Super Middleweight: 2012, Sep 10-16

Andre Ward retained his Championship and also won a claim to the Light Heavyweight Championship held by his opponent, Chad Dawson. Ward seldom fails to exceed expectations. He was the heavy favorite entering the fight, but managed not only to beat, but to dominate Dawson, even stopping him in the 10th round. Ward is not known as a puncher by any means, so this was quite a shock at this level. Not only is Ward now a 2-division simultaneous Champion, but in my opinion is on no worse than equal terms with Mayweather and Martinez atop the pound-for-pound list.

On the same night, Marco Antonio Rubio made good on his move up in weight, stopping Carlos Baldomir, now but a gatekeeper at his advanced age and weight, at the conclusion of the 4th round. Rubio is instantly a fringe contender in his new division, though it’s not clear if he plans to stay at 168 or not.

No changes to the rankings, as Dawson’s bid for the Championship was unsuccessful, and since Ward’s is well-established.

Dan’s Top 20

Champ: Andre Ward (39-173-173)

Last Fight: 9/8/2012- TKO10 LHW Champ Chad Dawson
Next Fight: Unknown

Ward set Dawson aside as easily as any of his other recent opponents. He’s undoubtedly at or near the top of any good pound-for-pound list.

1) Carl Froch (16-326-326)
Last Fight: 5/26/2012- TKO5 #1 Lucian Bute
Next Fight: 11/17/2012- vs. LHW #11 Yusaf Mack

After the negotiations initially appeared to have failed, Froch eventually secured a fight with Yusaf Mack, afterall.

2) Arthur Abraham (3-151-151)
Last Fight: 8/25/2012- UD12 #4 Robert Stieglitz
Next Fight: 12/15/2012- vs. Unknown Opponent

Abraham is a hot commodity in the division again. He is already scheduled for a return on December 15, with Mikkel Kessler reportedly interested, and with the winner of Sturm-Geale also being a possibility.

3) Mikkel Kessler (3-405-405)

Last Fight: 5/19/2012- KO5 Allan Green (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown

Kessler is interested in fighting Arthur Abraham.

4) Lucian Bute (3-335-335)
Last Fight: 5/26/2012- L(TKO5) vs. #2 Carl Froch
Next Fight: 11/3/2012- vs. LHW #15 Denis Grachev (at LHW)

Bute will exercise his rematch clause to fight Froch in March, but will be fighting an interim fight in November against otherwise mediocre but hard-hitting light heavyweight Denis Grachev.

5) Robert Stieglitz (3-159-159)

Last Fight: 8/25/2012- L(UD12) vs. #6 Arthur Abraham
Next Fight: Unknown

Stieglitz was somewhat busted up in the tough Abraham fight, and so I expect him to take a few months off at least.

6) Thomas Oosthuizen (3-67-115)
Last Fight: 8/2/2012- UD12 Rowland Bryant (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown

Oosthuizen looked like the frontrunner to fight Froch in April, but didn’t like the offer he was given and turned down the shot.

7) Kelly Pavlik (10-10-10)

Last Fight: 7/7/2012- UD10 #12 Will Rosinsky

Next Fight: Unknown

8) Adonis Stevenson (10-40-40)

Last Fight: 4/20/2012- TKO2 Noe Gonzalez (UNR)

Next Fight: 10/12/2012- vs. Don George (UNR)

Stevenson’s ill-fated fight with Don George has been rescheduled for October 12, in Montreal.

9) Sakio Bika (7-39-284)

Last Fight: 6/2/2012- TKO10 Dyah Davis (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown

Bika has been talking about a willingness to fight Froch, or even to move up and fight Danny Green as high as cruiserweight.

10) Karoly Balzsay (7-7-21)

Last Fight: 4/21/2012- TKO12 #8 Dimitri Sartison

Next Fight: Unknown

Balzsay pulled out of a scheduled alphabet title defense with fringe contender Brian Magee with a back injury.

11) Andy Lee (10-79)

Last Fight: 6/16/2012- L(TKO7) vs. MW#? Julio Cesar Chavez, Jr. (at MW)

Next Fight: Unknown

12) Anthony Dirrell (7-41)

Last Fight: 12/2/2011- TKO4 Renan St. Juste (UNR)

Next Fight: Unknown

Dirrell had been all set for a somewhat goofy vacant title opportunity against the underwhelming Nikola Sjekloca, but Dirrell crashed his motorcycle, breaking an arm and leg. He’s expected to be out of action until approximately November at the earliest.

13) Will Rosinsky (7-13)

Last Fight: 7/7/2012- L(UD10) vs. Kelly Pavlik (UNR)

Next Fight: Unknown

14) Mouhamed Ali Ndiaye (7-44)

Last Fight: 5/26/2012- RTD9 Jose Maria Guerrero (UNR)

Next Fight: Unknown

15) Dimitri Sartison (7-115)
Last Fight: 4/21/2012- L(TKO12) vs. Karoly Balzsay (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown

Sartison has been medically cleared following his third knee surgery, and is looking to return in December.

16) Bryan Vera (7-84)

Last Fight: 8/11/2012- W(MD12) vs. Sergio Mora (UNR) (at MW)

Next Fight: Unknown

Vera took care of his rematch with Mora, but now only has until October to schedule a fight at 168 before he’s removed here.

17) Jesus Gonzales (7-62)

Last Fight: 2/18/2012- L(KO1) vs. #9 Adonis Stevenson

Next Fight: Unknown

18) James DeGale (7-48)

Last Fight: 4/21/2012- TKO4 Cristian Sanavia (UNR)

Next Fight: Unknown

19) George Groves (7-9)

Last Fight: 7/28/2012- TKO6 Francisco Sierra (UNR)

Next Fight: Unknown

Groves was supposed to headline a fight on September 14 in London, but seemed to have had other ideas almost from the start, as the show will now go on without him.

20) Edwin Rodriguez (7-7)

Last Fight: 3/17/2012- UD10 Don George (UNR)

Next Fight: 9/29/2012- vs. Jason Escalera (UNR)

Rodriguez will headline a fairly ShoBoxy edition of HBO’s Boxing After Dark on September 29.

The Week Ahead: Nothing of note going on this week.

This entry was posted on October 1, 2012 at 2:17 pm and is filed under Rankings, Super Middleweight with tags Andre Ward, Arthur Abraham, Carl Froch, Carlos Baldomir, Chad Dawson, Lucian Bute, Marco Antonio Rubio, Mikkel Kessler. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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