Base Camp, April 2022

Work has begun on the first Kings of the Ring expansion set for Legends of Boxing. Our first series of expansions were mostly focused on Hall of Fame fighters and noteworthy opponents, with the exception of the journeyman set of heavyweights.  

This year, the approach shifts to broader coverage by decade. Each Kings of the Ring decade set (KotR) will feature 100 fighters across all weight classes. These will also be the first ratings to leverage the power of LOB for Windows to compile data and more thoroughly vet the numbers.

KotR Set 1 will feature recently retired and some active fighters from the previous decade, 2010-19 to help bring the LOB collection up-to-date.  The first step is deciding who will get carded.  The following is a preliminary list of 101 fighters.  In the process of analyzing these fighters, some names will drop off and others will be added.  A few may get moved to a different decade, depending on when they peaked. There are many tough judgement calls in terms of making the cut and determining the division for which the fighter should be rated. But we have to start somewhere, and this is it:

Arthur Abraham
Tomasz Adamek
Joseph Agbeko
Devon Alexander
Mike Alvarado
Eleider Alvarez
Canelo Alvarez
Alfredo Angolu
Chris Arreola
David Benevides
Artur Beterbiev
Dmitry Bivol
Adrian Broner
Kell Brook
Marcus Browne
Ricky Burns
John Riel Casimero
Ruslan Chagaev
Eddie Chambers
Julio Cesar Chavez Jr
Nathan Cleverly
Tavoris Cloud
Richard Commey
Terrence Crawford
Alexander Dimitrenko
Anthony Dirrell
Andre Dirrell
Robert Easter Jr
Omar Figueroa Jr
Terry Flanagan
Carl Frampton
Carl Froch
Rocky Fuentes
Tyson Fury
Yuriorkis Gamboa
Danny Garcia
Mikey Garcia
Daniel Geale
Genady Golovkin
Jhonny Gonzalez
Robert Guerrero
David Haye
Bernard Hopkins
Jeff Horn
Toshiyuki Igarashi
Naoya Inoue
Kazuto Ioka
Badou Jack
Daniel Jacobs
Sonny Boy Jaro
Chris John
Zab Judah
Koki Kameda
Mikkel Kessler
Amir Khan
James Kirkland
Sergey Kovalev
Jorge Linares
Vasyl Lomachenko
Juan Manuel Lopez
Matthew Macklin
Marco Maidana
Paul Malignaggi
Abner Mares
Hernan Marquez
Lucas Matthysse
Fernando Montiel
Anselmo Moreno
Moruti Mthalane
Jean Pascal
Juan Carlos Payano
Lamont Peterson
Dmitry Pirog
Daniel Ponce de Leon
Shawn Porter
Viktor Postol
Alexander Povetkin
Ruslan Provodnikov
Kubrat Pulev
Peter Quillin
Guillermo Rigondeaux
Brandon Rios
Amnat Ruenroeng
Gary Russell Jr
Orlando Salido
Leo Santa Cruz
Billy Joe Saunders
Callum Smith
Errol Spence
Adonis Stevenson
Felix Sturm
Sebastien Sylvester
Kosei Tanaka
Zolani Tete
Keith Thurman
Yordenis Ugas
Andre Ward
Deontay Wilder
Paul Williams
Shinsuke Yamanaka
Dejan Zlaticanin

• Stone Cold Hockey
  Development of this game remains our primary focus. In the past couple weeks, the game has been further streamlined in key areas, such as timing and results involving stamina, agitators, and enforcers. Meanwhile, more nuances of this crazy sport are being captured. Mechanically, the dice and charts are pretty well settled. In the weeks ahead, we will begin to focus on statistical output and adjustments. For instance, it remains to be seen how well the scale of the game covers significant differences in eras, from the 60s to present. Playing time for our test group is already in the 10-12 minute range, so it is pretty comparable to Dice United in that regard.  That's for minimal stats of course.  Keep an eye on the blog posts at our website for more updates on this ongoing project.
• Dice United: 2020-21 MLS
  A recent discussion at The Summit on FaceBook reminded me that the MLS completed a full season last year. It honestly fell off my radar! For now, this is the #3 priority (behind Stone Cold and Kings of the Ring), but I will try to carve out some time to get this done.  

Musings about boxing, both real and imagined.

• Shattered!
  I watched Miguel Berchelt vs. Jeremiah Nakathila with interest, mainly to see how Berchelt would look after a wicked KO loss to Oscar Valdez last year.  Fighters always have excuses, many legit, and many not-so-much, but the truth is nearly always confirmed at some point. Berchelt said he was drained making weight. He also pointed to COVID. Both might have been true. (I had a rough go with COVID myself in 2020 and I can tell you my lungs are still not the same). Now, Berchelt was stepping up to 135. It turns out that weight drain was not likely the problem.  Now, Nakathila's reach and size were. Berchelt had gone from an unyielding destroyer to a smoldering ruin. For a moment, in round 4 I believe, Berchelt summoned a remnant of his old self, but that was the only spark in an otherwise one-sided beatdown. Berchelt seems to be done and I wouldn't rule-out COVID as a valid excuse. But we know the ring takes its toll as well.  Berchelt is just the latest example of why the Shattered condition in the Career Campaign Guide is such a steep penalty.

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