The WBA Elimination Tournament

I also remember it very well. For one, it was full of upsets. Terrell and Mildenberger were early favorites to win the tourney. Spencer upset Terrell, scoring a knockdown in the process. I remember my father picking Bonavena to beat Mildenberger, which he did in winning a comfortable decision with a couple knockdowns in the process. Quarry later won a controversial decision over Patterson, aided by a couple knockdowns which really made the difference. So in the first round of the tournament, we saw a changing of the guard in the heavyweight division. Terrell, Mildenberger, and Patterson were out and Spencer, Bonavena, and Quarry were in. Jimmy Ellis, who had TKO'd Leotis Martin on a cut was also now in the running. The semi-finals also produced surprise results, with Ellis flooring Bonavena twice in winning a comfortable decision, and Quarry upset Spencer with a stoppage in the twelfth and final round with just seconds remaining. It would be one of Quarry's finest victories. The final, Ellis vs Quarry, was a disappointing, dull chess match, with very little action. It would subsequently come out that Quarry had a back injury going into the fight, which could account for his lackluster showing. Jimmy Ellis was recognized by the WBA as the new Heavyweight Champion, but even so among active heavyweights it was generally conceded that Joe Frazier was the best man out there. Ring Magazine continued to recognize Ali, and New York recognized Joe Frazier as champion after having stopped Buster Mathis. So for the next two years there was fragmented recognition. Another item about the WBA tourney - it did stimulate interest in boxing. People were talking boxing, and to add to this was the Murray Woroner computerized heavyweight all-time championship tournament with a new bout each week during the fall of 1967.

Joe Frazier had been invited to participate in the tourney but declined. As far as I remember, Sonny Liston had been completely ignored, as had Zora Folley. With Ali in exile and Frazier considered the best of the actives, and Liston ignored, it was difficult to accept Jimmy Ellis as the real champion even though he had done all that could have been expected of him at the time. The tourney would have had more credibility at least with Frazier in it, but it was his decision to bypass it.

Interestingly, Terrell and Patterson, eliminated in the quarter-finals, would return to the heavyweight rankings in the early '70s long after most had written them off as any kind of serious contenders.

 

Was Jimmy Ellis sort of an underdog in that tournament from the start? Don't think his heavyweight resume was to thick going into that elimination.

 

JW summed the tournament up beautifully! I was born in '68 so can't claim any memory of the tournament, but I have seen many of the fights on DVD/you tube. Some cracking fights to be sure, but sad in another way because of the reasons for the tournament.

 

I believe in all the matches, the betting underdog won.

 

60 yr's old. As a 14 yr. old boxing nut, I remember EVERY fight.
First up? Two August 67 matchups:
Ellis-Martin?
Jimmy stopped him on nose and mouth cuts; interesting that Leotis went to the body so much and was actually coming on at the time of the stoppage.
Terrell-Spencer?
Many 'pundits' had Spencer the favorite going into the tourney?? What were they smoking?
Ernie was past prime and Spencer simply out worked him.
Note: after the Terrell fight, Spencer went 0-7-1 the rest of his career.
So much for "I'm the big contender".
Patterson-Quarry?
A rematch from 4 months earlier. Passive Floyd once again gives away a fight. Forget the two KD's. Patterson had a bemused smile on his face after both of them.
Bonavena-Mildenburger?
Oscar simply outtoughed him.
Ellis-Bonavena?
Jimmy (as usual) started fast. He had a great right hand (especially early on) and decked Oscar. Ellis IMO had a better chin than most give him credit for.
Quarry-Spencer?
A young Jerry was somewhat cautious, but Thad wasn't going to hurt him as the fight progressed.
WBA championship (Oakland Spring of 68)
A lot has been said about Jerry's back but something tells me that a prime Ellis vs. a prime Quarry (at least in the late 60's-early 70's) would have beaten Quarry 7-8 times out of ten, my reason being that Jerry simply didn't hit hard enough to take out a good set of whiskers Jimmyand Jerry could always get his ears boxed off.
My $0.02 Feel free to disagree but I watched every fight with baited breath.

 

Take a deep breath, I;m 57 and remember it as you do, Ellis was the best man in the tourney and many felt he'd be too fast and skilled for Frazier. Imagine a similar tournament when Wlad bows out, would be great.

 

I'm not sure that Liston was really setting the world alight with his Swedish comeback. The generation that watched Sonny as a real force during his 1959-61 vintage appeared to have forgotten all about him. Out of sight out of mind.

It seems to me Sonny was not under real consideration because after a 14 month absence following the 1965 loss to Ali these four Swedish fights that took him into 1967 were not taken seriously, more like exhibition fights. There was nothing in those 1967 fights that showed he had any of that 1960 magic left to bother Frazier or Ellis.

The tournament was already underway with Sonny on the outside looking in. In fact by the time Sonny continued his career proper in 1968 the final had already been decided. American wins over Clark and Johnson were at least decent but by then the champion had been decided. It seems because Liston was not ranked at the time of the tournaments launch he could not be included.

However, Sonny soon got a chance to take on one of the participants (Martin) who had been eliminated from the tournament and was knocked out.

 

No one in the US wanted Liston anywhere near the title again.

Sonny's credentials were as good as Martin's imo.
Frazier via Durham refused to enter.

Terrell was never the same after the Ali drubbing.

Spencer dissipated himself with partying and threw his chance away.
Martin lost to Ellis because of a badly torn lip.
The Quarry v Ellis final was an underwhelming bore fest with two counter punchers refusing to lead.

 

Ellis was probably lucky to even get selected?

 

But where the actual time line is concerned Sonny Liston was out of the equation and out of America when the tournament was already well underway. He was not really considered as having "comeback" yet. It was not until his return to American rings in March 1968 that he was taken as having started a proper comeback. Quarry vs Ellis final was April 1968 with the rest of the tournament taking place in 1967 when Sonny was considered to be on a Swedish exhibition tour. To be fair once Sonny started fighting in America he made the ratings. Those Swedish fights never registered where governing bodies were concerned. Had he been in the ratings in 1966-67 I think he would have been considered active in world terms.

 

Liston was rated top 20 in the WBA itselfs rankings.
What you've said is just unsupported supposition.
Your interpretation of events.
You don't think Liston would have flown from Sweden for a shot in the tournament?
Liston had five fights in Sweden with five kos, and three were over fringe contenders.
I'm not saying he was a very live threat to win the tournament, though the likes of Yank Durham would not let Frazier anywhere near even an old Sonny.
But to say he was excluded because he was in Europe is BS, so was MIldenberger.Liston was excluded because of the Ali fights and his unsavoury rep.
Bonavena and Martin went to Germany to fight Mildenberger ,what's the difference?
Where do you get the idea Liston's bouts were exhibitions?

 

The most frightening thing is that only two out of the eight boxers are alive today. They died way too early.

 

No it is not unsupported because the dates and ring magazine ratings show Liston was absent from serious consideration. Later (in 1968 ) he made the ratings after the tournament was over but soon lost to an eliminated participant.

I am trying to consider why there was no outcry for Liston not being involved in the tournament at the start? Surely there were legions of fans who supported him? I have been reading about bad boy Scott Harrison who disgraced himself far worse than Sonny ever did but can still do no wrong in the eyes of staunch believers.

I have concluded that the Swedish leg of listons comeback made no impression and was lowly regarded in spite of Mildenburger and other European based heavyweights somehow making the ring ratings selection. Why was this? Why no outcry?

I know Sonnys worth as a top liner took a serious hit after the Maine debacle but did he voluntarily withdraw from the mainstream? Was the Swedish offer considered low profile enough to keep him in walk around money until he was ready to relaunch himself on the ratings in a proper comeback?

Wasn't ingo Johansson involved as a promoter somehow? I believe the Swedish episode was regarded as more of an exhibition tour because nobody took it seriously.