Sweet 16 march madness 64 man bracket heavyweight tournament...Your gonna love this!

Here's what I got

LOUIS KO1 LaStarza
THOMAS TKO11 Ray
PATTERSON TKO4 Lyle
TUBBS WDQ12 Holyfield (Headbutt)
LOUGHRAN UD15 Foreman
BOWE KO3 Johnson
TERRELL TKO6 Baer (Cuts)
JOHNSON TKO13 Layne

MARCIANO UD15 Miske
MURRAY KO8 Williams
W.KLITSCHKO KO11 Tucker
CHARLES UD15 Cooney
WALCOTT KO11 Valdez
TUNNEY UD15 Tua
GODFREY KO10 Norton
DEMPSEY TKO4 Shavers


LISTON KO5 Rahman
SHARKEY UD15 Corbett
LANGFORD KO10 Machen
WILLS UD15 Douglas
FRAZIER TKO4 Ruddock
MCVEY TKO10 Moore
V.KLITSCHKO TKO5 Jeanette (Eye Damage, first meeting a Draw)
HOLMES KO9 Page


ALI UD15 Bivins
JOHANSSON TKO4 Young
SCHMELING UD15 Henry
JEFFRIES WDQ14 Carnera (Low Blow)
LEWIS TKO9 Fulton
JACKSON TKO10 Quarry (Eye Damage)
FOLLEY MD15 Witherspoon
TYSON TKO12 Moorer

 

And to think, i thought i'd be alone on this one.

 

I didn't have too much time to look this over BUT here's what I came up with:

First Round


# 1 Joe Louis vs # 16 Roland Lastarza (Louis)
# 8 Elmer Ray vs # 9 Pinklon Thomas (Ray) Close
# 5 Floyd Patterson vs # 12 Ron Lyle (Patterson)
# 4 Evander Holyfield vs # 13 Tony Tubbs (Holyfield)
# 3 George Foreman vs # 14 Tommy Loughran (Foreman)
# 6 Riddick Bowe vs # 11 Harold Johnson (Bowe)
# 7 Max Baer vs # 10 Ernie Terrell (Baer)
# 2 Jack Johnson vs # 15 Rex Layne (Johnson)

# 1 Rocky Marciano vs # 16 Billy Miske (Marciano)
# 8 Cleveland Williams vs # 9 Lee Q Murray (Williams) Close
# 5 Wladimir Klitschko vs # 12 Tony Tucker (Klitschko)
# 4 Ezzard Charles vs # 13 Gerry Cooney (Charles)
# 3 Jersey Joe Walcott vs # 14 Nino Valdez (Walcott)
# 6 Gene Tunney vs # 11 David Tua (Tunney)
# 7 Ken Norton vs # 10 George Godfrey (Norton)
# 2 Jack Dempsey vs # 15 Earnie Shavers (Dempsey)


# 1 Sonny Liston vs # 16 Hasim Rahman (Liston)
# 8 Jack Sharkey vs # 9 James Corbett (Sharkey)
# 5 Sam Langford vs # 12 Eddie Machen (Langford)
# 4 Harry Wills vs # 13 Buster Douglas (Wills)
# 3 Joe Frazier vs # 14 Razor Ruddock (Frazier)
# 6 Archie Moore vs # 11 Sam Mcvea (Moore)
# 7 Joe Jeanette vs # 10 Vitali Klitschko (Klitschko)
# 2 Larry Holmes vs # 15 Greg Page (Holmes)


# 1 Muhammad Ali vs # 16 Jimmy Bivins (Ali)
# 8 Ingemar Johannson vs #9 Jimmy Young (Johannson)
# 5 Max Schmeling vs #12 Clarence Henry (Schmeling)
#4 James Jeffries vs # 13 Primo Carnera (Jeffries)
#3 Lennox Lewis vs # 14 Fred Fulton (Lewis)
#6 Peter Jackson vs #11 Jerry Quarry (Jackson) Close
#7 Tim Witherspoon vs #10 Zora Folley (Witherspoon) Close
#2 Mike Tyson vs # 15 Michael Moorer (Tyson)

 

I think some of the more interesting match ups in round one are:

# 8 Elmer Ray vs # 9 Pinklon Thomas >>No film on Ray, plenty on Thomas.

# 5 Floyd Patterson vs # 12 Ron Lyle >>> On styles Lyle likely to upset if you ask me.

# 7 Max Baer vs # 10 Ernie Terrell >Terrell was a pretty good boxer and not an easy guy to stop. Baer as often lazy, and not a very good boxer.

# 8 Cleveland Williams vs # 9 Lee Q Murray >>Might be the toughest pick here.

# 4 Ezzard Charles vs # 13 Gerry Cooney >>Cooney's size and power might be too much for Charles who came to fight, and did not have a top chin. This is the biggest upset chance for a low seed.

# 8 Jack Sharkey vs # 9 James Corbett >>Solid seeding makes these 8 vs 9 match ups interesting. Plus you never know which Sharkey is going to show up.

# 8 Ingemar Johannson vs #9 Jimmy Young >>The slick boxers usually beat the pure puncher types. Can Ingo land the his big shot or not?

#6 Peter Jackson vs #11 Jerry Quarry >> Since there is no film on Jackson, this might be a hard pick for some. I like Jackson here, as he was a very good boxer puncher.

 

True, but that was an older and inactive Cooney. People forget that Cooney gave Larry Holmes hell for 13 rounds and had Holmes utterly spent by the last round; that night, Cooney threw some of the hardest bodypunches I've ever seen, which had Holmes wilting from single punches in a way that suggested he'd been on the receiving end of rounds of heavy swarming to the body. Bearing in mind that Charles would have to exchange more than Holmes and had both less power and less durability, and I find myself having to favour Cooney.

 

Right. Cooney was spent by the time he fought Spinks. But the guy leading up to and during the Holmes fight was much better.

 

:good

 

Props also must be given to JT for picking Holmes over Page. Thumbs up.

 

It's hard to judge from Cooney's fights with Lyle, Young and Norton, considering that it was the end for Lyle and Norton and that Young was totally unpredictable (he could be ATG quality one night and a journeyman the next) but if nothing else, one has to give Cooney a lot of credit for the Holmes fight. Cooney was relentless that night, showed a good jab, and threw monstrous body shots from the outside with weird angles that made them hard to counter.

It's not so much that Charles's chin would cost him against Cooney (I'd be surprised if Gerry landed many power-punches to the head) but Cooney's body-shots, size and strength would wear Charles down.

 

Johansson was not a crude slugger, though. He could box. I personally think that Young has all the wrong style for Johansson who would be moving around him waiting to potshot that right, and with Young not really having much power, I think Ingo will be able to let that right go quite a bit.

I think Johansson would have much more trouble with someone who pressured him, as Patterson did in their second fight.

 

I see Ingo spending all night looking for an option to throw that right hand and never finding it. He'd flick out his jab, miss most of them and more or less follow Young around for 15 rounds. Young would jab, throw an occasional counter and tie-up the moment things got too close. It would be a horrendous fight and the judges might have to be recussitated on multiple occasions.

 

"tie-up the moment things got too close"

Johansson wanted to fight on the inside?

Johansson would want distance to throw that right. Nobody picks it, but I think Ingo might win this on a decision as Young is in a shell protecting against the right and it is indeed a very boring fight with Ingo showing the little aggresssion there is and getting the duke after they wake up the judges.

 

Well i have to be reasonable. Picking Page to have a great chance of upsetting the 1983 Holmes if he turned up at his best is a bit different to picking Page over the best versions of Holmes ever. IMO Holmes was slowly declining even by the Cooney fight and very definitely by the time he and Page almost fought.

There are very very few people i would pick over peak Holmes. I've always shaded peak Ali over him, but apart from that i have no real conviction picking anyone at all. Unless he runs into Ali you will likely find me picking him all the way thru this.