Legends Sports Universe Boxing Federation (Alltime boxing universe using Title Bout)

[DFO]

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Jr. Welterweight

Ricky Hatton entered the LSUBF Jr. Welterweight tournament as the #3 seed, yet was assumed to be the favorite entering the four-man title quest. The top fighter in the class was probably Marcos Maidana, who was 9-0 with 8 knockouts, but was a fight short of eligibility.

Hatton drew Carlos Maussa in the semifinal, while Amir Khan would do battle with Lovemore N’Dou.

Khan would win a seesaw battle with N’Dou that saw lots of heavy leather. N’Dou drops Khan in the 8th, but getting there seemed to exhaust N’Dou. Khan rises, and in the ninth rocks N’Dou into a corner and fires away with a series of unanswered blows before the fight is stopped sending Khan to the championship bout via a 9th round TKO.



Tough Colombian Carlos Maussa brought an unorthodox style in against the gritty Hatton, who made prognosticators look brilliant with a second round knockout of Maussa in devastating fashion.

Their title fight was a war of Khan’s slickness and accuracy against Hatton’s grinding style. Khan lands more often but Hatton lands the heavier blows. The purist would favor Khan after 15 rounds...but purists weren’t at the judge’s table, as Hatton would win the title via unanimous decision 143-140 (x2), 144-141.



The decision was debated, and even moreso when Hatton was taken out in his first defense, knocked out in the 6th round by Junior Witter.



Witter didn’t defend the title until giving Hatton his mandatory rematch 11 months later, and when he did Hatton made the most of the chance, stopping WItter by TKO in the 9th to regain the belt.

Hatton stopped Witter in the 11th in their rubbermatch, and in a move that angered many potential challengers, fought Witter AGAIN four months later, ending in a 10th round Hatton win - with a 7th round TKO over Diosbelys Hurtado sandwiched in between.

The next year, Hatton knocked out Zab Judah in the 7th, stopped Juan Urango in the 6th and Souleymane Mbaye in the 9th.

Last year, Hatton slowed his pace, defending only once, in April - a 3rd round knockout of DeMarcus Corley.

Hatton, however, has not defended since April and is past the time by which he needed to defend against the #1 contender. It is sounding increasingly likely that the LSUBF is going to strip Hatton of his title, with contenders for the belt including Argentina’s Niccolino Locche, Jack “Kid” Berg and Timothy Bradley - 8-0-2 over the last 3 ½ years - who has long beat the drum that Hatton is ducking him.

[GForce22]

Quote: Originally Posted by DFO

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[GForce22]

Lightweight​

The Legends Sports Universe Boxing Federation's lightweight title was originally contested through a four-man tournament featuring Jack McAuliffe, Benny Leonard, Jose Luis Castillo and Julio Diaz.

McAuliffe stopped Diaz via sixth round TKO in one semifinal while Leonard got the better of Castillo via split decision on the strength of landing more than half of his punches in the bout.

The presumed bout for the title happens and lives up to billing. But the presumption Leonard would take on McAuliffe from a distance proves incorrect, as Leonard proves the aggressor en route to a unanimous decision victory to become the first LSUBF lightweight champion.

Leonard would cement his claim to the strap with three unanimous decision victories in his first year as champion, taking out Battling Nelson, Castillo and Joe Gans over the first 12 months.

Diaz's camp long complained his stoppage loss in the semifinal was a bad stoppage, and Leonard gave him a shot at the belt, defeating him by unanimous decision as well in February.

After four defenses in 14 months, Leonard didn't fight for eight, and when he did it would be a rematch against Joe Gans. Leonard showed no sign early of being ring rusty when he dropped Gans in the first, but he'd be cut in the sixth and with the cut getting worse as the fight went on, there was concern for a stoppage. Once Leonard reached the 15th - the champion and again, albeit close on cards - it was assumed he'd hold on. But the ringside physician ordered the bout stopped, handing Gans the TKO win and the lightweight title with 1:15 left in the bout.

Gans would wait eight months to make his first defense, stopping David Diaz by TKO in the 8th. He'd then have to give Leonard his long-awaited rematch.

This time it would end in the 13th...and with the same result. Leonard ahead on all cards is deprived of a victory as the bout is stopped because of damage, swelling and two cuts around his left eye. This stoppage is more legitimate than the first, but still a bitter pill for Leonard to swallow. Gans won't have to fight him again for at least a year, and that's only if Leonard is the #1 contender.

New to the Top 10 are Jimmy Carter, Tony Canzoneri and Lauro Salas.

[GForce22]

Jr. Lightweight

The Legends Sports Universe Boxing Federation's junior lightweight title was originally contested through a four-man tournament featuring Cassius Baloyi, Yodsanan Nanthachai, Joel Casamayor and Jesus Chavez.

Though he came out of the preliminary fights as the #3 seed, Casamayor was regarded as the favorite entering the tournament, which unnerved Baloyi, who had been quite impressive in building a 15-0-1 mark with 11 KOs.

Baloyi's semifinal match would be against Chavez, who dominates him for much of the fight, putting him down in the fifth and again in the seventh. But Chavez accomplished all that despite a gash over his right eye that is opened, reopened and reopened even wider as the fight proceeds. So needless to say Chavez's corner in incredulous when the bout is stopped and Baloyi is awarded the TKO victory in the 10th round because the of severity of Chavez's cuts - with Chavez up 87-82 (x2), 86-83 at the time of the stoppage.

Meanwhile, Nanthachai would give Casamayor absolutely all he could handle in an action packed affair that sees both fighters averaging more than 70 punches a round through the first six rounds. Interestingly, the fight becomes more tactical despite its closeness, and in the end it goes to the cards, where Casamayor takes a majority decision 115-111 (x2), 115-110.

Baloyi is more impressive in the title fight than he was against Chavez, but ultimately runs out of steam trying to match Casamayor's pace. Casamayor pours it on and, ironically given the Chavez bout, a cut to Baloyi has the referee on extra guard and when Casamayor unloads without response in the 10th the bout is halted, making Casamayor the first LSUBF Jr. Lightweight champion.

Casamayor knocked out Mzonke Fana in the 5th of his first defense, but five months later lost the title to Edwin Valero via unanimous decision.

But Valero, riding high after having blistered Nanthachai by knockout to earn the shot against Casamayor, goes AWOL and is ultimately stripped of the title a year later having never defended it.

Casamayor battles Robbie Peden for the vacant title and regains the belt via TKO in the 13th.

But Casamayor wouldn't defend the title for a year, when he was forced to face #1 contender Nanthachai or be stripped of the belt himself. Casamayor would honor the commitment and stop Nanthachai with an 11th round TKO in January 2012, then wait 10 months before defending it again, knocking out Roman Martinez in the sixth round in November.

Casamayor has a mandatory bout against the #1 contender, which with a year having passed since their last fight is once again Yodsanan Nanthachai, who will hope the third time is the charm.

[GForce22]

Jr. Bantamweight

At the end of preliminary bouts to set up the LSUBF Jr. Bantamweight tournament, the four contenders were Cristian Mijares (13-0, 5 KO), Luis Alberto Perez (14-1, 14 KO), Ivan Hernandez (13-2, 9 KO) and Jose Carita Lopez (10-0, 9 KO).

Despite being the top seed, many people presumed Mijares would be unable to withstand Lopez's power in their semifinal matchup, while Perez and Hernandez drew little certainty except that it wouldn't go the distance.

But Mijares stuck it to prognosticators, as Lopez never got anywhere near hurting him on his way to a blowout unanimous decision, 119-110 (x2), 118-111. Meanwhile, Perez pummeled Hernandez, dropping him three times in a dominant showing that was ended by the ref in the 10th.

Mijares and Perez would meet for the title, and they met early in their careers with Mijares picking up a surprising third-round knockout win. The match to determined the first Jr. Bantamweight champ goes the same distance but with a different winner, as Perez dominates Mijares, cutting him in the first and knocking him down early in the third before a two-minute assault that leads to a stoppage with 12 seconds left in the third round to make Perez the champion!

Since claiming the title in June 2009, Perez has been positively dominant, making 10 successful defenses of his title, beating Hernandez and Celes Kobayashi twice each, as well as Alexander Munoz, Lopez, Martin Castillo, Katsuhige Kawashima and most recently Nobuo Nashiro to wrap up 2012.

He'll have a mandatory defense against the #1 contender in April, which at present stands to be Kobayashi, who took Perez the distance the first time before getting wiped out in the second round last April. Perez has defeated 8 of the current Top 10 fighters in the division, missing only #4 Masanori Tokuyama and #9 Felix Machado.

[GForce22]

Flyweight

Dominance seems to be the way of the lower weight classes in the LSUBF, as the Flyweight ranks have followed suit.

Jimmy Wilde emerged from preliminaries as the #1 seed, racking up a 13-0-1 mark with 12 KOs to grab the top seed in the tournament. Percy Jones (12-2, 8 KO), Omar Narvaez (11-2, 7 KO) and Lorenzo Parra (12-2, 12 KO) rounded out the quartet for the championship tournament.

Jones faced Narvaez and the pair set a frenetic pace in a back and forth battle. Narvaez is cut in the 10th and takes a less aggressive posture at that point, but Jones is unable to break through in a fight that is ultimately decided by a single round - the 5th - in which Narvaez dropped Jones twice. Narvaez wins by UD 114-112 on all cards.

A pair of guys with some pop matched up in Wilde and Parra. The first round is a feeling out process, though it seems Parra gets the better of it with a late, closing flurry. Wilde controls the first half of round 2, sparking Parra to turn it up a bit. Wilde responds in kind and the action heats up in the second half, a big hook landing from Wilde in the waning moments. Wilde builds off of that, dominating the third, though Parra is able to keep his feet despite being obviously hurt. Tempo slows in the fourth, but the crowd gets to its feet when Parra lands a perfect body shot that puts Wilde down to a knee. He's up at 3 and Parra does little in the following minute, but hopes to build off the 10-8 round. No such luck. Wilde dominates the fifth and the sixth until a Parra uppercut in the closing seconds stops him in his tracks. No matter, though. Wilde pummels Parra in the 8th, dropping him before a minute of unanswered pounding forces the stoppage. Wilde by TKO at 2:47 of the 7th to set up the match for the title with Narvaez.

The bout turned into a war, and Wilde gets the better of it early, leading to a fifth round in which Wilde puts Narvaez on the canvas three times! But the three-knockdown rule is not in effect and somehow Narvaez survives. But the end seems near as Wilde continues to have the better of things, cutting Narvaez late in the sixth. Many at ringside were questioning how ref Luis Guzman was allowing the fight to go on, but in the waning seconds of round 8 Narvaez lands a perfect uppercut out of nowhere that puts Wilde on the canvas. He bounces up quickly and the bell sounds.

As the 8th opens, Wilde still looks a bit foggy, and Narvaez hammers him on the point of the chin with a cross early that exacerbates that fact. The next 2 1/2 minutes are a furious effort by Narvaez to put Wilde away, an effort that is ultimately successful when Wilde hits the deck late and can't get back to his feet, resulting in an incredible comeback victory by Narvaez, who becomes the LSUBF's first Flyweight champion by knockout at 2:50 of the 8th.

Narvaez's stunning victory has been followed by a terrific reign, as he's held the title for 3 1/2 years, along the way defeating Malcolm Tunacao, Randolph Plantz and Nonito Donaire twice - Donaire earning a draw before those two losses - as well as Parra, Jones and a tomato can just because he could. In all, it's been 10 defenses for Narvaez.

The one criticism: Wilde has never gotten a shot. As their match was for the initial crowning and not a title defense, Narvaez doesn't owe him one in terms of a mandatory. But given the Wilde led the bulk of their fight, it's a match many want to see.

Narvaez has a defense though, in that Wilde has only fought three times in the 3 1/2 years since their fight, for no particular reason. Even with that inactivity, Wilde is still ranked #2 in the division behind Vic Darchinyan, who is next up for Narvaez as a mandatory defense.

[GForce22]

Jr. Flyweight

In the LSUBF Jr. Flyweight class, the inaugural tournament for the title saw Ulises Solis (20-1, 18 KO) as the #1 seed, followed by Beibis Mendoza (16-1, 14 KO), Koki Kameda (11-0, 10 KO) and Brahim Asloum (13-2, 11 KO).

Fans expected more from the Solis/Asloum semifinal, but Asloum fought like he was afraid he'd get tagged. Unfortunately for him he did anyway. He wasn't knocked out, though, going to distance before Solis took a unanimous decision 116-112 (x2), 117-111.

In the other semifinal, the distance went unseen, as Kameda blasted Mendoz out with a knockout late in round 4 to set up the title fight.

The expected cannon-fire in the championship bout transpired as expected, as Kameda and Solis dropped bombs from the opening bell. Kameda had defeated Solis early in their careers, but both were different fighters then.

Despite the action and heavy blows, both fighters look comfortable to start the fifth. That makes what happens next all the more disappointing. A violent clash of heads splits Solis' eye in ugly fashion, a gaping cut the ringside doctor has no choice but to declare too bad to continue, sending the fight to the cards.

Most ringside observers had it even through four. But only the judges matter. They agreed with the crowd on the first three rounds. But the fourth, which most everyone had for Kameda, is declared even on one, for Solis on the other, giving Solis a majority decision victory 39-38, 39-37, 38-38 to make him the LSUBF's first Jr. Flyweight champion.

Solis knocked out Roberto Vazquez in the second round of his first defense before stopping Victor Burgos in the fourth and downing Masibulele Makepula via unanimous decision.

But 11 months after losing the tournament final, Kameda claimed the crown, knocking out Solis in the second round to claim the title. Three months later, Kameda would stop Solis in the 7th in the mandatory rematch, handing Solis the third loss of his career - each to Kameda.

In June of 2011, Kameda defended against Beibis Mendoza, who took the title via a TKO in the 7th. Mendoza would then knock out Fumie Akahori in the 10th before stopping Makepula in the 11th in his second defense.

But Mendoza would then go into hiding, and after graciously being able to hold the belt six months past the supposed date of his mandatory defense he would be forced to give Kameda his rematch. Kameda would be dropped in the 8th but recover, putting Mendoza down three times in the 10th on his way to a TKO win to reclaim the title last month.

Kameda and Mendoza will meet in a rubbermatch at some point in the next year, and all the usual suspects are hovering high in the rankings as candidates for another shot. Brian Viloria (15-3, 13 KO) is the most intriguing challenger in the Top 10 who hasn't ever had a title shot previously.

*Note rankings from Jan. 1, 2013. Kameda defeated Mendoza on Jan. 18, 2013.