All time contenders tournament thread

Ever hear the phrase so and so could have won the lineal title?
Well, I am giving them a chance to win a fantasy tournament.

I dropped 32 names on a scrambled list which could be seen below, then asked a person to call out a number from 1-10. Seven was called. Then another person called up or down. Down was called.

My list started out with Choynski, so from here I went down 7 spots until a name was picked, again, and again, and again...... If a name was picked, I skipped over them during the count.

ALL TIME CONTENDERS LIST:

Joe Choynski -15
Razor Ruddock -31
George Godfrey -5
Ernie Terrell -9
Eddie Machen 32
Ron Lyle -20
Jimmy Young - 1 ( seven spots down from the top )
Ray Mercer - 18
Tommy Loughran -29
Cleveland Williams -13
Arturo Godoy -6
Billy Conn -22
Sam McVea -10
Harry Wills - 2
Tim Witherspoon - 16
Fred Fulton -26
Peter Jackson -25
Billy Miske -27
Earnie Shavers -7
Tommy Gibbons -24
Jerry Quarry - 3
Elmer Ray -14
Joe Jeanette -11
Roland LaStarza -19
Oscar Bonevena -21
Archie Moore - 17
Zora Folley -8
Frank Bruno -4
Ike Ibeabuchi -30
Tom Sharkey - 28
Jimmy Ellis -23
Sam Langford -12




This means bracket A is

1 ) Young
2 ) Wills
3 ) Quarry
4 ) Bruno
5 ) Godfrey
6 ) Godoy
7 ) Shavers
8 ) Folley
9 ) Terell
10) McVea
11 ) Jeanette
12 ) Langford
13 ) Williams
14 ) Ray
15 ) Choynski
16 ) Witherspoon

Bracket B is

17 ) Moore
18 ) Mercer
19 ) Lastarza
20) Lyle
21 ) Bonevenna
22 ) Conn
23) Ellis
24 ) Gibbons
25) Jackson
26) Fulton
27 ) Miske
28 ) Sharkey
29 ) Loughran
30 ) Ibeabuchi
31 ) Ruddock
32 ) Machen

The schedule is 1 vs 2, then 17 vs 18, then 3 vs 4, then 19 vs 20, then 5 vs 6, then 21 vs 22........... and so on.

I can call one or two fights per day.

I will call em' the best I can, but save the eggs and tomatoes! The draw was random, so if your favorite contender has a tough draw, you can't say I or anyone else gave him a tough match up on styles.

 

Rules for all of the matches: 15 rounds. Always assume each man is in their prime. Ring is 20 x 20.

Match 1:


Jimmy Young vs Harry Wills. We have a clash of styles from the start. Not an easy match to call. Young is a very quick and defensive boxer, but not a puncher. Willis best assets are size and strength, but he is not a boxer.

In the early rounds, Willis size, power and rough house tactics intimidate Young. Wills takes the first four rounds. Young starts to win rounds after round 5, and sweeps rounds 5, 6, 7, and 8 on the cards. Young is making Willis miss badly. Wills does not have the speed or footwork to catch up to Young. Young takes round 9 by a close margin but is not an easy round to score. Young lands more punches cleanly, while Wills shots are fewer but harder. This pattern continues in rounds 10, 11, 12, and 13. In round 14, Wills turns the tides and scores a knockdown with a big right hand. Young bounces off the ropes and goes down. 1…2..3..4..5..6..he's up at the count of 7, and on his bicycle. Young seems to be A-Ok. The final round shows Young out landing Wills with quick jabs.

In a tough fight to score, Young wins in a split decision!

Historical reasoning: The fight basically came down to, do I think Wills could knock Young out or not. Young was Ko'd vs Shavers but that one was early in his career. At his best, Young defeated other men comparable to Wills in Foreman and Lyle ( 2 x ). I have only seen Wills on film in the ring once. My hunch is Lyle was a more complete and quicker boxer and he could not beat a prime Young.

 

Tuman is not in this one. The draw and field is already set.

 

The tourney field is set wheter they fought for a title or not. The draw is also set. The field has all time contenders from the decades of 1890-2000. I am not changing the format because I have most of the outcomes already.

Rules for all of the matches: 15 rounds. Always assume each man is in their prime. Ring is 20 x 20.

 

Round 1, Bracket B.

Archie Moore vs Ray Mercer. Moore was an excellent light heavyweight and top heavyweight contender with the most recorded knockouts in ring history! Mercer won gold in the Olympics, and a minor world title. He has a good jab, good power, and an iron cast chin.

Round one is mostly a feeling out round. Both fighters jab at each other. Mercer's jab seemed to be the better. In round two, Mercer has Moore backed up against the ropes. He throws an uppercut and misses! Moore counters with a hook, and draws blood from Mercer mouth. That one stung. A flurry of lefts and rights backs Mercer up. Round two was big for Moore. Moore takes round three, but looses round four when he opts to slug with Mercer. Mercer clearly wobbled Moore with a hard right at the end of round four. Rounds five and six are split. Mercer seems to be better on the outside; Moore is better up close with counters and on defense. Round is uneventful, but Moore does more work in round eight. Halfway through the fight, it seems that Moore's stamina and fighting instincts are superior to Mercer's. Things get rough in round nine in the clinches. Mercer mauls Moore around the ring and the two get tangled up in the ropes. There are some hard feelings as he bell end round nine. Round ten has spirited fighting on both sides! This s turns out to be Moore's undoing. Mercer chin is as good as advertised ( Mercer took Morrison's , Lewis, Witherpsoon's Cooper's, and Holyfeild's best ) , but Moore's chin is not on the same level. Mercer lands a hard right. BOOM. Moore goes down. 1...2...3...4...5...6...7...8...and he's up at nine. At this moment Ray Mercer turns into “" Merciless " “ Ray Mercer. Mercer lands a hard uppercut. Then swings with lefts and rights. None of them land flush, but they still land. Moore is in trouble. He on the ropes. Mercer lands another booming right. Down goes Moore. 1...2...3...4...5...6...7...8.. Moore is up, but time is not on his side. There is a full minute left to go in the round. Moore’s legs are jelly. Mercer moves in for the kill and lands a hook to the ear. Moore goes down again. Halfway through the count, the referee stops the fight. It's over. Mercer wins via 10th round knock out!

Historical reasoning. On film, Moore prefers to stand and trade up close and trade. Mercer has a chin of iron, tested by better punchers than Moore. Although Moore skills and conditioning were superior, in a slugging match go with the guy who had the better chin. IMO, Moore never beat a championship level heavyweight. His best win is over Valdes or Johnson. Moore was always loser vs the best he fought. ( Charles 0-3, Maricnao 0-1, Patterson 0-1 ) Lesser punchers than Mercer clearly knocked Moore out. If you ask who, I offer the names: Bivins, Charles, Morrow, and Booker. IMO, none of these guys hit as hard as Mercer did. Mercer for his part once again proved that he could hand in there and score a come from behind KO, just like he did vs Daminani and Morrison. Thanks to a superior reach, a good jab, and Moore's style, Mercer did not have to look too hard to find Moore.

 

Much like Clarance Henry, and Lee Q Murray I deemed Vitali Klitschko too dangerous for this tournament.

 

Round 1, bracket A.

Quarry vs Bruno. Quarry was a top contender a loaded heavyweight era. Quarry was a top counter puncher, with a solid hook and stamina to spare. There was little no quit in Quarry. On the down side Quarry had issues with cuts, and sometimes had off nights.

Bruno was a big heavyweight with skills. He had power, speed, but durability, stamina and confidence were not his forte.

The fight starts off slowly. Bruno tires to keep Quarry at the end of his jab. Quarry works in to the body but there is a lot of clinching early on. Bruno wins the first two rounds. Quarry is cut in round three, but stuns Bruno at the end of the round, which give Quarry the round. The cut is in a bad spot over Quarry’s eye. Round four is even. Both fighters land had shots in round five. Quarry’s eye continues to bleed. There is not much to talk about in rounds six, or seven. The action was limited, and the rounds were hard to score. Round eight is all Bruno's as his shots are now jolting Quarry head backwards. . Quarry face is swelling up, but the cut is now under control thanks to previous lackluster rounds. Round nine stars our great for Bruno. In a clinch, Bruno straightens Quarry up with an uppercut, and slams home a big right hand. BANG, Quarry goes down...1....2...and he's up at three. Quarry is angry! He proceeds to pound Bruno to the head and body for the rest of the round. Nice come back by Quarry. This was likely a 10-9 round for Bruno. Quarry continues to do well in round ten. Bruno can’t keep Quarry off of him. It appears Quarry’s fighting heart and stamina is turning the tide vs Bruno. By round eleven Bruno is slowing, but Quarry isn't. A short hook drops Bruno. 1...2...3...4...5...6....7, he's up at eight and clinches for the rest of the round. Bruno's corner is urging him on, but it’s clear he doesn't have much left in him. Quarry pounds Burno in round twelve. In round thirteen, Bruno goes down from exhaustion more so than punches. Quarry moves in for the kill. Bruno's up on his feet, but its clear he is done. Quarry lands a short right. This time Bruno does not beat the count.

In a good fight, Quarry wins via 13th round KO.

Historical reasoning: Bruno had stamina related issues in 12 round fights. After Quarry took Bruno's best, Bruno lost some heart, while Quarry's superior work rate began to take its toll. Bruno only went 12 once. He managed to defeat Oliver McCall, but he was dead tired in the last few rounds of that fight. Quarry for his part had a pretty good chin, but it was his stamina and superior intangibles that won the day for him. Quarry was a “ real “ fighter who did not wilt under adversity. The same can not be said for Bruno. If the fight was a 12 round event, Bruno would have eked out a decision, similar to Mesi over Barrett.