EMPIRE BOXING

"Slugfest at Soldier Field"

January 5, 2008

RESULTS
Prelims

Chris Arreola TW 4 Angel Mast
Heavyweight prospect Chris Arreola didn't show much effort in his second outing, but did enough to secure a fourth round technical decision when an unintentional headbutt caused a cut over Arreola's left eye, and the bout went to the scorecards early. Arreola's record stands at 2-0 (0).

Jack McDermott W 6 Rizaldo Ocampo
A solid outing by McDermott. No big action in this one but McDermott controlled the entire bout.

Ossie hernandez D 6 Angel Hernandez
A dull six rounder, booed most of the time by the restless crowd.


NABF Featherweight Regional Title
Art Hafey W 12 Frankie Covelli

Defending title holder: Frankie Covelli
This was by far, the most exciting bout of the night. The defending NABF Champ, Covelli, was dropped hard in the first round. An overly cautious Hafey made no attept to finish the job, but continued to controll the bout into the second round.
Covelli began to find his groove in the third, and was landing crisp combinations while Hafey kept trying to move forward. Every round from the third to the 11th was close enough to go either way, depending "what fight" you were watching. Hafey appeared to be landing the harder punches while Covelli was landing a higher volume.
When the final round began, Covelli came out fighting as if it was the round that would determine whether or not he was going to hold on to his title belt, and for all we knew it very well may have been. Hafey was overwhelmed by Covelli's aggression and couldn't manage a step forward until the last minute of the bout. As Covelli backed Hafey into a neutral corner, Hafey unleashed a quick four punch combination that dropped Covelli for the second time in the fight. Frankie rose clear headed, but the damage had been done. If the fight was as close as everyone thought, this may have sealed the deal for Art Hafey.
The fighters congratulated each other at the final bell and awaited the decsion.

Scores of 115-111, and 116-110 twice gave the win and the NABF Regional Featherweight Title to Art Hafey by unanimous decision. Frankie Covelli drops to a world ranking of 18, with a record of 8-3-3 (0) while Art Hafey's world rank stands at 28, his record 12-3-0 (4).


Co-feature

Roy Jones Jr. TKO 4 Manny Siaca
This was a bout that even had the most hardcore Jones supporters shaking their heads. Jones battered Siaca from the get-go, dropping him twice in the first round. Everyone, except the referee and Siaca's corner, felt the fight should have been stopped at the second knock down, as obvious as it was that Siaca was greatly outgunned in this one. The referee and Siacas corner felt differently, and allowed the beatdown to continue.
Siaca was dropped again in the second round, and managed to land a few punches in the third when Jones took the round off, and layed on the ropes. The fourth round saw Manny get clobbered some more, and after two more knockdowns the bout was finally waved off. The stoppage win for Jones keeps his undefeated record in tact at 8-0 (7), and Siaca drops to 11-5-0 (6) with a world ranking of 23 in the light heavyweight division. Jones remains unranked until he has completed 10 bouts

MAIN EVENT: WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT TITLE ELIMINATOR
Sonny Liston vs. Joe Choynski

The story surrounding this bout is well known in boxing circles. Liston being on track to a show down with Empire Boxing World Heavyweight Champion Joe Louis is jumped ahead of in the rankings by Choynski, when Choynski wins a decision against a questionable opponent and jumps over 20 spots to the number one ranking. The solution was easy enough: get the two together in the ring and let the winner move on. That's exactly what they did.

Despite a huge risk to his number one rank, you have to give Choynski credit for accepting the fight. Liston is the most feared heavyweight on the planet right now, well deserving of his ranking and reputation, but with all the controversy Choynski wanted to prove himself. He certainly proved his courage just by showing up on fight night.

As the saying goes, the bout could have taken place in a phone booth. Liston backed up Choynski from the start, you rarely saw a jab from either fighter, and bombs were being thrown every which way. While Liston had control of the fight, Joe was no slouch. He was firing back as best he could and seemed to be handling Listons power well.
The fight continued in the same manner through the second and third rounds, though Choynski was attempting to move more and stay off the ropes. It was difficult for him to keep Liston at bay, but he was doing the best he could.

The fourth round was the final curtain for Choynski. The power and aggression of Liston had finally wore him down and midway through the round a left hook dropped Joe for a four count. Seconds later, another hook would put Choynski down again for seven. Backing up to the ropes, Choykski was now a sitting duck for Liston, who moved in and landed seven unanswered punches before the referee jumped between the two fighters saving Choynski from further punishment. Although a victim of a fourth round TKO loss, Joe Choynski displayed heart and courage from the start. Liston was just too much for him.
Scores at the time of the stoppage were an unsurprising 40-33 twice and 39-34 all for Sonny.

There were no harsh words spoken after the bout. Liston got what he wanted: his ranking back and his guaranteed shot at the heavyweight crown. Despite the loss, Choynski got what he wanted also: respect and a few more fans.

Joe Choynski drops only two places to number three in the world rankings with a record of 8-2-2 (2), Liston remains undefeated at 12-0 (8), and moves to the number two ranked position behind Canadian Sam Langford. Langford's last bout was a loss to Louis, which disqualifies him from world title contention at this time. That puts Liston in line for a shot at Louis.

On a side note, Langford is scheduled to meet Muhammad Ali in February for the NABF regional heavyweight title.

Regional Report

Updates on the most recent regional title match ups

European Boxing Union Light Heavyweight Title

(vacant)

Stadio Am St. Cora, Italy- Frenchman Georges Charpantier met his German opponent Mario Veit on neutral ground when the two contested for the vacant EBU light heavyweight title. At Stadio Am St. Cora in Italy, Charpantier was out boxing Viet over the first three rounds of the bout. Charpantier had connected with a an overhand right that cut the forehead of Veit early in the third round. Despite a visit from the ringside Doctor, the bout continued. Veits cut man managed to stem the flow of blood and Veit came out fo rthe fourth. A stiff jab by Georges reopened the cut and the blood flowed freely into the eyes of Veit, prompting the referee to once again summon the Doctor to the ring apron. This time the doctor viewed the injury as too severe and called a stop to the bout. Veit, beaten and bloodied, showed no reaction as he shook hands with Charpantier after the bout. Georges Charpantier takes the EBU regional title by fourth round TKO. Scores at the time of the stoppage were 30-27 on all three cards. The win puts Charpantier (10-1-1, 5) up at the number two rank in the world (from number seven), Veit falls from #20 to #26 and is now 8-3-3, 1.

African Boxing Union Middleweight Title

(vacant)

Stade Tata Raphael, Congo - If this fight is remembered for anything, it will be for the biggest comeback seen in Empire Boxing to date. John "The Beast" Mugabi met Kassim "The Dream" Ouma in a fight many experts considered to be a one sided affair for Mugabi, and it was... to a point.

Mugabi dominated from the start, dropping Ouma with te first puch of the bout just seconds in. Ouma rose by the cout of eight, dazed and unsteady but managed to survive the round. Mugabi continued his assualt in the second, sweling up Ouma's right eye by midround. Ouma showed some life in the third, using lateral movement to avoid The Beast’s big shots and Ouma’s quick combinations were scoring points. Mugabi regrouped and in the fourth, it was all Mugabi again.

Oua was clearly I survival mode, and knockdowns I the fifth and sixth rounds appeared to seal Kassim’s fate. At the start of the seventh, the crowd waited for the slaughter to end. Ouma was swollen, bloody, and looked ready to fall flat on his face. As Mugabi moved in for the finish, Ouma slipped a big right fro the Beast and countered with a fast four punch combination that dropped Mugabito the canvas. Half of the crowd went silent in disbelief and the other half erupted. No one could believe what they were seeing as the referee reached the count of 10, and Kassim Ouma had won by knockout, a bout he was getting killed in, taking the ABU regional title with him.

Scores at the stoppage were all in favor of Mugabi: 58-53, 59-52 59-53. The win puts Ouma’s (11-2-0, 5) world ranking at six (up from 10), and The Beast (9-2-1, 5) drops from seven to 10.

Latino Boxing Council Welterweight Title

(vacant)

In an uneventful bout held at the Poliforum Zamna in Mexico, Jose Luis Castillo defeated Kid Azteca via fourth round TKO to win the Latino Boxig Coucil welterweight regional title.
It was a relatively unexctign bout, except for a brief period in the fourth round where Castillo scored a flash knockdown with a an overhand right. Azteca was up quickly, but the punch had caused a cut inside his right eye lid. In an unfortunate stoppage by the ringsde Doctor, Jose Luis Castillo wins the bout and the LBC title.

The win puts Castillo (14-1-1, 7) at the number one contenders rank in the world, and is aready talking about a bout with the Empire World Champion , Pipino Cuevas (16-1-1, 14). Cuevas is scheduled to meet Cory Spinks in February. Azteca (7-1-4, 3) drops from 24 to 36 in the world rankings.

Scores at the stoppage were all in favor of Castillo: 30-27 on all three cards.

Latino Boxing Council Heavyweight Title

(vacant)

Havan, Cuba-Top rated heavyweight contender Manuel Ramos (Mexico) was confident he could take Ramon Garbey (Cuba).  So confident that he risked his undefeated record (11-0, 7) to travel to Garbey’s home of Cubafor their LBC regional title bout.  Garbey, viewed as a mediocre heavyweight at best (8-4-2, 1) was rated #77 in the world rankings.  The fact that he was rated the number two man in the LBC ratings should give you an idea of how shallow that pool is at the moment.  Whether it was over confidence or under conditioning, Ramos paid the price in the end, and being in his opponents backyard had little to do with it.

The early rounds belonged to Garbey, out boxing Ramos and keeping just far enough away that Ramos couldn’t land anything solid.  A short uppercut in the fifth round dropped Ramos for a nine count and the undefeated fighter saw his win streak in danger.  With the knockdown and some swelling around the left eye working against him, Ramos began to close the gap.  Rather than chasing Garbey looking for the big shot, he allowed Garbey to come to him and amazingly, it worked.  Ramos began to land hard shots and pull Garbey from his game plan.  The middle rounds were close enough to go either way, but the final three belonged to Ramos.  The crowd, deafening just a few rounds ago, was now silent and the scores were read: 115-113, 114-113, 115-112, all in favor of the winner and new LBC heavyweight champion…Ramon Garbey.   The win moves Garbey up 44 places in the rankings from #77 to #31 and the loss drops Ramos to # 32 from #8. 

Asia-Pacific Boxing Federation Heavyweight Title

Defending Champion: Peter Jackson (Australia)

Melbourne, Australia – Peter Jackson (world ranked #21) put his APBF championship on the line against fellow Aussie, Steve Aczel (world rank #73) at the Melbourne Stadium.  To sum things up, it was all Jackson who nearly ended things in the first round, but Aczel managed to cover up just enough to avoid the big shots that would have done the most damage.  Aczel mounted little offense except for the third round which he appeared to win on aggression alone but Jackson took control again in the fourth and held it until the end came in the eighth.  Jacksonlanded a hard uppercut on the chin of Aczel, dropping him for the full 10 count.  Scores at the end of the fight were 68-64 twice and 67-65 all for Jackson who retains his APBF title and improves his record to 12-2-1, 3 and also improves his world ranking from #21 up to #15.  Aczel drops from #73 to #84 with a record of 7-3-2, 4.

Asia Pacific Boxing Federation Light-Heavyweight Title

Defending Champion: In-Chul Baek (S.Korea)

On the same night as Jackson’s defense of his APBF title, another Australian fighter was challenging for an APBF title.  Paul Briggs (Australia), made his way to South Korea’s Olympic Stadium to challenge the APBF champion In-Chul Baek.  Baek and Briggs had met twice prior, each fighter winning one a piece. 

Baek looked sharp at the opening of the bout, using his jab and straight right to keep Briggs at bay.  Briggs looked frustrated before the first round ended and was lunging at Baek, missing, at getting countered in the process.  Not a good way to start a championship match up with a guy who has beaten you once already.  Briggs was looking for one big punch and Baek wasn’t letting him land it.  The fight went the same way through the second round, though Briggs wasn’t lunging as much, he still couldn’t get near Baek.  It was looking to be a one sided, dull, 12 round bout.  Then the third round started.  The opening of the round was just as the prior two, until Briggs slipped an overhand right thrown by Baek and lunged inside with a hook that landed under the defending champs rib cage.  Another shot to the body for good measure, and Baek was down.  At 1:54 of the third round, Baek was counted out while still on the canvas gasping for air.  Paul Briggs had won the APBF light-heavyweight championship with one punch.

The win put Briggs at world rank #16, up from #28 with a record of 11-5-2,6.  Baek didn’t fare too poorly, dropping to #18 from #8 with a record of 20-5-0, 12.

COMING UP: 

The same month, two little known heavyweights were toiling in the sub 20 ranks.  Joe Choynski 7-1-2, 2 ko’sand George Godfrey 9-0-1, 5 ko’ssquared off at a mid-sized show with both fighters just looking to crack the top 20.  Needless to say, Choynskidid just that, and then some.  Joe won a 10 round split decision over Godfrey and with that win rose form rank #28 to being the number one contender for the Heavyweight Championship.  So how does THAT happen?

No one really knows the specifics.  What everyone does know is that Liston and his camp are “upset” to say the least.  Allegations flew: corruption, payoffs, favors. You name it and the Liston management team was accusing it and with good reason.  While Liston should have been preparing for the fight of his life, he was fighting just to get the chance.  Choynskiwas in the driversseat, and Empire Boxing brass was tight lipped…for a bit.

Liston mocked and chided Choynski, and did everything in his power to discredit him as a legitimate challenger.  After weeks of what seemed to be a fruitless effort, the Liston camp got a phone call, Choynskiwanted Sonny.  Smart?  Maybe not, but Joe wanted respect before a title shot and Sonny had gotten his goat.

So the fight was set: Sonny Liston vs. Joe Choynski, winner gets a shot at Joe Louis but wait…there’s more. There were still top contenders Sam Langford and Muhammad Ali to deal with.  Fortunately, these two already came to an oral agreement before the Liston-Choynskiissue was settled.  Ali and Langford are set to square off for the NABF regional title in February. Neither camp raised an eyebrow when they heard Joe Louis was freed up, so with all legit contenders already involved with other business, Joe Louis picked up a bout with Oliver McCall, ranked #19 at the time with a record now of 9-3-1, 5 ko’s.  Louis eventually stopped McCall, but had his own share of problems when McCall dropped him twice in the bout.

Chicago, IL on January 3^rd: Sonny Liston 11-0-0 _7 ko’s vs. Joe Choynski8-1-2, 2 ko’sfor the number one contender slot.  Also featured on the card will be light heavy weight  up and comer Roy Jones Jr. 8-0, 6 ko’staking on Manny Siaca11-4, 6 ko’sand NABF featherweight champion Frankie Covelli8-2-3 will defend his title against   Art Hafey11-3, 4 ko’s., of Canada.