Light Heavyweight: 2012, Nov 12-18
Friday: #20 Tony Averlant won a 6-round decision over Lubo Hantak- a Slovakian who is in the discussion for the title of world’s worst light heavyweight.
Champ: Andre Ward (10-10-10) Last Fight: 9/8/2012- TKO10 Champ Chad Dawson (at SMW) Next Fight: Unknown Ward and Pavlik’s promoters have both confirmed that talks are underway for a February 23 fight on HBO. 1) Chad Dawson (10-337-337)
Last Fight: 9/8/2012- L(TKO10) vs. SMW Champ Andre Ward (at SMW)
Next Fight: Unknown Rumors of a Dawson-Pascal rematch are now floating around. 2) Bernard Hopkins (10-336-336)
Last Fight: 4/28/2012- L(MD12) vs. #2 Chad Dawson
Next Fight: 3/9/2012- vs. Unknown Opponent Hopkins has decided not to hang ’em up just yet, as he says he will fight either Shumenov, Cloud, or- most likely- Cleverly on March 9 in Brooklyn. 3) Jean Pascal (10-178-178)
Last Fight: 5/21/2011- L(UD12) vs. #1 Bernard Hopkins
Next Fight: 12/14/2012- vs. Aleksy Kuziemski Pascal will come back in December following his long inactivity and hand injury (thus retaining his ranking), with venue and TV problems ensuring that the Cloud fight could not be rescheduled until 2013. His opponent will be Polish gatekeeper Aleksy Kuziemski.
4) Gabriel Campillo (10-125-125)
Last Fight: 2/18/2012- L*(UD12) vs. #3 Tavoris Cloud (Robbery)
Next Fight: Unknown It now looks likely that Campillo will reschedule his fight with hot prospect Sergei Kovalev, from which he withdrew with injury this summer. It looks like the fight will be the main event of a NBC Sports card from Bethlehem Pennsylvania on January 19. 5) Tavoris Cloud (10-168-168)
Last Fight: 2/18/2012- UD12* vs. #4 Gabriel Campillo (Robbery)
Next Fight: 11/24/2012- vs. #9 Karo Murat The Cloud-Murat fight has been shifted back a week, but it will still rather inexplicably take place in Venezuela. 6) Cornelius White (10-18-48) Last Fight: 7/14/2012- UD12 #10 Dmitri Sukhotski Next Fight: Unknown White is on a tear. Is he really top-5 good? I wouldn’t think so, but he proves me wrong every time I feel I might be overrating him. 7) Nathan Cleverly (10-145-145)
Last Fight: 2/25/2012- UD12 Tommy Karpency (UNR)
Next Fight: 11/10/2012- vs. Shawn Hawk (UNR) Cleverly’s replacement opponent for his Showtime Extreme debut is actually a bit more proven than ill-fated original choice Ryan Coyne. It’ll be proud Native American and South Dakota prospect Shawn Hawk. 8) Tony Bellew (18-57-57) Last Fight: 9/8/2012- TKO9 Edison Miranda (UNR) Next Fight: 11/17/2012- vs. Roberto Feliciano Bolonti (UNR) Bellew now has an opponent for his appearance on the Froch-Mack undercard: Argentine Champion Roberto Feliciano Bolonti. 9) Karo Murat (10-59-80) Last Fight: 6/2/2012- TKO7 Sandro Siproshvili (UNR) Next Fight: 11/24/2012- vs. #5 Tavoris Cloud See Cloud’s notes, above. 10) Beibut Shumenov (10-121-125) Last Fight: 6/2/2012- UD12 Enrique Ornelas (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown 11) Yusaf Mack (10-125)
Last Fight: 7/7/2012- UD6 Sabou Ballogou (UNR)
Next Fight: 11/17/2012- vs. #1 SMW Carl Froch (at SMW) In a fairly sudden development, Mack will drop back down to 168 to fight Carl Froch. 12) Isaac Chilemba (10-41) Last Fight: 9/29/2012- UD8 Rayco Saunders (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown Chilemba came in a bit heavy, but performed as expected, shutting out journeyman Rayco Saunders. 13) Vyacheslav Uzelkoff (10-41) Last Fight: 7/21/2012- W(MD12) vs. Mohamed Belkacem (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown 14) Andrzej Fonfara (10-18) Last Fight: 7/13/2012- UD10* SMW #16 Glen Johnson Next Fight: 11/16/2012- vs. Tommy Karpency (UNR) Fonfara will fight journeyman Tommy Karpency in Chicago in mid-November. 15) Jürgen Brähmer (10-30) Last Fight: 4/21/2012- UD10 Vikapita Meroro (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown Here we go again! An announced Braehmer bout will not go forward as planned. At least this time there was some notice. No word on why the Gutknecht fight was scuttled. 16) Lucian Bute (2-2) Last Fight: 11/3/2012- UD12 #16 Denis Grachev Next Fight: Unknown Date- vs. SMW #1 Carl Froch (at SMW) Bute barely beat Grachev, and even more barely did so at light heavyweight, but I’ve still got to rate him. He’ll now fight a rematch with Froch in March or April. 17) Denis Grachev (2-29) Last Fight: 11/3/2012- L(UD12) vs. SMW #4 Lucian Bute Next Fight: Unknown Grachev put forth a valiant effort against a heavy favorite in Bute, even after presumably draining almost all the way to 168. As a result, his ranking remains mostly intact. 18) Dmitri Sukhotski (2-107) Last Fight: 7/14/2012- L(UD12) vs. #16 Cornelius White Next Fight: 12/8/2012- vs. Mikhail Ryzhonkin (UNR) Sukhotski will look for an easy tune-up on December 8 when he fights a very weak 2-3 Russian in Russia. 19) Mikkel Kessler (2-26) Last Fight: 5/19/2012- TKO4 Allan Green (UNR) Next Fight: 12/8/2012- vs. Brian Magee (UNR) (at SMW) Kessler will fight Irish fringe contender Brian Magee on December 8 in Denmark. The fight will be at 168 it would seem. 20) Tony Averlant (2-33) Last Fight: 11/9/2012- UD6 Lubo Hantak (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown It looks like Averlant’s profile hasn’t benefited much from what should have been a victory over a fringe contender from back in March, as he’s back to fighting awful opponents in 6-rounders.
In Liverpool, British referee Ian John-Lewis essentially canceled the scheduled fight between Enzo Maccarinelli and Ovill McKenzie by stopping it for little or no reason in the 2nd round. This is a candidate for worst stoppage of the year, with the only other serious contender being Gerber-Sprott. Rumor has it that John-Lewis was walking around his hotel lobby telling everyone who would listen that he “didn’t fancy the fight” due to his belief that Maccarinelli was a shot fighter who was in danger in the ring. Well, if true, I must say that I don’t fancy referees sabotaging fights. If he wished to protest the fight happening, he should have turned down his appointment to it. I’m treating this one as a no-contest due to an accidental foul by the referee that caused the fight to end before the completion of four rounds. It’s too bad for McKenzie, too…because he really was looking pretty good.
Saturday: #7 Nathan Cleverly went into full windmill mode on South Dakota prospect Shawn Hawk at Staples Center in L.A., stopping Hawk in the 8th round with an overwhelming volume attack.
In South Africa, undefeated local prospect Ryno Liebenberg knocked out novice Zambian journeyman Donald Kampamba in the 9th.
In France, local fringe contender Nadjib Mohammedi stopped low-level Russian Sergei Beloshapkin.
Due to the completely unsupportable stoppage in the Maccarinelli-McKenzie fight, the only remotely important fight out of these 5 is Cleverly-Hawk, and even that one doesn’t carry much weight, since Hawk is merely a borderline top-50 fighter. Cleverly remains at #7, as he can’t come close to matching Cornelius White’s win over Sukhotski. No changes.
Dan’s Top 20 (weeks in current position-weeks in top 10 (if applicable)-weeks in top 20)
Champ: Andre Ward (10-10-10) Last Fight: 9/8/2012- TKO10 Champ Chad Dawson (at SMW) Next Fight: Unknown Ward and Pavlik’s promoters have both confirmed that talks are underway for a February 23 fight on HBO. 1) Chad Dawson (10-337-337)
Last Fight: 9/8/2012- L(TKO10) vs. SMW Champ Andre Ward (at SMW)
Next Fight: Unknown Rumors of a Dawson-Pascal rematch are now floating around. 2) Bernard Hopkins (10-336-336)
Last Fight: 4/28/2012- L(MD12) vs. #2 Chad Dawson
Next Fight: 3/9/2012- vs. Unknown Opponent Hopkins has decided not to hang ’em up just yet, as he says he will fight either Shumenov, Cloud, or- most likely- Cleverly on March 9 in Brooklyn. 3) Jean Pascal (10-178-178)
Last Fight: 5/21/2011- L(UD12) vs. #1 Bernard Hopkins
Next Fight: 12/14/2012- vs. Aleksy Kuziemski Pascal will come back in December following his long inactivity and hand injury (thus retaining his ranking), with venue and TV problems ensuring that the Cloud fight could not be rescheduled until 2013. His opponent will be Polish gatekeeper Aleksy Kuziemski.
4) Gabriel Campillo (10-125-125)
Last Fight: 2/18/2012- L*(UD12) vs. #3 Tavoris Cloud (Robbery)
Next Fight: Unknown It now looks likely that Campillo will reschedule his fight with hot prospect Sergei Kovalev, from which he withdrew with injury this summer. It looks like the fight will be the main event of a NBC Sports card from Bethlehem Pennsylvania on January 19. 5) Tavoris Cloud (10-168-168)
Last Fight: 2/18/2012- UD12* vs. #4 Gabriel Campillo (Robbery)
Next Fight: 11/24/2012- vs. #9 Karo Murat The Cloud-Murat fight has been shifted back a week, but it will still rather inexplicably take place in Venezuela. 6) Cornelius White (10-18-48) Last Fight: 7/14/2012- UD12 #10 Dmitri Sukhotski Next Fight: Unknown White is on a tear. Is he really top-5 good? I wouldn’t think so, but he proves me wrong every time I feel I might be overrating him. 7) Nathan Cleverly (10-145-145)
Last Fight: 2/25/2012- UD12 Tommy Karpency (UNR)
Next Fight: 11/10/2012- vs. Shawn Hawk (UNR) Cleverly’s replacement opponent for his Showtime Extreme debut is actually a bit more proven than ill-fated original choice Ryan Coyne. It’ll be proud Native American and South Dakota prospect Shawn Hawk. 8) Tony Bellew (18-57-57) Last Fight: 9/8/2012- TKO9 Edison Miranda (UNR) Next Fight: 11/17/2012- vs. Roberto Feliciano Bolonti (UNR) Bellew now has an opponent for his appearance on the Froch-Mack undercard: Argentine Champion Roberto Feliciano Bolonti. 9) Karo Murat (10-59-80) Last Fight: 6/2/2012- TKO7 Sandro Siproshvili (UNR) Next Fight: 11/24/2012- vs. #5 Tavoris Cloud See Cloud’s notes, above. 10) Beibut Shumenov (10-121-125) Last Fight: 6/2/2012- UD12 Enrique Ornelas (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown 11) Yusaf Mack (10-125)
Last Fight: 7/7/2012- UD6 Sabou Ballogou (UNR)
Next Fight: 11/17/2012- vs. #1 SMW Carl Froch (at SMW) In a fairly sudden development, Mack will drop back down to 168 to fight Carl Froch. 12) Isaac Chilemba (10-41) Last Fight: 9/29/2012- UD8 Rayco Saunders (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown Chilemba came in a bit heavy, but performed as expected, shutting out journeyman Rayco Saunders. 13) Vyacheslav Uzelkoff (10-41) Last Fight: 7/21/2012- W(MD12) vs. Mohamed Belkacem (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown 14) Andrzej Fonfara (10-18) Last Fight: 7/13/2012- UD10* SMW #16 Glen Johnson Next Fight: 11/16/2012- vs. Tommy Karpency (UNR) Fonfara will fight journeyman Tommy Karpency in Chicago in mid-November. 15) Jürgen Brähmer (10-30) Last Fight: 4/21/2012- UD10 Vikapita Meroro (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown Here we go again! An announced Braehmer bout will not go forward as planned. At least this time there was some notice. No word on why the Gutknecht fight was scuttled. 16) Lucian Bute (2-2) Last Fight: 11/3/2012- UD12 #16 Denis Grachev Next Fight: Unknown Date- vs. SMW #1 Carl Froch (at SMW) Bute barely beat Grachev, and even more barely did so at light heavyweight, but I’ve still got to rate him. He’ll now fight a rematch with Froch in March or April. 17) Denis Grachev (2-29) Last Fight: 11/3/2012- L(UD12) vs. SMW #4 Lucian Bute Next Fight: Unknown Grachev put forth a valiant effort against a heavy favorite in Bute, even after presumably draining almost all the way to 168. As a result, his ranking remains mostly intact. 18) Dmitri Sukhotski (2-107) Last Fight: 7/14/2012- L(UD12) vs. #16 Cornelius White Next Fight: 12/8/2012- vs. Mikhail Ryzhonkin (UNR) Sukhotski will look for an easy tune-up on December 8 when he fights a very weak 2-3 Russian in Russia. 19) Mikkel Kessler (2-26) Last Fight: 5/19/2012- TKO4 Allan Green (UNR) Next Fight: 12/8/2012- vs. Brian Magee (UNR) (at SMW) Kessler will fight Irish fringe contender Brian Magee on December 8 in Denmark. The fight will be at 168 it would seem. 20) Tony Averlant (2-33) Last Fight: 11/9/2012- UD6 Lubo Hantak (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown It looks like Averlant’s profile hasn’t benefited much from what should have been a victory over a fringe contender from back in March, as he’s back to fighting awful opponents in 6-rounders.
The Week Ahead: A pair of fights each on both Friday and Saturday this week.
Friday: Serbian two-loss prospect Robin Krasniqi takes on Albuquerque journeyman Max Heyman in Magdeburg, Germany. Later on in Chicago, #14 Andrzej Fonfara fights Pennsylvania journeyman Tommy Karpency.
Saturday: On the Froch-Mack undercard in Nottingham, #8 Tony Bellew fights Argentine fringe contender Roberto Feliciano Bolonti. Finally, in L.A., aging 2-loss Ukranian prospect Anatoly Dudchenko battles local journeyman Tyrell Hendrix.
Dan's Weekly Boxer Rankings and Blog 
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