In the beginning of August, a tournament took place, under UAT colors. Michael Todd is tightly connected with this organization. When A1 was being played overseas, Michael has been preparing for UAL 8. The Russian tournament had a winning pool of 113.000 dollars, the Americans had 70.000 dollars and a Ford Mustang. This is a very solid pool, considering that A1 holds a record in prizes. Todd was seen as the favorite of the tournament, not many people had doubts as to who would win.

It was common knowledge that John Brzenk fought in A1. After this event, he admitted in an interview that he has trouble keeping his present weight, so he's coming back to his own category. Soon after that, UAL 8 took place, with high prizes and much weaker competition than A1.

Many famous names were supposed to start at the UAL 8. During the final draft, Michael Todd, Richard Lupkes and John Brzenk were named as the favorites. The idea was for Richard and John to compete for teh second and third places, and Michael to take the 1^st. The rest of the competitors were crossed off.

John Brzenk barely beat Richard Lupkes, but Michael Todd had to put up a real fight against him. Jerry Kadorette wore Michael down a little in a prolonged fight. During the Brzenk – Todd bout the room was on the edge of their seats. It's no wonder that John's nickname is "the Professor" – no one can mix and match styles like him.

"Ready! Go!" - and the crowd went wild; John is pulling his opponent's hand inevitably towards the pad. The final round went similarily, with a surprise at the end. The referee broke up the fight, but Todd disagreed with him. But a decision is a decision – Michael placed 2^nd.

Why? What is Michael Todd's place among the strongest ? Read on in the second part of the article.

Artur Grigorian