Middleweight: 2012, Dec 3-9

Australian top 50 fighter Les Sherrington (usually I call a guy at his level a gatekeeper, but he doesn’t really fit that mold) dropped and later stopped Filipino journeyman Randy Suico in Townsville, Australia on Friday in the week’s only meaningful middleweight action.  No changes to the rankings.

 

Dan’s Top 20 (Weeks in Current Position-Weeks in Top 10 if applicable-Weeks in Top 20)
Champ: Sergio Martinez (138-138-138)
Last Fight: 9/15/2012- UD12 #4 Julio Cesar Chavez, Jr.
Next Fight: 4/27/2013- vs. #9 Martin Murray
Martinez will look to comeback strong from knee surgery when he takes on Martin Murray in Argentina on April 27.
1) Daniel Geale (76-181-181)
Last Fight: 9/1/2012- W*(SD12) vs. #4 Felix Sturm
Next Fight: 1/30/2013- vs. #11 Anthony Mundine
Geale now has a date and location for the Mundine fight: January 30, in Sidney.
2) Felix Sturm (14-481-481)
Last Fight: 9/1/2012- L*(SD12) vs. #1 Daniel Geale
Next Fight: 2/2/2013- vs. #12 Sam Soliman
Sturm will fight Aussie Sam Soliman in Germany in early February.
3) Gennady Golovkin (14-14-77)
Last Fight: 9/1/2012- TKO5 #3 Grzegorz Proksa
Next Fight: 1/19/2013- vs. JMW #? Gabriel Rosado
Golovkin fights at Madison Square Garden against junior middleweight contender Gabriel Rosado.  The fight will be on HBO.
4) Matthew Macklin (12-76-167)
Last Fight: 9/15/2012- TKO1 Joachim Alcine (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
Andy Lee recently called Macklin out.
5) Julio Cesar Chavez, Jr. (12-79-97)
Last Fight: 9/15/2012- L (UD12) vs. Champ Sergio Martinez
Next Fight: Unknown
Chavez tested positive for marijuana for his fight with Martinez, and is likely to be suspended.  That won’t affect his rating here at all because he lost anyway, and because it’s not a performance enhancer.  The suspension is likely to last about 6 months, and Sergio recently stated that he wants Olympic testing as a precondition to a rematch.
6) Peter Quillin (7-7-28)
Last Fight: 10/20/2012- UD12 #6 Hassan N’Dam N’Jikam
Next Fight: 1/19/2013- vs. Unknown Opponent
Quillin will be fighting on January 19 on Showtime.  Jermain Taylor appears to be the likely opponent.  That’s not good for Taylor’s health.
7) Dmitry Pirog (31-123-123)
Last Fight: 5/1/2012- UD12 #20 Nobuhiro Ishida
Next Fight: 3/2/2013- vs. Unknown Opponent
Pirog will return to the ring- and the US- fighting an opponent to be announced March 3 on HBO.
8) Grzegorz Proksa (14-86-86)
Last Fight: 9/1/2012- L(TKO5) vs. #13 Gennady Golovkin
Next Fight: Unknown
After a taxing TKO loss to Golovkin (and a fairly busy first 3 quarters of the year), Proksa now says he’ll take a rest until at least January.
9) Martin Murray (14-53-53)
Last Fight: 11/24/2012- TKO6 Jorge Navarro (UNR)
Next Fight: 4/27/2013- vs. Champ Sergio Martinez
Murray will look to prove that he belongs at or above the level he achieved by drawing with Sturm when he fights the Champ in Argentina on April 27.
10) Hassan N’Dam N’Jikam (7-110-110)
Last Fight: 10/20/2012- L (UD12) vs. #20 Peter Quillin

Next Fight: Unknown
As it turns out, N’Dam had a rematch clause in his contract with Quillin, but he also has expressed interest in Golovkin, Geale, Martinez, and Chavez.
11) Anthony Mundine (7-97)
Last Fight: 7/14/2012- TKO7 Bronco McKart (UNR)
Next Fight: 1/30/2013- vs. #1 Daniel Geale
A big opportunity for Mundine in the rematch of his split decision victory over Geale.
12) Sam Soliman (7-42)
Last Fight: 8/24/2012- UD12 Giovanni Lorenzo (UNR)
Next Fight: 2/2/2013- vs. #2 Felix Sturm
Soliman is fighting Sturm all of a sudden.
13) Marco Antonio Rubio (7-97)
Last Fight: 9/8/2012- RTD4 Carlos Baldomir (UNR) (at SMW)
Next Fight: 12/22/2012- vs. Michel Rosales (UNR)
Rubio will fight top-notch journeyman Michel Rosales in Torreon, Mexico on December 22.
14) Osumanu Adama (7-89)
Last Fight: 3/7/2012- L(UD12) vs. #1 Daniel Geale
Next Fight: 12/22/2012- vs. Derrick Findley (UNR)
Adama will just be looking to get active again on December 22 when he fights journeyman Derrick Findley in Chicago.
15) Avtandil Khurtsidze (7-97)
Last Fight: 12/18/2011- W(MD12) vs. Ossie Duran (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
After nearly a year of inactivity, Khurtsidze has signed with American promoter Lou DiBella.  No word yet on whether Lou will get him a fight in time to preserve his ranking.
16) Max Bursak (7-97)
Last Fight: 7/21/2012- KO1 Sergei Melis (UNR)
Next Fight: 1/26/2013- vs. Julien Marie Sainte (UNR)
Bursak will be fighting for a European title over what should be a pretty easy opponent in Frenchman Julien Marie Sainte- essentially a journeyman.  The one bit of intrigue is that the fight is taking place in France.
17) Demetrius Andrade (7-68)
Last Fight: 9/20/2012- TKO2 Alexis Hloros (UNR)
Next Fight: 1/25/2013- vs. Javier Maciel (UNR)
Andrade gets an interesting test in January when he fights slick Argentine boxer Javier Maciel, who gave Dmitry Pirog plenty of trouble when the two met in early 2011.
18) Darren Barker (7-60)
Last Fight: 10/1/2011- L(KO11) vs. Champ Sergio Martinez
Next Fight: 12/8/2012- vs. Kerry Hope (UNR)
If Barker’s body holds up, he has a date with tough Welsh journeyman Kerry Hope on December 8.
19) Nobuhiro Ishida (28-40)
Last Fight: 5/1/2012- L(UD12) vs. #8 Dmitry Pirog
Next Fight: Unknown
Barely challenged Pirog at all, but has enough mileage left on the Kirkland upset to remain ranked for the moment.
20) Bryan Vera (7-7)
Last Fight: 8/11/2012- W (MD12) vs. Sergio Mora (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown

 

The Week Ahead: #18 Darren Barker steps inside the ropes for the first time in over 14 months when he takes on top-level Welsh journeyman Kerry Hope in London on Saturday.
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