The Legends Sports Universe Boxing Federation's middleweight title was contested by an odd mix given the eligible fighters. Billy Papke faced Kelly Pavlik in one semifinal, while Nonpareil Jack Dempsey fought Frank Klaus in the other.

Stanley Ketchel didn't fight enough by the time the tournament came about, so despite being a perfect 8-0 he wasn't allowed entry. Bob Fitzsimmons had piled up on tomato cans and was ranked fifth, missing the cut as well.

Papke would top Pavlik by unanimous decision, and Dempsey - trailing on all cards, would knock Klaus out at 2:46 of the 12th and final round of their semifinal match, setting up Dempsey vs Papke for the Middleweight crown.

A seesaw battle would tilt toward Papke late as he'd drop Dempsey twice in the 10th and once in the 11th before the fight was stopped and Papke declared the first LSUBF middleweight champion.

Looming all along was Fitzsimmons, and to a greater extent, Ketchel.

Papke dealt with Fitzsimmons first, defeating him by unanimous decision in his first defense before wiping out Guillermo Carriles in his second with a second round TKO. He would then face Pavlik in a rematch and Paviik would again give him fits but again fall short, stopped by TKO in the 14th round.

By November, Ketchel had reached the 10 fights needed to be ranked, and Papke was left to deal with the fight everyone wanted. Ketchel would put Papke on the canvas, but Papke would recover to stop Ketchel, dealing him his first loss with a ninth round TKO, raising his own mark to 25-0-1. He would then go on to stop Fitzsimmons by TKO in the 13th in a rematch before eviscerating Jermain Taylor in two rounds later that year.

Fifteen months after their first fight, Ketchel would get his rematch with Papke and this contest became a war. Pape would get a point deduction and be knocked down three times before the bout was stopped in the fifteenth of what to this day remains Ketchel's finest performance.

Ketchel would have a year to give Papke his mandatory rematch, but he'd wait only six months, in the interim stopping Frank Klaus via 13th-round TKO. Ketchel would emerge victorious in the rubbermatch, earning a close but unanimous decision 144-141, 143-142, 143-141.

Ketchel would then turn to Fitzsimmons, who had never left the Top 5 rankings. An accidental butt in the 9th round of the tightly contested battle would lead to a gash that would get significantly worse in the 11th round, bringing a stoppage to the bout. When they went to the cards, Bob Fitzsimmons, the forgotten man to a large degree, was crowned the new LSUBF middleweight champion, 96-93, 95-94, 95-94. An irate Ketchel now sits awaiting his rematch due sometime in the next 10 months.

Keep an eye out on the surging Jake LaMotta and Canadian Lou Brouillard, who each just broke into the Top 10.