Light Heavyweight: 2011, Nov 28 – Dec 4
Undefeated but inactive prospect Luis Garcia was scheduled to fight in Rotherham, England last weekend, but the fight didn’t come off. No changes to the rankings.
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
Champ: Bernard Hopkins (28-286-286)
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 (28-128-128)
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 (50-287-287)
Last Fight: 10/15/2011- NC* vs. Champ Bernard Hopkins
Next Fight: Unknown See Hopkins’ notes, above. 3) Tavoris Cloud (50-118-118)
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 (7-75-75)
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 (7-95-95)
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. He is reportedly also exploring a fight with Beibut Shumenov, perhaps in Vegas. 6) Karo Murat (9-9-30) 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 (7-7-7) 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 (7-30-30) 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 (7-71-75) Last Fight: 7/29/2011- TKO9 Danny Santiago (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown See Cleverly’s notes, above. 10) Yusaf Mack (7-39-75)
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 (7-57) Last Fight: 10/8/2011- TKO2 Nadjib Mohammedi (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown See Cleverly’s notes, above.
12) Adrian Diaconu (7-238)
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 (7-46) Last Fight: 11/4/2011- TKO4 Ali Ismailov (UNR) (at CW) Next Fight: Unknown 14) Zsolt Erdei (7-54) 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 (7-75)
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 (7-18) Last Fight: 7/29/2011- W(DQ5) vs. Edison Miranda (UNR) Next Fight: 12/17/2011- vs. Cornelius White (UNR) Despaigne will fight one-loss prospect Cornelius White on December 17. White was destroyed on ShoBox by Don George at Super Middleweight back in February, so he’s probably not a huge threat here. 17) Jesus Gonzales (7-21) 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 (7-75) 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 (4-36) Last Fight: 10/21/2011- UD6 Darnell Boone (UNR) Next Fight: 1/6/2012- vs. Alfonso Lopez (UNR) Davis will lead off the new season of Friday Night Fights on January 6, when he takes on Alfonso Lopez, the prospect who probably deserved a win over Kelly Pavlik in 2011. 20) Marcus Johnson (4-4) Last Fight: 11/19/2011- UD6 Billy Bailey (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown
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 (28-286-286)
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 (28-128-128)
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 (50-287-287)
Last Fight: 10/15/2011- NC* vs. Champ Bernard Hopkins
Next Fight: Unknown See Hopkins’ notes, above. 3) Tavoris Cloud (50-118-118)
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 (7-75-75)
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 (7-95-95)
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. He is reportedly also exploring a fight with Beibut Shumenov, perhaps in Vegas. 6) Karo Murat (9-9-30) 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 (7-7-7) 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 (7-30-30) 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 (7-71-75) Last Fight: 7/29/2011- TKO9 Danny Santiago (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown See Cleverly’s notes, above. 10) Yusaf Mack (7-39-75)
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 (7-57) Last Fight: 10/8/2011- TKO2 Nadjib Mohammedi (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown See Cleverly’s notes, above.
12) Adrian Diaconu (7-238)
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 (7-46) Last Fight: 11/4/2011- TKO4 Ali Ismailov (UNR) (at CW) Next Fight: Unknown 14) Zsolt Erdei (7-54) 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 (7-75)
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 (7-18) Last Fight: 7/29/2011- W(DQ5) vs. Edison Miranda (UNR) Next Fight: 12/17/2011- vs. Cornelius White (UNR) Despaigne will fight one-loss prospect Cornelius White on December 17. White was destroyed on ShoBox by Don George at Super Middleweight back in February, so he’s probably not a huge threat here. 17) Jesus Gonzales (7-21) 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 (7-75) 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 (4-36) Last Fight: 10/21/2011- UD6 Darnell Boone (UNR) Next Fight: 1/6/2012- vs. Alfonso Lopez (UNR) Davis will lead off the new season of Friday Night Fights on January 6, when he takes on Alfonso Lopez, the prospect who probably deserved a win over Kelly Pavlik in 2011. 20) Marcus Johnson (4-4) Last Fight: 11/19/2011- UD6 Billy Bailey (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown
The Week Ahead: Poland plays host to a few notable fights on Saturday. Local prospects Dawid Kostecki and the undefeated Pawel Glazewski will both see action in separate bouts in Warsaw. Kostecki fights former contender Byron Mitchell (now a journeyman), while Glazewski fights Matthew Barney of the UK, who I guess you could say was a fringe contender a few years back, but is currently a journeyman as well.
Dan's Weekly Boxer Rankings and Blog 
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