Light Heavyweight: 2012, Apr 16-22
Brazilian prospect Marcus Vinicius de Oliveira destroyed Ohio journeyman Adam Collins in well under a minute Saturday in Miami, though the fight was contested several pounds over the light heavyweight limit. No changes to the rankings this week.
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 (48-148-148)
Last Fight: 5/21/2011- L(UD12) vs. #1 Bernard Hopkins
Next Fight: Unknown Pascal and Cloud are close to a deal, and are just waiting on a date from Showtime.
2) Chad Dawson (70-307-307)
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 (9-95-95)
Last Fight: 2/18/2012- L*(UD12) vs. #3 Tavoris Cloud (Robbery)
Next Fight: Unknown The IBF unsurprisingly rejected Campillo’s appeal and request for an immediate rematch. Hopefully Campillo won’t need it since everyone saw him win. 4) Tavoris Cloud (9-138-138)
Last Fight: 2/18/2012- UD12* vs. #4 Gabriel Campillo (Robbery)
Next Fight: Unknown It appeared certain that Cloud would fight Murat next, but there’s now a deal on the table for him to fight Jean Pascal. 5) Nathan Cleverly (27-115-115)
Last Fight: 2/25/2012- UD12 Tommy Karpency (UNR)
Next Fight: 4/28/2012- vs. Robin Krasniqi (UNR) After originally quite admirably rejecting Cleverly’s proposed title fight with Krasniqi, the WBO folded and gave Cleverly 120 days after the fight to face Dmitri Sukhotski. 6) Karo Murat (29-29-50) Last Fight: 10/1/2011- Draw (SD12) vs. #4 Gabriel Campillo Next Fight: Unknown His planned fight with Cloud is very much in doubt, as Cloud and Pascal appear close to a deal. 7) Tony Bellew (27-27-27) Last Fight: 10/15/2011- L*(MD12) vs. #4 Nathan Cleverly Next Fight: 4/27/2012- vs. #19 Danny McIntosh The Bellew-McIntosh fight is now scheduled for 4/27. 8) Beibut Shumenov (11-91-95) 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 (11-59-95)
Last Fight: 6/25/2011- L(TKO8) vs. #3 Tavoris Cloud
Next Fight: 4/27/2012- vs. Omar Sheika (UNR) Mack will apparently be fighting journeyman Omar Sheika on April 27 in Atlantic City.
10) Dmitri Sukhotski (11-11-77) Last Fight: 10/8/2011- TKO2 Nadjib Mohammedi (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown The WBO originally demanded that Cleverly fight Sukhotski rather than the mediocre Krasniqi, but then backed down and gave Cleverly an extra 4 months to take the fight. 11) Isaac Chilemba (11-11) 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) Vyacheslav Uzelkov (3-11) 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. 13) Adrian Diaconu (3-258)
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.
14) Ismayl Sillakh (3-66) Last Fight: 11/4/2011- TKO4 Ali Ismailov (UNR) (at CW) Next Fight: 4/27/2012- vs. Denis Grachev (UNR) With Pascal ducking him, Sillakh will settle for a fight with undefeated Russian prospect Denis Grachev on Friday Night Fights. 15) Cornelius White (3-18) 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. 16) Zsolt Erdei (3-74) Last Fight: 6/4/2011- KO6 Byron Mitchell (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown Had a fight with Pascal lined up, but Showtime couldn’t come up with the money to make it happen. 17) Tony Averlant (3-3) Last Fight: 3/31/2012- L*(SD12) vs. #12 Eduard Gutknecht (Robbery) Next Fight: Unknown Averlant is probably closer to the journeyman he was on 3/30 than the solid fringe contender he became on 3/31, but a win is a win…even when it’s a loss (in Germany). 18) Eduard Gutknecht (3-50) Last Fight: 3/31/2012- W*(SD12) vs. Tony Averlant (UNR) (Robbery) Next Fight: Unknown Lost a close but clear fight against Averlant, but got the decision. That’s two at least questionable verdicts in a row for Gutknecht, both against extremely unranked fighters. 19) Danny McIntosh (3-95)
Last Fight: 5/7/2011- L(TKO8) vs. Eduard Gutknecht (UNR)
Next Fight: 4/27/2012- vs. #7 Tony Bellew McIntosh will travel to Liverpool to fight Bellew for the British title. 20) Edison Miranda (3-18) 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.
Dan’s Top 20 Champ: Bernard Hopkins (48-306-306)
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 (48-148-148)
Last Fight: 5/21/2011- L(UD12) vs. #1 Bernard Hopkins
Next Fight: Unknown Pascal and Cloud are close to a deal, and are just waiting on a date from Showtime.
2) Chad Dawson (70-307-307)
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 (9-95-95)
Last Fight: 2/18/2012- L*(UD12) vs. #3 Tavoris Cloud (Robbery)
Next Fight: Unknown The IBF unsurprisingly rejected Campillo’s appeal and request for an immediate rematch. Hopefully Campillo won’t need it since everyone saw him win. 4) Tavoris Cloud (9-138-138)
Last Fight: 2/18/2012- UD12* vs. #4 Gabriel Campillo (Robbery)
Next Fight: Unknown It appeared certain that Cloud would fight Murat next, but there’s now a deal on the table for him to fight Jean Pascal. 5) Nathan Cleverly (27-115-115)
Last Fight: 2/25/2012- UD12 Tommy Karpency (UNR)
Next Fight: 4/28/2012- vs. Robin Krasniqi (UNR) After originally quite admirably rejecting Cleverly’s proposed title fight with Krasniqi, the WBO folded and gave Cleverly 120 days after the fight to face Dmitri Sukhotski. 6) Karo Murat (29-29-50) Last Fight: 10/1/2011- Draw (SD12) vs. #4 Gabriel Campillo Next Fight: Unknown His planned fight with Cloud is very much in doubt, as Cloud and Pascal appear close to a deal. 7) Tony Bellew (27-27-27) Last Fight: 10/15/2011- L*(MD12) vs. #4 Nathan Cleverly Next Fight: 4/27/2012- vs. #19 Danny McIntosh The Bellew-McIntosh fight is now scheduled for 4/27. 8) Beibut Shumenov (11-91-95) 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 (11-59-95)
Last Fight: 6/25/2011- L(TKO8) vs. #3 Tavoris Cloud
Next Fight: 4/27/2012- vs. Omar Sheika (UNR) Mack will apparently be fighting journeyman Omar Sheika on April 27 in Atlantic City.
10) Dmitri Sukhotski (11-11-77) Last Fight: 10/8/2011- TKO2 Nadjib Mohammedi (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown The WBO originally demanded that Cleverly fight Sukhotski rather than the mediocre Krasniqi, but then backed down and gave Cleverly an extra 4 months to take the fight. 11) Isaac Chilemba (11-11) 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) Vyacheslav Uzelkov (3-11) 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. 13) Adrian Diaconu (3-258)
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.
14) Ismayl Sillakh (3-66) Last Fight: 11/4/2011- TKO4 Ali Ismailov (UNR) (at CW) Next Fight: 4/27/2012- vs. Denis Grachev (UNR) With Pascal ducking him, Sillakh will settle for a fight with undefeated Russian prospect Denis Grachev on Friday Night Fights. 15) Cornelius White (3-18) 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. 16) Zsolt Erdei (3-74) Last Fight: 6/4/2011- KO6 Byron Mitchell (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown Had a fight with Pascal lined up, but Showtime couldn’t come up with the money to make it happen. 17) Tony Averlant (3-3) Last Fight: 3/31/2012- L*(SD12) vs. #12 Eduard Gutknecht (Robbery) Next Fight: Unknown Averlant is probably closer to the journeyman he was on 3/30 than the solid fringe contender he became on 3/31, but a win is a win…even when it’s a loss (in Germany). 18) Eduard Gutknecht (3-50) Last Fight: 3/31/2012- W*(SD12) vs. Tony Averlant (UNR) (Robbery) Next Fight: Unknown Lost a close but clear fight against Averlant, but got the decision. That’s two at least questionable verdicts in a row for Gutknecht, both against extremely unranked fighters. 19) Danny McIntosh (3-95)
Last Fight: 5/7/2011- L(TKO8) vs. Eduard Gutknecht (UNR)
Next Fight: 4/27/2012- vs. #7 Tony Bellew McIntosh will travel to Liverpool to fight Bellew for the British title. 20) Edison Miranda (3-18) 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.
The Week Ahead: Friday in France, gatekeeper Nadjib Mohammedi takes on journeyman Mohamed Belkacem. The following night, former contender Juergen Braehmer may or may not return to activity at light heavyweight (he was over the divisional limit in his last fight) when he takes on Namibian journeyman Vikapita Meroro in Schwerin, Germany. Meanwhile, Polish prospect Dawid Kostecki takes on Georgian journeyman Sandro Siproshvili in a 6-rounder from Poland.
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