[steelerfan]

December 2000 Results

One year is in the books and 59 fight results have been recorded. The UBF has seen drama, controversy, a new champion and 3 retirements. Here's to a successful 2001!

Chris Byrd defeats Bryant Jennings by Split Decision
Judges: 95-96, 97-94, 97-95
The right fighter won this match but just barely. Byrd out-punched Jennings in 9 of the 10 rounds and wound up landing 111 to his opponent's 74 making the judges' scorecards a bit baffling.

Max Baer defeats Buster Douglas by Unanimous Decision
Judges: 95-93, 96-92, 97-93
Max earned the first victory in 5 tries for the Baer brothers, by landing 107 punches and limiting Douglas to 73 landed. Each fighter went down in the fight with Douglas kissing the canvas in round 8 and Baer in round 10. Baer was deemed fit to continue after a 9 count, barely avoiding taking the late loss. Douglas' corner disputed the ruling but to no avail. Asked after the match if he would consider retirement, Douglas simply said, "I've still got some fight in me."

Note: Douglas passed my retirement protocol but falling 4 losses below his win total will result in an auto-retirement so he must win his next match.

Henry Cooper defeats Ossie Ocasio by Unanimous Decision
Judges: 96-90, 96-90, 95-91
Henry Cooper was knocked down in the 3rd round and suffered a cut below his right eye that seemed to worsen in round 10 but he still got the better of Ocasio. In fact, Ocasio was much worse for the wear than Cooper as he was knocked down 3 times in the fight (rounds 2, 4 and 9) while suffering a cut above his right eye and a large gash above his left.

Muhammad Ali defeats Ray Mercer by Unanimous Decision
Judges: 99-91, 100-91, 100-90
Yeah, it was as lopsided as those ridiculous scorecards indicate. It felt like Ali was just determined to get another 10 rounds under his belt and not put Mercer out of his misery. Punches landed: Ali 154, Mercer 42

10 days after the bout, Ray "Merciless" Mercer announced his retirement from boxing. Mercer cited health concerns but pundits suggested the true culprits were eroding skills and a slide down the rankings. The UBF announced that Ukraine's "Doctor Steelhammer" Wladimir Klitschko will enter the rankings at #31 and is immediately eligible to fight.

Note: The reason for the "10 days" was that I had to let the card play out to determine if Mercer would indeed fall out of the Top 20. He fell to 21. I won't put anyone through the retirement protocol while they are still in the Top 20.

James Jeffries and Cleveland Williams bout ruled No Contest
It's been a bizarre start to the career of Big Cat Williams in the UBF. First he opens a gash over the eye of the heavily favored George Foreman in his debut causing the ringside doctor to stop the fight and then this. At 1:14 of the 2nd round, the intervention of the doctor disrupted another Williams fight. This time Williams unintentionally thumbed the eye of Jeffries. Unsafe for the former heavyweight champion to continue, the fight was ruled a No Contest. A rematch was immediately scheduled as part of a 6 fight card for January, pending medical clearance for Jeffries.





JANUARY 2001 TOP 40 RANKINGS

Champion: Joe Frazier 3-0-1 (3)

1. Cleveland Williams 1-0-0 (1)
2. Abe Simon 2-1-0 (1)
3. James Jeffries 1-1-1 (1)*
4. Bob Fitzsimmons 2-1-0 (1)
5. Donovan Ruddock 2-0-0 (2)
6. Gene Tunney 4-0-0 (2)
7. Lennox Lewis 2-1-0 (1)
8. Anthony Joshua 2-0-1 (2)
9. George Foreman 2-1-0 (1)
10. Muhammad Ali 3-0-0 (0)

*denotes former champion

11. Denver Ed Martin 0-2-0 (0)
12. George Chuvalo 1-1-1 (1)
13. George Godfrey 1-2-0 (0)
14. David Tua 2-0-0 (1)
15. Buddy Baer 0-2-0 (0)
16. Jameel McCline 0-2-0 (0)
17. Jerry Quarry 2-1-0 (1)
18. Henry Cooper 3-1-0 (1)
19. Rocky Marciano 2-0-0 (1)
20. Ken Norton 3-1-0 (2)

21. Frank Childs 1-2-0 (0)
22. Luther McCarty 2-1-0 (1)
23. Max Schmeling 2-1-0 (1)
24. James Tillis 1-2-0 (1)
25. Chris Byrd 2-1-0 (1)
26. James Braddock 1-1-1 (1)
27. Al Palzer 0-2-0 (0)
28. Jim Flynn NR
29. Arthur Pelkey 0-1-1 (0)
30. Jake Kilrain NR

31. Wladamir Klitschko NR
32. Ossie Ocasio 1-2-1 (1)
33. Bob Satterfield 1-2-0 (1)
34. Chris Arreola 2-1-0 (1)
35. Bryant Jennings 0-2-1 (0)
36. Tommy Burns 1-2-0 (0)
37. John Ruiz 1-2-0 (1)
38. Max Baer 1-2-0 (0)
39. Leon Spinks 1-2-0 (1)
40. Buster Douglas 0-3-0 (0)





JANUARY 2001 FIGHT CARD

1. #3 James "The Boilermaker" Jeffries 1-1-1 (1) vs #1 Cleveland "Big Cat" Williams 1-0-0 (1)

2. #9 "Big" George Foreman 2-1-0 (1) vs #2 Abe "The Ape" Simon 2-1-0 (1)

3. #16 Jameel "Big Time" McCline 0-2-0 (0) vs #14 "Tuaman" David Tua 2-0-0 (1)

4, #19 "The Brockton Blockbuster" Rocky Marciano 2-0-0 (1) vs #17 "Irish" Jerry Quarry 2-1-0 (1)

5. #28 "Fireman" Jim Flynn NR vs #23 "The Black Uhlan of the Rhine" Max Schmeling 2-1-0 (1)

6. #37 John "The Quiet Man" Ruiz 1-2-0 (1) vs Al "Bigfoot" Palzer 0-2-0 (0)