Boxing Philosophy Fantasy League: First Weekend Results Round-Up

First of all, thanks to all of you who sent in your predictions for the first round of the Boxing Philosophy Fantasy League. After the Mosley-Berto fight was cancelled in January, followed by some other postponements on the domestic scene, I decided it would be a good time to kick-off (punch-off?) the predictions with the first big fight of the year, involving none other than boxing’s reigning pound-for-pound monarch. It’s taken a while to get the ball rolling, but now we’re off I hope everyone will continue to keep sending in their predictions, as the boxing calendar is absolutely jam-packed over the next few months.

The Boxing Philosophy Fantasy League Table has now been updated – you can find it in the ‘categories’ on the right hand side of the main page. I’m sure you will all be pleased to know that after the first bout of the series none other than yours truly stands astride the top of the table with a grand total of 4 points. A big thanks also goes to those of you who didn’t send in your predictions on time, as you now prop-up the bottom of the table with zero points – making the rest of us feel rather special. Get involved for the next round of action and get some points on the board! Everyone else who did send in their predictions are tied in second place on 3 points  – every person correctly picking Pacquiao as the right winner, but failing to pick the right method or under/over rounds.

The scoring system, to remind everyone, works as follows: 3 points awarded for correctly predicting the winner of the bout; 2 further points awarded for predicting if the bout will be won by stoppage or on points; and a further 1 point awarded if you correctly predict if the bout will end Under or Over a specified number of rounds. If you correctly predict the winner, the method of victory and the under/over rounds, the maximum points you can win for a single bout is therefore 6 points. Hope that’s clear!

The reason I opted to award points for under/over rounds predictions rather than exact round predictions is because predicting the exact round is almost entirely a matter of luck. I don’t care how good you are at predicting fights, predicting the exact round a fight will end happens about every once in a blue moon, where as predicting roughly when the bout will end (i.e. early or late-on) can be done consistently with at least a certain amount of science involved. Again, hope that’s clear.

Your prediction record appears after your name in the table, so that you can keep a check on where the points are being won and where you’re losing ground to the rest of the field. Records show how many times you’ve correctly predicted the: winner/points or stoppage/under or over.

The first bout of the season might not have been the most difficult to predict – featuring as it did the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world. There is however some fantastic, finely balanced fights coming up over the next few weeks and months which should help to separate the men from the boys in the Boxing Philosophy League Table. This weekend is the heavyweight title fight between ‘Dr. Steel Hammer’ Wladimir Klitschko and American ‘Fast’ Eddie Chambers. Check back on my blog for the Big Fight Preview and my own prediction of how that one should unfold. Coming up we also  have some excellent match-ups in the Super Six middleweight tournament (featuring Britain’s very own Carl Froch); David Haye’s first title defense at heavyweight, and of course the Super Bowl of boxing: Mayweather against Mosley on May 1^st. Also look out for Amir Kahn and some cracking tussles on the domestic scene in the UK. Check out the Boxing Philosophy Fantasy League Fight Schedule (under ‘categories’, right hand side of the page) for a full list of upcoming matches.

Thanks again for all your involvement; spread the word and get any other interested boxing fans to throw their hat into the ring, or into the world-wide-web, as the case may be. Let the second round of predictions begin. Ding –Ding!