Cruiserweight: 2012, Apr 9-15
Prospect Shawn Cox- not a great prospect at all before knocking out Wayne Braithwaite recently- came up WAY short in Russia last week, getting iced by #2 Denis Lebedev in the second round.
Champ: None
1) Yoan Pablo Hernandez (10-94-94) 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 (10-114-114) Last Fight: 4/4/2012- KO2 Shawn Cox (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown Has-beens and novices are all that seems to be on the wishlist for Lebedev, as he’s now reportedly working on a fight with Mormeck at cruiser. 3) Antonio Tarver (10-38-38) Last Fight: 7/20/2011- RTD9 #7 Danny Green Next Fight: 5/26/2012- vs. #13 Lateef Kayode Tarver criticized Kayode on ShoBox, and Kayode took exception. So now we have a grudge match. I don’t think the Nigerian is ready for this, but perhaps Tarver will finally show his age. 4) Marco Huck (10-279-279) Last Fight: 2/25/2012- L*(MD12) vs. HW #2 Alexander Povetkin (at HW) Next Fight: 5/5/2012- vs. #7 Ola Afolabi Huck will fight Afolabi May 5 in Erfurt, Germany, fresh off his near victory over Povetkin at heavyweight. 5) Steve Cunningham (10-408-408) Last Fight: 2/4/2012- L(UD12) vs. #3 Yoan Pablo Hernandez Next Fight: Unknown 6) Krzysztof Wlodarczyk (19-355-355) Last Fight: 11/30/2011- TKO11 #9 Danny Green Next Fight: Unknown 7) Ola Afolabi (19-161-161) Last Fight: 3/3/2012- RTD5 Valery Brudov (UNR) Next Fight: 5/5/2012- vs. #4 Marco Huck (UNR) See Huck’s notes, above. 8) Guillermo Jones (19-80-80) Last Fight: 11/5/2011- TKO6 Michael Marrone (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown With all of his possible mandatories tied up with other fights, Jones has made renewed noises about moving up to face a Klitschko. In the meantime, he continues to train in Miami for a fight that has yet to materialize. 9) Danny Green (38-123-123) Last Fight: 11/30/2011- L(TKO11) vs. #8 Krzysztof Wlodarczyk Next Fight: Unknown Shane Cameron is hoping to fight Green if he beats Monte Barrett in May. No major news from Green’s end. 10) B.J. Flores (4-4-94) Last Fight: 1/28/2012- TKO6 Hugo Pineda (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown Flores has said he might fight the Fragomeni-Branco winner. Not sure how that will be affected by the fact that there is no winner. 11) Francisco Palacios (4-54) 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 has since chased fights with Roy Jones and Antonio Tarver, neither of which seem to be currently on the table. 12) Alexander Alexeev (4-65) Last Fight: 2/4/2012- UD12 #15 Enad Licina Next Fight: 5/11/2012- vs. #19 Firat Arslan Alexeev will fight Firat Arslan in an interesting crossroads-type fight on May 11 in Germany. 13) Lateef Kayode (4-73) Last Fight: 9/9/2011- UD10 Felix Cora, Jr. (UNR) Next Fight: 5/26/2012- vs. #3 Antonio Tarver Kayode has snubbed a mandatory shot at Guillermo Jones’ alphabet belt for a shot at an even better fighter, the aging but still very capable Antonio Tarver. 14) Giacobbe Fragomeni (4-178) Last Fight: 3/17/2012- Draw (MD12) vs. Silvio Branco (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown Fragomeni appears to be showing his age after nearly losing to an even older man in Brnaco. 15) Silvio Branco (4-4) Last Fight: 3/17/2012- Draw (MD12) vs. #10 Giacobbe Fragomeni Next Fight: Unknown 45 year old veteran Silvio Branco got what may have been his final hurrah with a close-fought draw with top 10-ranked Giacobbe Fragomeni. 16) Mateusz Masternak (2-2) Last Fight: 3/31/2012- TKO10 Felipe Romero (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown Masternak beat the best opponent of his career in Romero, and did so convincingly. 17) Enad Licina (2-94) 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. 18) Troy Ross (2-10) 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. 19) Firat Arslan (2-39) Last Fight: 1/28/2012- TKO2 Orlando Farias (UNR) Next Fight: 5/11/2012- vs. #12 Alexander Alexeev See Alexeev’s notes, above. 20) Grigory Drozd (2-9) Last Fight: 2/8/2012- RTD9 Richard Hall (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown Drozd was scheduled to fight William Joppy on April 4, but that fight appears to have been canceled with little fanfare. Good riddance.
Eric Fields was on Boxrec’s schedule to fight in Oklahoma City, but it’s still showing up as pending as I write this on Monday, and google isn’t turning up any mention of a fight having occurred. I’m going to assume for now that this one didn’t come off, and I’ll mention it next week and/or adjust the rankings as necessary if it turns out the results are just late in being reported.
Cox wasn’t really a great challenge for someone as highly-ranked as Lebedev, so the rankings don’t change. Dan’s Top 20
Champ: None
1) Yoan Pablo Hernandez (10-94-94) 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 (10-114-114) Last Fight: 4/4/2012- KO2 Shawn Cox (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown Has-beens and novices are all that seems to be on the wishlist for Lebedev, as he’s now reportedly working on a fight with Mormeck at cruiser. 3) Antonio Tarver (10-38-38) Last Fight: 7/20/2011- RTD9 #7 Danny Green Next Fight: 5/26/2012- vs. #13 Lateef Kayode Tarver criticized Kayode on ShoBox, and Kayode took exception. So now we have a grudge match. I don’t think the Nigerian is ready for this, but perhaps Tarver will finally show his age. 4) Marco Huck (10-279-279) Last Fight: 2/25/2012- L*(MD12) vs. HW #2 Alexander Povetkin (at HW) Next Fight: 5/5/2012- vs. #7 Ola Afolabi Huck will fight Afolabi May 5 in Erfurt, Germany, fresh off his near victory over Povetkin at heavyweight. 5) Steve Cunningham (10-408-408) Last Fight: 2/4/2012- L(UD12) vs. #3 Yoan Pablo Hernandez Next Fight: Unknown 6) Krzysztof Wlodarczyk (19-355-355) Last Fight: 11/30/2011- TKO11 #9 Danny Green Next Fight: Unknown 7) Ola Afolabi (19-161-161) Last Fight: 3/3/2012- RTD5 Valery Brudov (UNR) Next Fight: 5/5/2012- vs. #4 Marco Huck (UNR) See Huck’s notes, above. 8) Guillermo Jones (19-80-80) Last Fight: 11/5/2011- TKO6 Michael Marrone (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown With all of his possible mandatories tied up with other fights, Jones has made renewed noises about moving up to face a Klitschko. In the meantime, he continues to train in Miami for a fight that has yet to materialize. 9) Danny Green (38-123-123) Last Fight: 11/30/2011- L(TKO11) vs. #8 Krzysztof Wlodarczyk Next Fight: Unknown Shane Cameron is hoping to fight Green if he beats Monte Barrett in May. No major news from Green’s end. 10) B.J. Flores (4-4-94) Last Fight: 1/28/2012- TKO6 Hugo Pineda (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown Flores has said he might fight the Fragomeni-Branco winner. Not sure how that will be affected by the fact that there is no winner. 11) Francisco Palacios (4-54) 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 has since chased fights with Roy Jones and Antonio Tarver, neither of which seem to be currently on the table. 12) Alexander Alexeev (4-65) Last Fight: 2/4/2012- UD12 #15 Enad Licina Next Fight: 5/11/2012- vs. #19 Firat Arslan Alexeev will fight Firat Arslan in an interesting crossroads-type fight on May 11 in Germany. 13) Lateef Kayode (4-73) Last Fight: 9/9/2011- UD10 Felix Cora, Jr. (UNR) Next Fight: 5/26/2012- vs. #3 Antonio Tarver Kayode has snubbed a mandatory shot at Guillermo Jones’ alphabet belt for a shot at an even better fighter, the aging but still very capable Antonio Tarver. 14) Giacobbe Fragomeni (4-178) Last Fight: 3/17/2012- Draw (MD12) vs. Silvio Branco (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown Fragomeni appears to be showing his age after nearly losing to an even older man in Brnaco. 15) Silvio Branco (4-4) Last Fight: 3/17/2012- Draw (MD12) vs. #10 Giacobbe Fragomeni Next Fight: Unknown 45 year old veteran Silvio Branco got what may have been his final hurrah with a close-fought draw with top 10-ranked Giacobbe Fragomeni. 16) Mateusz Masternak (2-2) Last Fight: 3/31/2012- TKO10 Felipe Romero (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown Masternak beat the best opponent of his career in Romero, and did so convincingly. 17) Enad Licina (2-94) 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. 18) Troy Ross (2-10) 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. 19) Firat Arslan (2-39) Last Fight: 1/28/2012- TKO2 Orlando Farias (UNR) Next Fight: 5/11/2012- vs. #12 Alexander Alexeev See Alexeev’s notes, above. 20) Grigory Drozd (2-9) Last Fight: 2/8/2012- RTD9 Richard Hall (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown Drozd was scheduled to fight William Joppy on April 4, but that fight appears to have been canceled with little fanfare. Good riddance.
THE WEEK AHEAD: Undefeated Kiwi prospect David Aloua battles Aussie gatekeeper Anthony McCracken in Brisbane in what should be an intriguing fight on Friday, and Philly phringe contender Garrett Wilson fights prospect Andres Taylor in Atlantic City on Saturday. Aloua is only 6-0, but is further along in his progression as a pro in terms of opposition than most guys. He could be 7-0 and have an argument for a ranking next week.
Dan's Weekly Boxer Rankings and Blog 
April 23, 2012 at 12:14 am
Just watched the fight and Aloua should be 6/1 after that fight. Ridiculous decision.
April 23, 2012 at 12:37 am
I totally agree Steve. 97-93 McCracken, maybe even 98-92. I am working on the update that includes that result, and I promise I won’t be ranking Aloua anytime soon.