Light Heavyweight: 2011, Nov 7-13

I made a bit of a mistake last week in advertising Sillakh-Ismailov.  Evidently the fight was never going to be fought at 175, which I should have known based on Ismailov’s history of never having fought below cruiserweight.  I’ve already published my cruiserweight update and the fight is inconsequential to the rankings, so I’ll just mention here.  Suffice it to say Sillakh continued Ismailov’s streak of stoppage losses with a 4th round TKO.

 

Allan Green won a comfortable decision over local favorite Sebastian Demers in Quebec City on Saturday.  Demers came in just a shade over 168, and while he was probably still a top-50 fighter at that weight, I’m not sure he does a ton for Green’s resume at 175.

 

 Undefeated prospect Marcus Oliveira, who has been fighting infrequently against poor opposition, stopped Chris Eppley- a 10-1 fighter who has fought exclusively bums- in four rounds.

 

In a fight that was announced very late, #18 Thierry Karl fought the awful Mile Nikolic at cruiserweight, knocking him out in 1.

 

All of this action, however, pales in comparison to non-action on behalf of prospect and #19 contender Luis Garcia, who has been inactive for a year, doesn’t have a fight scheduled, and accordingly is bounced from the rankings due to inactivity.  Marcus Johnson returns to the rankings at #20 after three weeks away.

 

For comparison, here are the current Ring Magazine Ratings:
Champ: Bernard Hopkins
1) Jean Pascal
2) Tavoris Cloud
3) Chad Dawson
4) Nathan Cleverly
5) Adrian Diaconu
6) Zsolt Erdei
7) Beibut Shumenov
8) Karo Murat
9) Gabriel Campillo
10) Ismayl Sillakh

 

Dan’s Top 20
Champ: Bernard Hopkins (25-283-283)
Last Fight: 10/15/2011- NC* vs. #2 Chad Dawson
Next Fight: Unknown
The first official blow against Pat Russell’s bad TKO decision has been struck, as the WBC announced that its title would stay with Hopkins despite the call.
1) Jean Pascal (25-125-125)
Last Fight: 5/21/2011- L(UD12) vs. #1 Bernard Hopkins
Next Fight: Unknown
Dawson wants Pascal, but a Dawson-Hopkins rematch may supersede that before it’s all said and done.
2) Chad Dawson (47-284-284)
Last Fight: 10/15/2011- NC* vs. Champ Bernard Hopkins
Next Fight: Unknown
See Hopkins’ notes, above.
3) Tavoris Cloud (47-115-115)
Last Fight: 6/25/2011- TKO8 #8 Yusaf Mack
Next Fight: 12/31/2011- vs. #14 Zsolt Erdei
Cloud looks to close out the year in fine fashion by beating arguable lineal title claimant Zsolt Erdei as the ball drops on 2011.
4) Gabriel Campillo (4-72-72)
Last Fight: 10/1/2011- Draw (SD12) vs. #14 Karo Murat
Next Fight: Unknown
Campillo had my sympathy after being robbed against Shumenov, but hasn’t helped his case with a long stretch of inactivity against good fighters followed by a back-and-forth draw with Murat.
5) Nathan Cleverly (4-92-92)
Last Fight: 10/15/2011- W*(MD12) vs. Tony Bellew (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
The WBO has ordered him to fight Dmitri Sukhotski in 2012.
6) Karo Murat (6-6-27)
Last Fight: 10/1/2011- Draw (SD12) vs. #4 Gabriel Campillo
Next Fight: Unknown
I never thought this would happen, but I now rate the long-overrated Murat even higher than does Ring Magazine.
7) Tony Bellew (4-4-4)
Last Fight: 10/15/2011- L*(MD12) vs. #4 Nathan Cleverly
Next Fight: Unknown
Deserved better than a majority decision loss against Cleverly.  I thought he won the fight or deserved, at worst, a draw.
8) Eduard Gutknecht (4-27-27)
Last Fight: 7/16/2011- UD12 Lorenzo Di Giacomo (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
Ho-hum victory over Di Giacomo.  Hopefully he steps back up soon.
9) Beibut Shumenov (4-68-72)
Last Fight: 7/29/2011- TKO9 Danny Santiago (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
10) Yusaf Mack (4-36-72)
Last Fight: 6/25/2011- L(TKO8) vs. #3 Tavoris Cloud
Next Fight: Unknown
Mack looks a little too small to compete with the top guys at this weight, but still has a good enough resume to avoid dropping too far.
11) Dmitri Sukhotski (4-54)
Last Fight: 10/8/2011- TKO2 Nadjib Mohammedi (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
See Cleverly’s notes, above.
12) Adrian Diaconu (4-235)
Last Fight: 5/21/2011- L(UD12) vs. #2 Chad Dawson
Next Fight: Unknown
A quality fighter, Diaconu is nevertheless slipping in the rankings simply because he never wins against anyone above the journeyman level.  He ought to try and find some kind of mid-range fringe contender just to get a decent win, because fighting journeymen or top contenders isn’t working out for him.
13) Ismayl Sillakh (4-43)
Last Fight: 11/4/2011- TKO4 Ali Ismailov (UNR) (at CW)
Next Fight: Unknown
14) Zsolt Erdei (4-51)
Last Fight: 6/4/2011- KO6 Byron Mitchell (UNR)
Next Fight: 12/31/2011- vs. #3 Tavoris Cloud (UNR)
See Cloud’s notes, above.
15) Danny McIntosh (4-72)
Last Fight: 5/7/2011- L(TKO8) vs. Eduard Gutknecht (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
Significantly diminished by his loss to Gutknecht, but still has a better win in Thierry Karl than the two guys rated immediately below him: Karo Murat and…well…Thierry Karl.
16) Yordanis Despaigne (4-15)
Last Fight: 7/29/2011- W(DQ5) vs. Edison Miranda (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
There was talk immediately after the Miranda fight of a rematch taking place, but no new news on that.
17) Jesus Gonzales (4-18)
Last Fight: 7/8/2011- UD12 Francisco Sierra (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
His present and future are probably both at 168, but he beat a good enough light heavyweight to earn this ranking, nevertheless.
18) Thierry Karl (4-72)
Last Fight: 11/5/2011- KO1 Mile Nikolic (UNR) (at CW)
Next Fight: Unknown
Karl is a threat to be removed in late January if he doesn’t schedule a light heavyweight fight soon.
19) Dyah Davis (1-33)
Last Fight: 10/21/2011- UD6 Darnell Boone (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
20) Marcus Johnson (1-1)
Last Fight: 4/8/2011- L*(UD10) vs. #19 Dyah Davis
Next Fight: 11/19/2011- vs. Billy Bailey (UNR)

 

The Week Ahead:  Nothing doing.

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