Cruiserweight: 2011, Sep 26 – Oct 2
Undefeated Russian Rakhim Chakhkiev faced the toughest opponent of his career in Sacramento journeyman Michael Simms, and passed the test by knocking Simms down in the 2nd before knocking him out in the 4th.
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
Champ: None
1) Denis Lebedev (10-86-86) Last Fight: 5/21/2011- TKO10 Roy Jones, Jr. (UNR) Next Fight: 11/4/2011- vs. James Toney (UNR) Lebedev follows his ugly beat-down of washed-up legend Roy Jones, Jr. with a fight against…washed-up legend James Toney. 2) Steve Cunningham (10-380-380) 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 (10-10-10) 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 (10-251-251) Last Fight: 7/16/2011- KO10 Hugo Garay (UNR) Next Fight: 10/22/2011- vs. Rogelio Rossi (UNR) It’s official. Instead of trying to prove himself against the man who rightfully beat him, Huck has opted for a so-so defense against fringe contender Rogelio Rossi. 5) Ola Afolabi (10-133-133) Last Fight: 9/10/2011- UD8 Lukasz Rusiewicz (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown 6) Yoan Pablo Hernandez (10-66-66) 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 (10-52-52) 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 (26-327-327) 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 (10-95-95) 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 (10-150-150) Last Fight: 7/8/2011- UD6 Remigijus Ziausys (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown 11) Alexander Frenkel (10-54) 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 (10-66) 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 (10-26) 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 (10-45) 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 (10-135) Last Fight: 10/30/2010- UD10 Carl Handy (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown I can’t find an explanation anywhere, but Ross’ scheduled eliminator on November 19 against Garrett Wilson has now been replaced by a regional title fight between Wilson and journeyman Chuck Mussachio. 16) Steve Herelius (10-65) 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 (10-66) 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) Firat Arslan (2-11) 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. 19) Alexander Alexeev (2-37) Last Fight: 6/11/2011- TKO2 Damian Norris (UNR) Next Fight: 11/18/2011- vs. Daniel Bruwer (UNR) Set for a pointless stay-busy fight in Germany in mid-November. 20) Matt Godfrey (2-2) Last Fight: 6/10/2011- L(UD10) vs. #17 Lateef Kayode Next Fight: Unknown It’s a testament to the stagnation in the bottom half of the rankings that Godfrey- who last had a significant win over 3 years ago- continues to hang around the top 20.
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
Champ: None
1) Denis Lebedev (10-86-86) Last Fight: 5/21/2011- TKO10 Roy Jones, Jr. (UNR) Next Fight: 11/4/2011- vs. James Toney (UNR) Lebedev follows his ugly beat-down of washed-up legend Roy Jones, Jr. with a fight against…washed-up legend James Toney. 2) Steve Cunningham (10-380-380) 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 (10-10-10) 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 (10-251-251) Last Fight: 7/16/2011- KO10 Hugo Garay (UNR) Next Fight: 10/22/2011- vs. Rogelio Rossi (UNR) It’s official. Instead of trying to prove himself against the man who rightfully beat him, Huck has opted for a so-so defense against fringe contender Rogelio Rossi. 5) Ola Afolabi (10-133-133) Last Fight: 9/10/2011- UD8 Lukasz Rusiewicz (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown 6) Yoan Pablo Hernandez (10-66-66) 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 (10-52-52) 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 (26-327-327) 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 (10-95-95) 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 (10-150-150) Last Fight: 7/8/2011- UD6 Remigijus Ziausys (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown 11) Alexander Frenkel (10-54) 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 (10-66) 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 (10-26) 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 (10-45) 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 (10-135) Last Fight: 10/30/2010- UD10 Carl Handy (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown I can’t find an explanation anywhere, but Ross’ scheduled eliminator on November 19 against Garrett Wilson has now been replaced by a regional title fight between Wilson and journeyman Chuck Mussachio. 16) Steve Herelius (10-65) 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 (10-66) 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) Firat Arslan (2-11) 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. 19) Alexander Alexeev (2-37) Last Fight: 6/11/2011- TKO2 Damian Norris (UNR) Next Fight: 11/18/2011- vs. Daniel Bruwer (UNR) Set for a pointless stay-busy fight in Germany in mid-November. 20) Matt Godfrey (2-2) Last Fight: 6/10/2011- L(UD10) vs. #17 Lateef Kayode Next Fight: Unknown It’s a testament to the stagnation in the bottom half of the rankings that Godfrey- who last had a significant win over 3 years ago- continues to hang around the top 20.
THE WEEK AHEAD: The biggest fight in the division in at least a couple months is on tap for this week, as #2 Steve Cunningham battles #6 Yoan Pablo Hernandez in Germany.
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