Nigerian 6th seed Omovo Okocha, who decimated Ghana's Charles Mbarga inside of two rounds for his third stoppage victory.

0-3 coming into the evening, Mbarga was out of his league and was lucky to survive the opening round before the referee stopped it 2:26 into the second with a bleeding, defenseless Mbarga being pounded into submission.

For Eldren and Okocha, the consequences of their upcoming clash are simple: the loser will face #1 seed Ike Ibeabuchi in the tournament semi-finals, while the winner will take on either New Yorker Stanley Drexxon or South Africa's Zolilie Letlake, depending on which one finishes in 2nd place in Group A.

Drexxon and Letlake clashed in this evening's opening bout, with Drexxon taking a unanimous decision (57-54 on all three cards) to improve to 3-1 and move into 2nd place behind Ibeabuchi.

It was an exciting bout, with Drexxon in absolute control for the first two rounds before Letlake turned the tables late in round three, sending Drexxon to the canvas with a crushing uppercut on the bell. The American fired off a retort in the fourth, a body shot bringing Letlake to his knees at the 2:53 mark. The South African was the aggressor in the fifth, but Drexxon sealed the deal with a second knockdown a minute into the sixth.

Despite the win, Drexxon is not assured of a semi-final birth yet. If he losses his final bout against Roy Harris and Letlake manages to upset Ibeabuchi (both of which are quite unlikely), Letlake will take the fourth semi-final spot.

In bouts that held no significance as far as the semi-finals are concerned, West Virginia's Delbert Craw scored an unimpressive split decision win over South Africa's Jomo Motloung (58-57, 57-58, 58-57) while 12th-seeded Texas native Roy Harris held Marien Nguesso to a draw. Performing in front of his countrymen, Nguesso was disappointed that he couldn't pull off his first professional victory.


SUMMARY OF RESULTS
HEAVYWEIGHT BOXING FEDERATION FIGHT CARD
THURSDAY 13 JUNE 2002
STADE DE LA REVOLUTION, BRAZZAVILLE, CONGO

THE AFRICAN BOXING LEAGUE


OPENING BOUT

(9) Stanley Drexxon UD6 (8) Zolilie Letlake

PRELIMINARY 1

(7) Delbert Craw SD6 (10) Jomo Motloung

PRELIMINARY 2

(6) Omovo Okocha TKO2 (11) Charles Mbarga

SUPPORT BOUT

(5) Marien Nguesso D6 (12) Roy Harris

CO-FEATURE

(3) James Eldren UD6 (2) Anaclet Wamba

MAIN EVENT

(1) Ike Ibeabuchi UD6 (4) Grantham Abdul-Kafar

[kenyan_cheena]

Just made a slight edit to the schedule in post #941, in that the three IBL selection trial reviews will all be included in one post. I don't think I can justify doing a stand alone post on the Russian trials. The next post in my uni will concern the Indiana IBL trials, where quite a lot of talent has been discovered.

[kenyan_cheena]

TERRELL STILL PERFECT...
...BUT ONLY JUST

Friday 14 June 2002

Facing the first real test of his professional boxing career, Chicago's Ernie Terrell showed admirable fighting spirit in rallying from a slow start to score a 58-57, 57-58, 58-57 split decision victory over Buffalo native Phil Muscato.

In front of a capacity crowd at Tokyo's Saitama Super Arena, the 14th seed in the Heavyweight Boxing Federation's World Championship tournament improved to 5-0, but not before sweeping the scorecards in rounds five and six to secure the win.

Muscato brought a three fight winning streak into the contest and was painfully close to extending it to four. He was the aggressor in the opening rounds, keeping Terrell on the back foot and making it difficult for him to establish any kind of rhythm. Muscato was constantly moving forward, cramping Terrell and smothering most of his attempts at an offense. Muscato connected with a number of solid blows, simply outhustling Terrell and at times leaving him no option but to clinch. Going into the 5th, it looked like an upset was a real possibility with one judge having Muscato up by three points and the other two by one.

But that was when Terrell's resolve kicked in. He simply imposed his will on Muscato in the fifth, picking him off at will with that textbook left jab, finding gaps in the rapidly tiring New Yorker's defense that weren't there earlier in the bout. The domination continued into the final round, with Muscato's countenance betraying his concern as Terrell finished strongly, landing a flurry of blows that had Muscato buckling at the knees. The audience came to their feet in a standing ovation as the bout drew to a close.

When the verdict was announced, the Chicago native's corner exploded with jubilation. Their man had escaped what would have been a disasterous defeat. Having looked perturbed moments before, the relief was clear to see on Terrell's face. He smiled and embraced his cornermen before crossing the ring to congratulate a disappointed Muscato for his determined effort.

Terrell landed 171 of 401 punches, with almost half of those connecting in the final two rounds while Muscato found the target with 139 of his 329 shots.

Having arrived in Japan ten days ago, Terrell had enamoured himself to the country's boxing-mad public, appearing at a number of promotional events and dedicating much of his time to helping out with the HBF-run boxing and fitness clinics being held here. It was a far cry from the shy, introverted Ernie Terrell who had been barely a presence during his debut in Italy back in January and the Japanese crowd cheered for him heartily. Terrell acknowledged that support during the post fight interview.

"I really want to thank the people of Japan for the fantastic support they've given me," he said. "I've received so much encouragement leading up to tonight and I'm just happy I was able to pull through with the win. I feel very fortunate to still be undefeated and I learned something about myself tonight. I learned how much I really want this. It's something I wasn't quite aware of before, but the way I dug deep to win those last two rounds ... I didn't know I had that in me. You look at the scorecards and it says that I only won one of the first four rounds. To think I could come back and win after that is pretty amazing. But I know it's only gonna get tougher, so this win will really serve me well for the future. I know it won't be the last time I'm in this type of situation."

Muscato's late capitulation could not have been more costly. A win over Terrell would have seen him placed 2nd in Group Fourteen of the World Championship tournament, while Terrell would have dropped to 3rd. The Buffalo native will now have to be victorious in his final two bouts to have any chance of qualifying for the second stage of the tournament.

(Coming up: the Tokyo Undercard)

[kenyan_cheena]

THE TOKYO UNDERCARD

Opening Bout

59th-seeded German Jurgen Blin recorded his second professional win with a unanimous decision victory over England's Charley Mitchell (58-56 on all three cards).

With the exception of some willing exchanges in rounds three and four, this was an unenventful bout. Blin improved his record to 2-3(1) but has little chance of progressing to the second stage of the 1st Defense tournament. Mitchell lost his fourth straight and is in serious danger of missing out on any kind of continual presence in the HBF beyond August.

Preliminary 1

New York's John Lester Johnson blew an ideal opportunity to stay camped in the top two in Group Six of the 1st Defense tournament, being held to a draw by the winless Puerto Rican Jose Roman.

After a fantastic opening round, Johnson struggled for much of the remainder, especially in rounds two, four and six. When it was all over, two judges had it knotted at 57-57 while the third had Johnson a 58-56 winner.

The New York native is now 3-1-1, having lost to Ron Lyle five weeks ago. He'll now have to wait and watch tomorrow night's Madison Square Garden card, where Mike Weaver will leap over Johnson with a win against Curtis Sheppard.

Preliminary 2

Having fallen to top seeds Ernie Terrell and Jimmy Ellis in his last two bouts, Baltimore's Bert Whitehurst got back in the winner's circle with a 58-56, 59-55, 58-56 unanimous decision win over Marty Monroe.

Whitehurst was never troubled by his Californian opponent, whose record dropped to 0-5. Whitehurst is now 3-2, but even if he wins his final two tournament bouts, it will not be good enough to see him progress to the second stage of the World Championship tournament.

(to be continued)

[kenyan_cheena]

(continuation)

Support Bout

In a bout between two combatants trying to stay clear of the bottom of the group standings, Portland's Amos Lincoln ended a three fight losing skid and improved his record to 2-3 with a majority decision win over Argentinian native Luis Firpo.

Lincoln also improved his chances of finding a spot in the Continental Americas Championship tournament, taking the decision with scorecards of 58-56, 58-58 and 58-57. It was an exciting bout, featuring some furious exchanges throughout with the desparation of both men clearly on display. But Lincoln was just that little bit more hungry for the win, leaving Firpo a precarious 1-4.

Co-Feature

The World Championship tournament's 19th seed Jimmy Ellis remained perfect at 5-0, scoring his first stoppage victory as a professional with a 4th round TKO of King Levinsky.

After a competitive opening three rounds, the native of Louisville, Kentucky cut Levinsky over the left eye early in round four, one of a flurry of lefts and rights doing the damage. Referee Joe O'Neil conferred with the ringside doctor and the bout was called off sixteen seconds into the round.

As detailed earlier, top seed Ernie Terrell assured soon after that the 19 July bout between the two will decide who finishes on top of Group Fourteen.

"I'm happy that I've made it through these bouts without any real trouble," said Ellis. "I'm looking forward to the challenge of taking on Ernie. I know he has the advantage in height and reach, but we're similar fighters and I feel that if I can be more aggressive, I have a good chance of beating him."

With Terrell and Ellis both 5-0, the only other man in their group who has a chance of finishing in the top two is the one that Terrell defeated tonight, Phil Muscato. Currently 3-2, the Buffalo native will have to get a win against King Levinsky in his next bout while hoping that Terrell defeats Ellis. He'll then have to defeat Ellis himself in the seventh and final series of stage one...

[kenyan_cheena]

SUMMARY OF RESULTS
HEAVYWEIGHT BOXING FEDERATION FIGHT CARD
FRIDAY 14 JUNE 2002
SAITAMA SUPER ARENA, TOKYO, SAITAMA, JAPAN


OPENING BOUT

HBF 1st Defense Tournament - Stage One - Group Six
8(59) Jurgen Blin UD6 6(43) Charley Mitchell

PRELIMINARY 1

HBF 1st Defense Tournament - Stage One - Group Six
5(35) John Lester Johnson D6 7(51) Jose Roman

PRELIMINARY 2

HBF World Championship Tournament - Stage One - Group Fourteen
6(83) Bert Whitehurst UD6 8(115) Marty Monroe

SUPPORT BOUT

HBF World Championship Tournament - Stage One - Group Fourteen
5(67) Amos Lincoln MD6 7(99) Luis Firpo

CO-FEATURE

HBF World Championship Tournament - Stage One - Group Fourteen
2(19) Jimmy Ellis TKO4 4(51) King Levinsky

MAIN EVENT

HBF World Championship Tournament - Stage One - Group Fourteen
1(14) Ernie Terrell SD6 3(35) Phil Muscato

[kenyan_cheena]

JOHNSON DOMINATES SNIPES
IN MADISON SQUARE GARDEN DEBUT

Saturday 15 June 2002

Fighting at the home of the Heavyweight Boxing Federation for the first time, World Championship tournament #3 seed Jack Johnson has produced the performance of his career in scoring a convincing unanimous decision victory over local favourite Renaldo Snipes. With federation president Michael Vincennes watching at ringside and against an opponent who had talked up his chances in the past few days, Johnson was in control of the contest from start to finish and was awarded for his efforts with scorecards of 59-55, 60-53 and 59-54.

"The Galveston Giant" was decked out in trunks of white with black and blue trim and boots of black with white laces, reaching three quarters of the way to his knees. He was quick out of the blocks, tagging Snipes with some solid shots throughout the opening half of the bout before dropping him early in the fourth with a wicked left hook to the body. Walking to a neutral corner with his hands held high, Johnson talked to the crowd at ringside, letting them know that the fight was "barely a stretch" for him.

Snipes was back on his feet quickly, but the look on his face was one of disappointment. It was clear that all of his pre-fight confidence had been extinguished by the Texas native's awesome opening to the bout and the New Yorker was all but helpless against an opponent who was too enthusiastic, too aggressive and too talented for him. But things only got worse for Snipes in the fifth, where Johnson really went to town on him. He punished the 46th seed with a series of blinding combinations and single power shots. Johnson cruised through the final round, content to throw out an occasional jab, more concerned with making sure that Snipes couldn't get close enough to land a lucky punch.

With the conclusion of the final round, the crowd came to their feet in appreciation of the Texan's masterful performance. Johnson acknowledged their applause with waves and a smile, holding his left hand in the air. He had landed 172 of 415 punches (41.4%) while Snipes had connected with just 63 of 146 (43.2%), numbers that were a true indication of the #3 seed's dominance.

"I gotta say, these six rounders are gettin' a bit tiresome, man," said Johnson, smiling. "Feel like I could go another six easy, right now. But I guess patience is the key, see? Still got a couple more o' these to get through, and then we're onto the serious stuff."

ESPN's Bill Farris asked Johnson if he was worried about those two upcoming bouts, in particular the one against fellow Texan Cleveland Williams.

"You see the way that brother fought tonight, man?" Johnson replied, smirking. "He'll be lucky to go the distance with me. The brother ain't got no stamina and if he tries that nonsense on me, just wait and see what happens."

***

Johnson was referring to this evening's Support Bout, where Cleveland Williams lost his perfect record while being held to a draw by Mexico's Manuel Ramos (57-57, 58-56 (Williams), 57-57). It was an explosive contest, one that Williams was winning with ease early having almost stopped Ramos in the second. But the 30th seed ran out of steam as the fight progressed, his aggressive opening coming back to haunt him in the final rounds. Ramos rallied strongly in round three, stunning Williams with a damaging salvo before taking advantage of the tiring favourite in the final two rounds.

Following tonight's bouts, the top of the Group Three standings has not changed with Williams still in 1st place at 4-0-1(1) followed by Johnson in 2nd (4-1(2)). It means that the winner of their clash next month will have an outright lead in the group going into the final series of stage one.

***

Appearing live from the Garden on ESPN before the evening's event, HBF president Michael Vincennes had spoken of how happy he was to be back home in New York.

"It's been great traveling around the country and attending our auditions during these last couple of weeks," he said. "But theres nothing quite like being at home. I've been looking forward to tonight's card for a while and I know our fans are going to enjoy it. Jack Johnson is truly one of the superstars of our federation and it's fantastic that he's making his NYC debut tonight. As everyone knows, the Garden is our homebase and I'll just confirm that before the first stage of the World Championship tournament is over, our other top seeds Sonny Liston, Larry Holmes and Riddick Bowe will have all made an appearance here, also. This has been a great and surprising week of boxing, with Olympic Champion Lennox Lewis falling to his first professional defeat on Tuesday, along with some exciting cards internationally. I'm sure that we'll see a fitting conclusion tonight."

Vincennes went on to reveal yet another change in regards to the federation's feeder leagues and upcoming tournaments.

"We've just come to an agreement in the past few days that the eight winners of our feeder league tournaments will receive direct entry into our upcoming World Ranking tournament," said Vincennes. "The plan had been for them to fight and win a subsequent bout in order to be placed in the World Ranking tournament, but we have decided that the prize for being a victor in the feeder league should be more absolute. Consequently, our eight feeder league champs will be placed directly into the 36 man World Ranking tournament."

"It's about getting it right," said Vincennes, somewhat defensively when questioned about the number of changes the federation has made. "We are big enough to admit when we get things wrong, and we also don't have a problem with changes that improve the way we do things. This is a positive change and I know that it's going to have an immediate impact and give more encouragement to our leading feeder league contestants."

(Coming up: The MSG Undercard)

[Romdawg88]

Man, Jack Johnson has just been on a mission since losing to Joe Beckett. I don't much like Cleveland Williams chances against him next round espically if he doesn't get his conditioning right.

I like the chances on the Feeder leagues, it seems that it's much fairer to the winners this way.

[kenyan_cheena]

Originally Posted by Romdawg88

Man, Jack Johnson has just been on a mission since losing to Joe Beckett. I don't much like Cleveland Williams chances against him next round espically if he doesn't get his conditioning right.

I like the chances on the Feeder leagues, it seems that it's much fairer to the winners this way.

He sure has, especially in his last three fights. I'm very happy with how he's bounced back and I'm curious to see how far he can go before he losses again.

As for the change to the feeder leagues, it is fairer and it was also necessary to avoid prolonging the start of the World Ranking tournament and also the Qualifying League tournament.

[Romdawg88]

Originally Posted by kenyan_cheena

He sure has, especially in his last three fights. I'm very happy with how he's bounced back and I'm curious to see how far he can go before he losses again.

As for the change to the feeder leagues, it is fairer and it was also necessary to avoid prolonging the start of the World Ranking tournament and also the Qualifying League tournament.

Well, chances are good he won't lose until he gets into the later rounds of the second stage and faces off against Tunney, Holmes, Liston, and other such caliber fighters. However, I wouldn't be suprised to see him lose earlier then that to a lower rated fighter because his conditioning rating. He has what a 30-35% chance of coming in bad shape I can see that coming back to haunt him.

Anything that gets the Qualifying League tournament going earlier is a good thing.

[kenyan_cheena]

Originally Posted by Romdawg88

Well, chances are good he won't lose until he gets into the later rounds of the second stage and faces off against Tunney, Holmes, Liston, and other such caliber fighters. However, I wouldn't be suprised to see him lose earlier then that to a lower rated fighter because his conditioning rating. He has what a 30-35% chance of coming in bad shape I can see that coming back to haunt him.

Anything that gets the Qualifying League tournament going earlier is a good thing.

His conditioning rating is something I can use in the storyline, because I've painted him as a bit of a party animal, which is certainly something that can affect his conditioning. But he's been in perfect shape in his last two bouts, so we'll see if he stays that way.

[Romdawg88]

Originally Posted by kenyan_cheena

His conditioning rating is something I can use in the storyline, because I've painted him as a bit of a party animal, which is certainly something that can affect his conditioning. But he's been in perfect shape in his last two bouts, so we'll see if he stays that way.

True, he has but you know that it'll pop up again and probably at the worse possible time for him as well.

[kenyan_cheena]

The Madison Square Garden Undercard

OPENING BOUT

California's Mike Weaver leapfrogged John Lester Johnson into 2nd place in Group Six of the federation's 1st Defense tournament with a comfortable unanimous decision victory over Curtis Sheppard (58-55 on all three cards).

Coming off a strong win against Charley Mitchell five weeks ago in Cuba, Weaver continued with his impressive run of form, dropping Sheppard midway through the opening stanza with a stinging body shot and controlling the contest through four rounds. Weaver was pitching a perfect game to that point, having won every round on all three cards to build a five point lead going into the fifth. But Sheppard rallied strongly in the final two rounds, winning both of them though it was too little, too late to make any difference to the final verdict.

A native of the city of Diamond Bar in Los Angeles County, it had been reported in recent days that Weaver had been training with fellow southern Californians Sam McVey and Ken Norton. That rumour was confirmed as they accompanied Weaver to the ring before tonight's bout and watched from ringside. They were there when the 1st Defense tournament's 11th seed made the jubilant walk back to the dressing room with a smile and an optimistic mood. Unaware beforehand, Weaver had been told that with a Ron Lyle loss in the evening's Co-Feature, he would move into 1st place in the group standings...

(to be continued)

[lethal liberal]

I have just recently started to read these inside the ropes features. It is really interesting to see how everyone runs their universe and I have grabbed some new ideas from each and every one of them. I just wanted to say that I really like your style of writing and the storylines that you use. Good job.

[kenyan_cheena]

Originally Posted by lethal liberal

I have just recently started to read these inside the ropes features. It is really interesting to see how everyone runs their universe and I have grabbed some new ideas from each and every one of them. I just wanted to say that I really like your style of writing and the storylines that you use. Good job.

Thanks, LL. IMO, this is the best forum on the entire board, so your decision to start reading the threads here is a very wise one. I hope you continue to enjoy the story I'm telling.

[kenyan_cheena]

(continuation of post #954)

PRELIMINARY 1

No matter what happens during the rest of his boxing career, England's Joe Beckett will always be remembered as the man responsible for the first shocking upset in the HBF when, on debut in January, he defeated World Championship tournament #3 seed Jack Johnson. Beckett talked a tough fight leading into that extraordinary evening and earned the nickname "The Angry Englishman" as a result. His astonishing victory led to some in his homeland getting seriously carried away, proclaiming that Beckett was good enough to make it all the way to the tournament final.

Of course, what has happened since has been something of an entirely different nature. Beckett lost his next three bouts, against Cleveland Williams in March, Manuel Ramos in April and Renaldo Snipes in May, all by unanimous decision. The losses dropped his record to 1-3, exterminated any talk of Championship runs and made Johnson's "trivial pursuit" comment of late February sound even more spot on.

Well, Beckett finally achieved his second professional win tonight, and in spectacular style. He scored a 3rd round knockout of Argentinian Pedro Lovell, dominating the fight from start to finish. Lovell was lucky to survive the opening round as Beckett unleashed a two fisted assault upon the South American. A series of clubbing power shots had Lovell reeling, clutching on for dear life as the round progressed at what must have seemed a snail's pace to him.

The World Championship tournament's 126th seed maintained control in the second round, but was not as aggressive. When the ending came in round three, it was explosive. A single flush left hook at the 1:42 mark put Lovell on his backside. The Argentinian was up at six, but Beckett moved in mercilessly and dropped his opponent for a second time, a left-right-left salvo driving Lovell to his knees before he fell forwards in a heap. He did not attempt to beat the count, and the contest was officially over 2:21 into the round.

Beckett is now 2-3 and with wins in his last two tournament bouts could find a spot in the upcoming European Championship tournament. Lovell remains winless, falling to 0-4-1.

PRELIMINARY 2

Seemingly out of the contest, San Francisco's Pat Valentino rallied late to secure a draw against Italy's Franco Cavicchi (57-57, 58-56 (Valentino), 57-57). It was by no means a memorable bout, but the Californian's late fightback, in which he swept the cards in rounds five and six, received a warm round of applause from the Madison Square Garden audience.

Valentino and Cavicchi are now both 1-3-1. Valentino has had quite an eventful run through the tournament, having fought well without success against both Cleveland Williams and Jack Johnson. He recorded his first victory in an upset against Mexico's Manuel Ramos last month and showed those fighting qualities again tonight.

(to be continued)

[kenyan_cheena]

(continuation)

SUPPORT BOUT

As mentioned earlier (see post #948), Houston's Cleveland Williams saw his perfect record extinguished as he was held to a draw by Mexico's Manuel Ramos in an exciting contest. What wasn't mentioned earlier though was each man's post fight comments, with Williams clearly disappointed in his failure to extend his record to 5-0.

"I really wanted to be perfect going into my fight with Johnson," said Williams. "So this is a bit of a letdown. But I can only blame myself. I came out too excited, too aggressive and I had nothing left by the fourth round. I just fought a dumb fight and it's something I can't afford to do against Jack. I'll have to stay calm against him, for sure."

Ramos had suffered a surprising majority decision loss at the hands of Pat Valentino in his last bout and was looking for some redemption tonight. He gained a measure of it, but was understandably downcast to have gone winless for a second consecutive bout.

"People will probably say that I must have fought well, because I held the tournament's 30th seed to a draw," said Ramos. "But I'm not happy with this effort. I didn't do enough tonight. I allowed Cleveland to dominate the early rounds and it was only when he started to get tired that I made it into the fight. So I can't take much credit at all for the result."

The Mexican slugger went on to talk of his frustration at not making up any ground in the race for a top two finish, aswell as the attitudes some in his homeland hold towards him.

"I came into this tournament with the ambition to qualify for the second stage and contend for the World Championship," said Ramos. "I'll look at anything less than that as a failure, and at the moment I'm failing. This result does nothing for my chances, 'cause I made up no ground on Williams and I'll probably lose ground on Johnson. I'm the only Mexican in the World Championship tournament and I'm proud of that. I'm proud that I'm representing my country in the HBF, but some people back home have been saying to me that the Heavyweight division is no place for a Mexican. They tell me to lose some weight and fight as a Middleweight in the IBL. They talk about Sanchez and Saldivar and say those guys are real Mexican fighters. It's hard to handle sometimes, because I'm most comfortable fighting at Heavyweight. This is what I am. I'm six-four, 195 pounds and in the best shape of my life, so what can I do? I guess the only way to change those types of opinions is by being successful in the ring."

With his record now 2-1-2, Ramos is sitting in 4th place in Group Three of the World Championship tournament. He'll need victories in his final two bouts against Renaldo Snipes and top seed Jack Johnson to make his ambitions of progressing to the second stage come to fruition.

CO-FEATURE

Mike Weaver's optimism following his victory in the evening's opening bout appeared to pay off in a big way as the 1st Defense tournament's 6th seed Ron Lyle fell to his first loss as a professional, given a lesson in boxing aggression by San Francisco's Joe Choynski. The loss means Weaver now sits in outright 1st place in Group Six of the 1st Defense tournament.

The fact that the 19th-seeded Choynski sprung the upset was not as big a surprise as the manner in which he