The Heavyweight Boxing Federation

[kenyan_cheena]

(continuation of post #976)

Bronx-born LaStarza found himself in a real fight about ninety minutes later in the evening's Co-Feature as undefeated Canadian Earl Walls made a fast start against him. The World Championship tournament's 58th seed won the opening two rounds in convincing fashion, catching LaStarza with some powerful shots to the head and body, none moreso than a sweetly-timed uppercut two minutes into the second.

With Walls (3-0-1) in 2nd place in the group and LaStarza 3rd (3-1), this was the most important fight of both men's careers to date and LaStarza finally showed some urgency in round three, upping his aggression and being the much busier of the two. He worked behind an effective jab, landing a number of jolting straight lefts. But just as quickly as LaStarza appeared to be in the contest, Walls took back control in round four. He staggered the 26th seed with another flush uppercut forty seconds in and literally from that moment on, LaStarza's chances of winning the fight evaporated. Walls dominated the remainder of the round and while the New Yorker showed glimpses of promise in the fifth, it wasn't enough. He looked spent as the final round ticked away, unable to stop his still active Toronto-born opponent from sealing victory.

The judge's scorecards revealed a clear unanimous decision victory for the Canadian: 58-56, 59-55, 58-56.

"I didn't know about that," said Walls, somewhat bemused, when told of LaStarza's encounter with Stribling earlier in the evening. "Maybe this will teach him a lesson, not to look too far ahead. I always felt comfortable, even there in the third when he had some success with the jab, I always felt I was in command. You know, I was disappointed not going 4-0 against the lower seeds, but this makes up for that nicely. I said a couple of months ago that no one expects much from me, 'cause I'm right back in the middle of the pack. Well, I think I've put myself in a position now where they'll have to notice me."

When he spoke those words, the Canadian could have only dreamed of and hoped for what was to follow in the evening's Main Event. As for LaStarza, he's fallen to 3-2 and all the boasting and criticism he's heaped on Stribling looks absolutely hollow right now. He left the ring within minutes of the verdict, a large hood concealing a nasty cut over his right eye and what must have been a perturbed countenance. Anything less than a win against Stribling in five weeks will spell an end to his chances of qualifying for the second stage of the World Championship tournament. That's a situation he surely would not have contemplated a couple of months ago.

(to be continued)

[kenyan_cheena]

(continuation)

One would think that seeing LaStarza lose would have brightened Stribling's spirits no end. It didn't. The World Championship tournament's #7 seed wore a sour expression as he prowled the ring in the moments before the commencement of the main event. He was clearly aggitated and the counsel of his parents and trainers William and Lucilla did little to change that.

Standing across the ring was a man who had turned heads at the HBF's original auditions with his fierce punching power but had failed to put it on display during what had been an underwhelming career to date. Nonetheless, England's Frank Bruno brought an undefeated record into the contest (2-0-2) and looked even larger than his three inch height and 25 pound weight advantage suggested. The 21 year-old glared down at Stribling as the referee conveyed his final instructions, broad shoulders dwarfing the Georgia native's more streamlined frame.

Once the action started, Stribling looked to be the same aggressive fighter who had made his way to 4-0 in convincing style, pressing Bruno and beating the bigger man to the punch throughout the opening round before bringing the Staples Center crowd to their feet when he put Bruno on one knee with a scorching ribshot 2:10 into the bout. It was the first time the British slugger had been knocked down in his career and he rose gingerly at six, grimacing from the pain. The new experience added some resolve to Bruno's performance, as he landed a nice left-right salvo late in the round and then showed Stribling and everyone in attendance that he wasn't going to simply hand a victory to the 17 year-old when he took the second round with some solid boxing. Stribling was throwing more punches, but the big Englishman found some success in parrying or evading many of them before firing back strongly.

Bruno's impressive work continued in round three, although Stribling had more success with landing his blows. Even so, most agreed that Bruno had done enough to take the round. He was having surprising success behind a stiff, powerful left jab and the punch had started to cause some swelling under Stribling's right eye. Halfway through the bout, the native of Macon, Georgia knew he was involved in the first real test of his career.

Round four would prove to be the real turning point of the contest, bringing about a sight that most boxing experts would not have believed possible at this early stage of the World Championship tournament. After an uneventful opening half, Bruno brought a howl of approval from the audience as his right fist collided with Stribling's left temple like a locomotive, staggering the 7th seed and almost dropping him to the canvas. Sensing a huge opportunity, Bruno tracked his man down and unloaded, lefts and rights thundering into Stribling, some of them bouncing off his arms and shoulders but a number of them crashing into his head and body. Up against the ropes, Stribling covered up against an onslaught that he'd never had to endure before, arms crossed in front of his face, rolling with some of Bruno's punches, absorbing others. Stribling offered little in the way of a retort and he was lucky that the fight was not halted before the bell sounded, especially when Bruno had him in trouble once again in the closing seconds. A left hook, right hook, left hook explosion buckled Stribling at the knees and he was holding onto his opponent when the bell sounded. The 7th seed almost stumbled and fell as he returned to his corner following the biggest beating he'd taken in any round of his career to date. The crowd applauded Bruno, who watched Stribling over his shoulder with a fierceness in his eyes.

(to be continued)

[kenyan_cheena]

(continuation)

The ringside crowd and television audience were then witnesses to the unexpected sight of Stribling's mother Lucilla slapping her son at least three times on the cheek, not only trying to snap him out of his stupor but also clearly unhappy with his effort during the fourth round. In reply, the 17 year-old produced his best three minutes of the bout, dominating Bruno during the fifth like his life depended on it. His mother's outburst clearly lit a fire under Stribling and while he didn't really hurt Bruno, he kept the big man on the back foot and had great success with his jab. Stribling's rally was met with warm applause by the crowd.

The combatants touched gloves at the commencement of the final round, both knowing that a convincing showing could be enough to swing the decision in their favour. While Stribling had grabbed hold of the momentum, Bruno had fought too hard to let a victory slip away and he proved to be the hungrier man, peppering his opponent with a series of jabs early in the stanza before rocking him with a jolting straight right in the dwindling seconds. The audience came to their feet as the bell sounded and Bruno paraded around the ring like a victor.

When the verdict came some five minutes later, Bruno's corner erupted in jubilation. Their man had claimed a 57-56, 56-57, 58-57 split decision victory, pushing himself right into the thick of the chase for a spot in Group Seven's top two.

"A lot of people have criticised me," said Bruno afterwards. "Some of it has probably been justified, but I wanted to show tonight that I'm a contender, that I shouldn't be forgotten. People had said that Stribling would wipe the floor with me, that I'd be too slow to compete with him. It's really satisfying to prove them all wrong and also to still have a shot at progressing. I've been saying to myslef that I don't want to have to settle for a spot in the European tournament. My ambitions are a lot higher than that and this win has given me a better chance of achieving them."

Bruno landed 106 of 283 punches (37.5%), while Stribling connected on 98 of 401 (24.4%). So while he was not as busy as Stribling, the Englishman had a better strike rate and certainly (and surprisingly), a better defense.

Stribling's parents had rushed their charge from the ring moments after it was confirmed that he'd lost his perfect record, before he even congratulated Bruno. Their behaviour both during the bout and after it seemed to be in contrast with the image that the media has built of "Team Stribling", his mother in particular showing a large dose of poor loser's mentality. It will be interesting to hear what the trio has to say about their unfortunate evening.

These two upset results have made the situation in Group Seven of the World Championship tournament an exciting one, as the standings below show:

1st: 4(58) Earl Walls (Canada), 4-0-1
2nd: 1(7) Young Stribling (USA), 4-1-0

3rd: 3(42) Frank Bruno (England), 3-0-2
4th: 2(26) Roland LaStarza (USA), 3-2-0

The top two seeds Stribling and LaStarza will square off in five weeks with Walls and Bruno clashing beforehand in the Co-Feature. As the standings show, a loss will put an end to LaStarza's chances of progressing further in the tournament and based on his efforts tonight, he'll be a longshot to defeat Stribling when the two step in the ring. Walls will guarantee himself safe passage to the tournament's second stage with a win over Bruno, something which - if tonight's win doesn't - will surely elevate the Canadian's popularity in his homeland...

(Coming up: The Staples Center Undercard)

[Romdawg88]

It's easy to be all sunshine and class when your boy is winning all his matches easily but when they hit their first rough patch we see Team Stribling's true colors. Should be interesting to see where they go from here.

[kenyan_cheena]

Originally Posted by Romdawg88

It's easy to be all sunshine and class when your boy is winning all his matches easily but when they hit their first rough patch we see Team Stribling's true colors. Should be interesting to see where they go from here.

Yep, the direction I'm considering taking them in is less nice but probably a bit more interesting compared to how they were in real life.

It'll be interesting to find out what set Young off during his back stage altercation with LaStarza and if that had any bearing on his parent's behaviour during the bout. Things are not always as they appear...

[Romdawg88]

Originally Posted by kenyan_cheena

Yep, the direction I'm considering taking them in is less nice but probably a bit more interesting compared to how they were in real life.

It'll be interesting to find out what set Young off during his back stage altercation with LaStarza and if that had any bearing on his parent's behaviour during the bout. Things are not always as they appear...

Hm, foreshadowing well you've got me interested. I wonder what really happened back there. Also, yes the dark side Striblings do seem to have the pontential to be quite a bit more interesting then the real life Striblings.

[kenyan_cheena]

THE STAPLES CENTER UNDERCARD

Opening Bout

In a 1st Defense tournament matchup of British combatants, Welshman Dick Richardson improved his chances of an extended stay in the HBF with a hard-fought majority decision victory over England's Manny Burgo (58-56, 57-57, 58-56).

42nd seed Richardson is now 2-3 and if he can claim victories in his final two bouts, he might just find himself a place in the upcoming European Championship tournament. Burgo fell to 1-4 and is in real danger of seeing his time in the federation come to an end once the first stage of the 1st Defense tournament comes to a conclusion.

Preliminary 1

Another contest featuring fighters struggling to keep themselves above the cutoff point, and another majority decision verdict. Fighting in his home state for a second consecutive bout, California's Tom Kennedy scored his first professional victory, taking a 60-54, 57-57, 59-56 verdict over Chicago's Bob Satterfield.

As two of those scorecards show, the 1st Defense tournament's 34th seed was the dominant fighter and displayed some impressive skills, especially in rounds one, two and six. Snapping a three fight losing skid, Kennedy's record is now 1-3-1 while Satterfield falls to 1-4.

(to be continued)

[kenyan_cheena]

Just a little OT diversion...

Today was the hottest day in my home city Sydney in 12 months, with the mercury reaching 40 degrees centigrade. Not sure how much that is in fahrenheit, but it's damn hot. I'm sitting here at 7.24pm in my underwear sweating like a pig (nice image, I know). However, I took the family to the local swimming pool during the day so it wasn't all bad.

[kenyan_cheena]

(continuation)

Preliminary 2

In an uneventful contest, Canada's Jack Renault scored his debut World Championship tournament victory, defeating the similarly winless Dan Flynn of Boston by split decision (59-56, 57-58, 60-56). As was the case in the evening's previous bout, the actual fight was not as close as the final result indicated, with Renault the better man in all but the third round.

The 90th seed brought high personal expectations (some would say deluded expectations) into the tournament, expectations that he has failed to meet. However, if Renault can score wins in his final two bouts he should secure himself a lower seeding in the upcoming Continental Americas tournament, which is surely something to shoot for. As for Flynn, he's now 0-5 and this loss all but seals his pending departure from the federation's ranks.

Support Bout

Having scored his debut victory with a surprising KO of Roland LaStarza back in April, local favourite Mac Foster picked up his second tonight, defeating Germany's Willi Besmanoff in convincing style. Foster was awarded a 58-54, 57-55, 58-54 unanimous decision victory.

The Fresno native started like a house on fire, dropping Besmanoff twice in the opening round. The German more or less held his own for the remainder of the contest, but those two knockdowns presented too much of a deficit to overcome and Foster improved to 2-2-1(1). Besmanoff remains winless at 0-3-2.

Foster is the 74th seed in the World Championship tournament and while his chances of progressing to the second stage are as slim as can be, there appears little doubt that he'll be offered a spot in the American Championship tourney. A couple of wins in his final two bouts could even see him seeded in the top half of the 72-man field...

[kenyan_cheena]

SUMMARY OF RESULTS
HEAVYWEIGHT BOXING FEDERATION FIGHT CARD
MONDAY 17 JUNE 2002
STAPLES CENTER, LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, USA


OPENING BOUT

HBF 1st Defense Tournament - Stage One - Group Seven
6(42) Dick Richardson MD6 8(58) Manny Burgo

PRELIMINARY 1

HBF 1st Defense Tournament - Stage One - Group Seven
5(34) Tom Kennedy MD6 7(50) Bob Satterfield

PRELIMINARY 2

HBF World Championship Tournament - Stage One - Group Seven
6(90) Jack Renault SD6 8(122) Dan Flynn

SUPPORT BOUT

HBF World Championship Tournament - Stage One - Group Seven
5(74) Mac Foster UD6 7(106) Willi Besmanoff

CO-FEATURE

HBF World Championship Tournament - Stage One - Group Seven
4(58) Earl Walls UD6 2(26) Roland LaStarza

MAIN EVENT

HBF World Championship Tournament - Stage One - Group Seven
3(42) Frank Bruno SD6 1(7) Young Stribling

[kenyan_cheena]

BOUND FOR JAPAN

Tuesday 18 June 2002

Cousins and Florida Alliance members Terone Haynes and Elmer Ray flew out to Japan this afternoon in preparation for Thursday week's Yokohama Arena South-East Asian Boxing League fight card, which Haynes will headline.

Before they boarded their plane at Jacksonville Airport, Ray was asked by a number of journalists about yesterday's story claiming he was seen rapping at a South Beach nightclub on Sunday night.

"Naw, man, that ain't me," replied Ray with a smile. "Come on, y'all. Y'all know I just seventeen, man. Ain't even old enough t' get in one o' those joints. An' anyway, why would I be down in South Beach at a time like this? I be helpin' my cuz get ready for this fight, man. I say it before, see? Ain't no time for foolishness right now."

One reporter posed the question: is there an Elmer Ray impersonator down in South Beach?

"You tell me, y'all," Ray said, laughing. "Pretty flatterin', I guess. Some brother prob'ly tryin' to score on the back o' my name. Crazy stuff, y'all."

Following an almighty scare in his last bout, Haynes is determined to wrap up top spot in Group A of the league with a win in next week's fight. His opponent, Australia's Allan Horace brings a 3-0-1 record into the contest and Haynes will be giving him maximum respect.

"Ain't jus' about finishin' on top o' the group," said Haynes. "I be in the semis no matter what. I jus' wanna stay undefeated as long as possible, y'all. Wanna go through the tourney with a perfect record, man. If I gotta go the distance again, that's cool."

Most observers expect Haynes to return to the devastating form of his opening two bouts, both stoppage victories inside of two rounds.

"He'll be looking to make a statement," said New York Age journalist James Reynolds. "Oliver McCall put the Alliance back on course last week and Haynes will just want to keep that going."

With Elmer Ray's next World Championship tournament bout on the 5th of July in Brisbane, Australia, Haynes and Ray won't be returning to Florida for some three weeks.

"Prob'ly be some home sickness, like always," said Ray. "But we enjoy being down in Australia before. Maybe we get a chance to see more of the country this time."

[kenyan_cheena]

TEAM STRIBLING ASSAILED AT LAX

Tuesday 18 June 2002

At about the same time as "The Hastings Express" was boarding their plane for Japan, "Team Stribling" was trying to escape from Los Angeles following last night's Staples Center disaster.

A number of national newspapers have run stories critical of the Striblings' behaviour during and following Young Stribling's split decision loss to England's Frank Bruno, with the general consensus being that they showed a distinct lack of class and a clear case of sour grapes. This afternoon, the trio could not avoid a media scrum at Los Angeles International Airport as they tried to pass through customs and board their flight back home to Georgia.

In extraordinary scenes, William and Lucilla Stribling shielded their son from the journalistic horde, the 7th seed in the Heavyweight Boxing Federation's World Championship tournament looking every bit a frightened child and anything but a young man in the running for boxing glory. They offered no excuses or reasons for their uncharacteristic behaviour last night, where they had rushed Young from the ring moments after learning he had fallen to his first loss as a professional, without congratulating his conqueror.

The Stribling's silence on the matter will simply allow the specualtion to continue, something that will surely do further damage to what is already a dented reputation...

[kenyan_cheena]

SCHMELING JOINS STRIBLING
ON LOSER'S LIST

Wednesday 19 June 2002

On Monday night, Georgia's Young Stribling became the fifth #1 seed in the Heavyweight Boxing Federation's World Championship tournament to suffer his first professional defeat when England's Frank Bruno took a split decision verdict against him. Today in Johannesburg, South Africa, Max Schmeling became the sixth name on that list as he was sent to the canvas twice on the way to a unanimous decision defeat at the hands of New Jersey native Steve Hamas.

Fighting in the main event at a capacity Rand Stadium, Europe's greatest hope for World Championship success was outfought by an opponent who had struggled to a split decision win against Group Ten's bottom seed just five weeks ago. True, Hamas brought the same 4-0 record into the ring as Schmeling, but his path to that record and recent form had been nowhere near as smooth. With this in mind, most observers felt that Schmeling would cruise to a relatively easy win, but as events turned out, the opposite was almost the case.

The tournament's 39th seed showed nothing in the opening round to indicate what was to come, prefering to stay at a distance and size Schmeling up, allowing the German to take the round with little effort. Hamas stepped up his aggression in round two, displaying a willingness to engage from close quarters and landing some telling blows. He absorbed a powerful right cross early in the frame but shook it off and came on strongly in the bottom half of the round, sweeping the judge's cards.

Despite that, Schmeling looked to be in no real danger but a minute into the 3rd he found himself down on one knee gasping for air after a wicked right rip to the ribs. Seeing the 10th seed on the canvas clearly ignited a fire within Hamas and he poured on the pressure for the rest of the round, connecting with a series of flush head shots that rattled Schmeling's cage. If the round had gone on for perhaps another twenty seconds, the fight may have been stopped as the German was in serious trouble.

If the situation wasn't dire enough for him after that, it became terminal for Schmeling when he tasted the canvas for a second time 1:50 into round four. What made this knockdown all the more extraordinary was the fact that Schmeling had dominated the round to that point, rallying to establish control of the contest before Hamas countered a wild right cross with a right hand of his own. The punch landed flush and turned Schmeling's legs to jelly. A follow up left-right-left salvo saw him on his back, staring up at the referee in a bemused fashion.

Schmeling made it to his feet at the eight count and with a minute to go in the round. As in the 3rd, the Jersey native followed the knockdown with an impressive salvo, sending the sweat flying from Schmeling's head with a crunching left hook and then landing a straight right that pushed the German back onto the ropes. A rapid fire four punch combination staggered Schmeling again as the final seconds of the round ticked away and as he sat on his stool, his trainer tried desperately to bring him around.

It must have been clear that, after suffering two knockdowns and with only two rounds remaining, anything less than the equivalent of what he had endured would see Schmeling lose the fight. He fought like a man with his life on the line in those final two rounds but was unable to send Hamas to the canvas in either of them, the native of Passaic, New Jersey staying on his feet despite absorbing a number of heavy punches. Hamas would surely have been wiser to employ his cautious tactics of the opening round, but he was enjoying the thrill of going toe-to-toe. Luckily, he did not meet with disaster as a consequence.

The crowd came to their feet in applause as the bout drew to a close and when it was all over the combatants embraced, Schmeling showing a smile but surely knowing that he had been beaten.

The verdict, as mentioned earlier, was unanimous, with each judge awarding an identical 57-55 decision to Hamas.

"No one gave me much of a chance," said an emotional Hamas. "They said that Max would just cruise through the fight and win it easily. But I believed in myself and I was inspired by what Frank Bruno did on Monday night. I may not have been the best fighter through the first four bouts, but I won them all and I wasn't going to let that be all for nothing tonight. I don't mind saying that I've never felt prouder in my entire life."

Unlike Stribling on Monday night, Schmeling did not rush from the ring without congratulating his opponent. He stayed around and offered complimentary words to Hamas.

"What can I say?" said Schmeling. "No excuses here. I was beaten by a better man. Steve was hungrier, more determined, and worked harder than I did. He deserves the win, no doubt. I probably underestimated his power a bit, but that's not an excuse. He was able to hit me with a lot of good shots. It's definitely a lesson for me, I think. From now on, if I let myself feel satisfied with where I am, that's the signal to push harder. Maybe I thought I was going along well enough, but Steve has shown that I was wrong. I've got another tough fight against Frank Moran next month and I'll have to train harder for that fight than I ever have before, 'cause I can't afford to lose now."

Punch totals

Hamas 147/307 (47.9%)
Schmeling 148/310 (47.7%)

(to be continued)

[Romdawg88]

Been a rough few fight cards for the #1 seeds well at least Max handled it better then the Striblings. Speaking of the Striblings, they get more and more lovable every post. So does that win by Hamas lock up a spot in the second round for him, 5-0 he can't be to far from doing that.

[kenyan_cheena]

Originally Posted by Romdawg88

Been a rough few fight cards for the #1 seeds well at least Max handled it better then the Striblings. Speaking of the Striblings, they get more and more lovable every post. So does that win by Hamas lock up a spot in the second round for him, 5-0 he can't be to far from doing that.

I'm just hoping it's not contageous. I don't want Liston to lose on Saturday night. As for Hamas, he'll probably need another win to make sure he gets through.

I haven't previously outlined the tie-breakers I'll be using, so I'll explain them now. The HBF won't be using extra bouts as tie-breakers, as that will delay the start of the next series of tournament bouts. These are the tie-breakers:

1) head-to-head record
2) strength of victory a) (combined record of opponents they have beaten)
3) strength of victory b) (combined tournament seeding of opponents they have beaten)
4) if still tied after those three, then higher seeded fighter wins tie-breaker

Eg.

a) Two fighters finish with records of 6-1. The fighter that won the head-to-head fight between the two wins the tie-breaker.

b) Two fighters finish with records of 5-1-1, with the head-to-head fight a draw. However, they were defeated by different fighters, so the strength of victory tie-breaker would be employed.

In Group Ten, it's possible that Schmeling, Moran and Hamas could all finish stage one with 6-1 records, a three-way tie. In that case, the head-to-head records would cancel each other out as they'd each be 1-1, so I would have to look at the strength of victory numbers. Hamas would have an edge because he has a win over the top seed in the group.

[kenyan_cheena]

(continuation)

***

As Schmeling said, he "can't afford to lose now" and one of the reasons is that Pittsburgh's Frank Moran maintained his perfect record with a convincing victory over Randall Cobb earlier in the evening.

Fighting in the Support Bout, Moran dominated Cobb but one judge somehow managed to score the bout a 57-57 draw. Thankfully the other two were actually watching the fight, giving it to Moran by scores of 60-55 and 59-55.

In one of the most precision punching performances in the HBF to date, the Pennsylvanian landed 165 of 197 punches (83.8%) while making Cobb look quite clumsy in comparison (71/278, 25.5%).

Following Schmeling's defeat, Moran now sits in 1st place in Group Ten and will send the German crashing out of the tournament with a victory against him next month. Along with Philadelphia's Jimmy Young, Moran is a celebrity in his home state and tonight's events will surely add to his popularity.

Cobb is the 55th seed in the World Championship tournament but this loss sees him fall to a disappointing 1-4. His only win came against 119th seed George Johnson back in April and if he can't get something out of his final two tournament bouts, he'll find himself unemployed come September.

***

Fighting in the evening's Co-Feature, New York's Doug Jones improved to 5-0 with a tough majority decision victory over England's Don Cockell.

In perhaps the best fight on the card, the 1st Defense tournament's #7 seed was given all he could handle by the Englishman. Both fighters brought 4-0 records into the contest and produced a bout worthy of those marks.

After a cautious start Jones came on strong in the bottom half of round one, catching Cockell with a trio of three seperate right hands: a jolting straight, a brutal cross and a flush hook. The Brit did enough in a quiet second before Jones cut him open under the left eye late in round three with a fierce right hand.

As in the opening round, Jones did most of his work in the final minute of the fourth, a right hook that bounced off Cockell's forehead being followed by a series of crisp scoring jabs. But Cockell enjoyed his best round of the fight in the fifth, working well behind a potent left jab.

Round six proved to be the best of the contest and it had the crowd on their feet as both men went all out to impress the judges with one final push. Jones caught his man with a crushing right cross early on, staggering Cockell before the Englishman rallied, going toe-to-toe with Jones in the centre of the ring. Cockell finished the round strongly but it wasn't enough to deter all three judges from giving the round to Jones. It led to Jones winning by a 58-56, 57-57, 58-56 majority decision verdict.

There are many who believe that Cockell has what it takes to qualify for the second stage of the 1st Defense tournament, but to do it he'll have to win his final two bouts, against Olle Tandberg in July and 10th seed Natie Brown in August.

Jones is now in a pretty good position and a win in his clash with Brown in five weeks will secure his safe passage to the tournament's next stage.

The Johannesburg Undercard

OPENING BOUT

In an astonishing fight, Washington DC native and 1st Defense tournament 10th seed Natie Brown was held to a draw by the winless Swede Olle Tandberg.

Coming off a comfortable win over the Welshman Dick Richardson, it was assumed that Brown would have little trouble against the 26th-seeded Tandberg, a man who was unable to win a single bout during the tournament's first four series (setting an unwelcome record in the process). Through three rounds, it looked like that would be the case as Brown controlled the bout and came close to stopping Tandberg in round three.

But in an extraordinary turnaround, the Swede was able to grind out a comeback. By no means did he dominate the bottom half of the bout, but he was able to start impressively in each round against a tiring Brown, doing enough to sweep all three scorecards and secure a 57-57, 58-56 (Tandberg), 57-57 draw.

A look at the cards reveals that the two judges who scored the bout a draw gave Brown rounds one to three and Tandberg rounds four to six in one of the more amazing bouts seen in the Heavyweight Boxing Federation to date.

Brown will have to quickly forget about this disappointment, as he faces a must win fight against top seed Doug Jones in five weeks time. A loss in that bout coupled with a win for Don Cockell when he takes on Tandberg will see Brown tumble out of Group Seven's top two.

PRELIMINARY 1

Two fighters with combined records of 1-7 put on a moderately entertaining fight, but in the end Portland's Thad Spencer and Oklahoma City native George Johnson had to be content with a draw.

Most at ringside felt that Johnson should have been declared the winner, as he appeared to be the more active, aggressive fighter for most of the bout. But the judges all differed in their viewpoints. One gave Johnson a 59-56 victory while another favoured Spencer by the same verdict. The third had it all tied up at 57-57.

PRELIMINARY 2

Chicago's Floyd Cummings was unable to build on the momentum he gained with last month's brutal 2nd round KO of Randall Cobb, losing a split decision to Italian-born Philadelphian Joe Grim.

This was a fight divided into three distinct sections, with Grim dominating the opening two rounds before Cummings rallied in the third and then dropped the 71st seed a minute into the fourth with a single right hand to the head.

Cummings should have been able to maintain control from that point but he faded badly in the final two rounds, which Grim took with more ease than one would expect.

The final verdict read 57-56, 56-57, 58-55 to Grim, who improved to 2-3 with his first victory since his debut against Randall Cobb back on January 30, which was also by split decision. Cummings is now 1-4(1) and his has been a frustrating campaign. He dropped tournament 10th seed Max Schmeling twice before being TKO'd in four rounds and gave Hamas a tough time early but faded late. He only has two bouts left to convince the HBF that he belongs in their organisation beyond August...