I could try to analyze the competition but it is completely impossible, all that one can offer is reasons and estimation as to what will occur when eight angry men will mix it up for a neat sum of cash in a bizarre yet entertaining round robin, as Cedric Kushner presents us with ...A FISTFUL OF DOLLARS...

The fights are over a scheduled 3 rounds and therefore are going to favour our fast starters, and big punchers. One man who springs to mind is Derrick Jefferson, he fights you to death and goes all out from the get go and remembering his fight with Maurice a few years ago, the D-Train can BANG!! I would not in the least be surprised if he could make off with the loot... The only problem is, his round one opponent, Ray Austin. Austin is also a good fast starter who puts most good heavyweights in their place when they get cocky.

I watched him drop top Swedish prospect Attila Levin heavily in a Heavyweight Explosion headliner when he was a complete outsider in Las Vegas in the opening session which suggests he can be another lively starter who can punch, coupled with the fact that he surprised many with a well earned draw against Lance Whittaker last year. Ray and Derrick may start the competition with a barn burner and it may be the winner of this round one pairing that might be the man. This is the kind of fight that I would have liked to have seen in the final... Selection... PICK 'EM...

Even though this is a free for all , there are two immediate fighters who I don't think should be taken seriously. They are my two candidates for early elimination. Anthony Thompson has a great record but is very untested and I have little to go by; by way of opinion from current form, he has boxed in a completely lesser class of competition than the others, it would be great if he boxed his ass off and won it but on evidence I can offer little.

The other is the newest addition to the fray, Israel Garcia. Garcia fills in for Italian Paolo Vidoz who had to pull out rather than forfeit his National Title which is understandable for a very proud Olympic medalist who is extremely patriotic. Garcia is a competitive boxer but he will be hard pressed to beat the immense experience of Mr. Witherspoon who is unlikely to roll over in the competition that he describes as his final countdown. Tim says he won't ever fight again win or lose after this shoot out. This tells me that Tim will try to make this his swan song and will want to go out on a high note; that statement alone kind of draws some curtains on Garcia's chances in this Lotto. Selection, these two are unlikely to make any ripples in this pool... Chances... Slim!!!

Williams and Spoon should get through the openers if I am to be honest, they have vast experience and are strong championship quality heavyweights, if they approach this contest like a sprint, as opposed to the usual marathon of a twelve rounder. There are few reasons that I can offer why they should not find themselves in the final. Jeremy has had problems in the past as a slow starter though and it's not what he needs to employ if he is to grab some spending cash for Christmas. Jeremy's Chances are OK... Honest Opinion... He may meet D-Train or Nobles, and suffer a few headaches.

Gerald Nobles talks a lot, but... he is very good and is going to try to use this Tourney to prove a few points. He has already beaten his round one opponent Maurice Harris and therefore will have an added mental edge in that pairing... plus the fact that Maurice has had a few patchy showings since his big time days. He has lost to Henry Akinwande quick and that is not a great sign in a contest that is scheduled for three rounds. Maurice is potentially one of the dangerous fighters in the whole event, but a gut feeling tells me that Gerald is up for it and will try to use his first round bout as a springboard to make noise. Gerald can be a hard to beat fighter, odd kind of style and confident, Gerald can win this, and if he has a good night it is wide open for him. Opinion... Gerald Nobles is a possibility. That is all that you can offer, but an outsider he is not...

Maurice, well all that I can say is... he can be a slow starter, but he is always dangerous. There are a lot of fighters that are MO BETTA than he is in this competition, but you never know. ???? (He just rejuvenated himself with an excellent win over Sergei Lyachovich on the Holyfield v Rahman undercard) Go figure!!

So what does that leave us with? Gerald Nobles and Tim are a decent call, solid evidence given for either to be successful, but personally I see Austin or Jefferson as the bigger threats. If Gerald can overcome the size of either of these two, he is the man, but if not I see D-Train derailing anyone that cross his path if he gets by Ray.

RAY, GERALD, DERRICK... They are the sensible selections. Tim has a sentimental chance, so does a highly motivated Jez Williams. Puzzle boy Maurice Harris could pull a wild card, or well, it's open house. I can only offer reasons. A Fistful of Christmas spending money could bring out the best in any of us.