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

[GForce22]

LEGENDS SPORTS UNIVERSE BOXING FEDERATION
Lightweight contender matchup
Tony Canzoneri (4) vs Benny Leonard (1)

The story was that it was too soon. Tony Canzoneri was too green to take on an established star fighter like Benny Leonard. Canzoneri’s never seen anything like Leonard.
As it turned out, Benny Leonard hadn’t seen anything like Tony Canzoneri.

April of 2013 was the first month since the LSUBF’s inaugural tournaments four-plus years prior that not a single title match was slated to be held. As such, the month’s focus turned squarely on the lightweight contender contest between former champion Benny Leonard (23-3, 11 KO), the number one contender, and upstart Tony Canzoneri (11-3-2, 4 KO), ranked No. 4.

Leonard had twice lost to champion Joe Gans, both times due to stoppages while ahead late in the fight, and he entered the fight with Canzoneri with fresh rankings that set him up as Gans’ mandatory challenger, a year having passed since their last bout.

Canzoneri, 10 fewer fights into his career than Leonard, looked somewhat overwhelmed early on, being handled easily in rounds 1 and 3, which sandwiched a lackluster second round from both men.

But in the fourth, Canzoneri found his way, a strong right hook 30 seconds in his best blow of the fight to that point.

Midway through the fifth, Leonard seemed to realize he was in for a fight and the pair engaged in a furious series of exchanges over the second half of the round that brought the Yankee Stadium crowd to its collective feet.

A round later, Canzoneri answered Leonard’s heightened aggression with rapid fire, ultimately driving Leonard back into a neutral corner where Canzoneri repeatedly found a home for his cross on the side of Leonard’s face. Canzoneri continued to come from all angles in the seventh, another roundly clearly on his ledger, and a sense of desperation hit Leonard’s corner.

As Canzoneri worked Leonard’s body, Leonard struck his best blow of the night about 1:45 into the 8th, and right hand right on the point of Canzoneri’s chin. But it wasn’t long before Canzoneri landed his own violent straight right to stop Leonard in his tracks. But the ex-champ crushed Canzoneri with a left late in the round to seemingly tilt the round in his favor.

A seesaw ninth round gave way to a 10th that saw Canzoneri dominate the opening minute, dodging everything Leonard threw while landing clean if not powerful countershots. But Leonard recovered late, a big hook the round’s most solid blow with about 30 seconds left that seemed to put Canzoneri on his last legs.

But both fighters made it to the bell, sending us to the scorecards. And with that, the lightweight division of the LSUBF was turned on its ear.

Canzoneri earned a unanimous decision victory, 97-94 on all three cards, judges George Hill, Joe Horn and Arthur Mercante seeing each round in lockstep.

While things could change in the next three months before the July 1 rankings are out, it seems likely Canzoneri will be the new #1 contender at that point. Gans will be due to fight the #1 no later than November. He could ink a fight with Leonard, whom he’s beaten twice though in controversial fashion both times, sometime before July 1. But if that fight is not in place, Gans will almost assuredly face Canzoneri in the late summer or early fall.

Taking a third fight with Leonard would seem to set Gans up for criticism in taking the easy way out given his two victories, but the nature of them and controversy surrounding both would make a third fight appealing.

But less so now.

Canzoneri has earned the opportunity, and the suspicion here is Gans will wait – perhaps even making another defense in the interim – and sign on to fight Canzoneri later this year, leaving Leonard to regret taking on – and perhaps underestimating – the inexperienced whirlwind from New York.

He won’t be underestimated again.

[GForce22]

Former champ John's climb halted by Bass

April 23, 2013-- When Chris John shocked the world by taking the Featherweight title from Juan Manuel Marquez in March 2010, speculation was that he'd have a tough time repeating the task in the rematch.

After a single defense against Solly Smith, that speculation proved on point, as Marquez reclaimed his title with a scintillating second-round knockout seven months after losing it.

In the 2 1/2 years since, John has been hoping to gain another shot at the title, thinking he could make lightning strike twice.

Tonight, Benny Bass struck that idea down, at least for the moment.

Bass (12-1, 8 KO) perhaps moved himself toward a title shot against Abe Attell, who took Marquez's title in August 2011 and survived their rematch last year. Bass entered as the #3 contender and defeated John 96-94, 96-95, 98-95.

John (16-4-3, 8 KO), entered ranked #6 in the world, but looked anything but for much of the fight, plenty busy but nowhere effective enough to put Bass in any kind of trouble. John landed only 17% of his punches all night, and in many eyes the scores being as close as they were was a shock.

Attell (19-2, 5 KO) must fight the #1 contender by September. If he waits until September, Marquez - the current #1 - would be eligible as a year would have passed since he last challenged for the title. Attell could choose to fight the #2 contender before then and fulfill that obligation, which currently stands as former champion Young Corbett II (24-7-2, 13 KO). Bass could leapfrog Corbett when the next rankings are released on July 1.

And Kid Chocolate (11-3, 7 KO) could stake a claim by that point as well. Most assume Attell won't test his luck a third time against Marquez, but time will tell.

What is clear is that, for the foreseeable future at least, Chris John will be on the outside looking in.

[GForce22]

Locche, Berg To Fight For Vacant Jr. Welter Title June 17th

The matchup for the vacant LSUBF Jr. Welterweight title has been set, as Nicolino Locche (16-2-2, 3 KO) will take on Jack "Kid" Berg (15-1, 5 KO) to claim the title stripped from former champion Ricky Hatton.

Locche won his qualifying matchup against No. 4 Timothy Bradley (19-6-2, 12 KO) when Bradley, frustrated by Locche all night, was disqualified in the 10th round after his fifth foul of the bout and having already earned a point deduction. Locche's style gave Bradley fits all night, and Locche was leading 88-83 x2, 86-85 at the time of the disqualification.

Meanwhile, Berg survived a sixth-round knockdown at the hands of Juan Urango (23-7, 18 KO) to climb back, and dominate the late rounds of their bout, taking over after putting Urango on the canvas in the 10th on his way to a unanimous decision, 115-113 x2, 115-112.

Locche and Berg have never faced each other and it will be interesting to see if Berg's relentless pressure can disrupt Locche's unorthodox approach.

[GForce22]

Casamayor Regains Jr. Lightweight Title After Nanthachai Injury
Three months after losing the title via disqualification, Casamayor again wears the belt as the pair's rivalry takes yet another unexpected turn

May 6, 2013 -- If and when Yodsanan Nanthachai and Joel Casamayor meet again for the LSUBF Jr. Lightweight title, one thing will be certain: A normal bout would be a surprise.

Three months after Nanthachai won the belt from Casamayor via disqualification, Casamayor has regained the title when Nanthachai was forced to retire from the bout because of injury.

Casamayor, annoyed after their prior fight not just by the decision but by Nanthachai’s comments about his being a dirty fighter, made no apologies.

“I said I would take my title back and I did that,” Casamayor said. “I was winning this fight anyway, so the injury is just an excuse.”

Casamayor is not exactly correct there, as though he was up 58-57 on one card at the time of the stoppage, the other two cards were even at 57. But regardless, Nanthachai’s collapse after landing a hook high on Casamayor’s head bringing a halt to the fight led to Cuba’s Casamayor reclaiming the title.

The bout took a while to pick up steam, as both fighters were exceptionally cautious early, though Casamayor landed the more effective blows in each of the opening two rounds. But in the third, after being on the receiving end of a sequence of hooks from Casamayor, Nanthachai landed a hard hook of his own to Casamayor’s chin that sent the challenger reeling into the ropes, and the pace of the bout picked up from there.

Casamayor (20-3-1, 14 KO) spent a great deal of time tying up Nanthachai in the early going, and the frustration clearly grew from the champion. But Nanthachai gradually got more effective at creating space and finding his range, and after taking round 3 was ahead in round 4 as well. But a shot from Casamayor in the waning moments opened up a significant cut over Nanthachai’s left eye.

When round 5 opened, Casamayor was measurably more aggressive, the cut seeming to crank up his intensity. But, with his corner having done a good job, Nanthachai came out for the fifth ready to meet Casamayor’s intensity for the fight’s best round, an action-packed three minutes that bolstered the crowd’s intensity as well as the fighters’. When the three minutes were up, Nanthachai had taken the second half of the round after Casamayor controlled early, but a ripping hook from Nanthachai just before the bell earned him the round on all cards.

The sixth went similarly, with Casamayor controlling early and Nanthachai answering late. But this time Casamayor’s early work was significantly more impactful, Nanthachai appearing to be in significant trouble at multiple points in the round.

Less than 30 seconds into the seventh round, the bout was stopped after Nanthachai (21-6, 16 KO) suffered what would ultimately be revealed as a broken hand, his pain as clear as the disappointment on his face knowing what the injury meant…his title was gone.

“I beat him in the [inaugural] title tournament, I defeated him years ago and I’ve defeated him again tonight,” Casamayor said. “His only win [against me] was a gift from the referee. I’m the champion and I’ll stay champion.”

Staying champion will be a challenge, as four undefeated contenders have risen up the Jr. Lightweight ranks in pursuit of the title: #3 Hector “Macho” Camacho (12-0, 7 KO), #4 Julio Cesar Chavez (10-0, 10 KO), #5 Rolando Navarrette (10-0-1, 6 KO) and #6 Hiroshi Kobayashi (13-0, 2 KO).

[GForce22]

Almost a year of game time has passed in the LSUBF since I last posted here, but getting back into the game more again and getting stuff posted on the web site and FB, and am now broadcasting fights as well. So we'll begin dropping LSUBF stuff back in here too!

Hope all is well.

[GForce22]

No Bones About It: Adams Floored But Retains Against Stecca

March 17, Year 7 -- It wasn't easy for Clarence "Bones" Adams. But it rarely is.

Nonetheless, the LSUBF Jr. Featherweight champion made the second successful defense of his second stint as champion, overcoming a 7th round knockdown to earn a majority decision against #1 contender Loris Stecca of Italy.

"Tough guy," Adams (27-6, 15 KOs) said afterward. "He shook me, but I recovered and had more in the tank late."

Stecca (13-1, 9 KOs) sought to make the champion wilt under relentless pressure, and in the seventh it looked like he'd done just that when a three punch combination dropped Adams to the canvas less than 30 seconds into the round. The next 2 1/2 minutes were a testament to Adams' determination, as there was no denying he was hurt, but he survived the round.

The bout was even on all cards through nine rounds, with Stecca having given away the first three rounds before waking up and stepping up his assault. But his frenetic pace caught up with him, particularly after attempting to close the deal in the 7th and 8th.

Adams had the better of things over the final frames, winning 7 of the final 8 rounds on two of the three judges' cards. The ultimate decision was 144-140, 144-140, 142-140, as Adams retained and dealt Stecca the first loss of his career.

On the undercard, featherweight prospect Azumah Nelson (8-0-1, 6 KOs) and #9 ranked Yuriorkis Gamboa (15-4-2, 8 KOs) locked up in a thrilling slugfest that saw Nelson have to deal with swelling from midway through the opening round and engage in an all-out war with the aggressive Gamboa in a big step up in class for the young Nelson. He acquitted himself well until a clash of heads in round 7 that split Gamboa's eyebrow in gruesome fashion, leading to a stoppage and an early trip to the cards, which resulted in a majority draw, 57-57 on two cards, with the third going 59-55 for Gamboa in a questionable card to say the least.

Both camps were furious with the result, Nelson insulted by the implication he butted Gamboa intentionally. A rematch seems likely.

Also of note, Nelson is one fight away from being eligible for the Top 10 rankings, meaning he could soon vault himself into the title picture against champion Abe Attell (21-2, 5 KOs).

[GForce22]

Carruthers vanquishes Barry again
Bantamweight champion again decisions the man he defeated for the title

February 26, Year 7 - Australia's favorite son, LSUBF bantamweight champion Jimmy Carruthers, retained his title to remain undefeated, doing so in front of the home crowd in Sydney as he once again defeated Jimmy Barry - the man he defeated for the title a year ago - via unanimous decision.

The bout was a mandatory rematch after Carruthers defeated Barry last March to win the title Barry had held for 3 1/2 years.

Carruthers (16-0-1, 8 KOs) dominated the first half of the fight, doubling up Barry's punch output and frustrating him with angles and movement. Both fighters landed roughly 35% of their blows during the fight, but in Barry's case it never felt like he had a real rhythm.

Barry's situation was made worse as he developed into a one-eyed fighter later in the fight, though that's actually when he began winning some rounds, the heart of a champion who had made six successful defenses before dropping the strap to Carruthers shining through.

"He was better," Barry said. "The eye was a problem and I was slow to start. It just got away from me a bit."

Barry's left eye began to swell during the fifth round as his corner worked feverishly to control the swelling. But in the ninth, a significant cut opened over the eye that would end the night a grotesque mess of purple, red and shades in between.

When Barry (28-3, 17 KOs) walked into a cross midway through round 15 and crumpled to the mat in a heap, it was an unceremonious sight for a fantastic fighter who had given a gutty effort.

"Jimmy's a terrific fighter," Carruthers said. "To beat someone of his class, in front of my home crowd, is an amazing honor."

The final scorecards read 146-138, 146-139, 145-140.

Also on the card, middleweight prospect Jake LaMotta saw his rise derailed as he fought his first ranked contender, falling short against #9 Freddie Steele, who put forth a near flawless effort, staving off LaMotta's aggressiveness with the best performance of his career, a unanimous decision victory 99-90, 98-91, 97-92.

Steele is now 13-7-3 with 6 knockouts. LaMotta fell to 11-2 with 6 KOs.

[GForce22]

There is a three-fight card live tonight at 9 p.m. on the Legends Sports Universe YouTube channel, featuring the lower weight classes of the LSUBF, live from Pharoah's Casino in Nicaragua!

First, a battle of Top 10 contenders at Jr. Featherweight as #3 contender Daniel Ponce de Leon (18-5-1, 16 KOs) takes on #4 contender Somsak Sithchatchawal.

Then, it will be a flyweight contender matchup between two men who failed in their quest to dethrone champion Omar Narvaez, as #3 Nonito Donaire (13-7-1, 9 KOs) faces #4 Jimmy Wilde (17-2-1, 15 KOs).

In the main event, it will be Jr. Bantamweight champion Luis Alberto Perez (28-1, 22 KOs) as he seeks to match Narvaez's LSUBF record with his 13th title defense, taking on #1 contender Alexander Munoz (20-4, 19 KOs), whom Perez defeated five years ago in his very first title defense.

If you like the lighter weight classes, this night's for you!

https://youtu.be/wxWx_WN1CEw