Middleweight: 2012, Feb 6-12
#7 Julio Cesar Chavez came in as a beast on Saturday, delivering probably his most impressive performance to date. He was simply a monster compared to the much smaller Rubio, who seemed unwilling to fully commit to his punches, uncharacteristically becoming (by necessity) the boxer to Chavez’s puncher. It didn’t work. Rubio started getting into the fight progressively as the fight went on, but not enough. Chavez bulled his way to a reasonably comfortable decision. Scores- all of which were reasonable- ranged from 115-113 to 118-110 for Chavez, with 116-112 being the median.
Next Fight: 3/17/2012- vs. #3 Matthew Macklin
After weeks of speculation, it’s now official: Martinez vs. Macklin, St. Patrick’s Day, MSG.
1) Daniel Geale (33-138-138) Last Fight: 8/31/2011- UD12 Eromosele Albert (UNR)
Next Fight: 2/29/2012- vs. #12 Osumanu Adama
Geale will fight Osumanu Adama on leap day in Tasmania.
2) Grzegorz Proksa (19-43-43) Last Fight: 10/1/2011- RTD3 #4 Sebastian Sylvester
Next Fight: Unknown The on-again, off-again fight between Proksa and Sebastian Zbik is off again, likely due to ongoing personal issues between Zbik and Felix Sturm, who won the bid to promote the fight. 3) Matthew Macklin (10-33-124) Last Fight: 6/25/2011- L*(SD12) vs. #1 Felix Sturm
Next Fight: 3/17/2012- vs. Champ Sergio Martinez
See Martinez’s notes, above. 4) Julio Cesar Chavez, Jr. (1-36-54) Last Fight: 2/4/2012- UD12 #10 Marco Antonio Rubio
Next Fight: Unknown
Chavez’s team is already working on his next fight, and they have June 16, Texas, and Andy Lee in mind. 5) Felix Sturm (1-438-438) Last Fight: 12/2/2012- Draw (SD12) vs. Martin Murray (UNR)
Next Fight: 4/13/2012- vs. Sebastian Zbik (UNR)
A few weeks ago, it looked like Sturm would be promoting Zbik’s fight with Proksa. Now he’s fighting Zbik instead, after Zbik showed his disgust for Sturm by pulling out. 6) Hassan N’Dam N’Jikam (1-67-67) Last Fight: 4/2/2011- UD12 Giovanni Lorenzo (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown All rumors aside, both N’Jikam and Golovkin now agree that that fight isn’t happening.
7) Martin Murray (1-10-10) Last Fight: 12/2/2011- Draw(SD12) vs. #3 Felix Sturm Next Fight: Unknown Murray rejected a fight with Andy Lee, thinking the offer was too low. Barker then refused an offer from Murray. 8) Dmitry Pirog (10-80-80) Last Fight: 9/25/2011- RTD10 Gennady Martirosyan (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
Pirog was chasing a fight with Sturm that never materialized. Now he says he’s considering retirement if he can’t get a big fight. 9) Sebastian Sylvester (10-339-339) Last Fight: 10/1/2011- L(RTD3) vs. #9 Grzegorz Proksa
Next Fight: Unknown
Sylvester may be getting long in the tooth after being destroyed by Proksa. 10) Anthony Mundine (1-1-54) Last Fight: 10/19/2011- UD12 Rigoberto Alvarez (UNR) (at JMW)
Next Fight: Unknown
11) Osumanu Adama (1-46) Last Fight: 10/6/2011- TKO9 Roman Karmazin (UNR) Next Fight: 2/29/2012- vs. #1 Daniel Geale Adama gets a shot at real prominence when he fights the most accomplished Middleweight not named Sergio Martinez on leap day in Tasmania. 12) Marco Antonio Rubio (1-54) Last Fight: 2/4/2012- L(UD12) vs. #7 Julio Cesar Chavez
Next Fight: Unknown
Rubio renewed his relevance with what was officially an upset over Lemieux, but the more proven Chavez proved to be a prospect too far.
13) Avtandil Khurtsidze (8-54) Last Fight: 12/18/2011- W(MD12) vs. Ossie Duran (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
The WBC has ordered Khurtsidze to defend his new goofy color-coded belt against gatekeeper Domenico Spada. 14) Max Bursak (8-54) Last Fight: 12/17/2012- TKO3 Laatekwei Hammond (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
Bursak is the mandatory contender for whatever title Pirog holds, but Pirog appears to be interested in fighting someone else first.
15) Garth Wood (8-54) Last Fight: 4/13/2011- L (UD10) vs. #20 Anthony Mundine
Next Fight: 2/19/2012- vs. Sam Soliman (UNR)
Wood will fight in Sydney on February 19 against an apparently resurgent Sam Soliman.
16) Gennady Golovkin (8-34) Last Fight: 12/9/2011- KO1 Lajuan Simon (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown Both sides now agree that Golovkin-N’Dam is a no-go. Golovkin is the current mandatory for Sturm, but Sturm has opted to fight Zbik instead. Golovkin is a feared puncher, and it’s understandable that nobody’s in a hurry to fight him. 17) Nobuhiro Ishida (8-44) Last Fight: 11/26/2011- TKO1 Edson Espinoza (UNR) Next Fight: 2/18/2012- vs. JMW #15? Paul Williams (at JMW) Ishida will fight Paul Williams in Corpus Christi, Texas on February 18, apparently at 154.
18) Demetrius Andrade (10-25) Last Fight: 9/21/2011- RTD3 Saul Duran (UNR) Next Fight: 2/10/2012- vs. Derek Ennis (UNR) Andrade will fight Derek Ennis on the February 10 iteration of Friday Night Fights. 19) Darren Barker (10-17) Last Fight: 10/1/2011- L(KO11) vs. Champ Sergio Martinez Next Fight: Unknown Barker turned down an offer to fight Martin Murray. 20) Billi Godoy (10-16) Last Fight: 11/12/2011- TKO1 Luciano Silva (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown
Chavez moves up the rankings past Sturm. Sturm’s resume is littered with better wins than anything on Chavez’s, but in his last two fights he’s deserved a draw (at best) with then-11th-ranked Matthew Macklin, and then ended up with an actual draw with unranked prospect Martin Murray. Rubio is ranked higher than Macklin and obviously much higher than Murray, and Chavez obviously did much better against him than Sturm has done lately with his lesser competition. So Chavez ends up at #4, displacing everyone rated 4 -6 last week one spot apiece. Rubio slumps to #12, exiting the top 10 after 43 consecutive weeks in, and allowing Anthony Mundine to sneak back in after he was forced out by Murray’s debut 10 weeks ago.
Dan’s Top 20 (Weeks in Current Position-Weeks in Top 10 if applicable-Weeks in Top 20) Champ: Sergio Martinez (95-95-95) Last Fight: 10/1/2011- KO11 #20 Darren Barker
Next Fight: 3/17/2012- vs. #3 Matthew Macklin
After weeks of speculation, it’s now official: Martinez vs. Macklin, St. Patrick’s Day, MSG.
1) Daniel Geale (33-138-138) Last Fight: 8/31/2011- UD12 Eromosele Albert (UNR)
Next Fight: 2/29/2012- vs. #12 Osumanu Adama
Geale will fight Osumanu Adama on leap day in Tasmania.
2) Grzegorz Proksa (19-43-43) Last Fight: 10/1/2011- RTD3 #4 Sebastian Sylvester
Next Fight: Unknown The on-again, off-again fight between Proksa and Sebastian Zbik is off again, likely due to ongoing personal issues between Zbik and Felix Sturm, who won the bid to promote the fight. 3) Matthew Macklin (10-33-124) Last Fight: 6/25/2011- L*(SD12) vs. #1 Felix Sturm
Next Fight: 3/17/2012- vs. Champ Sergio Martinez
See Martinez’s notes, above. 4) Julio Cesar Chavez, Jr. (1-36-54) Last Fight: 2/4/2012- UD12 #10 Marco Antonio Rubio
Next Fight: Unknown
Chavez’s team is already working on his next fight, and they have June 16, Texas, and Andy Lee in mind. 5) Felix Sturm (1-438-438) Last Fight: 12/2/2012- Draw (SD12) vs. Martin Murray (UNR)
Next Fight: 4/13/2012- vs. Sebastian Zbik (UNR)
A few weeks ago, it looked like Sturm would be promoting Zbik’s fight with Proksa. Now he’s fighting Zbik instead, after Zbik showed his disgust for Sturm by pulling out. 6) Hassan N’Dam N’Jikam (1-67-67) Last Fight: 4/2/2011- UD12 Giovanni Lorenzo (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown All rumors aside, both N’Jikam and Golovkin now agree that that fight isn’t happening.
7) Martin Murray (1-10-10) Last Fight: 12/2/2011- Draw(SD12) vs. #3 Felix Sturm Next Fight: Unknown Murray rejected a fight with Andy Lee, thinking the offer was too low. Barker then refused an offer from Murray. 8) Dmitry Pirog (10-80-80) Last Fight: 9/25/2011- RTD10 Gennady Martirosyan (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
Pirog was chasing a fight with Sturm that never materialized. Now he says he’s considering retirement if he can’t get a big fight. 9) Sebastian Sylvester (10-339-339) Last Fight: 10/1/2011- L(RTD3) vs. #9 Grzegorz Proksa
Next Fight: Unknown
Sylvester may be getting long in the tooth after being destroyed by Proksa. 10) Anthony Mundine (1-1-54) Last Fight: 10/19/2011- UD12 Rigoberto Alvarez (UNR) (at JMW)
Next Fight: Unknown
11) Osumanu Adama (1-46) Last Fight: 10/6/2011- TKO9 Roman Karmazin (UNR) Next Fight: 2/29/2012- vs. #1 Daniel Geale Adama gets a shot at real prominence when he fights the most accomplished Middleweight not named Sergio Martinez on leap day in Tasmania. 12) Marco Antonio Rubio (1-54) Last Fight: 2/4/2012- L(UD12) vs. #7 Julio Cesar Chavez
Next Fight: Unknown
Rubio renewed his relevance with what was officially an upset over Lemieux, but the more proven Chavez proved to be a prospect too far.
13) Avtandil Khurtsidze (8-54) Last Fight: 12/18/2011- W(MD12) vs. Ossie Duran (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
The WBC has ordered Khurtsidze to defend his new goofy color-coded belt against gatekeeper Domenico Spada. 14) Max Bursak (8-54) Last Fight: 12/17/2012- TKO3 Laatekwei Hammond (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
Bursak is the mandatory contender for whatever title Pirog holds, but Pirog appears to be interested in fighting someone else first.
15) Garth Wood (8-54) Last Fight: 4/13/2011- L (UD10) vs. #20 Anthony Mundine
Next Fight: 2/19/2012- vs. Sam Soliman (UNR)
Wood will fight in Sydney on February 19 against an apparently resurgent Sam Soliman.
16) Gennady Golovkin (8-34) Last Fight: 12/9/2011- KO1 Lajuan Simon (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown Both sides now agree that Golovkin-N’Dam is a no-go. Golovkin is the current mandatory for Sturm, but Sturm has opted to fight Zbik instead. Golovkin is a feared puncher, and it’s understandable that nobody’s in a hurry to fight him. 17) Nobuhiro Ishida (8-44) Last Fight: 11/26/2011- TKO1 Edson Espinoza (UNR) Next Fight: 2/18/2012- vs. JMW #15? Paul Williams (at JMW) Ishida will fight Paul Williams in Corpus Christi, Texas on February 18, apparently at 154.
18) Demetrius Andrade (10-25) Last Fight: 9/21/2011- RTD3 Saul Duran (UNR) Next Fight: 2/10/2012- vs. Derek Ennis (UNR) Andrade will fight Derek Ennis on the February 10 iteration of Friday Night Fights. 19) Darren Barker (10-17) Last Fight: 10/1/2011- L(KO11) vs. Champ Sergio Martinez Next Fight: Unknown Barker turned down an offer to fight Martin Murray. 20) Billi Godoy (10-16) Last Fight: 11/12/2011- TKO1 Luciano Silva (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown
The Week Ahead: Argentine veteran Claudio Abalos looks to get back in the win column after consecutive technical decision losses to countryman Billi Godoy when he fights countryman Juan Munoz for what is incredibly being called the South American title. I’ve already told you that by far the better half of the matchup has lost twice in a row to another Argentine…and it’s not as if Godoy is fighting intercontinental opposition at this point.
Dan's Weekly Boxer Rankings and Blog 
Leave a Reply