The Heavyweight Boxing Federation

[kenyan_cheena]

VINCENNES BOARDS PLANE FOR LONDON

Sunday 6 October 2002

HBF president Michael Vincennes flew out of New York this morning, bound for London, England a week prior to the commencement of the federation's European Championship tournament. The event's opening fight card will be held at the Wembley Conference Center next Sunday and Vincennes is keen for it to be a successful, exciting night. He'll be personally taking part in a number of promotional events, including several appearances on some of the most popular British television shows.

"The European Championship is going to play a huge part in the spread of the federation's popularity during the coming year," Vincennes said before boarding his plane at JFK. "People might say that we've already made it but I couldn't disagree more. You can always take that extra step to make the public aware of you and I think that Europe is a region where we can pick up our game."

It may be a European tournament but the twelve-man field has a heavy UK flavour with four Englishmen, two Irish competitors and three Welshmen. Because of that it's been said that a majority of the fight cards will be held in the United Kingdom, although Vincennes dismissed such talk.

"No, no," he said. "There'll be an even distribution, as was the case with the European feeder league tournaments. The fact that there's a high number of UK fighters has only come about due to their performances in the World Championship and 1st Defense tournaments. Of course, you must remember that Max Schmeling opted not to take part in the tournament. If he'd changed his mind he would be the #2 seed in the event."

While Bruce Woodcock is the tournament's top seed Ireland's Tom Sharkey has been a popular pick to win the title. He came painfully close to qualifying for stage two of the World Championship tournament and will be out to gain himself a heavy dose of redemption, starting next Sunday...


HEAVYWEIGHT BOXING FEDERATION
FIGHT CARD SCHEDULE
MONDAY 07/10/2002 - SUNDAY 13/10/2002 INCLUSIVE

SUNDAY 13/10/2002 - WEMBLEY CONFERENCE CENTER, LONDON, ENGLAND
HBF EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP TOURNAMENT, SERIES ONE

(6) TOM SHARKEY vs (8) FRANCO CAVICCHI
(5) PETER MAHER vs (7) JOE ERSKINE
(4) HEIN TEN-HOFF vs (9) JOHNNY WILLIAMS
(3) DON COCKELL vs (11) DICK RICHARDSON
(2) JOE BUGNER vs (10) OTTO VON PORAT
(1) BRUCE WOODCOCK vs (12) BILLY WALKER

[mh2365]

Originally Posted by kenyan_cheena

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.

Yeah I'm not going to lose to anyone from Nigeria!

[kenyan_cheena]

Originally Posted by mh2365

Yeah I'm not going to lose to anyone from Nigeria!

I hope you can beat Okocha. It would be great if you and Romy were still undefeated going into your clash.

[Romdawg88]

Originally Posted by kenyan_cheena

I hope you can beat Okocha. It would be great if you and Romy were still undefeated going into your clash.

In your opinion what are our chances of beating Okocha?

[kenyan_cheena]

He's dangerous but if you both produce what you're capable of you should beat him.

[mh2365]

Originally Posted by Romdawg88

In your opinion what are our chances of beating Okocha?

You sound scared ... I'm not losing to no dang Nigerian ....

[Romdawg88]

Originally Posted by mh2365

You sound scared ... I'm not losing to no dang Nigerian ....

I ain't scared of no one but I also don't know much about Okocha so I wanted to get some more insight on him.

[mh2365]

Originally Posted by Romdawg88

I ain't scared of no one but I also don't know much about Okocha so I wanted to get some more insight on him.

All I need to know is when to show up to beat his azz

[kenyan_cheena]

Thanks, guys. Your back and forth conversation has given me another story to write about. It should be up during the next week of universe time.

[Romdawg88]

Nice good to hear that we can inspire stories with our little bit of trash talk.

[kenyan_cheena]

OKOCHA MAKES THINGS INTERESTING

Tuesday 8 October 2002

Series three of the HBF's Qualifying League is scheduled to kick-off on October 29, the tournament sure to receive some extra attention as the losing finalists and semi-finalists from the federation's feeder leagues make their debuts. One of the more intriguing situations that promises to develop is that in Group One. Already featuring the highly-regarded "rookies" Romy Alvarez and Mike Hanson, Nigerian slugger Omovo Okocha was placed into the group as the tournament's #1 seed. Okocha made a perfect 6-0 run through the African Boxing League before falling in the final to compatriot Ike Ibeabuchi. If his performances to date are anything to go by he'll pose quite a challenge to both Alvarez and Hanson in their quest for a top-two finish.

"One of us is gonna miss out," said Hanson when asked about the group yesterday. "I don't plan on it being me. I watched some of those African cards and I wasn't that impressed by either of those Nigerian guys. I think I go up against Okocha in December and I have to say, I'm lookin' forward to it. He's the #1 seed but he's never felt power like mine before, you know? The thought of taking out the top seed, that's just driving me harder and harder each day. I really can't wait for it."

Hanson has not been shy in the past where self-promotion is concerned so his comments won't come as any great surprise. Alvarez was more diplomatic with his opinion on Okocha, stating that from what he's seen the Nigerian will present him with "the biggest test" of his career to date.

"He's got some serious power," said Alvarez. "Pretty quick also. Wasn't luck that got him to 6-0 and he really pushed Ibeabuchi. That's gonna be a real tough period for me 'cause I'll have Okocha first and then Hanson five weeks later. Pretty clear those two fights gonna make or break my chances so I can't afford to slip up before then."

The Florida Alliance member has enjoyed being back in his hometown of Belle Glade for the last couple of weeks, enjoying some R&R after an at-times exhausting period of travel, training and competing. Alvarez (2-0(1)) faces the West Virginian Delbert Craw on October 29 and won't be taking him lightly, despite the fact that he'll go into the contest as a warm favourite.

"No chance I'll be going easy on him," Alvarez said. "Like I said, I can't slip up. Folks have been saying us "rookies" are gonna just breeze through this thing but once we start believing that, the first loss'll be right around the next corner. He's gonna want the win as much as me, probably even more seeing as he lost his first fight. But he worked his ass off in it and I'm sure he'll do the same 'gainst me."

Alvarez had little to say about the rivalry between Hanson and the Florida Alliance, his words brief and to the point.

"We're all still waitin' for him to back up those words with actions," said Alvarez, smiling. "So far, the dude ain't done much backin' up, see?"

Whatever the outcome, the three-way tussle between Alvarez, Hanson and Okocha looks set to be an explosive one...

[kenyan_cheena]

Hello, everyone. Within the last couple of minutes I've made the decision to make a pretty big change to the way I'm chronicling the HBF and IBL. I've been going at this thing since October 2004 and in those 3 years and 8 months have managed to cover just over nine months of universe time. That's an indictment on the format I chose to begin with and the time has come for me to accelerate this thing.

Starting from the beginning of the next universe week I'm going to adopt a format that's similar to what I've been using in my MLB dynasty. What I plan to do is sit down and sim all the fights for the coming week in one session, then pick and choose the ones that are worthy to write about. Then, when I reach the end of the week I'll summarise all the results from each organisation in a single post, rather than listing the results of each individual fight card in its own post. Using this method there will be some fight cards that I don't write anything about and others where I might review as many as three or four bouts.

I'll no longer be going through the process of listing the schedule for the upcoming week and previewing it, either. One thing I will say is that I'll make sure to review every single fight involving the OOTP community fictional fighters (unless the person who created the fighter is no longer active in the forum). I'll also continue to include the occasional article about what's happening outside of the ring.

I'm hoping that this approach will speed along the uni without sacrificing the storylines I've created. To be honest I've been getting a little burnt out on the HBF/IBL in recent weeks and I think that these changes will help in regards to that. I hope everyone who is a fan of the HBF/IBL understands and respects my reasons for making these changes.

Thanks.

k_c

[Claybor]

If you write it they will come! Whatever format you choose I am sure it will continue to be very entertaining.

[Romdawg88]

Completely understandable KC and whatever makes writing this more enjoyable and easier for you is cool. I know I'll still be reading along regardless of how the format changes.

[kenyan_cheena]

Thanks, guys. I'm looking forward to the change. Funny thing is, I was sitting on the can when I made the decision.

[franklin_1]

Looks like you've got your very own version of the Scrubs epiphany toilet KC.

[kenyan_cheena]

JEANNETTE BLAMES REYNOLDS
FOR SIN'S DISAPPEARANCE

Thursday 10 October 2002

Back on the 25th of September an article was published in the New York Age that described an incident at a gym in North Bergen, New Jersey where a 15 year-old boy named Abram Sin walked in off the street and displayed a fantastic boxing ability to all present, including Heavyweight Boxing Federation competitor Joe Jeannette. It was written by sports journalist James Reynolds, who had actually made his way to the gym on Lincoln Street to interview Jeannette before the arrival of Sin delivered him an even more intriguing story. The newspaper received a great response to the article, hundreds of people posting on its website and writing in to voice their hopes that the youngster would one day find success from his god-given ability. In addition, a number of media outlets sent reporters to the North Bergen gym the next day to get a look at Sin in the flesh, their presence making it near impossible for Jeannette and the other fighters to train effectively.

Jeannette had been surprised and bemused by the media turnout, but that was before he had seen the article. When he read what Reynolds had written the World Championship contender was furious, appearing on ESPN's SportsCenter to refute a number of points the journalist had made. Jeannette asserted that he had never given Reynolds his okay to take notes or write an article about Sin, claiming he would have "had to be crazy" to do such a thing. He also said that Reynolds had exaggerated Sin's efforts while sparring with Mickey Walker (where he claimed the youngster floored Walker twice) and denied saying the words Reynolds attributed to him in the last line of the article, referring to Sin as "the future of Heavyweight boxing".

"Man, I'd have to be the lowest of the low to do that to the kid," Jeannette had said. "Anyone with half a brain'd know a story like that'd have the buzzards runnin' for their slice of the pie. I just met Abram for the first time that afternoon. Hell, yeah, he's one talented kid, one with a load of promise. But what you think I'm gonna do? Make the kid a story on the evening news? Invite every journalist onto the doorstep of my gym? Y'all gotta be kiddin' me, man."

Jeannette went on to say that the parts of the article where he discussed Sin's ability with Reynolds were true, but he also added that after Sin left the gym the journalist sat down with him and they spoke on his own career and Jersey Pride for "close to an hour".

"Funny how none o' that's in the article, ain't it?" Jeannette added.

The following day Reynolds stood by his story, claiming every word he'd written was true. Some raised the possibility of Jeannette sueing Reynolds for defamation but the boxer dismissed it.

"That's ridiculous, man," Jeannette had said. "Ain't gonna take the guy to court over this nonsense. There's just three of us who know how that afternoon went down: me, Reynolds and the Lord Jesus Christ. I'm comfortable knowin' the truth of what happened, so there ain't no reason to pursue it further. Question is, is Mr. Reynolds comfortable? The dude can't look in his heart and say he is."

As mentioned, the excessive media presence at the North Bergen gym made it difficult for the stable of fighters to train. In particular, Jeannette's efforts to provide Sin with some quality time were greatly hindered. A couple of days later Jeannette journeyed to Jamaica for fellow Jersey Pride member Mickey Walker's big fight against Sydney gold medallist Mike McCallum. Before leaving he instructed Sin to take a break from the gym while he was gone, telling him to "spend some time" with his family and "work out at home". Well, Jeannette and co. arrived back in Jersey this past Sunday and in the time since there's been no sign of Abram Sin. The young boy appears to have vanished into thin air.

"I'm not sure what happened while we were gone," said a frustrated Jeannette. "The kid didn't turn up here, just like I said to him. But I'm wonderin' if some of those newspaper guys tried to track Abram down at Church Square, where he live. Gotta say there'll be hell to pay if they scared him off, or worse. I'm gonna have to go out there to find the kid, least see that he's okay."

"I blame James Reynolds for all o' this," Jeannette continued, incredulous. "He doesn't write that article and none of these leeches come 'round here with their noses sniffin' out a story. This kid came to me 'cause he wants to learn how to be a fighter and if Reynolds had just left it alone we could've been trainin' Abram in peace and anonimity, you know? But it's all been blown up by these leeches, man. They make me sick. They really do."

For now, the whereabouts of the young man known as Abram Sin remain a mystery. It will be interesting to see if he resurfaces in the days to come...

*** Note: see post #1730 (page 87) for the 25 September article on Abram Sin ***

[kenyan_cheena]

Originally Posted by kenyan_cheena

I'll no longer be going through the process of listing the schedule for the upcoming week, either.

Scratch that. I've decided to keep listing the schedule, but I won't be doing the previews. I don't want you guys to have no idea what's coming up in the universe, even if I won't be writing about each single card anymore.

[kenyan_cheena]

Okay, two more universe days until I start with the new format. Those two days feature three IBL cards and one HBF card, plus there'll also be a HBF article titled "The Hopes of Pennsylvania" on Saturday the 12th.

[kenyan_cheena]

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