Super Middleweight: 2011, Dec 5-11
Detroit prospect Anthony Dirrell is no longer just Andre’s twin brother. Dirrell was in with by far the toughest opponent of his career in French Canadian fringe contender Renan St. Juste. Dirrell had zero problem with St. Juste, whom he was in the middle of sweeping clean before St. Juste apparently dislocated his shoulder missing a punch. Dirrell knocked him down, with St. Juste hitting the deck while trying to hold Dirrell after a big shot, but the referee incorrectly ruled it a slip. Seconds later, the fight was stopped- more due to St. Juste’s injury than to Dirrell’s undeniable dominance. Not only is Dirrell now distinguished apart from his brother’s success, but if this week was any indication, he’s a much different fighter, as well. Unlike Andre- a mover by nature- Anthony fought largely flat-footed and stationary, though he did so with good balance and power- controlling range effectively with a jab that was plenty good enough to control St. Juste.
1) Andre Ward (54-133-133)
Last Fight: 5/14/2011- UD12 #6 Arthur Abraham
Next Fight: 12/17/2011- vs. #2 Carl Froch Ward-Froch has been rescheduled for December 17 in Atlantic City. 2) Carl Froch (54-286-286)
Last Fight: 6/4/2011- W(MD12) vs. #12 Glen Johnson
Next Fight: 12/17/2011- vs. #1 Andre Ward See Ward’s comments above. 3) Lucian Bute (54-295-295)
Last Fight: 11/5/2012- UD12 #13 Glen Johnson
Next Fight: Unknown Maybe we’ll see him against the Froch-Ward winner next?
4) Mikkel Kessler (54-365-365)
Last Fight: 6/4/2011- TKO6 Mehdi Bouadla (UNR)
Next Fight: 4/14/2012- vs. #5 Robert Stieglitz The big fight between Kessler and Stieglitz finally has a date: April 14.
5) Robert Stieglitz (35-119-119)
Last Fight: 4/9/2011- W(DQ10) vs. Khoren Gevor (UNR)
Next Fight: 1/14/2012- vs. Henry Weber (UNR) Stieglitz will fight a tune-up against middling prospect Henry Weber before the big one with Kessler. 6) Thomas Oosthuizen (14-27-75)
Last Fight: 11/23/2011- TKO11 Francisco Sierra (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown Oosthuizen had no problem with trial horse Francisco Sierra, and we hope to see him in with a world-class opponent soon. 7) Arthur Abraham (14-111-111)
Last Fight: 5/14/2011- L(UD12) vs. #1 Andre Ward
Next Fight: 1/14/2012- vs. Unknown Opponent Abraham returns to action on January 14 in Offenburg, Germany.
8) Dimitri Sartison (14-71-75)
Last Fight: 11/12/2011- W(MD8) vs. Arturs Kulikauskis (UNR) (at LHW)
Next Fight: Unknown Sartison had trouble keeping up with the movement of truly awful journeyman Arturs Kulikauskis in his comeback fight from knee surgery. Hopefully it gets better with time, because otherwise the once-promising Sartison is fodder.
9) Peter Quillin (14-32-32) Last Fight: 11/5/2011- TKO6 Craig McEwan (UNR) (at MW) Next Fight: Unknown Quillin netted a nice win at Middleweight against Craig McEwan, though it doesn’t affect his ranking here. 10) Sakio Bika (14-14-244)
Last Fight: 12/3/2011- RTD3 Alfredo Contreras (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown Avoided removal by the skin of his teeth, but he’s going to start plummeting any month now if he doesn’t beat someone decent.
11) Andy Lee (10-39) Last Fight: 10/1/2011- UD10 #14 Bryan Vera Next Fight: Unknown Lee was seeking a fight with J.C. Chavez, Jr. that was declined by the Mexican star, and so Lee has now focused his attention on Sergio Martinez. 12) Aaron Pryor, Jr. (10-31) Last Fight: 9/3/2011- L(UD12) vs. #10 Thomas Oosthuizen Next Fight: 12/10/2011- vs. Adonis Stevenson (UNR) Pryor looks to rebound from his momentum-halting loss to Oosthuizen with another tough fight against human highlight reel Adonis Stevenson. 13) Anthony Dirrell (1-1) Last Fight: 12/2/2011- TKO4 Renan St. Juste (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown Finally stepped up to the fringe contender level against St. Juste. Verdict: not too shabby. 14) Mouhamed Ali Ndiaye (1-4) Last Fight: 11/11/2011- TKO12 Andrea Di Luisa (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown Dominated and stopped a bona fide fringe contender in Di Luisa, and earned a nice ranking in the process. 15) Glen Johnson (1-57) Last Fight: 11/5/2011- L(UD12) vs. #3 Lucian Bute Next Fight: Unknown The Bute fight was the only one of Johnson’s recent career that wasn’t really close. Bute is certainly a top fighter, but it could be that the Road Warrior is starting to wind down a bit. 16) Bryan Vera (1-44) Last Fight: 10/1/2011- L(UD10) vs. #15 Andy Lee Next Fight: Unknown Totally outclassed by Lee in the rematch of a fight he won last time around. 17) Librado Andrade (1-15) Last Fight: 8/27/2011- TKO3 Matt O’Brien (UNR) Next Fight: 12/17/2011- vs. Don George (UNR) Andrade has not been deterred from fighting top prospects after the Pryor loss, and is now scheduled to fight knockout artist Don George in December. 18) Jesus Gonzales (1-22) Last Fight: 7/8/2011- UD12 Francisco Sierra (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown With a fairly comfortable win over a generally solid and much bigger opponent, Gonzales finds his way easily within the top 20. 19) James DeGale (1-8) Last Fight: 10/15/2011- W(MD12) vs. Piotr Wilczewski (UNR) Next Fight: 12/9/2011- vs. Jose Maria Guerrero (UNR) With Groves pulling out of the scheduled December 9 doubleheader, DeGale will now headline the show alone, defending his EBU in what should be a relatively easy outing against Spaniard Jose Maria Guerrero. 20) George Groves (1-29) Last Fight: 11/5/2011- TKO2 Paul Smith (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown Groves has injured his hand and will no longer make his scheduled appearance on December 9.
#10 Sakio Bika- almost removed for inactivity a couple weeks ago- did nothing more than get busy when he stopped low-level journeyman Alfredo Contreras (whom the aforementioned Anthony Dirrell stopped a few years back). Contreras was cut over both eyes- once from a butt and once from a punch- before calling it quits on his stool after 3.
And in the week’s upset special, mid-level prospect Hugo Kasperski dropped a close but unanimous decision to 15-2 Christopher Rebrasse for the French title.
Rebrasse remains unranked, since this is his first good win against a couple bad losses and a bad draw. Dirrell, however, debuts all the way up at #13, forcing down everyone rated at or below that mark last week one spot each, and bouncing Ezequiel Maderna from the rankings after 39 consecutive weeks in.
Dan’s Top 20 Champ: None
1) Andre Ward (54-133-133)
Last Fight: 5/14/2011- UD12 #6 Arthur Abraham
Next Fight: 12/17/2011- vs. #2 Carl Froch Ward-Froch has been rescheduled for December 17 in Atlantic City. 2) Carl Froch (54-286-286)
Last Fight: 6/4/2011- W(MD12) vs. #12 Glen Johnson
Next Fight: 12/17/2011- vs. #1 Andre Ward See Ward’s comments above. 3) Lucian Bute (54-295-295)
Last Fight: 11/5/2012- UD12 #13 Glen Johnson
Next Fight: Unknown Maybe we’ll see him against the Froch-Ward winner next?
4) Mikkel Kessler (54-365-365)
Last Fight: 6/4/2011- TKO6 Mehdi Bouadla (UNR)
Next Fight: 4/14/2012- vs. #5 Robert Stieglitz The big fight between Kessler and Stieglitz finally has a date: April 14.
5) Robert Stieglitz (35-119-119)
Last Fight: 4/9/2011- W(DQ10) vs. Khoren Gevor (UNR)
Next Fight: 1/14/2012- vs. Henry Weber (UNR) Stieglitz will fight a tune-up against middling prospect Henry Weber before the big one with Kessler. 6) Thomas Oosthuizen (14-27-75)
Last Fight: 11/23/2011- TKO11 Francisco Sierra (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown Oosthuizen had no problem with trial horse Francisco Sierra, and we hope to see him in with a world-class opponent soon. 7) Arthur Abraham (14-111-111)
Last Fight: 5/14/2011- L(UD12) vs. #1 Andre Ward
Next Fight: 1/14/2012- vs. Unknown Opponent Abraham returns to action on January 14 in Offenburg, Germany.
8) Dimitri Sartison (14-71-75)
Last Fight: 11/12/2011- W(MD8) vs. Arturs Kulikauskis (UNR) (at LHW)
Next Fight: Unknown Sartison had trouble keeping up with the movement of truly awful journeyman Arturs Kulikauskis in his comeback fight from knee surgery. Hopefully it gets better with time, because otherwise the once-promising Sartison is fodder.
9) Peter Quillin (14-32-32) Last Fight: 11/5/2011- TKO6 Craig McEwan (UNR) (at MW) Next Fight: Unknown Quillin netted a nice win at Middleweight against Craig McEwan, though it doesn’t affect his ranking here. 10) Sakio Bika (14-14-244)
Last Fight: 12/3/2011- RTD3 Alfredo Contreras (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown Avoided removal by the skin of his teeth, but he’s going to start plummeting any month now if he doesn’t beat someone decent.
11) Andy Lee (10-39) Last Fight: 10/1/2011- UD10 #14 Bryan Vera Next Fight: Unknown Lee was seeking a fight with J.C. Chavez, Jr. that was declined by the Mexican star, and so Lee has now focused his attention on Sergio Martinez. 12) Aaron Pryor, Jr. (10-31) Last Fight: 9/3/2011- L(UD12) vs. #10 Thomas Oosthuizen Next Fight: 12/10/2011- vs. Adonis Stevenson (UNR) Pryor looks to rebound from his momentum-halting loss to Oosthuizen with another tough fight against human highlight reel Adonis Stevenson. 13) Anthony Dirrell (1-1) Last Fight: 12/2/2011- TKO4 Renan St. Juste (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown Finally stepped up to the fringe contender level against St. Juste. Verdict: not too shabby. 14) Mouhamed Ali Ndiaye (1-4) Last Fight: 11/11/2011- TKO12 Andrea Di Luisa (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown Dominated and stopped a bona fide fringe contender in Di Luisa, and earned a nice ranking in the process. 15) Glen Johnson (1-57) Last Fight: 11/5/2011- L(UD12) vs. #3 Lucian Bute Next Fight: Unknown The Bute fight was the only one of Johnson’s recent career that wasn’t really close. Bute is certainly a top fighter, but it could be that the Road Warrior is starting to wind down a bit. 16) Bryan Vera (1-44) Last Fight: 10/1/2011- L(UD10) vs. #15 Andy Lee Next Fight: Unknown Totally outclassed by Lee in the rematch of a fight he won last time around. 17) Librado Andrade (1-15) Last Fight: 8/27/2011- TKO3 Matt O’Brien (UNR) Next Fight: 12/17/2011- vs. Don George (UNR) Andrade has not been deterred from fighting top prospects after the Pryor loss, and is now scheduled to fight knockout artist Don George in December. 18) Jesus Gonzales (1-22) Last Fight: 7/8/2011- UD12 Francisco Sierra (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown With a fairly comfortable win over a generally solid and much bigger opponent, Gonzales finds his way easily within the top 20. 19) James DeGale (1-8) Last Fight: 10/15/2011- W(MD12) vs. Piotr Wilczewski (UNR) Next Fight: 12/9/2011- vs. Jose Maria Guerrero (UNR) With Groves pulling out of the scheduled December 9 doubleheader, DeGale will now headline the show alone, defending his EBU in what should be a relatively easy outing against Spaniard Jose Maria Guerrero. 20) George Groves (1-29) Last Fight: 11/5/2011- TKO2 Paul Smith (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown Groves has injured his hand and will no longer make his scheduled appearance on December 9.
The Week Ahead: Haitian-Canadian knockout artist Adonis Stevenson fights the best opponent of his career when he battles #12 Aaron Pryor, Jr. in Montreal’s Bell Centre on Saturday.
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