Cruiserweight: 2012, May 21-27
#16 Mateusz Masternak fought 7-4 Welsh journeyman Hari Miles on the Kessler-Green undercard, and the only upset involved was that Miles won a round on all cards. No changes to the rankings.
Champ: None
1) Yoan Pablo Hernandez (16-100-100) 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 (16-120-120) Last Fight: 4/4/2012- KO2 Shawn Cox (UNR) Next Fight: 7/21/2012- vs. HW #16 Jean-Marc Mormeck Lebedev-Mormeck is now official, and will happen on July 21 in Paris. 3) Antonio Tarver (16-44-44) Last Fight: 7/20/2011- RTD9 #7 Danny Green Next Fight: 6/2/2012- vs. #13 Lateef Kayode I seem to have missed this over a month ago, but Kayode-Tarver was sneakily moved from this weekend to June 2. 4) Steve Cunningham (3-414-414) Last Fight: 2/4/2012- L(UD12) vs. #3 Yoan Pablo Hernandez Next Fight: Unknown 5) Marco Huck (3-285-285) Last Fight: 5/5/2012- Draw* (MD12) vs. #7 Ola Afolabi Next Fight: Unknown A summary of where Huck is at: Afolabi understandably wants a third fight with him- this time in the UK. Huck wants a rematch with Povetkin. Meanwhile, Huck is laying the groundwork for hyping a potential fight with Alekseev following the Russian’s poor performance against Arslan. 6) Ola Afolabi (3-167-167) Last Fight: 5/5/2012- Draw* (MD12) vs. #4 Marco Huck Next Fight: Unknown Afolabi would like a third fight with Huck, this time in the UK. 7) Krzysztof Wlodarczyk (3-361-361) Last Fight: 11/30/2011- TKO11 #9 Danny Green Next Fight: Unknown 8) Guillermo Jones (25-86-86) Last Fight: 11/5/2011- TKO6 Michael Marrone (UNR) Next Fight: 6/23/2012- vs. Joell Godfrey (UNR) After missing out on several potential big fights, Jones will settle for a stay-busy outing against St. Louis area journeyman Joell Godfrey, June 23 in Miami. 9) Firat Arslan (2-2-45) Last Fight: 5/11/2012- Draw* (MD12) vs. #12 Alexander Alekseev (Robbery) Next Fight: Unknown Arslan clearly beat Alekseev and didn’t get full credit for it from the judges (including one who was manifestly corrupt). I’ve heard whispers of a rematch, but there are also indications that Alekseev might fight Huck or Masternak next. 10) Danny Green (2-129-129) 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, except that he’s trying to goad the much, much smaller Anthony Mundine into a rematch. 11) B.J. Flores (2-100) 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. 12) Francisco Palacios (2-60) 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. 13) Lateef Kayode (10-79) Last Fight: 9/9/2011- UD10 Felix Cora, Jr. (UNR) Next Fight: 6/2/2012- 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 (10-184) 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 Branco. 15) Silvio Branco (10-10) 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 (8-8) Last Fight: 5/19/2012- UD10 Hari Miles (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown Masternak’s opponent for this weekend will be very underwhelming Welsh journeyman Hari Miles. 17) Alexander Alekseev (2-71) Last Fight: 5/11/2012- Draw*(MD12) vs. #19 Firat Arslan (robbery- should have been L) Next Fight: Unknown Huck has randomly been talking smack, which seems like a contrived attempt at hyping a pretty pointless fight between the two of them. A rematch with Arslan would seem like a pretty natural move. 18) Enad Licina (2-100) 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. 19) Troy Ross (2-16) 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. 20) Grigory Drozd (8-15) Last Fight: 2/8/2012- RTD9 Richard Hall (UNR) Next Fight: 6/2/2012- vs. Cesar Crenz (UNR) After a scheduled matchup with washed-up William Joppy thankfully fell through, Drozd is now scheduled for an interesting matchup with fringe contender Cesar Crenz of Argentina in early June.
Dan’s Top 20
Champ: None
1) Yoan Pablo Hernandez (16-100-100) 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 (16-120-120) Last Fight: 4/4/2012- KO2 Shawn Cox (UNR) Next Fight: 7/21/2012- vs. HW #16 Jean-Marc Mormeck Lebedev-Mormeck is now official, and will happen on July 21 in Paris. 3) Antonio Tarver (16-44-44) Last Fight: 7/20/2011- RTD9 #7 Danny Green Next Fight: 6/2/2012- vs. #13 Lateef Kayode I seem to have missed this over a month ago, but Kayode-Tarver was sneakily moved from this weekend to June 2. 4) Steve Cunningham (3-414-414) Last Fight: 2/4/2012- L(UD12) vs. #3 Yoan Pablo Hernandez Next Fight: Unknown 5) Marco Huck (3-285-285) Last Fight: 5/5/2012- Draw* (MD12) vs. #7 Ola Afolabi Next Fight: Unknown A summary of where Huck is at: Afolabi understandably wants a third fight with him- this time in the UK. Huck wants a rematch with Povetkin. Meanwhile, Huck is laying the groundwork for hyping a potential fight with Alekseev following the Russian’s poor performance against Arslan. 6) Ola Afolabi (3-167-167) Last Fight: 5/5/2012- Draw* (MD12) vs. #4 Marco Huck Next Fight: Unknown Afolabi would like a third fight with Huck, this time in the UK. 7) Krzysztof Wlodarczyk (3-361-361) Last Fight: 11/30/2011- TKO11 #9 Danny Green Next Fight: Unknown 8) Guillermo Jones (25-86-86) Last Fight: 11/5/2011- TKO6 Michael Marrone (UNR) Next Fight: 6/23/2012- vs. Joell Godfrey (UNR) After missing out on several potential big fights, Jones will settle for a stay-busy outing against St. Louis area journeyman Joell Godfrey, June 23 in Miami. 9) Firat Arslan (2-2-45) Last Fight: 5/11/2012- Draw* (MD12) vs. #12 Alexander Alekseev (Robbery) Next Fight: Unknown Arslan clearly beat Alekseev and didn’t get full credit for it from the judges (including one who was manifestly corrupt). I’ve heard whispers of a rematch, but there are also indications that Alekseev might fight Huck or Masternak next. 10) Danny Green (2-129-129) 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, except that he’s trying to goad the much, much smaller Anthony Mundine into a rematch. 11) B.J. Flores (2-100) 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. 12) Francisco Palacios (2-60) 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. 13) Lateef Kayode (10-79) Last Fight: 9/9/2011- UD10 Felix Cora, Jr. (UNR) Next Fight: 6/2/2012- 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 (10-184) 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 Branco. 15) Silvio Branco (10-10) 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 (8-8) Last Fight: 5/19/2012- UD10 Hari Miles (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown Masternak’s opponent for this weekend will be very underwhelming Welsh journeyman Hari Miles. 17) Alexander Alekseev (2-71) Last Fight: 5/11/2012- Draw*(MD12) vs. #19 Firat Arslan (robbery- should have been L) Next Fight: Unknown Huck has randomly been talking smack, which seems like a contrived attempt at hyping a pretty pointless fight between the two of them. A rematch with Arslan would seem like a pretty natural move. 18) Enad Licina (2-100) 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. 19) Troy Ross (2-16) 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. 20) Grigory Drozd (8-15) Last Fight: 2/8/2012- RTD9 Richard Hall (UNR) Next Fight: 6/2/2012- vs. Cesar Crenz (UNR) After a scheduled matchup with washed-up William Joppy thankfully fell through, Drozd is now scheduled for an interesting matchup with fringe contender Cesar Crenz of Argentina in early June.
THE WEEK AHEAD: Finnish gatekeeper Juho Haapoja was supposed to fight this weekend, but he has injured his foot and ankle at the last minute, and the fight has been postponed until September. So no action this week.
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