Heavyweight: 2012, Oct 15-21
Fringe contending prospect Tor Hamer fought on the non-televised Shobox undercard in St. Charles, Missouri on Friday, stopping veteran journeyman Dominique Alexander in the second round. I was ringside at the card, but unfortunately missed this fight. For some reason Hamer’s fight led off the entire card very early in the evening, and I arrived about 5 minutes late when it was already over.
Champ: Wladimir Klitschko (173-386-386)
Last Fight: 7/7/2012- TKO6 #11 Tony Thompson
Next Fight: 11/10/2012- vs. Mariusz Wach (UNR)
Klitschko-Wach is now a done deal for November 10. Wach- a Polish prospect- is in no way worthy of a shot at the legitimate title yet, but is considered by many to be a dangerous fighter anyway due to his size and power.
1) Vitali Klitschko (210-210-210)
Last Fight: 9/8/2012- TKO4 Manuel Charr (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
With the early indications being that Vitali’s silly sparring match with Charr being his last fight, there is now plenty of buzz that he might fight Haye in March of next year. His upcoming election for the Kiev mayoral race is an obvious potential factor.
2) David Haye (14-14-14) Last Fight: 7/14/2012- TKO5 #6 Dereck Chisora Next Fight: Unknown Haye has indicated that a fight with Vitali may be the only fight that would lure him away from re-retiring. He may get his wish, as there is now talk of a March 2013 matchup. 3) Tomasz Adamek (14-130-130)
Last Fight: 9/8/2012- TKO5 Travis Walker (UNR)
Next Fight: 12/22/2012- vs. #11 Odlanier Solis
Solis has decided to scrap his tune-up fight with Leif Larsen, and will go straight to Adamek. 4) Alexander Povetkin (14-260-260) Last Fight: 9/29/2012- TKO2 Hasim Rahman (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
Povetkin and his team have named Wlad, Fury, and Adamek as options for fights in the near future. Any of those would be great, unlike many of his recent choices.
5) Marco Huck (14-34-34) Last Fight: 5/5/2012- Draw (MD12) vs. CW #7 Ola Afolabi (at CW) Next Fight: 11/3/2012- vs. CW #10 Firat Arslan (at CW) Huck just signed for an alphabet defense against Arslan, kind of out of nowhere. 6) Tyson Fury (14-65-65) Last Fight: 7/7/2012- TKO5 Vinny Maddalone (UNR)
Next Fight: 12/1/2012- vs. Unknown Opponent
Unable to secure a fight with Chagaev, Fury has apparently been turned down by David Haye, too. An offer was apparently made for the two to meet in Belfast on December 1. It appears the rest of the division is ducking Fury almost as blatantly as Fury is ducking David Price. 7) Eddie Chambers (18-18-18) Last Fight: 6/16/2012- L(UD12) vs. #3 Tomasz Adamek Next Fight: Unknown Tyson Fury said he offered Chambers a fight on December 1. I’m not sure if Chambers is healthy again, or if he’s not and that’s part of the reason he said no. 8) Kubrat Pulev (3-24-101) Last Fight: 9/29/2012- KO11 Alexander Ustinov (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
Pulev may be in for a fight with the Adamek-Solis winner, or may go straight to a shot at Wlad in early 2013.
9) Dereck Chisora (3-46-109) Last Fight: 7/14/2012- L(TKO5) vs. David Haye (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
The Haye loss will be a huge setback for the already underrated Chisora. Many will forget that he did clearly beat Helenius.
10) Robert Helenius (3-81-125)
Last Fight: 12/3/2011- W*(SD12) vs. #18 Dereck Chisora (Robbery)
Next Fight: 11/10/2012- vs. Unknown Opponent
Helenius is scheduled to return in early November. The opponent may be fello Finn Jarno Rosberg. Rosberg is technically undefeated, but I randomly saw one of his fights back in January in which he deserved a draw with truly awful Latvian Pavels Dolgovs and was gifted a win. Should be a gimme for Helenius.
11) Odlanier Solis (14-125)
Last Fight: 5/19/2012- UD12 Konstantin Airich (UNR) Next Fight: 12/22/2012- vs. #3 Tomasz Adamek
Solis saw no point in fighting Leif Larsen as a tune-up, and canceled his scheduled fight with him in Madrid, preferring instead to go straight to the excellent matchup with Adamek in December.
12) Seth Mitchell (14-45) Last Fight: 4/28/2012- TKO3 Chazz Witherspoon (UNR) Next Fight: 11/17/2012- vs. Johnathon Banks (UNR) Not sure why, but Mitchell’s return has been moved back about 6 weeks to November 17. 13) Ruslan Chagaev (14-309) Last Fight: 9/1/2012- TKO7 Werner Kreiskott (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
Chagaev has a fight with Tyson Fury on the table at last check, but is currently looking for a new trainer after his split with Universum.
14) Alexander Dimitrenko (14-92) 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.
15) Tony Thompson (14-125)
Last Fight: 7/7/2012- L(TKO6) vs. Champ Wladimir Klitschko
Next Fight: Unknown
In case any of you thought the first fight was a fluke, now you know for sure: Thompson really isn’t as good as Wlad Klitschko.
16) Chris Arreola (14-187)
Last Fight: 2/18/2012- KO1 Eric Molina (UNR)
Next Fight: 11/10/2012- vs. Unknown Opponent
Don King just laid down big money on the Arreola-Stiverne purse bid. Boxrec has Arreola back on 11/10 against a TBA opponent, but look for that to get bumped back, as the Stiverne fight is more likely for late November.
17) Denis Boytsov (14-174)
Last Fight: 4/13/2012- UD10 Dominick Guinn (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
Another in a long list of setbacks in Boytsov’s career, as he fell ill and had to pull out of the Airich fight at the last minute. 18) Jean-Marc Mormeck (14-125) Last Fight: 3/3/2012- L(TKO4) vs. Champ Wladimir Klitschko Next Fight: Unknown
19) Bermane Stiverne (14-69) Last Fight: 4/14/2012- UD8 Willie Herring (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
See Arreola’s notes above. 20) Edmund Gerber (14-24) Last Fight: 9/15/2012- TKO4* Michael Sprott (UNR) (terrible stoppage) Next Fight: Unknown Gerber was losing to Sprott when he scored a knockdown. The ref then ended the fight because he’s in the tank for Gerber’s team.
In Liverpool, undefeated and sensational local giant David Price detonated the floundering hull that once was Olympic gold medalist Audley Harrison just under halfway through the first round, brutally knocking him out and very possibly ending his disappointing pro career.
Unfortunately for Price, inactivity coupled with an awful performance against David Haye in his last fight have conspired to render Harrison a mere journeyman at this point, and thus Price will make no inroads into the rankings this week. Hamer, too, merely held serve. No changes this week.
As a side note, #17 Denis Boytsov was scheduled to fight Konstantin Airich this week, but had to pull out on short notice with an illness.
Dan’s Top 20 (Weeks in current position-weeks in top 10 (if applicable)-weeks in top 20)
Champ: Wladimir Klitschko (173-386-386)
Last Fight: 7/7/2012- TKO6 #11 Tony Thompson
Next Fight: 11/10/2012- vs. Mariusz Wach (UNR)
Klitschko-Wach is now a done deal for November 10. Wach- a Polish prospect- is in no way worthy of a shot at the legitimate title yet, but is considered by many to be a dangerous fighter anyway due to his size and power.
1) Vitali Klitschko (210-210-210)
Last Fight: 9/8/2012- TKO4 Manuel Charr (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
With the early indications being that Vitali’s silly sparring match with Charr being his last fight, there is now plenty of buzz that he might fight Haye in March of next year. His upcoming election for the Kiev mayoral race is an obvious potential factor.
2) David Haye (14-14-14) Last Fight: 7/14/2012- TKO5 #6 Dereck Chisora Next Fight: Unknown Haye has indicated that a fight with Vitali may be the only fight that would lure him away from re-retiring. He may get his wish, as there is now talk of a March 2013 matchup. 3) Tomasz Adamek (14-130-130)
Last Fight: 9/8/2012- TKO5 Travis Walker (UNR)
Next Fight: 12/22/2012- vs. #11 Odlanier Solis
Solis has decided to scrap his tune-up fight with Leif Larsen, and will go straight to Adamek. 4) Alexander Povetkin (14-260-260) Last Fight: 9/29/2012- TKO2 Hasim Rahman (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
Povetkin and his team have named Wlad, Fury, and Adamek as options for fights in the near future. Any of those would be great, unlike many of his recent choices.
5) Marco Huck (14-34-34) Last Fight: 5/5/2012- Draw (MD12) vs. CW #7 Ola Afolabi (at CW) Next Fight: 11/3/2012- vs. CW #10 Firat Arslan (at CW) Huck just signed for an alphabet defense against Arslan, kind of out of nowhere. 6) Tyson Fury (14-65-65) Last Fight: 7/7/2012- TKO5 Vinny Maddalone (UNR)
Next Fight: 12/1/2012- vs. Unknown Opponent
Unable to secure a fight with Chagaev, Fury has apparently been turned down by David Haye, too. An offer was apparently made for the two to meet in Belfast on December 1. It appears the rest of the division is ducking Fury almost as blatantly as Fury is ducking David Price. 7) Eddie Chambers (18-18-18) Last Fight: 6/16/2012- L(UD12) vs. #3 Tomasz Adamek Next Fight: Unknown Tyson Fury said he offered Chambers a fight on December 1. I’m not sure if Chambers is healthy again, or if he’s not and that’s part of the reason he said no. 8) Kubrat Pulev (3-24-101) Last Fight: 9/29/2012- KO11 Alexander Ustinov (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
Pulev may be in for a fight with the Adamek-Solis winner, or may go straight to a shot at Wlad in early 2013.
9) Dereck Chisora (3-46-109) Last Fight: 7/14/2012- L(TKO5) vs. David Haye (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
The Haye loss will be a huge setback for the already underrated Chisora. Many will forget that he did clearly beat Helenius.
10) Robert Helenius (3-81-125)
Last Fight: 12/3/2011- W*(SD12) vs. #18 Dereck Chisora (Robbery)
Next Fight: 11/10/2012- vs. Unknown Opponent
Helenius is scheduled to return in early November. The opponent may be fello Finn Jarno Rosberg. Rosberg is technically undefeated, but I randomly saw one of his fights back in January in which he deserved a draw with truly awful Latvian Pavels Dolgovs and was gifted a win. Should be a gimme for Helenius.
11) Odlanier Solis (14-125)
Last Fight: 5/19/2012- UD12 Konstantin Airich (UNR) Next Fight: 12/22/2012- vs. #3 Tomasz Adamek
Solis saw no point in fighting Leif Larsen as a tune-up, and canceled his scheduled fight with him in Madrid, preferring instead to go straight to the excellent matchup with Adamek in December.
12) Seth Mitchell (14-45) Last Fight: 4/28/2012- TKO3 Chazz Witherspoon (UNR) Next Fight: 11/17/2012- vs. Johnathon Banks (UNR) Not sure why, but Mitchell’s return has been moved back about 6 weeks to November 17. 13) Ruslan Chagaev (14-309) Last Fight: 9/1/2012- TKO7 Werner Kreiskott (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
Chagaev has a fight with Tyson Fury on the table at last check, but is currently looking for a new trainer after his split with Universum.
14) Alexander Dimitrenko (14-92) 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.
15) Tony Thompson (14-125)
Last Fight: 7/7/2012- L(TKO6) vs. Champ Wladimir Klitschko
Next Fight: Unknown
In case any of you thought the first fight was a fluke, now you know for sure: Thompson really isn’t as good as Wlad Klitschko.
16) Chris Arreola (14-187)
Last Fight: 2/18/2012- KO1 Eric Molina (UNR)
Next Fight: 11/10/2012- vs. Unknown Opponent
Don King just laid down big money on the Arreola-Stiverne purse bid. Boxrec has Arreola back on 11/10 against a TBA opponent, but look for that to get bumped back, as the Stiverne fight is more likely for late November.
17) Denis Boytsov (14-174)
Last Fight: 4/13/2012- UD10 Dominick Guinn (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
Another in a long list of setbacks in Boytsov’s career, as he fell ill and had to pull out of the Airich fight at the last minute. 18) Jean-Marc Mormeck (14-125) Last Fight: 3/3/2012- L(TKO4) vs. Champ Wladimir Klitschko Next Fight: Unknown
19) Bermane Stiverne (14-69) Last Fight: 4/14/2012- UD8 Willie Herring (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
See Arreola’s notes above. 20) Edmund Gerber (14-24) Last Fight: 9/15/2012- TKO4* Michael Sprott (UNR) (terrible stoppage) Next Fight: Unknown Gerber was losing to Sprott when he scored a knockdown. The ref then ended the fight because he’s in the tank for Gerber’s team.
THE WEEK AHEAD: No notable heavyweights in action this week.
Dan's Weekly Boxer Rankings and Blog 
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