Middleweight: 2012, Nov 12-18
As I mentioned in last week’s preview, 21 year-old undefeated Danish prospect Patrick Nielsen had an opportunity for a showcase on the Helenius-Williams undercard, but like the main event favorite Helenius, Nielsen failed to impress. Normally I wouldn’t watch an obscure European fight between a barely top-50 prospect and a non-entity of a journeyman, but I saw that two of the three judges only managed to give it to the favorite by essentially 6-4 margins. Anytime the guy the promoter is rooting for wins by that small a margin, I feel compelled to seek out the video. But that was about right. I had it for Nielsen 97-93. Half the fight consisted of toss-up rounds, though. Nielsen started out the fight in complete control and cleanly swept the first 4, but by the time Bakhi won the 5th round, there was little to choose between the two guys going forward. Anything between 96-94 Bakhi and 99-91 Nielsen would be a reasonable card, and Meronen, Kardyni, and Marota each fit their pro-Nielsen cards in that range, with the latter two giving Nielsen just a 1-round margin.
Next Fight: 4/27/2013- vs. Unknown Opponent
Martinez has had successful knee surgery, and is planning to return April 27 in Argentina, with two as-yet unnamed opponents being considered for the shot.
1) Daniel Geale (73-178-178) Last Fight: 9/1/2012- W*(SD12) vs. #4 Felix Sturm
Next Fight: Unknown Date- vs. #11 Anthony Mundine
Geale has reached an agreement to fight Anthony Mundine in a big domestic showdown, with details yet to come. 2) Felix Sturm (11-478-478) Last Fight: 9/1/2012- L*(SD12) vs. #1 Daniel Geale
Next Fight: Unknown
Golovkin says he’d like to fight Sturm. 3) Gennady Golovkin (11-11-74) Last Fight: 9/1/2012- TKO5 #3 Grzegorz Proksa
Next Fight: Unknown With Sergio uninterested in a fight with him, Golovkin learned recently that HBO is interested in a 4-man elimination tournament of middleweight contenders to include him, Geale, Macklin, and Pirog. He also is reportedly in talks to fight super middleweight contender Thomas Oosthuizen. 4) Matthew Macklin (9-73-164) Last Fight: 9/15/2012- TKO1 Joachim Alcine (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown Macklin’s name is among those being mentioned for a possible HBO tournament to include himself, Golovkin, Geale, and Pirog. 5) Julio Cesar Chavez, Jr. (9-76-94) 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 (4-4-25) 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 (28-120-120) Last Fight: 5/1/2012- UD12 #20 Nobuhiro Ishida
Next Fight: Unknown
Pirog had a short-lived entry on his calendar to fight Golovkin in August, but withdrew very quickly with a back injury. 8) Grzegorz Proksa (11-83-83) 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 (11-50-50) Last Fight: 6/16/2012- UD10 Karim Achour (UNR) Next Fight: 11/24/2012- vs. Jorge Navarro (UNR) Murray will return on 11/24, and will be fighting for an “interim title” against untested but undefeated prospect Jorge Navarro. 10) Hassan N’Dam N’Jikam (4-107-107) 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 (4-94) Last Fight: 7/14/2012- TKO7 Bronco McKart (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown Date- vs. #1 Daniel Geale
Mundine has reportedly agreed to a fight with Geale, though no details yet. 12) Sam Soliman (4-39) Last Fight: 8/24/2012- UD12 Giovanni Lorenzo (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown Soliman is now the mandatory for Geale, which is a potential big-money domestic showdown in Australia. However, Geale seems to be occupied with yet another Australian, Anthony Mundine. 13) Marco Antonio Rubio (4-94) Last Fight: 9/8/2012- RTD4 Carlos Baldomir (UNR) (at SMW)
Next Fight: Unknown
14) Osumanu Adama (4-86) Last Fight: 3/7/2012- L(UD12) vs. #1 Daniel Geale Next Fight: Unknown Adama came up short against Geale, but has nothing to be ashamed of. He frequently took the #1 contender out of his game plan and looked entirely in his league at that lofty level. 15) Avtandil Khurtsidze (4-94) Last Fight: 12/18/2011- W(MD12) vs. Ossie Duran (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
16) Max Bursak (4-94) 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 (4-65) 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 (4-57) 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 (25-37) 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 (4-4) Last Fight: 8/11/2012- W (MD12) vs. Sergio Mora (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown
Italian gatekeeper Domenico Spada’s 6-rounder with 12-21 opponent Sandor Ramocsa of Hungary pretty much went according to script. Spada won, but failed to stop the unskilled but durable Ramocsa, who has been stopped just once in his now 22 losses.
Undefeated Mexican Marcos Reyes was supposed to get a decent test in top-notch journeyman Michel Rosales, but that fight did not come off.
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 (135-135-135) Last Fight: 9/15/2012- UD12 #4 Julio Cesar Chavez, Jr.
Next Fight: 4/27/2013- vs. Unknown Opponent
Martinez has had successful knee surgery, and is planning to return April 27 in Argentina, with two as-yet unnamed opponents being considered for the shot.
1) Daniel Geale (73-178-178) Last Fight: 9/1/2012- W*(SD12) vs. #4 Felix Sturm
Next Fight: Unknown Date- vs. #11 Anthony Mundine
Geale has reached an agreement to fight Anthony Mundine in a big domestic showdown, with details yet to come. 2) Felix Sturm (11-478-478) Last Fight: 9/1/2012- L*(SD12) vs. #1 Daniel Geale
Next Fight: Unknown
Golovkin says he’d like to fight Sturm. 3) Gennady Golovkin (11-11-74) Last Fight: 9/1/2012- TKO5 #3 Grzegorz Proksa
Next Fight: Unknown With Sergio uninterested in a fight with him, Golovkin learned recently that HBO is interested in a 4-man elimination tournament of middleweight contenders to include him, Geale, Macklin, and Pirog. He also is reportedly in talks to fight super middleweight contender Thomas Oosthuizen. 4) Matthew Macklin (9-73-164) Last Fight: 9/15/2012- TKO1 Joachim Alcine (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown Macklin’s name is among those being mentioned for a possible HBO tournament to include himself, Golovkin, Geale, and Pirog. 5) Julio Cesar Chavez, Jr. (9-76-94) 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 (4-4-25) 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 (28-120-120) Last Fight: 5/1/2012- UD12 #20 Nobuhiro Ishida
Next Fight: Unknown
Pirog had a short-lived entry on his calendar to fight Golovkin in August, but withdrew very quickly with a back injury. 8) Grzegorz Proksa (11-83-83) 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 (11-50-50) Last Fight: 6/16/2012- UD10 Karim Achour (UNR) Next Fight: 11/24/2012- vs. Jorge Navarro (UNR) Murray will return on 11/24, and will be fighting for an “interim title” against untested but undefeated prospect Jorge Navarro. 10) Hassan N’Dam N’Jikam (4-107-107) 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 (4-94) Last Fight: 7/14/2012- TKO7 Bronco McKart (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown Date- vs. #1 Daniel Geale
Mundine has reportedly agreed to a fight with Geale, though no details yet. 12) Sam Soliman (4-39) Last Fight: 8/24/2012- UD12 Giovanni Lorenzo (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown Soliman is now the mandatory for Geale, which is a potential big-money domestic showdown in Australia. However, Geale seems to be occupied with yet another Australian, Anthony Mundine. 13) Marco Antonio Rubio (4-94) Last Fight: 9/8/2012- RTD4 Carlos Baldomir (UNR) (at SMW)
Next Fight: Unknown
14) Osumanu Adama (4-86) Last Fight: 3/7/2012- L(UD12) vs. #1 Daniel Geale Next Fight: Unknown Adama came up short against Geale, but has nothing to be ashamed of. He frequently took the #1 contender out of his game plan and looked entirely in his league at that lofty level. 15) Avtandil Khurtsidze (4-94) Last Fight: 12/18/2011- W(MD12) vs. Ossie Duran (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
16) Max Bursak (4-94) 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 (4-65) 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 (4-57) 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 (25-37) 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 (4-4) Last Fight: 8/11/2012- W (MD12) vs. Sergio Mora (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown
The Week Ahead: Minnesota prospect Caleb Truax- who came close to upsetting Jermain Taylor back in April- takes on journeyman Michael Walker in St. Paul on Saturday.
Dan's Weekly Boxer Rankings and Blog 
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