Machiavelli Eats Pigeon for Lunch
In a classic dancer verses slugger match, the gyms of la-may and Pigeon squared off this week. Pigeon le Meilleur came in with a perfect 9-0 record with all 9 wins by KO. Niccolo Machiavelli came in with a 12-3 record with 9 wins by KO and having never been knocked out himself. It was a great test for both fighters in a prime matchup in the super featherweight division.
Le Meilleur came in with a classic slugger strategy, looking to wear out Machiavelli in with lots of power punches to the body and surrending the points for each round. Machiavelli danced his way around the Pigeon, scored the points and tried to limit the effects of the body blows. There appeared to be a possible opening for the Pigeon in about the 7th or 8th round if he would have switched from body blows to a heavy attack on Machiavelli's head for a possible stoppage but le Meilleur didn't switch from body to head until the 10th round. Machiavelli used the 9th to run away and gain some much needed rest before coming out in the 10th and using Pigeon's out of control style against him to get the KO.
Le Meilleur should have learned much from this experience and hopefully will be back with a vengence in the coming weeks. Machiavelli advances up the charts and looks for his next victim. This was yet another fight worth the price of admission in the Super Featherweight division this week. Rumor has it that ticket sales are steadily increasing in the division for the upcoming fights.
Slim Leaves Happy, Makes Happy Sad
In the midwest, Slim Salamander II out of The Iguana's gym met up with Happy Happy Happy, a product of Kenny K.O. in a dancer verses dancer battle. The Iguana isn't known for his prowess with dancer types of fighters but did have the advantage of an extra rating/status point.
Slim came out as the more active fighter, both throwing and landing more punches early on. Happy made a charge and a couple of really close rounds made the fight rather intriguing. Slim's corner felt comfortable that the close rounds went his way, and fortunately for him, they were right. Happy suffering a bloody lip and swollen right eye helped Slim be more effective over the long haul and earn a decisive decision on all 3 cards.
Highlighted Manager/Fighter of the Week: Old Wrinkley and Steroid Stew
Old Wrinkley is a new manager fighting in the Canadian region. He just joined DBD at the end of December and one of his early creations is Steroid Stew. Stew fought his first 3 matches in Lightweight and one the Lightweight regional belt before moving into Super Feathers this past week when he once again one. A rough count of Old Wrinkley's gym shows that his fighters are off to a combined 42-4 start, including a 4-0 run by Stew. Canada has a lot of inactive autopilots floating around but that's not Wrinkley's fault. He is taking care of business and learning the ropes. I am looking forward to some Old Wrinkley vs Pigeon Boxing matchups in the near future. Pigeons unchallenged reign of terror in the region is over as it looks like a new challenger is in town. Good Luck to the Old Wrinkley gym and to Stew in the Super Featherweight division!
Fight Previews - Monster Week of Fights in Super Feathers!
Keep coming back, I may have to add some of these previews in steps. There are a number of fun matchups this week. I will start at the top of the rankings and work my way along but the division is heating up with a lot of very good matchups between active managers. My apologies if I miss one your fighters, but if you are fighting an autopilot, don't even look here! Too much live action to think about those.
World Title Fight: The Ethics vs Lieutenant Dan!
Zwip's The Ethics swiped the title from Top Rank's Dallas Raines last week. This week another Top Rank contender steps in the ring to try to reclaim the belt. Lieutenant Dan steps into the ring for the first time since a January 2nd loss in a Lightweight World Title bout against fighter of the month candidate Biggie KO IX. Dan is a 17/18 rated fighter with a record of 32-12-3 with 15 big wins by KO. He has a 6-2 record in world title fights, all in the Lightweight division. Actually this is Dan's first foray out of the Lightweight since his very first fight.
The champ comes in with a 17/21 rating and a record of 36-13-4, winning 11 fights by KO. That includes a very impressive 32 world title fights. The record in world title fights is good but not quite as impressive at 17-12-3. What may be most impressive is that he has fought for world titles in 6 different weight classes, winning titles in 4 different divisions - Feather, Bantam, Light and Super Feather.
The bout promises great things as the marquee fight of a very big week of Super Feather fights. Good luck to both fighters and may the best man get himself back to a rating of 18!
U.S. Midwest Regional Title Fight: Gigglebox Stinkerbutt vs Slim Salamander II!
Gigglebox fights for Terminator Ty and comes into the fight as the defending champ with a rating of 6/6 and a record of 11-5, winning 8 of the 11 fights by KO but being KO'd 4 of the 5 times he lost. He is on a 2 fight win streak in back to back regional title fights but hasn't fought since January 9th. Stinkerbutt started off his career with 12 straight fights that ended in the 1st round before going the distance in the last 4. It will be interesting to see his tactics in this bout.
Slim Salamader II is managed by The Iguana and comes into the fight rated 5/5 with a undefeated 5-0 record. All 5 fights have gone the distance and one would presume that he would hope for more of the same in this fight, having won all 5 fights comfortably on the score cards. The Iguana looks to capture his regional title in the division and improve his gym rating in the process.
Valeriano Weyler vs I Complain To Much
The highest rated undercard fight of the week pits Top Rank and Zwip against one another before the world title fight goes off. In this one Weyler is rated 14/14 while To Much comes in at 13/16. Weyler was the world champ at the start of the month but lost to Beauty is Truth the following week. He needs this win against To Much to try to get back in the hunt for another title shot.
I Complain To Much gives boxers a bad name with his grammatical name issue and needs to borrow another o for his to but I guess it is better than being names two much. Then again, maybe he just lost the extra o somewhere in the last 8 fights were he has gone a meager 2-6, losing all 6 fights by way of KO. It will be interesting to see how he fares this week against Weyler, who has shown the power to KO an opponent or 2.
Distress Mistress vs Niccolo Machiavelli
As noted earlier Machiavelli dismantled Pigeon de Mielleur this past week and comes into the fight rated 10/10 with a 13-3 record with 9 wins by KO. He has never been KO'd in his in any of the 3 losses. Machiavelli looks like a top prospect with his early impressive record. He should be handily tested this week by the journeyman fighter out of Big Boy Inc's gym.
Distress Mistress comes in rated 10/11 with a record of 27-17. 23 of those wins are by KO with 7 of the losses coming by KO. One would expect the Big Boy fighter to make a run at being the first to KO Machiavelli, but that is no easy challenge. This should be a very interesting fight to watch. Mistress has nothing to lose in this bout and little to gain. On the other hand, Machiavelli has his whole career in front of him.
I stole this from Manny vs Sigfried Stupor
The Super Feather community was clamoring for a rematch between Manny and BB Quantum X but it was not to be. The fight will have to wait for at least another week as Duke of Dorkdom's Manny was instead pitted against Sigfired Stupor out of la-may's gym.
Manny fought to a draw last week against Quantum X, which is the only minor blemish on his record. Currently rated 10/10 with an impressive 10-0-1 record, Manny looks to get back on the winning track against Stupor, a journeyman fighter out of la-may's camp. If Manny and Quantum can manage wins this week, it will just build anticipation of a much needed re-match but if either falters, it will be a huge disappointment. Therefore, it was quite suprising so see Manny go up against a fighter out of la-may's camp rather than someone of lesser stature.
Sigfried Stupor comes in rated 10/10 but at a less impressive record of 23-13-3, having won 3 fights by KO and losing 7 in the same manner. One would expect this fight to go the distance and it offers plenty of intrigue and potential for excitement. Stupor would like nothing more than to boost his career with a win over the hot DoD prospect and we expect nothing short of his best effort in this fight.
BB Quantum X vs Not Fragile
The other side of last week's draw, Quantum X, squares off against the Zwip managed Not Fragile. BB Quantum X comes in at 10/10 with a record of 15-6-2, winning 13 fights by KO. Not Fragile has a very nice record of 20-10-3, winning 6 fights by KO. Zwip's fighter might not be fragile, but with 7 losses by KO, he better watch out for impressive power of Quantum X.
Quantum took a slug in flail approach last week that led to the draw against Manny. Will he go the same way this week against Fragile or will he try to break him up? Once again, this will be a very good fight in lieu of the re-match and will be a tough match for both fighters. At the risk of being a broken record, the crowds are getting good value for the price of the ticket this week in the Super Feather division!
Wicked Ways X vs Pigeon le Mielleur
Pigeon fell short in a battle against la-may's fighter last week and comes back with no easy task in the next week. Le Mielleur lost for the first time last week and comes into the fight at a 8/9 rating. His record was blemished for the first time and thus he comes in at 9-1, with all 10 fights stopping before the distance. A win this week would go a long way to dispersing the disappointment of last weeks loss and get the Pigeon back on track in his career. Another loss would be a huge disappointment.
The opponent on the other side of the ring is the Big Boy Inc production, Wicked Ways X. Wicked sports a record of 11-3-1, with the only fight going the distance being the lone draw. Given the two fighters history, major fireworks are expected in this fight and Vegas has set the odds of this fight going 12 full rounds at about 100-1. This will be Wicked's first fight since his lone tie in July against recent SF champ, Veleriano Weyler. It will be interesting to see how the layoff affects Wicked in the bout. It will be more interesting to see what kind of state these two fighters are in at the end of it. Odds of both emerging without any injuries is about as long as it going the distance!
Ira "Got Milk" Gallon 2013 vs Alonso E. Botafoco
While "only" a pair of 3/3 rated fighters, this is an interesting battle of former region mates. Botofoco is a 3-0 production of la-may and has won all three fights by KO. Gallon comes out of Dodgeball's gym, is also 3-0 and has also won all 3 fights by KO. The two hot young prospects square off for the chance to go to 4-0. Dodgeball spent many a year fighting in the European region before returning to the states. The fight between these two promises a good show in the early card and should be good warm up for the division this week.
Stay tuned... more preview to come!
Hoping to do some awards, misc info as well as a few previews of the coming week later today.