Cruiserweight: 2012, Feb 20-26
Nothing doing this week.
Champ: None
1) Yoan Pablo Hernandez (3-87-87) Last Fight: 2/4/2012- UD12 #4 Steve Cunningham Next Fight: Unknown Erased any doubt as to the better fighter between him and Cunningham. A fight with Lebedev now would be huge.
2) Denis Lebedev (3-107-107) Last Fight: 11/4/2011- UD12 James Toney (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown There has been speculation that Lebedev might fight Steve Cunningham next. 3) Antonio Tarver (3-31-31) Last Fight: 7/20/2011- RTD9 #7 Danny Green Next Fight: Unknown The latest word is that there is a 75% chance that Tarver will fight Wlodarczyk on Showtime, April 28. 4) Marco Huck (3-272-272) Last Fight: 10/22/2011- KO5 Rogelio Rossi (UNR) Next Fight: 2/25/2011- vs. HW #2 Alexander Povetkin (at HW) Povetkin vs. Huck is now set a division to the north. 5) Steve Cunningham (3-401-401) Last Fight: 2/4/2012- L(UD12) vs. #3 Yoan Pablo Hernandez Next Fight: Unknown See Lebedev’s notes, above. 6) Krzysztof Wlodarczyk (12-348-348) Last Fight: 11/30/2011- TKO11 #9 Danny Green Next Fight: Unknown See Tarver’s notes, above. 7) Ola Afolabi (12-154-154) Last Fight: 9/10/2011- UD8 Lukasz Rusiewicz (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown Afolabi claims that BJ Flores is ducking him. He is of course also in line for a shot at the alphabet title currently held by Marco Huck. 8) Guillermo Jones (12-73-73) Last Fight: 11/5/2011- TKO6 Michael Marrone (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown After discussions with Lebedev fell apart, it now appears that his mandatory obligation against Kayode is the most probable next fight for Jones. 9) Danny Green (31-116-116) Last Fight: 11/30/2011- L(TKO11) vs. #8 Krzysztof Wlodarczyk Next Fight: Unknown Green says he would like a rematch with Anthony Mundine- something that’s unlikely at best now that Mundine is fighting about 4 divisions to the south of him. I do not believe retirement has been ruled out for Green. 10) Giacobbe Fragomeni (31-171-171) Last Fight: 7/8/2011- UD6 Remigijus Ziausys (UNR) Next Fight: 3/17/2012- vs. Silvio Branco (UNR) Fragomeni will fight fellow Italian Silvio Branco for some silly color-coordinated “world title” on St. Patrick’s day. The combined age of the two combatants: 87. 11) B.J. Flores (19-87) Last Fight: 1/28/2012- TKO6 Hugo Pineda (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown Flores has been accused by Afolabi of ducking. 12) Francisco Palacios (19-47) Last Fight: 11/5/2011- UD8 Joell Godfrey (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown The WBC has mandated a rematch with Wlodarczyk, but that seems almost forgotten as Wlodarczyk appears poised for a fight with Antonio Tarver. 13) Alexander Alexeev (3-58) Last Fight: 2/4/2012- UD12 #15 Enad Licina Next Fight: Unknown If his record is any indication, he has probably reached just about the ranking he currently tops out at. 14) Lateef Kayode (3-66) Last Fight: 9/9/2011- UD10 Felix Cora, Jr. (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown WBA titlist Guillermo Jones has been ordered to fight Kayode. 15) Enad Licina (2-87) Last Fight: 2/4/2012- L(UD12) vs. #17 Alexander Alexeev Next Fight: Unknown May be getting a little shopworn. He’s not a pushover by any means, but you’d have to be crazy to imagine him as a top-10-type guy. 16) Troy Ross (2-3) Last Fight: 2/4/2012- UD8 Lukasz Rusiewicz (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown Inactivity combined with poor competition are killing the career of top-level talent Ross, but at least he’s technically an active cruiserweight again, and thus eligible to remain in the rankings. 17) Firat Arslan (2-32) Last Fight: 1/28/2012- TKO2 Orlando Farias (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown Arslan is 41 and not getting any younger. Unless he’s already decided to call it a day, expect a better opponent in his next fight than Farias. 18) Grigory Drozd (2-2) Last Fight: 2/8/2012- RTD9 Richard Hall (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown Drozd hasn’t been doing badly whatsoever when he steps into the ring. The only problem? He has averaged less than 1 fight per year since the start of 2009. 19) Matt Godfrey (3-23) 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. 20) Eric Fields (3-19) Last Fight: 1/28/2011- UD8 Derrick Brown (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown Fields is the latest in a fairly long line of iffy candidates to enter in the rankings. He’s a one-loss prospect with a win over marginal gatekeeper Danny Batchelder back in June. What separates him from the 2 or 3 guys he beat out for this spot is the fact that his loss- in 2008 against current #6 Ola Afolabi- is a lot more forgivable than the losses of his competitors.
Dan’s Top 20
Champ: None
1) Yoan Pablo Hernandez (3-87-87) Last Fight: 2/4/2012- UD12 #4 Steve Cunningham Next Fight: Unknown Erased any doubt as to the better fighter between him and Cunningham. A fight with Lebedev now would be huge.
2) Denis Lebedev (3-107-107) Last Fight: 11/4/2011- UD12 James Toney (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown There has been speculation that Lebedev might fight Steve Cunningham next. 3) Antonio Tarver (3-31-31) Last Fight: 7/20/2011- RTD9 #7 Danny Green Next Fight: Unknown The latest word is that there is a 75% chance that Tarver will fight Wlodarczyk on Showtime, April 28. 4) Marco Huck (3-272-272) Last Fight: 10/22/2011- KO5 Rogelio Rossi (UNR) Next Fight: 2/25/2011- vs. HW #2 Alexander Povetkin (at HW) Povetkin vs. Huck is now set a division to the north. 5) Steve Cunningham (3-401-401) Last Fight: 2/4/2012- L(UD12) vs. #3 Yoan Pablo Hernandez Next Fight: Unknown See Lebedev’s notes, above. 6) Krzysztof Wlodarczyk (12-348-348) Last Fight: 11/30/2011- TKO11 #9 Danny Green Next Fight: Unknown See Tarver’s notes, above. 7) Ola Afolabi (12-154-154) Last Fight: 9/10/2011- UD8 Lukasz Rusiewicz (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown Afolabi claims that BJ Flores is ducking him. He is of course also in line for a shot at the alphabet title currently held by Marco Huck. 8) Guillermo Jones (12-73-73) Last Fight: 11/5/2011- TKO6 Michael Marrone (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown After discussions with Lebedev fell apart, it now appears that his mandatory obligation against Kayode is the most probable next fight for Jones. 9) Danny Green (31-116-116) Last Fight: 11/30/2011- L(TKO11) vs. #8 Krzysztof Wlodarczyk Next Fight: Unknown Green says he would like a rematch with Anthony Mundine- something that’s unlikely at best now that Mundine is fighting about 4 divisions to the south of him. I do not believe retirement has been ruled out for Green. 10) Giacobbe Fragomeni (31-171-171) Last Fight: 7/8/2011- UD6 Remigijus Ziausys (UNR) Next Fight: 3/17/2012- vs. Silvio Branco (UNR) Fragomeni will fight fellow Italian Silvio Branco for some silly color-coordinated “world title” on St. Patrick’s day. The combined age of the two combatants: 87. 11) B.J. Flores (19-87) Last Fight: 1/28/2012- TKO6 Hugo Pineda (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown Flores has been accused by Afolabi of ducking. 12) Francisco Palacios (19-47) Last Fight: 11/5/2011- UD8 Joell Godfrey (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown The WBC has mandated a rematch with Wlodarczyk, but that seems almost forgotten as Wlodarczyk appears poised for a fight with Antonio Tarver. 13) Alexander Alexeev (3-58) Last Fight: 2/4/2012- UD12 #15 Enad Licina Next Fight: Unknown If his record is any indication, he has probably reached just about the ranking he currently tops out at. 14) Lateef Kayode (3-66) Last Fight: 9/9/2011- UD10 Felix Cora, Jr. (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown WBA titlist Guillermo Jones has been ordered to fight Kayode. 15) Enad Licina (2-87) Last Fight: 2/4/2012- L(UD12) vs. #17 Alexander Alexeev Next Fight: Unknown May be getting a little shopworn. He’s not a pushover by any means, but you’d have to be crazy to imagine him as a top-10-type guy. 16) Troy Ross (2-3) Last Fight: 2/4/2012- UD8 Lukasz Rusiewicz (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown Inactivity combined with poor competition are killing the career of top-level talent Ross, but at least he’s technically an active cruiserweight again, and thus eligible to remain in the rankings. 17) Firat Arslan (2-32) Last Fight: 1/28/2012- TKO2 Orlando Farias (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown Arslan is 41 and not getting any younger. Unless he’s already decided to call it a day, expect a better opponent in his next fight than Farias. 18) Grigory Drozd (2-2) Last Fight: 2/8/2012- RTD9 Richard Hall (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown Drozd hasn’t been doing badly whatsoever when he steps into the ring. The only problem? He has averaged less than 1 fight per year since the start of 2009. 19) Matt Godfrey (3-23) 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. 20) Eric Fields (3-19) Last Fight: 1/28/2011- UD8 Derrick Brown (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown Fields is the latest in a fairly long line of iffy candidates to enter in the rankings. He’s a one-loss prospect with a win over marginal gatekeeper Danny Batchelder back in June. What separates him from the 2 or 3 guys he beat out for this spot is the fact that his loss- in 2008 against current #6 Ola Afolabi- is a lot more forgivable than the losses of his competitors.
THE WEEK AHEAD: This is a pretty busy week in the division.
Things get started on Friday, when former Light Heavyweight fringe contender Thierry Karl of France fights Georgian journeyman Sandro Siproshvili for a title so inconsequential that even the WBF admits it’s not a world title.
Saturday sees the return of former top contender Wayne Braithwaite, who returns from a long layoff against Shawn Cox- a one-loss fringe prospect from Barbados- in Braithwaite’s native Guyana. Later in the evening, fringe contender Garrett Wilson of Philadelphia takes on former Expos and Red Sox ace Pedro Martinez in an eight rounder. Wait. Maybe it’s a different Pedro Martinez, but this one is probably not any better at boxing than the future hall of fame pitcher, judging by the skimpy 6-4 record against entirely nondescript opposition.
The week’s action wraps up on Sunday, when undefeated Ukrainian prospect Dmitro Kucher fights serviceable Czech journeyman Lubos Suda in Kiev.
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