Heavyweight: 2012, Jun 11-17
43 year-old Gatekeeper and Argentine Champion Fabio Moli defended that crown against Emilio Zarate. He knocked an undefeated Zarate out in 2010 in just three rounds, but needed 8 rounds to hand Zarate his 9th loss this time around. Still not bad for an older guy. Zarate was, however, only a journeyman, so no changes to the rankings.
Champ: Wladimir Klitschko (155-368-368)
Last Fight: 3/3/2012- TKO4 #16 Jean-Marc Mormeck
Next Fight: 7/7/2012- vs. #10 Tony Thompson
Wlad will be defending the title against #10 Tony Thompson in what will likely be another ho-hum matchup for the Champ. On the bright side, Thompson did put up a relatively spirited challenge the last time the two met in 2008.
1) Vitali Klitschko (192-192-192)
Last Fight: 2/18/2012- UD12 #6 Dereck Chisora
Next Fight: 9/8/2012- vs. Manuel Charr (UNR)
Vitali has scheduled what it sounds like will be his final fight. Unfortunately, it’s hardly a fight at all. He’ll take on one of the weakest undefeated fighters you’ll ever see- Syrian Manuel Charr.
2) Alexander Povetkin (42-242-242) Last Fight: 2/25/2012- W*(MD12) vs. CW #5 Marco Huck
Next Fight: 7/14/2012- vs. Hasim Rahman (UNR)
Povetkin’s ludicrous fight with Rahman will now be the co-feature to Haye-Chisora in London. 3) Tomasz Adamek (13-112-112)
Last Fight: 3/24/2012- UD10 Nagy Aguilera (UNR)
Next Fight: 6/16/2012- vs. Eddie Chambers (UNR)
Big news! Eddie Chambers- who was removed for inactivity from this very spot in the rankings not long ago- will be fighting Adamek in June on NBC Sports. The stakes will of course be the #2 spot, which Povetkin now appears to be merely warming for the winner. That is, if Chambers doesn’t withdraw from a 3rd consecutive bout. 4) Marco Huck (13-16-16) Last Fight: 5/5/2012- Draw (MD12) vs. CW #7 Ola Afolabi (at CW) Next Fight: Unknown Unfortunately, Huck is apparently making a thinly-veiled attempt to make a pointless fight with weak European cruiserweight paper champion Alexander Alekseev. 5) Tyson Fury (13-47-47) Last Fight: 4/14/2012- TKO5 Martin Rogan (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
Fury will be fighting July 7th in Clevedon, England. Opponent TBA. 6) Dereck Chisora (13-28-91) Last Fight: 2/18/2012- L(UD12) vs. #1 Vitali Klitschko
Next Fight: 7/14/2012- vs. David Haye (UNR)
The British Board is bitterly opposed to this bout- which they refuse to license- but apparently it is going forward anyway. Get ready for a highly controversial blood-feud between Chisora and recent brawl opponent David Haye, July 14 in London.
7) Robert Helenius (13-63-107)
Last Fight: 12/3/2011- W*(SD12) vs. #18 Dereck Chisora (Robbery)
Next Fight: Unknown
Helenius is now the mandatory challenger to #8 Kubrat Pulev’s European title- previously held by Helenius. Helenius is still in the midst of an uncertain recovery from shoulder surgery, however.
8) Kubrat Pulev (6-6-83) Last Fight: 5/5/2012- KO11 #12 Alexander Dimitrenko
Next Fight: Unknown
Might have a Helenius clash on the horizon, though the Finn’s health is a factor.
9) Odlanier Solis (4-13-107)
Last Fight: 5/19/2012- UD12 Konstantin Airich (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown
Considering he was extremely out of shape and had a surgically-repaired knee to worry about, Solis didn’t look too terrible in coasting to victory over a disappointing Konstantin Airich. 10) Tony Thompson (4-107-107)
Last Fight: 5/27/2011- TKO3 Maurice Harris (UNR)
Next Fight: 7/7/2012- vs. Champ Wladimir Klitschko
See Wladimir Klitschko’s comments, above.
11) Seth Mitchell (13-27) Last Fight: 4/28/2012- TKO3 Chazz Witherspoon (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown Mitchell was set to fight the Klitschko-promoted Johnathon Banks, a mediocre one-loss prospect who is probably an upgrade from Witherspoon at least in terms of accomplishment, but a downgrade from Ibragimov- but he is now on the shelf until the fall due to a hand injury. 12) Ruslan Chagaev (6-291) Last Fight: 4/21/2012- TKO3 Billy Zumbrun (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
The Valuev win is now over 5 years old, and Chagaev’s ranking has suffered as a result.
13) Alexander Dimitrenko (6-74) Last Fight: 5/5/2012- L(KO11) vs. #17 Kubrat Pulev
Next Fight: Unknown
Despite showing the heart of a quitter and the consistency of a random number generator against Pulev, Dimitrenko hangs on to a solid ranking because the other guys in his tier haven’t been winning meaningful fights lately.
14) Chris Arreola (6-169)
Last Fight: 2/18/2012- KO1 Eric Molina (UNR)
Next Fight: 6/23/2012- vs. Unknown Opponent
Arreola, it appears, will fight on the Matthysse-Soto, Ortiz-Lopez card on June 23. Most likely his fight will be televised on Showtime Extreme again.
15) Denis Boytsov (6-156)
Last Fight: 4/13/2012- UD10 Dominick Guinn (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
Boytsov will likely fight in Moscow on August 24, but nothing official yet.
16) Jean-Marc Mormeck (6-107) Last Fight: 3/3/2012- L(TKO4) vs. Champ Wladimir Klitschko Next Fight: 7/21/2012- vs. CW #2 Denis Lebedev (at CW)
It’s official. Mormeck will drop back to cruiserweight for the first time since 2007 to fight #2 contender Denis Lebedev in Paris on July 21.
17) Bermane Stiverne (6-51) Last Fight: 4/14/2012- UD8 Willie Herring (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
Stiverne is one of several opponents being floated by Vitali’s team right now.
18) Edmund Gerber (6-6) Last Fight: 5/5/2012- UD8 Maurice Harris (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown Not the most scintillating effort against a passive Harris, but the old man is what passes for a fringe contender in this division at the moment, and thus Gerber has built himself a ranking. 19) Franklin Lawrence (6-55) Last Fight: 10/28/2011- TKO2 Raymond Ochieng (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown Lawrence is yet another fighter Vitali is interested in fighting in September. 20) Kevin Johnson (6-11) Last Fight: 4/1/2012- TKO9 Alex Leapai (UNR) Next Fight: 6/20/2012- vs. Unknown Opponent Johnson is set to fight on June 20th in an international prizefighter tournament, but no word on his draw yet. Tom Dallas and Albert Sosnowski are also entered in the tournament so far.
Dan’s Top 20 (Weeks in current position-weeks in top 10 (if applicable)-weeks in top 20)
Champ: Wladimir Klitschko (155-368-368)
Last Fight: 3/3/2012- TKO4 #16 Jean-Marc Mormeck
Next Fight: 7/7/2012- vs. #10 Tony Thompson
Wlad will be defending the title against #10 Tony Thompson in what will likely be another ho-hum matchup for the Champ. On the bright side, Thompson did put up a relatively spirited challenge the last time the two met in 2008.
1) Vitali Klitschko (192-192-192)
Last Fight: 2/18/2012- UD12 #6 Dereck Chisora
Next Fight: 9/8/2012- vs. Manuel Charr (UNR)
Vitali has scheduled what it sounds like will be his final fight. Unfortunately, it’s hardly a fight at all. He’ll take on one of the weakest undefeated fighters you’ll ever see- Syrian Manuel Charr.
2) Alexander Povetkin (42-242-242) Last Fight: 2/25/2012- W*(MD12) vs. CW #5 Marco Huck
Next Fight: 7/14/2012- vs. Hasim Rahman (UNR)
Povetkin’s ludicrous fight with Rahman will now be the co-feature to Haye-Chisora in London. 3) Tomasz Adamek (13-112-112)
Last Fight: 3/24/2012- UD10 Nagy Aguilera (UNR)
Next Fight: 6/16/2012- vs. Eddie Chambers (UNR)
Big news! Eddie Chambers- who was removed for inactivity from this very spot in the rankings not long ago- will be fighting Adamek in June on NBC Sports. The stakes will of course be the #2 spot, which Povetkin now appears to be merely warming for the winner. That is, if Chambers doesn’t withdraw from a 3rd consecutive bout. 4) Marco Huck (13-16-16) Last Fight: 5/5/2012- Draw (MD12) vs. CW #7 Ola Afolabi (at CW) Next Fight: Unknown Unfortunately, Huck is apparently making a thinly-veiled attempt to make a pointless fight with weak European cruiserweight paper champion Alexander Alekseev. 5) Tyson Fury (13-47-47) Last Fight: 4/14/2012- TKO5 Martin Rogan (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
Fury will be fighting July 7th in Clevedon, England. Opponent TBA. 6) Dereck Chisora (13-28-91) Last Fight: 2/18/2012- L(UD12) vs. #1 Vitali Klitschko
Next Fight: 7/14/2012- vs. David Haye (UNR)
The British Board is bitterly opposed to this bout- which they refuse to license- but apparently it is going forward anyway. Get ready for a highly controversial blood-feud between Chisora and recent brawl opponent David Haye, July 14 in London.
7) Robert Helenius (13-63-107)
Last Fight: 12/3/2011- W*(SD12) vs. #18 Dereck Chisora (Robbery)
Next Fight: Unknown
Helenius is now the mandatory challenger to #8 Kubrat Pulev’s European title- previously held by Helenius. Helenius is still in the midst of an uncertain recovery from shoulder surgery, however.
8) Kubrat Pulev (6-6-83) Last Fight: 5/5/2012- KO11 #12 Alexander Dimitrenko
Next Fight: Unknown
Might have a Helenius clash on the horizon, though the Finn’s health is a factor.
9) Odlanier Solis (4-13-107)
Last Fight: 5/19/2012- UD12 Konstantin Airich (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown
Considering he was extremely out of shape and had a surgically-repaired knee to worry about, Solis didn’t look too terrible in coasting to victory over a disappointing Konstantin Airich. 10) Tony Thompson (4-107-107)
Last Fight: 5/27/2011- TKO3 Maurice Harris (UNR)
Next Fight: 7/7/2012- vs. Champ Wladimir Klitschko
See Wladimir Klitschko’s comments, above.
11) Seth Mitchell (13-27) Last Fight: 4/28/2012- TKO3 Chazz Witherspoon (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown Mitchell was set to fight the Klitschko-promoted Johnathon Banks, a mediocre one-loss prospect who is probably an upgrade from Witherspoon at least in terms of accomplishment, but a downgrade from Ibragimov- but he is now on the shelf until the fall due to a hand injury. 12) Ruslan Chagaev (6-291) Last Fight: 4/21/2012- TKO3 Billy Zumbrun (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
The Valuev win is now over 5 years old, and Chagaev’s ranking has suffered as a result.
13) Alexander Dimitrenko (6-74) Last Fight: 5/5/2012- L(KO11) vs. #17 Kubrat Pulev
Next Fight: Unknown
Despite showing the heart of a quitter and the consistency of a random number generator against Pulev, Dimitrenko hangs on to a solid ranking because the other guys in his tier haven’t been winning meaningful fights lately.
14) Chris Arreola (6-169)
Last Fight: 2/18/2012- KO1 Eric Molina (UNR)
Next Fight: 6/23/2012- vs. Unknown Opponent
Arreola, it appears, will fight on the Matthysse-Soto, Ortiz-Lopez card on June 23. Most likely his fight will be televised on Showtime Extreme again.
15) Denis Boytsov (6-156)
Last Fight: 4/13/2012- UD10 Dominick Guinn (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
Boytsov will likely fight in Moscow on August 24, but nothing official yet.
16) Jean-Marc Mormeck (6-107) Last Fight: 3/3/2012- L(TKO4) vs. Champ Wladimir Klitschko Next Fight: 7/21/2012- vs. CW #2 Denis Lebedev (at CW)
It’s official. Mormeck will drop back to cruiserweight for the first time since 2007 to fight #2 contender Denis Lebedev in Paris on July 21.
17) Bermane Stiverne (6-51) Last Fight: 4/14/2012- UD8 Willie Herring (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
Stiverne is one of several opponents being floated by Vitali’s team right now.
18) Edmund Gerber (6-6) Last Fight: 5/5/2012- UD8 Maurice Harris (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown Not the most scintillating effort against a passive Harris, but the old man is what passes for a fringe contender in this division at the moment, and thus Gerber has built himself a ranking. 19) Franklin Lawrence (6-55) Last Fight: 10/28/2011- TKO2 Raymond Ochieng (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown Lawrence is yet another fighter Vitali is interested in fighting in September. 20) Kevin Johnson (6-11) Last Fight: 4/1/2012- TKO9 Alex Leapai (UNR) Next Fight: 6/20/2012- vs. Unknown Opponent Johnson is set to fight on June 20th in an international prizefighter tournament, but no word on his draw yet. Tom Dallas and Albert Sosnowski are also entered in the tournament so far.
THE WEEK AHEAD: Newark, New Jersey takes center stage this week as three notable heavyweights see action at the Prudential Center. #3 Tomasz Adamek takes on Eddie Chambers, who was ranked #3 prior to being removed for inactivity earlier this year. On the undercard, undefeated Philly prospect Bryant Jennings fights much less promising one-loss prospect Steve Collins. Both fights will be televised on NBC Sports Network.
Dan's Weekly Boxer Rankings and Blog 
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