Cruiserweight: 2012, Jul 23-29
Somewhat inexperienced journeyman Alejandro Valori pulled off a fairly significant upset in stopping gatekeeper and recent alphabet title challenger Rogelio Rossi in both men’s native Argentina. Valori- whose highly fluctuating weight has been as high as 261 in his career- came into the bout with 3 losses (2 by knockout) in his 11 career fights. His best win was over a journeyman named Maximiliano Sosa whose credentials he had more-or-less single-handedly created in the first place by dropping a decision to him a few months earlier.
Champ: None
1) Yoan Pablo Hernandez (25-109-109) Last Fight: 2/4/2012- UD12 #4 Steve Cunningham Next Fight: 9/15/2012- vs. #20 Troy Ross This Cuban will fight Canadian fringe contender Troy Ross- in Germany. I feel like this could only happen at Cruiserweight.
2) Denis Lebedev (25-129-129) Last Fight: 4/4/2012- KO2 Shawn Cox (UNR) Next Fight: 10/20/2012- vs. #8 Guillermo Jones Lebedev will fight very inactive alphabet titleholder and former welterweight Guillermo Jones in Moscow this October. 3) Steve Cunningham (8-423-423) Last Fight: 2/4/2012- L(UD12) vs. #3 Yoan Pablo Hernandez Next Fight: Unknown Cunningham has left Sauerland and signed with Main Events. This means he will likely stop fighting in Germany. He also says he’ll move up to heavyweight. I’ll continue rating him here until early February, or until he schedules a heavyweight fight for after February 4. It will be interesting to see how Cunningham, whose chin has looked shaky lately, will stand up to a heavyweight punch. 4) Marco Huck (8-294-294) Last Fight: 5/5/2012- Draw* (MD12) vs. #7 Ola Afolabi Next Fight: Unknown Huck wants to fight Haye at heavyweight in what could be an interesting fight. He says he doesn’t see any reason to rematch Afolabi, since he beat him twice. That’s pure posturing. 5) Ola Afolabi (8-176-176) Last Fight: 5/5/2012- Draw* (MD12) vs. #4 Marco Huck Next Fight: Unknown Afolabi is now discussing a September fight with Mormeck. 6) Krzysztof Wlodarczyk (8-370-370) Last Fight: 11/30/2011- TKO11 #9 Danny Green Next Fight: 9/22/2012- vs. #12 Francisco Palacios It appears- according to Boxrec- that Wlodarczyk has finally consented to an alphabet-mandated rematch with Palacios. The first fight was close (I thought Palacios won), but unfortunately almost unwatchable, as well. 7) Lateef Kayode (5-8-88) Last Fight: 6/2/2012- Draw (SD12) vs. ‘Roided up #3 Antonio Tarver Next Fight: Unknown BJ Flores wants to fight Kayode, and Kayode is evidently gunning for Danny Green. 8) Guillermo Jones (5-95-95) Last Fight: 11/5/2011- TKO6 Michael Marrone (UNR) Next Fight: 10/20/2012- vs. #2 Denis Lebedev Jones will travel to Moscow to put his alphabet title on the line against the much younger Lebedev. 9) Firat Arslan (5-11-54) Last Fight: 5/11/2012- Draw* (MD12) vs. #12 Alexander Alekseev (Robbery) Next Fight: Unknown Date- vs. #16 Alexander Alekseev Arslan-Alekseev II is reportedly on for November. 10) Danny Green (5-5-138) Last Fight: 11/30/2011- L(TKO11) vs. #8 Krzysztof Wlodarczyk Next Fight: 7/25/2012- vs. Danny Santiago (UNR) Green’s fight with Santiago this weekend will actually still be a cruiserweight (or at least “Dannyweight”) fight. 11) B.J. Flores (5-109) Last Fight: 1/28/2012- TKO6 Hugo Pineda (UNR) Next Fight: 9/8/2012- vs. Unknown Opponent Flores is replacing the disgraced Antonio Tarver in NBC’s Olympic boxing coverage, and then will apparently fight (probably against a nobody) on September 8 in Missouri. Unfortunately, Flores is a pretty terrible commentator. 12) Francisco Palacios (5-69) Last Fight: 11/5/2011- UD8 Joell Godfrey (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown See Wlodarczyk’s notes, above. 13) Giacobbe Fragomeni (5-193) 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. 14) Silvio Branco (5-19) 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. 15) Mateusz Masternak (5-17) Last Fight: 5/19/2012- UD10 Hari Miles (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown The word from Poland is that Masternak is all but certain to fight on the September 15 Hernandez-Ross undercard in Germany, against #17 Enad Licina. 16) Alexander Alekseev (5-80) Last Fight: 5/11/2012- Draw*(MD12) vs. #19 Firat Arslan (robbery- should have been L) Next Fight: Unknown Date- vs. #9 Firat Arslan See Arslan’s notes, above. 17) Enad Licina (5-109) Last Fight: 2/4/2012- L(UD12) vs. #17 Alexander Alexeev Next Fight: Unknown See Masternak’s notes, above. 18) Dmitro Kucher (4-4) Last Fight: 6/27/2012- KO3 Cesar Crenz (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown 19) Pawel Glazewski (4-4) Last Fight: 6/30/2012- L(Robbery) vs. Roy Jones, Jr. (UNR) Next Fight: 10/13/2012- vs. Unknown Opponent Glazewski is on the schedule for October 13 in Poland, with no opponent yet announced. 20) Troy Ross (4-25) Last Fight: 2/4/2012- UD8 Lukasz Rusiewicz (UNR) Next Fight: 9/15/2012- vs. #1 Yoan Pablo Hernandez Ross will roll the dice in a big way against Hernandez- the first decent opponent he’s fought in a very long time.
There was a fight scheduled between Brazilian knockout sensation William Fernando Souza Bezerra and undefeated prospect Joselito Dos Santos Santana, but even though I’ve searched hard in both English and Portuguese, I can’t find any results. I want to say that this has happened before with a Souza Bezerra fight a few months ago that eventually showed up a week later. So here’s the deal: this fight could not possibly affect the rankings unless Dos Santos Santana scores a huge upset. Therefore, if Souza Bezerra won, I will post the results in next week’s update. If there IS an upset, I will edit this post once the results become available, as needed. If the results never show up, then this might be the last you’ll hear about it.
Valori’s win is enough to crack the top 25, but with a stoppage loss in his pro debut to a complete non-entity and a couple losses to poor competition at heavyweight since then, this one win alone doesn’t necessarily convince me that he has an auspicious future. Even Rossi’s resume was remarkably weak for a top-30 guy. His only significant win was against lower-tier gatekeeper Cesar Crenz, and that was among several very bad losses and a bad draw. It just goes to show that this division is remarkably shallow after the top 25 or so.
Dan’s Top 20
Champ: None
1) Yoan Pablo Hernandez (25-109-109) Last Fight: 2/4/2012- UD12 #4 Steve Cunningham Next Fight: 9/15/2012- vs. #20 Troy Ross This Cuban will fight Canadian fringe contender Troy Ross- in Germany. I feel like this could only happen at Cruiserweight.
2) Denis Lebedev (25-129-129) Last Fight: 4/4/2012- KO2 Shawn Cox (UNR) Next Fight: 10/20/2012- vs. #8 Guillermo Jones Lebedev will fight very inactive alphabet titleholder and former welterweight Guillermo Jones in Moscow this October. 3) Steve Cunningham (8-423-423) Last Fight: 2/4/2012- L(UD12) vs. #3 Yoan Pablo Hernandez Next Fight: Unknown Cunningham has left Sauerland and signed with Main Events. This means he will likely stop fighting in Germany. He also says he’ll move up to heavyweight. I’ll continue rating him here until early February, or until he schedules a heavyweight fight for after February 4. It will be interesting to see how Cunningham, whose chin has looked shaky lately, will stand up to a heavyweight punch. 4) Marco Huck (8-294-294) Last Fight: 5/5/2012- Draw* (MD12) vs. #7 Ola Afolabi Next Fight: Unknown Huck wants to fight Haye at heavyweight in what could be an interesting fight. He says he doesn’t see any reason to rematch Afolabi, since he beat him twice. That’s pure posturing. 5) Ola Afolabi (8-176-176) Last Fight: 5/5/2012- Draw* (MD12) vs. #4 Marco Huck Next Fight: Unknown Afolabi is now discussing a September fight with Mormeck. 6) Krzysztof Wlodarczyk (8-370-370) Last Fight: 11/30/2011- TKO11 #9 Danny Green Next Fight: 9/22/2012- vs. #12 Francisco Palacios It appears- according to Boxrec- that Wlodarczyk has finally consented to an alphabet-mandated rematch with Palacios. The first fight was close (I thought Palacios won), but unfortunately almost unwatchable, as well. 7) Lateef Kayode (5-8-88) Last Fight: 6/2/2012- Draw (SD12) vs. ‘Roided up #3 Antonio Tarver Next Fight: Unknown BJ Flores wants to fight Kayode, and Kayode is evidently gunning for Danny Green. 8) Guillermo Jones (5-95-95) Last Fight: 11/5/2011- TKO6 Michael Marrone (UNR) Next Fight: 10/20/2012- vs. #2 Denis Lebedev Jones will travel to Moscow to put his alphabet title on the line against the much younger Lebedev. 9) Firat Arslan (5-11-54) Last Fight: 5/11/2012- Draw* (MD12) vs. #12 Alexander Alekseev (Robbery) Next Fight: Unknown Date- vs. #16 Alexander Alekseev Arslan-Alekseev II is reportedly on for November. 10) Danny Green (5-5-138) Last Fight: 11/30/2011- L(TKO11) vs. #8 Krzysztof Wlodarczyk Next Fight: 7/25/2012- vs. Danny Santiago (UNR) Green’s fight with Santiago this weekend will actually still be a cruiserweight (or at least “Dannyweight”) fight. 11) B.J. Flores (5-109) Last Fight: 1/28/2012- TKO6 Hugo Pineda (UNR) Next Fight: 9/8/2012- vs. Unknown Opponent Flores is replacing the disgraced Antonio Tarver in NBC’s Olympic boxing coverage, and then will apparently fight (probably against a nobody) on September 8 in Missouri. Unfortunately, Flores is a pretty terrible commentator. 12) Francisco Palacios (5-69) Last Fight: 11/5/2011- UD8 Joell Godfrey (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown See Wlodarczyk’s notes, above. 13) Giacobbe Fragomeni (5-193) 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. 14) Silvio Branco (5-19) 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. 15) Mateusz Masternak (5-17) Last Fight: 5/19/2012- UD10 Hari Miles (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown The word from Poland is that Masternak is all but certain to fight on the September 15 Hernandez-Ross undercard in Germany, against #17 Enad Licina. 16) Alexander Alekseev (5-80) Last Fight: 5/11/2012- Draw*(MD12) vs. #19 Firat Arslan (robbery- should have been L) Next Fight: Unknown Date- vs. #9 Firat Arslan See Arslan’s notes, above. 17) Enad Licina (5-109) Last Fight: 2/4/2012- L(UD12) vs. #17 Alexander Alexeev Next Fight: Unknown See Masternak’s notes, above. 18) Dmitro Kucher (4-4) Last Fight: 6/27/2012- KO3 Cesar Crenz (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown 19) Pawel Glazewski (4-4) Last Fight: 6/30/2012- L(Robbery) vs. Roy Jones, Jr. (UNR) Next Fight: 10/13/2012- vs. Unknown Opponent Glazewski is on the schedule for October 13 in Poland, with no opponent yet announced. 20) Troy Ross (4-25) Last Fight: 2/4/2012- UD8 Lukasz Rusiewicz (UNR) Next Fight: 9/15/2012- vs. #1 Yoan Pablo Hernandez Ross will roll the dice in a big way against Hernandez- the first decent opponent he’s fought in a very long time.
THE WEEK AHEAD: It was originally reported that Danny Green’s fight with journeyman Danny Santiago on Wednesday would be at light heavyweight and constitute an attempt to lure the much smaller Anthony Mundine into a rematch. As it turns out, it is a “Dannyweight” fight, the pejorative term used to describe Green’s early cruiserweight fights, in which he would fight at a contract weight in the 180s.
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