Legends Sports Universe Boxing Federation

As this is rooted in guys throughout history, this seems like a good place to post this as some may find it interesting.

I'm a sports editor by trade and a huge boxing and sports history buff. A hobby of mine is sports gaming simulations. The LSUBF is a "universe" I run using the Title Bout boxing game.

It began with any fighter who won his first title either prior to 1920 or between 2000 and 2010.

At the end of each calendar year fighters who won their first championship in a 3-year range are introduced to the universe. So far, champs have been introduced from between 1933 and 1936, 1965 and 1968, 1929 and 1932, and 1949 and 1952. The next group to enter is champions between 1981 and 1984, right when I really started getting into boxing, so I'm excited for this crop - which includes Thomas Hearns, Julio Cesar Chavez and the criminally underrated Mike McCallum among others - to make its way into the universe.

Accordingly there is potential for a ton of great what-if matchups of fighters throughout history, which is where I think some in here may find interest.

I'll keep all the LSUBF activities locked into this thread as I have no idea how many people would be interested in it and don't want to spam the board. But hopefully it will spark some conversation about the fights and how they'd have played out in real life.

I'll do division summaries to give a quick primer for anyone interested.

GH

 

HEAVYWEIGHT​

The Legends Sports Universe Boxing Federation's heavyweight title is the crown jewel of the LSUBF. From the initial pool, starting with champions prior to 1920 and between 2000 and 2010, the four fighters to qualify for the initial heavyweight championship tournament were Vitali Klitschko, Samuel Peter, Jack Dempsey and John L. Sullivan.

After Dempsey obliterated Peter with a second-round knockout, Klitschko found himself locked in a war with Sullivan that would end stunningly when Sullivan, up on two cards and even on the third in the 11th, is disqualified for a flagrant foul. Dempsey would become the first champion after stopping Klitschko on cuts in the 9th.

From there, the strap has had an eventful course.

Klitschko knocked out Sergei Lyakovich in his first defense, then took out James Corbett in the 15th round. But Klitschko would lose the belt to Sullivan by 9th round TKO before regaining the title from Sullivan later that year via a 6th round TKO, ending that trilogy for the time being.

The next year, Klitschko would defend twice, stopping Dempsey in the fifth and then Corbett in the 13th.

The stunner happened the following April, when Chris Byrd would cut Klitschko badly and shockingly won the strap. His reign was short-lived as his first defense was a rematch with Klitschko, and Dr. IronFist would eviscerate Byrd en route to a 7th round TKO to regain the title once again.

In the past few months, several terrific fighters who weren't in the LSUBF at its inception have worked their way into the Top 10 rankings as new challenges loom: Slots 2 through 5 are currently held by Max Schmeling, Jersey Joe Walcott, Rocky Marciano and Joe Frazier. That's quite a line of formidable challengers, to say nothing of the fact Dempsey has worked himself back to the Number One contender's slot, meaning an eventful next couple of years for Klitschko to say the least.

 

Light-Heavyweight​

The preliminary bouts to build records landed the LSUBF with a pair of undefeated fighters heading into the four-man tournament to crown the first light-heavyweight champion.

Philadelphia Jack O’Brien emerged 16-0 with 7 KOs, while Gabriel Campillo achieved an 11-0 mark, though with only four knockouts. Tomasz Adamek (11-2, 8 KO) and Georges Carpentier (10-1, 6 KO) rounded out the field.

Antonio Tarver, Jack Dillon and Glen Johnson hadn’t fought the requisite 10 bouts to qualify, so they would have to wait to earn their chances down the line.

Adamek knocked out Campillo in the 7th round of their semifinal matchup, while O’Brien picked apart a very frustrated Carpentier who, clearly down in the fight in the 10th, headbutted O’Brien to draw a disqualification, sending O’Brien into the title match.

In the title fight, O’Brien would weather a pair of knockdowns and take Adamek into the deep end of the pool, where he couldn’t stay afloat. On the strength of a clean sweep of rounds 10-14, O’Brien is crowned the first LSUBF Light Heavyweight champion by unanimous decision, 145-139, 145-139, 144-140.

O”Brien’s first defense would come the following June, when he would drop the belt via majority decision in a terrific bout to Dillon, 144-142 (x2), 143-143.

O”Brien would also break his hand in the fight, sidelining him and putting and possible rematch on hold.

Dillon meanwhile would take a unanimous decision over Jack Root in a successful first defense before being stunningly obliterated by Zsolt Erdei in a 6th round TKO defeat.

Erdei would then defend against Tarver, who would win the belt via TKO in the ninth of a bout that started with Tarver putting the champ on the canvas twice.

Tarver wouldn’t defend for 10 months, and when he did it would be to give Erdei his rematch. Tarver would take a unanimous decision to keep the belt, and then dominate Glencoffe Johnson three months later in what would become a technical unanimous decision after a gruesome cut to Johnson caused by a butt caused the fight to be stopped.

Most recently, Tarver defended against O”Brien, getting his first shot since losing the title two years prior. With the cards even through five, referee Kenny Bayless becomes the most hated man in the room when he disqualifies Tarver for an intentional head butt, putting the title back in the hands of its first holder, Philadelphia Jack O’Brien!

Tarver is due a rematch in the next five months, and will meet both the mandatory rematch and #1 contender requirements for O’Brien. From there, it will be interesting to see where O’Brien heads if he retains, as there are several up and comers recently into the Top 10, including Joe Knight (9-1-1, 7 KO), a resurgent Bob Foster (9-6, 8 KO) and a much talked about young fighter by the name of Archie Moore.

 

Middleweight​

The Legends Sports Universe Boxing Federation's middleweight title was contested by an odd mix given the eligible fighters. Billy Papke faced Kelly Pavlik in one semifinal, while Nonpareil Jack Dempsey fought Frank Klaus in the other.

Stanley Ketchel didn't fight enough by the time the tournament came about, so despite being a perfect 8-0 he wasn't allowed entry. Bob Fitzsimmons had piled up on tomato cans and was ranked fifth, missing the cut as well.

Papke would top Pavlik by unanimous decision, and Dempsey - trailing on all cards, would knock Klaus out at 2:46 of the 12th and final round of their semifinal match, setting up Dempsey vs Papke for the Middleweight crown.

A seesaw battle would tilt toward Papke late as he'd drop Dempsey twice in the 10th and once in the 11th before the fight was stopped and Papke declared the first LSUBF middleweight champion.

Looming all along was Fitzsimmons, and to a greater extent, Ketchel.

Papke dealt with Fitzsimmons first, defeating him by unanimous decision in his first defense before wiping out Guillermo Carriles in his second with a second round TKO. He would then face Pavlik in a rematch and Paviik would again give him fits but again fall short, stopped by TKO in the 14th round.

By November, Ketchel had reached the 10 fights needed to be ranked, and Papke was left to deal with the fight everyone wanted. Ketchel would put Papke on the canvas, but Papke would recover to stop Ketchel, dealing him his first loss with a ninth round TKO, raising his own mark to 25-0-1. He would then go on to stop Fitzsimmons by TKO in the 13th in a rematch before eviscerating Jermain Taylor in two rounds later that year.

Fifteen months after their first fight, Ketchel would get his rematch with Papke and this contest became a war. Pape would get a point deduction and be knocked down three times before the bout was stopped in the fifteenth of what to this day remains Ketchel's finest performance.

Ketchel would have a year to give Papke his mandatory rematch, but he'd wait only six months, in the interim stopping Frank Klaus via 13th-round TKO. Ketchel would emerge victorious in the rubbermatch, earning a close but unanimous decision 144-141, 143-142, 143-141.

Ketchel would then turn to Fitzsimmons, who had never left the Top 5 rankings. An accidental butt in the 9th round of the tightly contested battle would lead to a gash that would get significantly worse in the 11th round, bringing a stoppage to the bout. When they went to the cards, Bob Fitzsimmons, the forgotten man to a large degree, was crowned the new LSUBF middleweight champion, 96-93, 95-94, 95-94. An irate Ketchel now sits awaiting his rematch due sometime in the next 10 months.

Keep an eye out on the surging Jake LaMotta and Canadian Lou Brouillard, who each just broke into the Top 10.

 

Jr. Middleweight​

When the preliminary fights to set the stage for the initial tournament to determine the LSUBF’s first Jr. Middleweight champion were complete, the division was the only one to have THREE undefeated fighters: Sergio Martinez, Kassim Ouma and Winky Wright. Alejandro Garcia would get the fourth slot.

Martinez would fight Garcia in one semifinal while Ouma and Wright would square off in the other.

Garcia would shock many when, in an action-packed battle, Garcia would knock Martinez out with seconds left in the fifth round to earn his place in the final.

Wright would put together an absolute virtuoso performance against Ouma on his way to a dominant unanimous decision victory, 117-110, 117-110, 116-111 and face Garcia for the title.

Wright dominated the early parts of the early rounds and Garcia would respond later in the round over the first several. But gradually, Wright’s accuracy and movement made Garcia’s comebacks less powerful, and Wright would put a worn down Garcia down twice, the second time for good, in the ninth to become the first LSUBF Jr. Middleweight champion.

Wright would stake claim to being the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world over the next two years, successfully defending against Joachim Alcine (KO9), Martinez (KO3), Ouma (KO11), Jair Da Silva (TKO7), Travis Simms (UD15) and Sergio Mora (UD15).

But the following January, Garcia would get a rematch, and chaos would ensue. With Wright leading 87-83, 87-83, 88-82, and with Garcia’s left eye badly swollen, the fight is stopped for a gash over Wright’s eye after he weather’s a pair of blistering shots from Garcia and paws at the cut, though Wright never went down. Garcia would get the TKO victory to hand an irate Wright his first defeat and hand Garcia the title.

Garcia would make a successful unanimous decision defense against Ouma and then fight Martinez, with Wright a mandatory over the next several months. But Garcia would never get to the Wright rematch, as Martinez would defeat him by majority decision to take the title.

Because Garcia lost the belt before Wright got his rematch, Martinez had the option of giving Garcia a rematch or defending against Wright and leaving Garcia out in the cold. Martinez chose Garcia, whom he would stop by TKO in the 10th round to retain the title and meet his rematch requirement, leaving Wright to wait.

Wright has been surpassed as the #1 contender by upstart Nino Benvenuti. Martinez must defend against the #1 contender sometime over the next 10 months, so it will be interesting to see the paths Benvenuti and Wright take to lock up that #1 spot and how Martinez plans his course to defend.

 

Welterweight​

The chain of the Legends Sports Universe Boxing Federation Welterweight title began with a terrific title bout in which Vernon Forrest survived a fourth-round knockdown from Paul Williams and took advantage of a cut that seemed to alter Williams’ style over the final five rounds as Forrest earned a close but unanimous victory.

Forrest would drop the strap in his first defense, a 12th round TKO loss to the man Williams stopped in the semifinal, Tommy Ryan.

Ryan and Williams would get very well acquainted over the next two years.

Ryan would lose his first defense to Williams via a 9th round TKO, but regain the title in a rematch three months later by unanimous decision.

The rapid succession of changes left Forrest out in the cold for a while until Ryan gave him his title shot eight months after regaining the title from Williams.

Ryan stopped Forrest by TKO when he knocked him down three times in the 14th. Three months later, Ryan would coast to a unanimous decision win over Ted “Kid” Lewis before knocking out Keddy Burke in the 8th the following February.

But in May, Williams would get another shot at the belt and defeat Ryan by unanimous decision in dominant fashion, dropping Ryan in the 10th and 14th on his way to a 147-138, 146-138, 145-139 decision.

Ryan would get a mandatory rematch for the pair’s fifth fight in the span of three years, and it would end in hotly debated fashion, the judges calling it 142-141 Williams, 142-141 Ryan, and 142-142...a draw.

Williams retained and Ryan will have to wait his turn before he gets another crack.

 

Good stuff, thanks. I go back to the Title Bout board game in the 80s. I've thought about using that cruiserweight split as the divisions populate a bit, so it's good to hear someone else has the same thought.

I do this cross-era stuff with all sports. I just find it most interesting. Lots of guys, particularly in football and baseball, like doing season replays and such. That just never appealed to me personally...I know what DID happen. What ifs interest me far more.

Thanks for reading!

GH

 

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.

 

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.

 

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.

 

Featherweight​

Of the “major” weight classes in the LSUBF, the Featherweight title has been contested the fewest times.


After their introductory bouts, the four-man tournament to crown the inaugural champion was set.

Juan Manuel Marquez would face Young Corbett II, who he had beaten twice in the very beginning of their professional careers. Steven Luevano would face Eric Aiken, with the notable absences at the time being Marco Antonio Barrera, who was one fight shy of eligibility; and Abe Attell, who was 8-2 yet not in the top 10.

Marquez defeated Corbett yet again, this time by unanimous decision, as Luevano would against Aiken, though his would come after six rounds as a result of an accidental butt causing a cut to Luevano that ended the bout.

Marquez would go on to dominate Luevano 146-134, 146-135, 145-136 to become the first LSUBF Featherweight champion.

From there, it’s been a hot potato.

Marquez would, somewhat ridiculously, make his first defense against Corbett in a fight nobody wanted to see, and he would again defeat him by decision.

But Marquez would lose the belt in his second defense in an upset majority decision against Chris John.

John would defeat Solly Smith by unanimous decision in his first defense before getting smoked by Marquez in the second round of Marquez’s rematch.

Marquez would go nine months without defending the belt, and per LSUBF rules he had a year to fight the #1 contender as well as give John his rematch. He opted for the contender first, and it proved to be a mistake, as Abe Attell, kept out of the initial tournament, would defeat an apparently stale Marquez via unanimous decision.

The change left Attell with the option of giving Marquez a rematch or denying him the rematch and fighting John instead, since John never got his rubbermatch with Marquez for the strap.

Attell would choose Marquez, surprisingly, but wouldn’t face him for a year and until he was threatened with being stripped of the belt.

Attell would again defeat Marquez, via a close but unanimous decision, 144-142, 144-142, 143-142.

John’s been left out in the cold, as have fans of the Featherweight division - the title having now been defended only twice in the past two years.

Corbett has worked himself back to the No. 1 contender spot, and if he holds it he’ll get a title shot within the year. But also rising in the ranks are a new wave of fighters: Kid Chocolate, Benny Bass and Tommy Paul.

 

Jr. Featherweight​

The Jr. Featherweight division saw four fighters come out of the preliminary set of bouts undefeated...but only three made the tournament.

At the time of the tournament to determined the first LSUBF Jr. Featherweight champion, Oscar Larios was 10-0 with 10 knockouts. Yet Larios was ranked fifth, missing the tournament cut by one slot.

Top-ranked Celestino Caballero (12-0, 11 KO) was to fight #4 Yober Ortega (14-2, 14 KO) in one semifinal matchup, while Somsak Sithchatchawal (13-0, 11 KO) battled Juan Guzman (10-0, 10 KO).

Caballero and Ortega unleashed bombs, each dropping the other twice. But the last one is the one that mattered, and it came in the sixth when Caballero put Ortega down and Ortega stayed down for the knockout to send Caballero to the championship bout.

Meanwhile, Sithchatchawal survived a knockdown in the seventh to earn a split decision win over Guzman, 115-112, 115-113, 113-114 as Guzman's frenetic pace didn't lead to much contact - just 17% - save the knockdown.

They came in a combined 27-0 with 23 KOs, so prognosticators expected a shorty and they were right...very right. Caballero starches Sithchatchawal at 2:31 of the first for the stunning knockout to become the first LSUBF Jr. Featherweight champ!

Caballero sought to fight frequently, and successfully defended the title twice - a 4th round TKO against Ricardo Cordoba and a 3rd round stoppage against Joan Guzman - in the first 60 days as champion.

A shock coming out of the prelims was Clarence "Bones" Adams having four losses on his docket by the time the tournament began. But while the tournament was going on Adams picked up a couple of victories and Caballero, sensing an exciting opponent who would stay in front of him and get hit, chose Adams for his next defense.

Eight rounds later, Caballero was on his back and the belt was around Adams' waist.

Adams would make his first defense against Mahyar Monshipour and win via 13th round TKO before taking n Caballero in his mandatory rematch.

Adams would get the job done again in the 8th round, this time knocking Caballero out to retain the title.

He'd then face Larios, who had reached 17-0 by that point. But Adams won via TKO in the 11th in a scintillating performance.

He would then stop Monshipour again in the 12th before defending against Salim Medjkoune, only to lose the title when the fight was stopped in the 11th due to a severe cut over Adams' right eye - a cut that hadn't stopped him from dropping Medjkoune twice and leading in commanding fashion on all cards to that point.

Medjkoune decided to risk his new title against Larios, whom Medjkoune put on a fantastic performance against, stopping him by TKO in 9th.

Three months later, Medjkoune would defend against the powerful Yober Ortega, who dominated the first five rounds of the fight and put Medjkoune on the canvas four times in total en route to a unanimous decision victory 147-138, 146-139, 144-140.

It would be 11 months before Ortega defended, and when he did it was to Yoddamrong Sithyodthong, who entered at a nondescript 12-10 (4 KO)....Ortega cruised to a unanimous decision victory, but is now up for his mandatory defense against either Medjkoune or Adams, and is in danger of being stripped of the title.

 

Bantamweight​

Coming out of preliminary bouts to decide the inaugural LSUBF Bantamweight champion back in 2009, the numberone seed was light-hitting dynamo Paulie Ayala (14-0-1, 2 KO). He was joined by Jimmy Barry (19-1, 12 KO), Terry McGovern (11-0, 11 KO) and Johnny Bredahl (18-4, 9 KO) - a seeding that drew ire from Cruz Carbajal (14-4, 9 KO), who was coming off a victory over Bredahl three months before the tournament.

But Bredahl looked as though he'd prove he belonged when, 30 seconds into his semifinal match with Ayala he put him on his back. He rises at 9, but Bredahl can't finish him in the remaining two-plus minutes and Ayala recovers, including a 10th round knockdown of Bredahl, for a split decision win 115-111, 116-111, 112-114.

A brutal phone-booth fight in the opening round between Barry and McGovern thrills the crowd but poses a problem for McGovern when a clash of heads busts him open. Barry sees blood, literally, and spends the next several rounds pumping his jab to turn a game McGovern into a crimson mask until the ref halts it, sending it to the cards in the 8th because the cut came from a clash of heads. Barry takes the decision, 68-64, 67-65, 67-65 to set up the final.


Ayala sticks and moves exceptionally well in the early rounds, though Barry's corner is angered by Ayala reaching four cautions for dirty work inside without a point taken away. Barry turns the tide in the seventh, knocking Ayala from pillar to post and back again, but Ayala to his credit never goes down. The pair match low blows in the 9th and it's increasingly clear ref Rocky Burke is letting it all go. Barry takes it over starting in the 10th, and Ayala finally is deducted a point in the 14th, 30 seconds after which he is flattened by a Barry uppercut to create a 10-7 round. Barry takes the 15th and we go to the cards, where the unanimous winner and first LSUBF Bantamweight Champion is Jimmy Barry!

From there, Barry's been dominant. He made only one defense in 2010, a fifth round TKO win over Carbajal, before making two defenses in 2011 - a 5th round KO of McGovern and a 7th round TKO win over Joseph Agbeko. 2012 was Barry's busiest year with three defenses, knocking out McGovern again in the 8th before a hard-fought split decision win over Monte Attell and an 11th round stoppage win over Carbajal.

After six successful defenses, Barry's 2013 could be interesting. Terry McGovern continues to beat anyone other than Barry and finds himself the #1 contender. But Barry has a few months before the #1 becomes mandatory, so it's possible upstart Jimmy Caruthers (13-0-1, 7 KO) the current #2 contender, could pass McGovern. Attell, as his toughest fight to date, could make a case for a rematch. Panama Al Brown, Kid Williams and Rafael Marquez could work their way into the title picture as well.

 

was rushing yesterday and accidentally put the Jr. Middleweight writeup with the bantamweights. Just fixed it.