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The middleweight tournament was run in the same fashion as the heavyweight tourney. Sports writers around the country selected the 16 champions whom they considered the all-time greats, and there's plenty of room for argument over the fighters entered. The tournament kicked off on Sept 30 1968 with Carmen Basilio meeting Marcel Cerdan, and other -first round bouts included Emlfe Griffith against Kid McCoy, Gene Fullmer against Stanley Ketchel, Tiger Flowers against Rocky Graziano, Nonpareil Jack Dempsey against Sugar Bay Robinson, Bob Fitzsimmons against Jake La Motta, Mickey Walker against Dick Tiger and Harry Greb against Tony Zale.
"We sent questionnaires to about 500 writers," said Woroner, "and got about 300 replies. Frankly, I thought some fighters who were omitted should have been included. The writers were required to rate each fighter on 129 variables, on such as speed of foot, ability to take a punch, and accuracy, on a 1-10 scale. The fighters were matched by promoter Chris Dundee, manager Angelo Dundee and Nat Fleischer, publisher of Ring Magazine, and the material then was fed into a computer. "The idea started one night after I'd spent a couple of hours listening to arguments about what fighters were the best, who would have done what to whom" said Woroner. "I asked a friend who works for a computer company whether a tournament couldn't be arranged if data was obtained on the fighters. He said it could be done and we were on our way:" Besides the questionnaires, Woroner also got information by interviewing each living fighter in the tourney and getting all the facts he could from the World Boxing Historians and Ring Magazine. Woroner also spent a lot of time recording sound effects at actual fights, including punches landing, feet . scraping on the canvas, the timekeeper counting the knockdown and the crowd. ' The tapes of each-match are delivered to the stations in sealed containers two hours before fight tune so the results cannot be divulged in advance.
(The Ogden Standard-Examiner)
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Round 1:
Marcel Cerdan KO 4 Carmen Basilio
Emile Griffith W points Kid McCoy
Stanley Ketchel TKO 7 Gene Fullmer
Rocky Graziano KO 11 Tiger Flowers
Sugar Ray Robinson TKO 11 Jack "Nonpareil" Dempsey
Bob Fitzsimmons W points Jack La Motta
Mickey Walker KO 9 Dick Tiger
Harry Greb KO 14 Tony Zale
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Round 2:
Cerdan TKO 10 Griffith
Ketchel KO 11 Graziano
Robinson TKO 3 Fitzsimmons
Walker W points Greb
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Semifinals
Cerdan v. Ketchel
Robinson v. Walker
Cerdan-Ketchel: In 12 bloody rounds, Marcel Cerdan was floored 5 times and Stan Ketchel twice before the Michigan Mauler finally put the Ferocious Frenchman down for the big sleep at 2:08 of the 12th round. Cerdan was decked in the 7th, twice in the 9th, and twice in the 12th.
Winner: Ketchel, KO 12.
Robinson-Walker: The arms of Sugar Ray Robinson were a bit too long for the Toy Bulldog. Robinson set himself up for the all-time finals by outpointing Walker 145-141 in a close one.
Winner: Robinson.
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Final -
Sugar Ray Robinson v. Stanley Ketchel
Background: It was a duel made in promoters' heaven. Ray Robinson, the angelic boxing master, v. Stan Ketchel, the demonic fury, who fought as if every round put his life on the line. Ketchel had become a ring legend in 8 years. Robinson fought everybody and beat the greatest during a 25-year career.
Sugar Ray had an assortment of punches that would rival a soda fountain. Ketchel was as tough as homemade iron. Robinson's flickering feet and hands kept him in control of a fight. It was said that Ketchel could stop any man on any given evening. What would the computer have to say about it?
The fight: The real Sugar Ray Robinson listened to his computer image on the radio and said: "I kept ducking and blocking, feinting and moving. . . . I felt every punch."
His transistorized alter ego felt one especially in the 1st round when Ketchel surprised him with a right to the head. Robinson, down for one of the few times in his life, knew that he was in a fight.
Ketchel moved in to work on the body and Robinson used his reach to punish the little battler to the head. Robinson drew blood in the 3rd and kept it flowing. In the final rounds, knowing he needed a knockout to win, Ketchel unleashed a brutal attack, but Robinson's long arms and clever combinations kept him at bay. The officials gave the mythical all-time championship to Sugar Ray 147 to 139. Even though Robinson tilted the electrons in his favor in every round except the 1st and 8th, he never had Ketchel off his feet.
Winner and All-Time Middleweight Champion: Sugar Ray Robinson.
