[steelerfan]

August 2000 Results

Muhammad Ali defeats Buster Douglas by Unanimous Decision
Judges: Larry Doggett 98-91, John Keane 99-92, Terry O'Connor 96-92
Ali met some resistance from Douglas as he suffered a cut to his left cheek in the 3rd round and had visible swelling around his right eye by the end of round 7. However, he put Douglas on the mat in that 7th round and that secured what was clearly Ali's fight. Ali did hit the canvas in the 4th but referee Bill Clancy ruled it a slip.

George Godfrey defeats Jameel McCline by Unanimous Decision
Judges: Samuel Condi 98-89, John Keane 98-91, Terry O'Connor 99-89
This fight was loaded with fouls (Godfrey holding; McCline elbows, rabbit punch) and injuries (Godfrey cut left cheek and bloodied nose [twice]; McCline cut right eye) but Godfrey knocked McCline down in the first round and twice in round 5 making the rest of the bout a formality.

Gene Tunney defeats Jerry Quarry by Unanimous Decision
Judges: Larry Doggett 99-90, Samuel Condi 98-91, Terry O'Connor 96-95
By the end of the fight, Quarry had a badly cut left eye which was also swollen and his right eye was nearly swollen shut. This was indicative of how the night went and the crowd waited for Tunney to knock Quarry out or for Referee Bill Clancy to call the fight. An 8th round knockdown by Tunney was as close as that came to happening.

Cleveland Williams defeats George Foreman by TKO at 0:27 of Round 3
In what many are calling the most shocking result in the UBF's brief history, an out-manned Williams delivered a 3rd round hook to Big George's left eye that left Foreman with a large gash. Referee Mark Green had no choice but to call the fight but Foreman's corner was incensed. The cries of "rematch" were heard before the result had even been announced. Quite a debut for Williams.

Joe Frazier defeats James Jeffries by TKO at 2:21 of Round 13
Each fighter displayed their dominance at times. Each fighter fought through injury and warnings from Referee Larry Rozadilla. The Champ was down for a 5 count in the 9th round. The challenger landed 148 punches to the champion's 134 as both delivered the kind of heavy blows you'd expect from two great pugilists battling for the Heavyweight Championship of the World but late in the 13th round Rozadilla stopped the bout after Frazier delivered a powerful left-right-left combination to Jeffries who had been left with shaky legs after an assault by the challenger just seconds earlier.

Note: I'm glad I made the call to schedule this one for 15 rounds. Through 12 rounds it was a split decision to Frazier 116-112, 115-114 and 114-115. I feel better about the TKO.





SEPTEMBER 2000 TOP 10 RANKINGS

Champion: Joe Frazier 2-0-1 (2)

Contenders
1. Bob Fitzsimmons 2-0-0 (1)
2. Cleveland Williams 1-0-0 (1)
3. Lennox Lewis 2-0-0 (1)
4. James Jeffries 1-1-1 (1)*
5. Abe Simon 1-1-0 (0)
6. Denver Ed Martin 0-1-0 (0)
7. George Foreman 2-1-0 (1)
8. Donovan Ruddock 1-0-0 (1)
9. George Godfrey 1-1-0 (0)
10. Gene Tunney 3-0-0 (2)

* denotes former champion





SEPTEMBER 2000 FIGHT CARD

#8 Donovan Ruddock 1-0-0 (1) vs #1 Bob Fitzsimmons 2-0-0 (1)

#30 Tommy Burns 1-1-0 (0) vs #21 Rocky Marciano 1-0-0 (1)

#36 Leon Spinks 1-1-0 (1) vs #22 Henry Cooper 1-1-0 (0)

#26 Al Palzer 0-1-0 (0) vs #25 Luther McCarty 1-1-0 (1)

#33 Bryan Jennings 0-1-0 (0) vs #29 Ossie Ocasio 1-1-0 (0)