The Heavyweight Boxing Federation

[kenyan_cheena]

IBEABUCHI AND HAYNES GIVEN #1 SEEDS
IN WORLD RANKING TOURNAMENT

Friday 27 September 2002

As was expected, Nigeria's Ike Ibeabuchi and Florida native Terone Haynes were today named as the #1 seeds for the Heavyweight Boxing Federation's upcoming World Ranking tournament. Along with Ireland's Artuir Claffey the two sluggers were the only feeder league champions to make it through their respective tournaments with perfect 7-0 records, Ibeabuchi placed at the top of the less talented Group Two in recognition of the fact that his path was more challenging than those endured by Haynes and Claffey. The full 24-man field for the World Ranking tournament is listed below:

(* indicates feeder league Champion)

GROUP ONE

(1) TERONE HAYNES (USA), 7-0-0(5)*
(2) ARTUIR CLAFFEY (IRELAND), 7-0-0(3)*
(3) GREGORIO PERALTA (ARGENTINA), 6-1-0*
(4) ROBERT CLEROUX (CANADA), 5-0-2(2)*
(5) MAX SCHMELING (GERMANY), 5-2-0(3)
(6) WIM SNOEK (NETHERLANDS), 2-4-1(1)
(7) JOSE ROMAN (PUERTO RICO), 1-3-3
(8) FLOYD CUMMINGS (USA), 2-5-0(1)
(9) BRIAN LONDON (ENGLAND), 2-5-0(1)
(10) AL KAUFMANN (USA), 2-5-0(1)
(11) JOE BECKETT (ENGLAND), 2-5-0(1)
(12) CHUCK WEPNER (USA), 1-4-2(1)

GROUP TWO

(1) IKE IBEABUCHI (NIGERIA), 7-0-0(1)*
(2) HARRY WILLS (USA), 6-0-1*
(3) MARKUS STOBER (GERMANY), 6-1-0(1)*
(4) ROSCO TOLES (USA), 5-1-1*
(5) KARL MILDENBERGER (GERMANY), 2-3-2(1)
(6) STEFFEN TANGSTAD (NORWAY), 2-4-1(1)
(7) JURGEN BLIN (GERMANY), 2-4-1(1)
(8) OLLE TANDBERG (SWEDEN), 1-3-3
(9) HEINZ NEUHAUS (GERMANY), 2-5-0
(10) MIKE DEJOHN (USA), 2-5-0
(11) LUIS FIRPO (ARGENTINA), 2-5-0
(12) JOE BAKSI (USA), 1-4-2

The man that Ibeabuchi defeated to win the African Boxing League tournament, Omovo Okocha was inserted as the #1 overall seed in the Qualifying League, his performances throughout the tournament aswell as his brave effort against Ibeabuchi considered superior to that of Philadelphia's Leotis Martin, who fell to his sole loss in the final of the Pacific Coast Boxing League. As the #1 seed Okocha will compete in Group One which features Florida Alliance member Romy Alvarez and hard-hitting Indiana native Mike Hanson. The Qualifying League seedings and groups for the losing feeder league finalists are shown below:

1(1) (Group One): OMOVO OKOCHA (NIGERIA), 6-1-0(3)
1(2) (Group Two): LEOTIS MARTIN (USA), 6-1-0(1)
1(3) (Group Three): BOB PASTOR (USA), 5-1-1
1(4) (Group Four): BERNARDO MERCADO (COLOMBIA), 5-1-1(1)
1(5) (Group Five): JOHN FERGUSON (CANADA), 5-2-0
1(6) (Group Six): FLEMMING EKELUND (DENMARK), 5-2-0(1)
1(7) (Group Seven): TOM HEENEY (NEW ZEALAND), 4-1-2
1(8) (Group Eight): LOVRO ALANOVIC (CROATIA), 4-2-1(1)

Action in the World Ranking tournament kicks off on Sunday the 10th of November while the Qualifying League's #1 seeds are scheduled to fight their first QL bouts in series three, which starts on October 29...

[Romdawg88]

I think that Haynes should be able to beat everyone in his group with Max providing that toughest test by far. I'm taking Willis to win group 2.

I don't know Okocha's ratings since he is fictional but I think I would rather have had Leotis in our group instead.

[kenyan_cheena]

Originally Posted by Romdawg88

I think that Haynes should be able to beat everyone in his group with Max providing that toughest test by far. I'm taking Willis to win group 2.

I don't know Okocha's ratings since he is fictional but I think I would rather have had Leotis in our group instead.

Terone's group could be pretty interesting. Peralta, Cleroux and Schmeling are all good fighters although I think Claffey will struggle. Ibeabuchi and Wills is definitely a bout to look forward to.

I think Omovo will prove to be quite a challenge for both you and Mike. Definitely something to look forward to. He'll be taking on Mike in series four and your guy in series six.

[Romdawg88]

Yeah, Peralta's a very good fighter but I don't think he matches up well with Terone. His CF is kind of low and he doesn't have much of a punch. I think it'll be hard to outbox Terone unless you're an elite level boxer. As for Cleroux, he's dangerous since he does have a good punch and if I remember correct Haynes' chin was kind of shaky. However, can Cleroux land enough to do damage with such dismal PL and CP numbers plus he'll be eating a bunch of punches due to his bad defense. While, Schmeling has good pop, is accurate, and has good CF so I think he'll be the top threat to Terone in this. Schmeling only weakness is his chin which might let him down against those hammers Terone has.

Yeah, I get the feeling that Mike and myself might be fighting for second place since Omovo will be a extremely tough test for the both of us.

[kenyan_cheena]

Coming up for Sunday 29 September 2002 in the HBF/IBL we've got the final card of series one of the IBL's WC regional qualifiers and Future Contender series, which will be a nice milestone to reach.

There'll also be a preview of the start of series two with the Middleweights to kick things off. Hopefully everyone is looking forward to the Monday night card which features a trio of great bouts in O'Dowd-Moe, Zale-Morrison and of course, Greb-Burley.

On the HBF side of things we'll preview the final two cards of series two of the Qualifying League, which will be the last in-ring action in the federation until the commencement of the European Championship tournament on 13 October.

[kenyan_cheena]

Sunday 29 September 2002

HEAVYWEIGHT BOXING FEDERATION
FIGHT CARD SCHEDULE
MONDAY 30/09/2002 - SATURDAY 05/10/2002 INCLUSIVE

TUESDAY 01/10/2002 - TRUMP PLAZA, ATLANTIC CITY, NEW JERSEY, USA
THE HBF QUALIFYING LEAGUE

QL/G3: 6(70) CHRIS CREED vs 7(82) MIKKEL RANDERIS
QL/G10: 6(63) ORLIN NORRIS vs 7(75) NICOLAS GALLAS
QL/G3: 5(58) HANS BIRKIE vs 8(94) ARIEL REYES
QL/G10: 5(51) CHARLEY POWELL vs 8(87) TAOUFIK BELBOULI

THURSDAY 03/10/2002 - TOKYO BAY NK HALL, TOKYO, JAPAN
THE HBF QUALIFYING LEAGUE

QL/G6: 6(67) DAVID KANE vs 7(79) JOHN TATE
QL/G7: 6(66) DRE LINTON vs 7(78) MARK ELWOOD
QL/G6: 5(55) TIM CARLISLE vs 8(91) SERGEY POGREBNYAK
QL/G7: 5(54) ROY HARRIS vs 8(90) JAN PODOLSKI

[kenyan_cheena]

LOOSE CANNONS BACK IN ACTION

Sunday 29 September 2002

It was exactly one month ago in Argentina when a pair of hot-headed young men made their Heavyweight Boxing Federation debuts, Orlando's David Kane and Detroit native Dre Linton both scoring exciting TKO victories in the opening series of the Qualifying League. Each made headlines due to some obscenity-laced outbursts during post-fight interviews and were subsequently warned by HBF officials about their behaviour.

This Thursday they'll step back in the ring in Tokyo for their series two bouts and while they've been on more of a short leash, their combustible personalities have been on display at a number of promotional events in Japan. Kane and Linton have shown a strong dislike for each other, vying to be the biggest fish in the pond even though they're in different Qualifying League groups and most likely won't even clash during the tournament.

This week's two fight cards (Tuesday's will be held at Atlantic City's Trump Plaza) complete series two of the QL and truly mark the ending of the federation's opening phase of competition. After Thursday's event the organisation will be on hiatus for ten days with the opening series of the European Championship tournament on Sunday the 13th of October to kick it back into gear. The Continental Americas Championship tournament begins the following day.

While the two cards aren't earth-shatteringly exciting they are worth watching simply for the presence of (in addition to Kane and Linton) Florida Alliance member Ariel Reyes, the Canadian Chris Creed and Nebraska's Mark "Vistaman" Elwood. All five competitors are expected to contend deep into the QL tournament so it's going to be interesting to see how they perform this week...

[kenyan_cheena]

COMING UP IN THE HBF/IBL...

* Tuesday 1/10 - IBL regional qualifier fight card from Cannes, France
* Tuesday 1/10 - HBF Qualifying League fight card from Atlantic City, New Jersey
* Wednesday 2/10 - Picking Up The Pieces (HBF story)
* Wednesday 2/10 - IBL regional qualifier fight card from Tacoma, Washington (featuring Javier Aguirre in the Co-Feature!)

[kenyan_cheena]

FEDERATION "ROOKIES" IMPRESS IN JERSEY

Tuesday 1 October 2002

The Heavyweight Boxing Federation's newest additions continued to show their talents tonight at Atlantic City's Trump Plaza with a quartet of them scoring victories in Qualifying League action. It's been said by a number of observers that this "new wave" of competitors are far superior to the majority of those who took part in the federation's feeder leagues and that they'll be pushing their way to the top of the World Rankings during the coming years.

* The evening started with Canada's Chris Creed taking a hard-earned split decision verdict over the Danish fighter Mikkel Randeris. Creed had looked fantastic in KOing Hans Birkie in three rounds on debut but he faced a much tougher challenge tonight. The former Canadian Football League fullback punished the Dane in the opening round, landing a pair of hooks early, a bone-rattling combination midway through the round and a flush right hand as the stanza entered its final minute. He appeared to be heading for another good win but when Randeris unleashed a crippling ribshot thirty seconds into the 2nd Creed found himself down on one knee clutching at his side. This came only moments after Creed had landed a flush right hand and seeing him on the canvas sent a rush of chatter through the crowd.

Creed was up at eight and before the round was over had absorbed a solid left hook and a hard right hand that caught him on the forehead, the 30 year-old looking vulnerable. He steadied the ship in the 3rd, a pair of combinations buckling Randeris' legs before the European hit back in round four, bloodying Creed's nose and controlling most of the round before the Canadian came back strongly in the closing seconds. Creed finished the bout impressively, winning the 5th convincingly and turning back a determined effort from Randeris in the final frame to secure a gutsy 57-56, 56-57, 58-55 victory. Creed landed 114 of 460 punches (.248), Randeris 94 of 245 (.384) in what was a rousing start to the event.

* Texas native Orlin Norris joined Creed at 2-0 after defeating the Frenchman Nicolas Gallas by majority decision (58-56, 57-57, 58-56). His younger brother Terry will be competing on an IBL fight card tomorrow night but that was the last thing on Orlin's mind as he tackled Gallas in another exciting bout. Norris controlled the opening two rounds but Gallas made a real contest of it the rest of the way, landing some damaging shots and going blow-for-blow with the Texan in an action-packed 4th.

* Florida Alliance member Ariel Reyes followed up his debut KO of Mikkel Randeris with another stoppage victory, this time against the German fighter Hans Birkie. Four proved to be his lucky number once again as, having finished Randeris in the 4th round he did the same to Birkie. After an uneventful opening round Reyes caught fire in the 2nd, pummeling Birkie with hard lefts and rights. He maintained control in the 3rd before decimating his opponent in round four, Birkie overwhlemed by the onslaught until Reyes floored him fifteen seconds from the bell. The German was counted out, Reyes the winner at the 2:55 mark. In those four rounds he connected with 153 of 322 punches (.475), Birkie just 43 of 75 (.573).

The fact that none of the other Florida Alliance members accompanied Reyes to Atlantic City did not go unnoticed, the tall Cuban-born slugger confirming afterwards that the group had decided to take a break from traveling together. This is something that Elmer Ray had intimated a couple of weeks ago following Romy Alvarez's bout in Los Angeles.

"We all like brothers," Reyes said. "But we have to look after ourselves, you know? We have to make sure that we'll be in the best condition possible from here on out. The group's been through some disappointments and that's something we really want to put behind us but also avoid in the future."

* French slugger Taoufik Belbouli made the main event one to remember as he replicated Reyes and knocked out San Diego native Charley Powell in round four. After an evenly-fought opening three rounds Belbouli became more aggressive in the 4th with spectacular results. He had Powell on unsteady legs after a series of punishing blows before dropping him to the canvas with a single left hook just as the round entered its final minute. Powell was up at six but found himself on his back again moments later as he walked into a jolting right cross. This time he stayed down and was counted out 2:31 into the round.

Belbouli was born in the north-west African nation of Mauritania and at just 182 pounds packs quite a punch. He could very well be a contender for the federation's Junior-Heavyweight Championship when the division is established come 2004.

[kenyan_cheena]

SUMMARY OF RESULTS
HEAVYWEIGHT BOXING FEDERATION FIGHT CARD
TUESDAY 1 OCTOBER 2002
TRUMP PLAZA, ATLANTIC CITY, NEW JERSEY, USA


OPENING BOUT

HBF Qualifying League - Stage One - Group Three
6(70) Chris Creed SD6 7(82) Mikkel Randeris

SUPPORT BOUT

HBF Qualifying League - Stage One - Group Ten
6(63) Orlin Norris MD6 7(75) Nicolas Gallas

CO-FEATURE

HBF Qualifying League - Stage One - Group Three
8(94) Ariel Reyes KO4 5(58) Hans Birkie

MAIN EVENT

HBF Qualifying League - Stage One - Group Ten
8(87) Taoufik Belbouli KO4 5(51) Charley Powell

[kenyan_cheena]

PICKING UP THE PIECES

Wednesday 2 October 2002

Story by David Gomez for espn.com

Stage one of the Heavyweight Boxing Federation's World Championship tournament reached its completion just over a month ago. In the time since Sonny Liston decimated Lou Nova at Madison Square Garden on that final night there's been a deal of talk about those competitors who were talented enough to progress to stage two, most of the conversations focusing on their chances of securing a much-coveted semi-final berth. In all the excitement it's easy to forget those individuals who only just missed out, the fighters who could taste and almost touch a spot in the last 32 but now find themselves on the outisde looking in. There's some fantastically skilled young men amongst them, boxers who would certainly do themselves proud if they'd managed to qualify for the business end of the tournament.

Of those who failed to achieve that goal, Florida Alliance member Elmer Ray was probably the most high-profile. The young firebrand was heavily hyped and publicised, as much for his actions in the ring as out. However, the circumstances of his failure were not especially tragic. Everything was there for him in his final bout: a parochial Miami crowd, the support of his fellow Alliance members and the knowledge that anything better than a loss against Floyd Patterson would see him qualify. But Ray froze like a deer in the headlights, producing his worst performance of the tournament and getting pummeled in a clear cut unanimous decision defeat. No, Ray's situation is nothing to feel pity over, despite the fact that if he'd defeated 16th seed Jimmy Young earlier in the tournament he'd be preparing for stage two right now (he lost a split decision).

Looking at the final stage one standings there's probably four fighters whose non-qualifications for stage two were quite unfortunate. Let's go through each of them:

* TOMMY GOMEZ

One of Ray's fellow Florida Alliance members, Gomez needed an upset victory against top seed George Chuvalo in his August 15 series seven bout to progress and going into the fight's final round it looked like he might do it. Expert New York Sun observer Peter Roman had him leading 49-47 through five but in the 6th Chuvalo absolutely smashed him, punishing Gomez throughout the round and landing 54 punches but failing to knock him down.

When the verdict was revealed it was heartbreak for Gomez as the result was a draw, not good enough to see him progress. To make matters worse it was later discovered that judge Mikael Hook had scored the final round 10-8 to Chuvalo, despite no knockdown occuring. This made his scorecard 57-57 but if he'd awarded Chuvalo a 10-9 round as the other two judges had, Gomez would have been a split decision winner. Many claimed the situation was scandalous but save for some words of disappointment immediately after the verdict "Tampa" Tommy has not discussed the bout publicly.

Gomez was named as the #7 seed for the upcoming Continental Americas Championship tournament and has apparently been putting all his energies into preparing for it. If his efforts in the World Championship tournament are any indicator he'll be a top contender for the American title.

(to be continued)

[kenyan_cheena]

(continuation)

* BRUCE WOODCOCK

The Englishman holds the unenviable distinction of being the only competitor to lose just a single bout in stage one and still not progress, but it was the manner in which Woodcock missed out that makes his failure even more difficult to handle. He and compatriot Jack Gardner both took 5-1 records into their series seven bout, the winner of which would stitch up a berth in stage two. Favoured to triumph on the strength of more impressive efforts in previous bouts, Woodcock dominated the opening round before dropping Gardner twice in the 2nd. He appeared to be on his way to stage two but Gardner fought back strongly in the final four rounds, to the point where two judges ruled the bout a draw. With their records still identical at 5-1-1 it was Gardner who qualified for the tournament's 2nd stage due to his higher seeding.

Woodcock was named the #1 seed in the European Championship tournament last month but, unsurprisingly, that honor has not come close to erasing the pain of his near-miss against Gardner. Woodcock has publicly confessed to falling into a deep, week-long depression after the August 19 bout and it's only been in the past couple of days where friends have seen him start to return to his normal self. Hopefully the memory of the Gardner fight won't affect his chances in the European tourney.

* TONY TUCKER

This hard-hitting Michigan native had a perfect 4-0 record going into his May 27 contest against South Africa's Johnny Arthur. A win in that bout would have secured a stage two spot for Tucker with two series of stage one bouts still to be played out. After controlling the early going Tucker faded badly after being sent to the canvas at the end of round four, finding himself back there thirty seconds from the final bell. He lost the bout by unanimous decision and was then defeated by top seed Sam McVey five weeks later.

That result was expected but even after consecutive losses Tucker was still in a position to qualify for stage two. He had to overcome Arizona's Zora Folley to do it but failed once again, the defeat sending him to the Continental Americas Championship tournament. Considering that he had three chances to qualify Tucker's failure to do so is quite extraordinary and it's something that has eaten at him for the last couple of months.

"You know, I see all these guys like Liston and Johnson being talked about on TV," Tucker said. "I know in my heart I should be there with them, getting ready to challenge for the title. I know it's still early in my career but you never know when you'll get another chance and I've already blown one. I just have to make sure the same thing doesn't happen in the American tournament."

* TOM SHARKEY

After stopping his first two opponents inside of three rounds Ireland's Tom Sharkey was being spoken of as a possible dark horse for the World Championship, but he would only manage to win one more fight during the remainder of stage one. Back-to-back draws against Joe Goddard and Jim Savage were followed by a victory over Joe Baksi and a one-sided defeat at the hands of Canada's top contender Sam Langford. Sharkey was now in a position where he had to beat England's Alex Stewart to make stage two but fighting in front of a parochial home crowd the Irishman threw away a great start and lost by split decision (58-57, 57-58, 58-57). Sharkey had been leading going into the 5th but Stewart dug deep to sweep the last two rounds on all three cards, a continuation of some edge-of-your-seat contests he'd won earlier in the tournament.

For some it's still hard to believe that Sharkey missed out on stage two and he's often mentioned as probably the best of the fighters who aren't there. It would have been a great boost for Irish boxing if he'd been able to achieve it but he's been quoted as saying that he's put the defeat behind him and is firmly focused on becoming the HBF's first European Champion.

"It's a fantastic opportunity," Sharkey said enthusiastically. "If I can win that belt and defend it five times I earn a shot at the World Champion. I don't know how anyone couldn't get excited about that. It's an incredible incentive to succeed, without a doubt."

***

As their stories illustrate, this quartet of young men have already experienced big disappointments in their careers so far. It certainly will be interesting to see if their fortunes turn around during the months ahead...