World Boxing Federation

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1863

WBF


I have just restarted my universe after spending a deal of time updating my database and picture files. Originally I intended to suspend my use of the game until TB2 turned up, however nothing seems to be on the horizon so I have decided to begin the universe again and hope that everything will be transferable.

The universe is very simple and ideas have been ‘borrowed’ from the likes of MH and Conn Chris.

Each fighter is licensed in the year that he became active and is retired on a pre-ordained year that the fighter was deemed to no longer be at his prime. Each fighter is either placed in the WBF or is designated as a ‘club’ fighter, although it is possible for fighters to move from one group to the other depending on success/failure or my own personal feeling.

The universe is basically built around the WBF fighters. Their careers are built fighting other WBF fighters or Club fighters. When they are deemed to have retired they are inducted into the Hall Of Fame. The Hall Of Fame will run an ‘adjacent’ title and ranking structure, in other words when the universe is fully up and running there will be a WBF and a HOF Champion at each different weight. The HOF fighters will fight ‘historically’ and at their prime, so that when say Ali is retired from the WBF he will fight Marciano, Fitsimmons etc. Club fighters unable to attain the ‘upgrade’ to WBF/HOF levels will be retired on a discretionary basis as and when there are enough of them around to provide ‘padding’ for the big guns.

As you can see I have taken the ‘lazy mans’ route re ageing etc. as I just think this would have been too time consuming. I have every intention of introducing regional titles when the time is right and I have a few other ideas up ‘my sleeves’, however any input would be appreciated.

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'Make Believe' Billy Edwards is the first fighter to be inducted into the WBF

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Arthur Chambers defeats Billy Edwards with a one-sided points win over 10 rounds at London's Albert Hall. The bout was non-title, although afterwards Chambers claimed that the victory 'made him' the English Champion.

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Harry Gilmore of Canada becomes the third inductee into WBF at Lightweight.
In his first fight he outpoints Billy Edwards to earn a match up with Arthur Chambers for the inaugral WBF Lightweight crown.

Gilmore 'decks' Chambers twice before the referee has seen enough in the 12th round of the 15 round contest.

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Arthur Chambers travelled to Toronto to relieve Harry Gilmore of his WBF Lightweight crown. It was 'sweet revenge' for Chambers who dropped Gilmore five times before the referee intervened in the 11th round.

Chambers subsequently promised Gilmore a 'decider' in their rubber if Gilmore was willing to travel back to London and first defeat the luckless Billy Edwards.

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Inductions

Jem Carney UK Lightweight

Albert Hall, London. November 1878

Harry Gilmore made it 2-1 in his favour in the series of fights against Arthur Chambers. Home advantage seems to count for nothing where these two are concerned, the fight was delicately balanced going into the penultimate 14th round when Gilmore unleashed a vicious combination that Chambers was unable to recover from. The scorecards were level at the time. Directly after the gruelling bout Chambers announced his retirement from the WBF circuit.

At ringside new WBF inductee Jem Carney looked on with great interest. After Gilmore had left the ring with the belt, Carney announced that he would be matched with Billy Edwards in his first sanctioned fight, with the winner likely to travel to Canada to challenge Gilmore.

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Arthur Chambers moves to the Hall Of Fame. He becomes the first inductee to the HOF.

WBF Inductions

George 'Old Chocolate' Godfrey HW Canada
John L Sullivan HW USA

The WBF has announced a tournament to decide their own Heavyweight Champion. The four fighters will box off to determine the inaugral champion. The first fights will take place in March with the winners meeting in september/October.

John L Sullivan V Jim Dunn
George Godfrey V Jake Kilrain

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Carney to travel to Toronto

Jem Carney will travel to Canada within the next few weeks. His lopsided points victory over the 'game' Billy Edwards has earned him a crack at Harry Gilmore's WBF Lightweight title. Edwards started well enough but could not deal with Carney's power once he had settled.

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Jake Kilrain lined up a shot at the vacant WBF Heavyweight title by KO'ing George 'Old Chocolate' Godfrey in the first round of their scheduled twelve rounder. Kilrain caught Godfrey with a vicious right hook and the Canadian was unable to beat the count.

In the other eliminator John L Sullivan took 8 rounds to stop Jim Dunn. Sullivan looked in good shape when he entered the ring and he gradually wore down the limited Irishman.

Sullivan's manager Billy Madden announced that his man will meet Jake Kilrain for the inaugral WBF Heavyweight title sometime in September.

[mh2365]

Good stuff, I like the idea of a HOF title ... somewhere down the line I may have to incorporate that into the LBA

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Carney lives up to his promise

Jem Carney lived up to his promise to 'bring back the title to England' when he stopped Canadian hero Harry Gilmore in the 13th round of their scheduled fifteen rounder in Toronto.

Gilmore was deemed unable to continue and was out on his feet when the referee intervened 20 seconds before the end of the round. Carney had started slowly before exerting his superior punching power on the defending champion.

In which was only his second WBF sanctioned fight, Carney is thought likely to return the belt to the UK for his first defence.

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Sullivan - Champion Of The World

Twenty one year old John L Sullivan became the inaugral WBF Heavyweight Champion with lightning fast KO of Jake Kilrain.

John L came into the ring in fine shape and wasted no time in confirming his superiority over his fellow countryman. With twenty seconds remaining in the first round Sullivan unleashed a devastating uppercut to the chin of Kilrain who was carried from the ring. Kilrain was later inconsolable as this was seen as a fantastic opportunity for glory after his uplifting KO of George Godfrey in March earlier this year.

Sullivan later stated that he was likely to take leave from the ring, saying that 'no opponent was worthy of a chance at the title'.

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In what can only be described as a 'woeful' year for boxing, stories of ring heroism are very thin on the ground. The WBF failed to force the sports 'darling', John L Sullivan to defend his coveted Heavyweight title, although by the end of the year George Godfrey was clamouring for a shot.

WBF Lightweight Champ Jem Carney was also inactive, although a lack of creditable opponents could be a reasonable argument.

However with both its existing champions in 'hiding', the WBF is likely to take action at its AGM in December of this year, there are rumours of mandatory defences and financial rewards for activity for reigning champions, something which is unlikely to go unheeded by either of the current champions.

In one uplifting sideshow, England's Billy Edwards won his first WBF sanctioned fight at the sixth attempt, a points victory over Edward McDonald in London. If Sullivan and Carney were to take a leaf out of Edwards book there would be no talk of penalties for inactivity.

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A second year of no WBF inductions has passed. However the aforementioned governing body has started to exact influence on their two reigning champions.

Both Jem Carney at Lightweight and John L Sullivan at Heavyweight have been ordered to make mandatory defences of their respective WBF crowns by year end. Both opponents will be chosen by the WBF who intend to sanction elimination bouts in both divisions. As an incentive both current champions will be able to fight 'in their own backyards' if they so wish.

At the recent WBF AGM a motion was passed to sanction two annual awards. Each December at their annual AGM the WBF will award 'Fighter of The Year' and 'Fight of The Year' prizes to selected fighters. The AGM also brought discussion of 'Regional Titles', however it was agreed that the WBF must grow before this was to be considered.

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Kilrain holds his head up high

Jake Kilrain (2(2)-2) lost a unanimous points decision to 'Old Chocolate' George Godfrey (1(1)-2) in a final eliminator to John L Sullivan's WBF Heavyweight title. The defining moment of the ten round fight came in the second round when Godfrey put Kilrain down for a count of eight with a right cross. Kilrain fought back bravely but was unable to convince the judges who scored it (95-94),(95-94) and (96-93) in favour of the Canadian.

Immediately after the eliminator, plans were being drawn up for a mandatory challenge by Godfrey to Sullivan in September. If the WBF are to be taken on their word it is likely that Sullivan will be stripped of his title unless the defence is made.

In an interesting development after the Kilrain/Godfrey fight, the WBF ordered that from now onwards all WBF final elimination bouts must take place over twelve rounds.

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Donovan causes a stir

New Zealand born Barney Donovan has caused a rather lethargic WBF Lightweight division to stand to attention. After a somewhat dreary split decision victory over Edward McDonald in January of this year, Donovan caused a a shock when stopping Canada's Harry Gilmore due to a severe gash over the ex WBF champions left eye. The victory seemed to be unfair on Gilmore, who with two rounds remaining was comfortably ahead on all three judges scorecards.

Donovan then took his chance by comfortably outpointing Birmingham's Billy Edwards at the Royal Albert Hall on the second of this month.

Although the bout against Edwards was not sanctioned as a WBF Final Eliminator, current champion Jem Carney has decided to give Donovan a 'chance' at the title in London in either October or November. It will be Carney's first defence since he won the title from Harry Gilmore in June 1879.

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Godfrey signs to fight Sullivan in New York

In news that will hearten all fight fans, WBF official No. 1 contender George 'Old Chocolate' Godfrey has signed to fight current WBF Heavyweight Champion John L Sullivan, at as yet undisclosed venue in New York on the fourteenth of September.

It will be the champions first defence since KO'ing Jake Kilrain nearly two years ago. It is also a welcome turnaround in stace from Sullivan who allegedly recently stated that 'I will not fight a negro, I never have, and I never will'. It will be interesting to see what effects those comments have on Godfrey, and whether or not Sullivan will be forced to eat humble pie after those ill judged words.

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Godfrey spoils the script

Canadian George Godfrey has become the WBF 'World' Heavyweight Champion. The 28 year old sensationally knocked out reigning champion John L Sullivan in the third of a scheduled 15 round contest here in Chicago this afternoon.

The fight however may have been lost in the gym. Sullivan entered the ring after a two year break, and it became apparent that he had undertrained, there were visible signs of condition and the betting odds had portrayed this throughout the week. However Sullivan was still the warm favourite to retain his crown.

Godfrey had other ideas, he started briskly and showed too much guile for the wild swinging Sullivan in the first two rounds, keeping him at arms length with his well defined jab. However it was the third round that proved to be the undoing of Sullivan, Godfrey had continued to outbox 'The Boston Strongboy' when he trapped the champ against the ropes and felled him with a flurry of punches. Sullivan was unable to beat the count and a new Champion was crowned.

It will be interesting to see if Sullivan can bounce back from this, maybe he shouldn't leave it for so long next time. Funnily enough now he is not the Champion I somehow feel he won't.

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Donovan dream run comes to an end

Barney Donovan (3(1) - 0) started off the year as a little known New Zealand Lightweight, and finished it with a brave but unsuccessful attempt at the WBF 'World' Lightweight crown.

Yesterday evening in the Royal Albert Hall, Birmingham's Jem Carney oupointed and outclassed Donovan in front of an appreciative audience, there was little doubt from the outset that the belt would remain in England. Carney entered the ring in fine fettle after a break of over two years (take note John L Sullivan) and it did not take the 24 year old long to settle into a destructive rythm. Carney built up sizeable points lead before dumping Donovan twice in the 9th round, before coasting to victory.

However disappointed Donovan was he should take heart from his achievements this year, in particular his elevation to the ranks of the WBF sanctioned fighters.

For the record the judges score it (148-135),(147-136), and (147-136).

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1881 Fight Of The Year

George Godfrey KO John L Sullivan - WBF Heavyweight Championship

1881 Fighter Of The Year

Barney Donovan - New Zealand - Lightweight