Light Heavyweight: 2012, Feb 20-26
I’m not going to bother with a blow-by-blow of last week’s disgraceful outcome. Suffice it to say that Campillo beat Cloud by either 2 or 4 points, and got robbed. Again. There isn’t one chance in hell it was anything but a clear victory for Campillo, and you can add David Robertson and Joel Elizondo to the long list of corrupt or buffoonish judges that should never be allowed the privilege to judge a fight again. Denny Nelson got it right. Robertson’s card was particularly egregious. At 116-110, he scored every round that Cloud MIGHT have won for Cloud, plus a full 4 rounds that he clearly lost. Embarrassing. Needless to say I’m treating this as a win for Campillo in my rankings, as should any decent entity.
Last Fight: 10/15/2011- NC vs. #2 Chad Dawson
Next Fight: 4/28/2012- vs. #2 Chad Dawson Hopkins and Dawson will square off- hopefully to a conclusion this time- on regular HBO in late April.
1) Jean Pascal (40-140-140)
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 (62-299-299)
Last Fight: 10/15/2011- NC* vs. Champ Bernard Hopkins
Next Fight: 4/28/2012- vs. Champ Bernard Hopkins See Hopkins’ notes, above. 3) Gabriel Campillo (1-87-87)
Last Fight: 2/18/2012- L*(UD12) vs. #3 Tavoris Cloud (Robbery)
Next Fight: Unknown Campillo all but dominated Cloud after being knocked down twice in round 1. He won by at least two points- probably 4, but the judges robbed him, as they often do. I don’t give any credence to judging that bad here. Campillo is the winner. 4) Tavoris Cloud (1-130-130)
Last Fight: 2/18/2012- UD12* vs. #4 Gabriel Campillo (Robbery)
Next Fight: Unknown I would say I hope the IBF orders an immediate rematch, but Cloud has no right to expect that, and probably doesn’t want it. Campillo won the fight, and everybody knows that. Campillo doesn’t need a rematch as far as I’m concerned. 5) Nathan Cleverly (19-107-107)
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. 6) Karo Murat (21-21-42) 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 (19-19-19) Last Fight: 10/15/2011- L*(MD12) vs. #4 Nathan Cleverly Next Fight: 4/14/2012- vs. #18 Danny McIntosh Bellew will face McIntosh in Liverpool on April 14. 8) Beibut Shumenov (3-83-87) 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. 9) Yusaf Mack (3-51-87)
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. 10) Dmitri Sukhotski (3-3-69) 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. 11) Isaac Chilemba (3-3) Last Fight: 2/3/2012- UD10 #16 Edison Miranda Next Fight: Unknown Chilemba, a former super middleweight, now has the highest ranking of his career at either weight after beating fringe contender Miranda. 12) Eduard Gutknecht (3-42) Last Fight: 2/4/2012- UD12* vs. Vyacheslav Uzelkov (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown Gutknecht received a bit of a gift decision at the expense of Uzelkov, and he takes a hit in the ratings as a result. 13) Vyacheslav Uzelkov (3-3) Last Fight: 3/4/2012- L*(UD12) vs. #8 Eduard Gutknecht Next Fight: Unknown Deserved much better than a unanimous decision loss against Gutknecht, and is rewarded for it in my rankings. 14) Adrian Diaconu (3-250)
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.
15) Ismayl Sillakh (3-58) Last Fight: 11/4/2011- TKO4 Ali Ismailov (UNR) (at CW) Next Fight: Unknown The WBC has slated Sillakh for an eliminator against Pascal, but that appears to be dead as Pascal apparently never wanted the fight. 16) Cornelius White (3-10) 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. 17) Zsolt Erdei (3-66) Last Fight: 6/4/2011- KO6 Byron Mitchell (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown Erdei may fight Pascal 4/14 on Showtime. 18) Danny McIntosh (3-87)
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. 19) Edison Miranda (3-10) Last Fight: 2/3/2012- L(UD10) vs. Isaac Chilemba (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown Miranda was winning the fight with Chilemba before suffering a cut that appeared to really throw him off. Hopefully he can bounce back from this setback. 20) Luis Garcia (1-1) 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.
That being said, the repercussions are relatively minor. Cloud and Campillo switch places. Chad Dawson is as entrenched as one can get at the #2 spot, having beaten a string of contenders rated between 2 and 4 a couple years ago, while #5 Nathan Cleverly hasn’t been anywhere near that level yet.
Jesus Gonzales relinquishes his #20 ranking this week, as well. He beat a fattened up super middleweight to earn the ranking in the first place, while fighting as a super middleweight himself. So his claim to a ranking here was tenuous to begin with. Last week, he got iced in just one round by Adonis Stevenson a division to the south, so he loses all benefit of the doubt at this point. This allows Cuban prospect Luis Garcia to reenter after two weeks out.
Dan’s Top 20 Champ: Bernard Hopkins (40-298-298)
Last Fight: 10/15/2011- NC vs. #2 Chad Dawson
Next Fight: 4/28/2012- vs. #2 Chad Dawson Hopkins and Dawson will square off- hopefully to a conclusion this time- on regular HBO in late April.
1) Jean Pascal (40-140-140)
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 (62-299-299)
Last Fight: 10/15/2011- NC* vs. Champ Bernard Hopkins
Next Fight: 4/28/2012- vs. Champ Bernard Hopkins See Hopkins’ notes, above. 3) Gabriel Campillo (1-87-87)
Last Fight: 2/18/2012- L*(UD12) vs. #3 Tavoris Cloud (Robbery)
Next Fight: Unknown Campillo all but dominated Cloud after being knocked down twice in round 1. He won by at least two points- probably 4, but the judges robbed him, as they often do. I don’t give any credence to judging that bad here. Campillo is the winner. 4) Tavoris Cloud (1-130-130)
Last Fight: 2/18/2012- UD12* vs. #4 Gabriel Campillo (Robbery)
Next Fight: Unknown I would say I hope the IBF orders an immediate rematch, but Cloud has no right to expect that, and probably doesn’t want it. Campillo won the fight, and everybody knows that. Campillo doesn’t need a rematch as far as I’m concerned. 5) Nathan Cleverly (19-107-107)
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. 6) Karo Murat (21-21-42) 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 (19-19-19) Last Fight: 10/15/2011- L*(MD12) vs. #4 Nathan Cleverly Next Fight: 4/14/2012- vs. #18 Danny McIntosh Bellew will face McIntosh in Liverpool on April 14. 8) Beibut Shumenov (3-83-87) 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. 9) Yusaf Mack (3-51-87)
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. 10) Dmitri Sukhotski (3-3-69) 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. 11) Isaac Chilemba (3-3) Last Fight: 2/3/2012- UD10 #16 Edison Miranda Next Fight: Unknown Chilemba, a former super middleweight, now has the highest ranking of his career at either weight after beating fringe contender Miranda. 12) Eduard Gutknecht (3-42) Last Fight: 2/4/2012- UD12* vs. Vyacheslav Uzelkov (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown Gutknecht received a bit of a gift decision at the expense of Uzelkov, and he takes a hit in the ratings as a result. 13) Vyacheslav Uzelkov (3-3) Last Fight: 3/4/2012- L*(UD12) vs. #8 Eduard Gutknecht Next Fight: Unknown Deserved much better than a unanimous decision loss against Gutknecht, and is rewarded for it in my rankings. 14) Adrian Diaconu (3-250)
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.
15) Ismayl Sillakh (3-58) Last Fight: 11/4/2011- TKO4 Ali Ismailov (UNR) (at CW) Next Fight: Unknown The WBC has slated Sillakh for an eliminator against Pascal, but that appears to be dead as Pascal apparently never wanted the fight. 16) Cornelius White (3-10) 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. 17) Zsolt Erdei (3-66) Last Fight: 6/4/2011- KO6 Byron Mitchell (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown Erdei may fight Pascal 4/14 on Showtime. 18) Danny McIntosh (3-87)
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. 19) Edison Miranda (3-10) Last Fight: 2/3/2012- L(UD10) vs. Isaac Chilemba (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown Miranda was winning the fight with Chilemba before suffering a cut that appeared to really throw him off. Hopefully he can bounce back from this setback. 20) Luis Garcia (1-1) 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.
The Week Ahead: Three mismatched fights involving top 50 fighters on Saturday: undefeated Ghanaian prospect Braimah Kamoko fights journeyman Hamza Wandera of Uganda in Ghana. #5 Nathan Cleverly fights Pennsylvania journeyman Tommy Karpency in Cardiff, Wales. On the same card, former cruiserweight contender Enzo Maccarinelli takes on sub-.500 journeyman Ciaran Healy.
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