Light Heavyweight: 2012, Jan 23-29
Thierry Karl is removed from the rankings this week, as he has not competed at 175 in over a year now. Dyah Davis re-enters at #20 after 3 weeks out, as Luis Garcia moves up one spot to #19. No in-ring action to report.
Last Fight: 10/15/2011- NC vs. #2 Chad Dawson
Next Fight: Unknown The WBC has ordered a Dawson rematch. There is much speculation floating around that the matchup is extremely unmarketable due to the poor PPV numbers of the first fight. Also, Dawson has unequivocally stated his desire for a Pascal rematch next. But on the other hand, Hopkins is under contract for another fight with HBO, and it’s hard to come up with anyone realistic that would make a more natural opponent for Hopkins.
1) Jean Pascal (36-136-136)
Last Fight: 5/21/2011- L(UD12) vs. #1 Bernard Hopkins
Next Fight: Unknown The WBC has ordered an eliminator vs. Sillakh after originally offering Pascal an outright shot at the winner of the ill-fated Hopkins-Dawson fight. Pascal has basically confirmed that he is 100% all for that fight and his sole goal is winning his title back.
2) Chad Dawson (58-295-295)
Last Fight: 10/15/2011- NC* vs. Champ Bernard Hopkins
Next Fight: Unknown See Hopkins’ notes, above. 3) Tavoris Cloud (58-126-126)
Last Fight: 6/25/2011- TKO8 #8 Yusaf Mack
Next Fight: Unknown Erdei’s injured hand has nixed the entire New Year’s Eve card. Somewhat inexplicably, Showtime rejected Gabriel Campillo- who is likely better than Erdei- as a replacement opponent. 4) Gabriel Campillo (15-83-83)
Last Fight: 10/1/2011- Draw (SD12) vs. #14 Karo Murat
Next Fight: Unknown See Cloud’s notes, above. 5) Nathan Cleverly (15-103-103)
Last Fight: 10/15/2011- W*(MD12) vs. Tony Bellew (UNR)
Next Fight: 2/25/2012- vs. Tommy Karpency (UNR) Cleverly’s next opponent is American journeyman Tommy Karpency. A bit of a disappointment. Promoter Frank Warren wants a Froch fight in June, as well. 6) Karo Murat (17-17-38) 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 (15-15-15) Last Fight: 10/15/2011- L*(MD12) vs. #4 Nathan Cleverly Next Fight: 4/14/2012- vs. #17 Danny McIntosh Bellew will face McIntosh in Liverpool on April 14. 8) Eduard Gutknecht (15-38-38) Last Fight: 7/16/2011- UD12 Lorenzo Di Giacomo (UNR) Next Fight: 2/4/2011- vs. Vyacheslav Uzelkov (UNR) Gutknecht will fight fringe contender/prospect Uzelkov on February 4.
9) Beibut Shumenov (15-79-83) Last Fight: 7/29/2011- TKO9 Danny Santiago (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown Shumenov’s attempts to get a fight with Cleverly have apparently failed. Shumenov wants to unify the alphabet titles, but he appears to be the odd man out in a lot of those fights. This might be an ideal time for a rematch with Campillo if he can’t get a unification at this point. 10) Yusaf Mack (15-47-83)
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 (15-65) Last Fight: 10/8/2011- TKO2 Nadjib Mohammedi (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown Sukhotski has a fight with Cleverly on the horizon, but it appears unlikely to be in Cleverly’s next appearance in February.
12) Adrian Diaconu (15-246)
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 (15-54) Last Fight: 11/4/2011- TKO4 Ali Ismailov (UNR) (at CW) Next Fight: Unknown The WBC has slated Sillakh for an eliminator against Pascal. 14) Cornelius White (6-6) Last Fight: 12/17/2011- UD6 #16 Yordanis Despaigne Next Fight: Unknown White, who was blown out in one round by prospect Don George at super middleweight early in 2011, may be a fluke. But at least for one night, he looked a lot better against former top amateur Yordanis Despaigne than did established fringe contender Edison Miranda. 15) Zsolt Erdei (6-62) Last Fight: 6/4/2011- KO6 Byron Mitchell (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown Erdei’s injured hand has nixed the entire New Year’s Eve card, including his fight with Cloud. 16) Edison Miranda (6-6) Last Fight: 12/17/2011- TKO5 Kariz Kariuki (UNR) Next Fight: 2/3/2012- vs. Isaac Chilemba (UNR) Despaigne has withdrawn from an essentially made rematch with Miranda, citing mental unreadiness after being upset by Cornelius White. Miranda will instead face an even tougher foe in fringe contender Isaac Chilemba on Friday Night Fights’ February 3 installment. 17) Danny McIntosh (6-83)
Last Fight: 5/7/2011- L(TKO8) vs. Eduard Gutknecht (UNR)
Next Fight: 4/14/2012- vs. #7 Tony Bellew McIntosh will travel to Liverpool to fight Bellew for the British title. 18) Jesus Gonzales (6-29) Last Fight: 7/8/2011- UD12 Francisco Sierra (UNR) Next Fight: 2/18/2012- vs. Adonis Stevenson (UNR) (at SMW) His present and future are probably both at 168, but he beat a good enough light heavyweight to earn this ranking, nevertheless. 19) Luis Garcia (1-4) Last Fight: 12/30/2011- UD8 Alexander Johnson (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown Hopefully 2012 looks a more like 2010 than 2011 for Garcia. The prospect fought 6 times in the former and only once in the latter. 20) Dyah Davis (1-1) Last Fight: 1/6/2012- UD10 Alfonso Gomez (UNR) (at SMW) Next Fight: Unknown In a fight in January that has no bearing on his ranking here, Davis dominated a guy that outboxed Kelly Pavlik.
Dan’s Top 20 Champ: Bernard Hopkins (36-294-294)
Last Fight: 10/15/2011- NC vs. #2 Chad Dawson
Next Fight: Unknown The WBC has ordered a Dawson rematch. There is much speculation floating around that the matchup is extremely unmarketable due to the poor PPV numbers of the first fight. Also, Dawson has unequivocally stated his desire for a Pascal rematch next. But on the other hand, Hopkins is under contract for another fight with HBO, and it’s hard to come up with anyone realistic that would make a more natural opponent for Hopkins.
1) Jean Pascal (36-136-136)
Last Fight: 5/21/2011- L(UD12) vs. #1 Bernard Hopkins
Next Fight: Unknown The WBC has ordered an eliminator vs. Sillakh after originally offering Pascal an outright shot at the winner of the ill-fated Hopkins-Dawson fight. Pascal has basically confirmed that he is 100% all for that fight and his sole goal is winning his title back.
2) Chad Dawson (58-295-295)
Last Fight: 10/15/2011- NC* vs. Champ Bernard Hopkins
Next Fight: Unknown See Hopkins’ notes, above. 3) Tavoris Cloud (58-126-126)
Last Fight: 6/25/2011- TKO8 #8 Yusaf Mack
Next Fight: Unknown Erdei’s injured hand has nixed the entire New Year’s Eve card. Somewhat inexplicably, Showtime rejected Gabriel Campillo- who is likely better than Erdei- as a replacement opponent. 4) Gabriel Campillo (15-83-83)
Last Fight: 10/1/2011- Draw (SD12) vs. #14 Karo Murat
Next Fight: Unknown See Cloud’s notes, above. 5) Nathan Cleverly (15-103-103)
Last Fight: 10/15/2011- W*(MD12) vs. Tony Bellew (UNR)
Next Fight: 2/25/2012- vs. Tommy Karpency (UNR) Cleverly’s next opponent is American journeyman Tommy Karpency. A bit of a disappointment. Promoter Frank Warren wants a Froch fight in June, as well. 6) Karo Murat (17-17-38) 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 (15-15-15) Last Fight: 10/15/2011- L*(MD12) vs. #4 Nathan Cleverly Next Fight: 4/14/2012- vs. #17 Danny McIntosh Bellew will face McIntosh in Liverpool on April 14. 8) Eduard Gutknecht (15-38-38) Last Fight: 7/16/2011- UD12 Lorenzo Di Giacomo (UNR) Next Fight: 2/4/2011- vs. Vyacheslav Uzelkov (UNR) Gutknecht will fight fringe contender/prospect Uzelkov on February 4.
9) Beibut Shumenov (15-79-83) Last Fight: 7/29/2011- TKO9 Danny Santiago (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown Shumenov’s attempts to get a fight with Cleverly have apparently failed. Shumenov wants to unify the alphabet titles, but he appears to be the odd man out in a lot of those fights. This might be an ideal time for a rematch with Campillo if he can’t get a unification at this point. 10) Yusaf Mack (15-47-83)
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 (15-65) Last Fight: 10/8/2011- TKO2 Nadjib Mohammedi (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown Sukhotski has a fight with Cleverly on the horizon, but it appears unlikely to be in Cleverly’s next appearance in February.
12) Adrian Diaconu (15-246)
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 (15-54) Last Fight: 11/4/2011- TKO4 Ali Ismailov (UNR) (at CW) Next Fight: Unknown The WBC has slated Sillakh for an eliminator against Pascal. 14) Cornelius White (6-6) Last Fight: 12/17/2011- UD6 #16 Yordanis Despaigne Next Fight: Unknown White, who was blown out in one round by prospect Don George at super middleweight early in 2011, may be a fluke. But at least for one night, he looked a lot better against former top amateur Yordanis Despaigne than did established fringe contender Edison Miranda. 15) Zsolt Erdei (6-62) Last Fight: 6/4/2011- KO6 Byron Mitchell (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown Erdei’s injured hand has nixed the entire New Year’s Eve card, including his fight with Cloud. 16) Edison Miranda (6-6) Last Fight: 12/17/2011- TKO5 Kariz Kariuki (UNR) Next Fight: 2/3/2012- vs. Isaac Chilemba (UNR) Despaigne has withdrawn from an essentially made rematch with Miranda, citing mental unreadiness after being upset by Cornelius White. Miranda will instead face an even tougher foe in fringe contender Isaac Chilemba on Friday Night Fights’ February 3 installment. 17) Danny McIntosh (6-83)
Last Fight: 5/7/2011- L(TKO8) vs. Eduard Gutknecht (UNR)
Next Fight: 4/14/2012- vs. #7 Tony Bellew McIntosh will travel to Liverpool to fight Bellew for the British title. 18) Jesus Gonzales (6-29) Last Fight: 7/8/2011- UD12 Francisco Sierra (UNR) Next Fight: 2/18/2012- vs. Adonis Stevenson (UNR) (at SMW) His present and future are probably both at 168, but he beat a good enough light heavyweight to earn this ranking, nevertheless. 19) Luis Garcia (1-4) Last Fight: 12/30/2011- UD8 Alexander Johnson (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown Hopefully 2012 looks a more like 2010 than 2011 for Garcia. The prospect fought 6 times in the former and only once in the latter. 20) Dyah Davis (1-1) Last Fight: 1/6/2012- UD10 Alfonso Gomez (UNR) (at SMW) Next Fight: Unknown In a fight in January that has no bearing on his ranking here, Davis dominated a guy that outboxed Kelly Pavlik.
The Week Ahead: A couple fights to mention on Saturday. Former top 10 contender Juergen Braehmer of Germany returns to action for the first time since April 2010 (though he’s been known to pull out at the last minute, so we’ll have to wait and see) against Spanish journeyman Jose Maria Guerrero in Germany. Chances are he’ll enter the rankings at some level just by fighting in general. Later in Wisconsin, local undefeated prospect Marcus Oliveira takes on former contender Antwun Echols in an 8-rounder. Oliveira had a respectable amateur career with about 200 wins, but got a pretty late start in the pros which finds him, at almost 33, just now creeping into the top 50, give or take. Echols is a 40-year-old former contender who is about 9 years overdue for retirement. Commissions really should think twice about licensing the guy, as he’s been stopped in 6 of his last 8 fights- none of which were against real world-beaters. Oliveira is pretty good about getting guys out of there, and will probably make that 7 of 9.
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