Cruiserweight: 2011, Sep 12-18

#14 Lateef Kayode beat Felix Cora, Jr. Friday on ShoBox, and did so legitimately, but not nearly so clearly as you would expect from someone in his position. Frankly he could have lost without it being a robbery, though I had the fight 96-93 in his favor and could respect as wide as a 97-92 card. This is the second time he’s failed to impress against gatekeeper-level or worse opposition, and even as he keeps winning, his stock seems to be falling.

The following night in Wroclaw, Poland, Kayode’s fellow undefeated prospect Masternak was more impressive against a similar-level opponent, journeyman Carl Davis, stopping the Illinois native late in the 3rd round.

Finally, in a ridiculous mismatch on the same card, #5 Ola Afolabi not only failed to stop sub-.500 Polish journeyman Lukasz Rusiewicz- who at 9-10 had been stopped only by Enad Licina- but even lost a round on 2 cards.

No changes to the rankings.

For Comparison, here are the Current Ring Magazine Cruiserweight Rankings:

Champ: None

1) Steve Cunningham

2) Marco Huck

3) Krzysztof Wlodarczyk

4) Denis Lebedev

5) Troy Ross

6) Antonio Tarver

7) Giacobbe Fragomeni

8) Ola Afolabi

9) Guillermo Jones

10) Danny Green

Dan’s Top 20

Champ: None

1) Denis Lebedev (8-84-84)

Last Fight: 5/21/2011- TKO10 Roy Jones, Jr. (UNR)

Next Fight: Unknown

Lebedev is looking to return in late October or early November and is reportedly in talks with Marco Huck for a rematch of the robbery victory Huck received in the last meeting, but is also in talks with elder statesman James Toney.

2) Steve Cunningham (8-378-378)

Last Fight: 2/12/2011- UD12 #14 Enad Licina

Next Fight: 10/1/2011- vs. #6 Yoan Pablo Hernandez

Cunningham will fight Yoan Pablo Hernandez on October 1 in Germany.

3) Antonio Tarver (8-8-8)

Last Fight: 7/20/2011- RTD9 #7 Danny Green

Next Fight: Unknown

Danny Green was looking for a rematch, but after meeting deafening silence from the Tarver camp, has moved on.

4) Marco Huck (8-249-249)

Last Fight: 7/16/2011- KO10 Hugo Garay (UNR)

Next Fight: Unknown

Is apparently leaning toward a ho-hum fight with fringe contender Rogelio Rossi over a rematch with Lebedev.

5) Ola Afolabi (8-131-131)

Last Fight: 9/10/2011- UD8 Lukasz Rusiewicz (UNR)

Next Fight: Unknown

6) Yoan Pablo Hernandez (8-64-64)

Last Fight: 2/12/2011- KO7 #12 Steve Herelius

Next Fight: 10/1/2011- vs. #2 Steve Cunningham

Will fight Cunningham in Hernandez’ adopted backyard of Germany on October 1.

7) Guillermo Jones (8-50-50)

Last Fight: 10/2/2010- TKO11 Valery Brudov (UNR)

Next Fight: Unknown

After talk of several more compelling matchups over the past year, Jones is now reportedly in talks with…Michael Marrone??? This is a joke.

8) Krzysztof Wlodarczyk (24-325-325)

Last Fight: 4/2/2011- W(SD12*) vs. Francisco Palacios (UNR)

Next Fight: 11/30/2011- vs. #9 Danny Green

A really good matchup on tap between Wlodarczyk and Green- two contenders with a lot to prove.

9) Danny Green (8-93-93)

Last Fight: 7/20/2011- L(RTD9) vs. Antonio Tarver (UNR)

Next Fight: 11/30/2011- vs. #8 Krzysztof Wlodarczyk

See Wlodarczyk’s comments, above.

10) Giacobbe Fragomeni (8-148-148)

Last Fight: 7/8/2011- UD6 Remigijus Ziausys (UNR)

Next Fight: Unknown

11) Alexander Frenkel (8-52)

Last Fight: 9/18/2010- KO7 #12 Enzo Maccarinelli

Next Fight: 10/22/2011- vs. #17 Enad Licina

The Licina fight is now set for late October.

12) B.J. Flores (8-64)

Last Fight: 7/23/2011- RTD5 Nick Iannuzzi (UNR)

Next Fight: Unknown

Flores just signed with Don King, and wants fellow King fighter Guillermo Jones.

13) Francisco Palacios (8-24)

Last Fight: 4/2/2011- L (SD12*) vs. #6 Krzysztof Wlodarczyk

Next Fight: Unknown

In my opinion he did just enough to win one of the worst fights I’ve ever seen against Wlodarczyk, so I’m in no hurry to see him again. That being said, he performed well against a top 10 guy and deserved the win on that night, so I can’t exactly ignore that.

14) Lateef Kayode (8-43)

Last Fight: 9/9/2011- UD10 Felix Cora, Jr. (UNR)

Next Fight: Unknown

Kayode has engaged in close fights with less-than-stellar opposition in 2 of his last 3 fights.

15) Troy Ross (8-133)

Last Fight: 10/30/2010- UD10 Carl Handy (UNR)

Next Fight: 11/19/2011- vs. Garrett Wilson (UNR)

Ross will finally get back to action when he fights gatekeeper Garrett Wilson November 19 in Atlantic City.

16) Steve Herelius (8-63)

Last Fight: 2/12/2011- L(KO7) vs. #6 Yoan Pablo Hernandez

Next Fight: Unknown

It’s always hard to come back from a knockout loss. Herelius could become a go-to quality opponent for the guys locked out of the Super Six.

17) Enad Licina (8-64)

Last Fight: 5/7/2011- KO1 Michele De Meo (UNR)

Next Fight: 10/22/2011- vs. #11 Alexander Frenkel

Will take on Alexander Frenkel in late October.

18) Enzo Maccarinelli (8-64)

Last Fight: 9/18/2010- L(KO7) vs. Alexander Frenkel (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown

Maccarinelli will be removed next week, since although he could announce a return at any time, it is expected to be at 175.

19) Firat Arslan (8-9)

Last Fight: 7/15/2011- TKO5 Lubos Suda (UNR)

Next Fight: Unknown

Arslan has finally got his comeback on the right track after the Herelius setback by destroying the decent Suda.

20) Alexander Alexeev (8-35)

Last Fight: 6/11/2011- TKO2 Damian Norris (UNR)

Next Fight: Unknown

The Abdoul fight was canceled.

THE WEEK AHEAD: Undefeated Spanish prospect David Quinonero continues his slow walk up the rankings on Saturday night in Spain when he fights Georgian journeyman Levan Jomardashvili. Quinonero, despite being 36 years old and 26-0 with 25 knockouts (including his last 24 outings) has yet to fight a top 50 fighter. He came close in April by knocking out top-flight journeyman Ali Ismailov, but for some reason has decided to step back down significantly. It’s a shame, because he appears to have too much talent to be wasting time like this. This division is thin enough that he could make some noise if he chose to do so.

This entry was posted on November 22, 2011 at 5:41 am and is filed under Cruiserweight, Rankings with tags Antonio Tarver, David Quinonero, Denis Lebedev, Lateef Kayode, Marco Huck, Mateusz Masternak, Ola Afolabi, Steve Cunningham. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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