Light Heavyweight: 2013, Jan 28- Feb 3
Undefeated Brazilian prospect Jackson Junior stopped journeyman Dante Craig in Verona, NY in less than a round on Saturday, but the fight ended up being WAY over the light heavyweight limit. Junior came in at 185, while Craig was over 188.
Champ: Andre Ward (21-21-21) Last Fight: 9/8/2012- TKO10 Champ Chad Dawson (at SMW) Next Fight: Unknown Ward’s surgery is complete. He’s expected to be out until at least Summer. 1) Chad Dawson (21-348-348)
Last Fight: 9/8/2012- L(TKO10) vs. SMW Champ Andre Ward (at SMW)
Next Fight: 5/25/2013- vs. #3 Jean Pascal Likely in large part due to Pascal’s torn shoulder, Dawson will be fighting Pascal in May rather than March. In the mean time, Dawson has switched trainers from John Scully back to Eddie Mustafa Muhammed. 2) Bernard Hopkins (21-347-347)
Last Fight: 4/28/2012- L(MD12) vs. #2 Chad Dawson
Next Fight: 3/9/2012- vs. #6 Tavoris Cloud Hopkins appeared likely to fight Nathan Cleverly, but instead opted for Tavoris Cloud. The fight will take place in Brooklyn. 3) Jean Pascal (21-189-189)
Last Fight: 12/14/2012- UD10 Alexei Kuziemski (UNR)
Next Fight: 5/25/2013- vs. #1 Chad Dawson This latest delay is really testing my patience on continuing to rate Pascal, who will not have fought for approximately 2 years at 175 when the Dawson fight goes down. But he keeps staying rateable by constantly having a fight scheduled- even if the fights seldom come off when intended.
4) Sergey Kovalev (2-2-2) Last Fight: 1/19/2013- TKO3 #4 Gabriel Campillo Next Fight: Unknown We knew Kovalev could punch, but I don’t know how many observers imagined him thoroughly destroying arguably the best fighter in the division like that… 5) Gabriel Campillo (2-136-136)
Last Fight: 1/19/2013- L(TKO3) vs. Sergey Kovalev (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown It remains to be seen whether we’ve seen Campillo rapidly decline, have a bad night, or just run into a world-beater. But he’s still going to be highly ranked because he recently beat the guy ranked right below him. 6) Tavoris Cloud (2-179-179)
Last Fight: 2/18/2012- UD12* vs. #4 Gabriel Campillo (Robbery)
Next Fight: 3/9/2013- vs. #2 Bernard Hopkins Perhaps Cloud’s reasoning for pulling out of the Murat fight had something to do with his apparently better-than-expected chances of landing a much more lucrative Hopkins battle- a fight that now appears set for March. 7) Cornelius White (2-29-59) 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. 8) Nathan Cleverly (2-156-156)
Last Fight: 11/10/2012- TKO8 Shawn Hawk (UNR)
Next Fight: 3/16/2013- vs. Robin Krasniqi (UNR) Cleverly will be fighting a long-rumored fight with fringe prospect Robin Krasniqi on March 16 in the UK. 9) Tony Bellew (2-68-68) Last Fight: 11/17/2012- UD12 Roberto Feliciano Bolonti (UNR) Next Fight: 3/30/2013- vs. #12 Isaac Chilemba A big time opportunity for two up-and-comers on tap for March 30, as Bellew collides with Isaac Chilemba in Liverpool. 10) Karo Murat (2-70-91) Last Fight: 6/2/2012- TKO7 Sandro Siproshvili (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown No idea what’s next for Murat after Cloud left him at the proverbial altar. 11) Beibut Shumenov (2-136) Last Fight: 6/2/2012- UD12 Enrique Ornelas (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown 12) Isaac Chilemba (2-52) Last Fight: 9/29/2012- UD8 Rayco Saunders (UNR) Next Fight: 3/30/2013- vs. #9 Tony Bellew Up-and-coming African star Chilemba takes a high-risk, high-reward fight on March 30 in Tony Bellew’s hometown of Liverpool. 13) Vyacheslav Uzelkoff (2-52) Last Fight: 12/15/2012- TKO1 Giorgi Marosi (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown Uzelkoff easily dispatched Marosi, in a fight so last-minute that I didn’t even know about it a week in advance. 14) Andrzej Fonfara (2-29) Last Fight: 11/16/2012- TKO7 Tommy Karpency (UNR) Next Fight: 3/22/2013- vs. Nicholson Poulard (UNR) Fonfara is scheduled to be in action on March 22 in Chicago. His opponent is Jean Pascal’s brother, journeyman Nicholson Poulard. 15) Yusaf Mack (2-136)
Last Fight: 11/17/2012- L(KO3) vs. #1 SMW Carl Froch (at SMW)
Next Fight: Unknown It’s no shame to lose to Carl Froch, but Mack’s showing was bad enough that you’ve got to wonder if he’s finished. 16) Jürgen Brähmer (2-41) Last Fight: 4/21/2012- UD10 Vikapita Meroro (UNR) Next Fight: 2/2/2013- vs. Eduard Gutknecht (UNR) Braehmer has reportedly rescheduled his fight with Gutknecht for early February. We’ll see if he follows through this time- always a big “if” with him. 17) Lucian Bute (2-13) Last Fight: 11/3/2012- UD12 #16 Denis Grachev Next Fight: 5/25/2013- vs. Unknown Opponent Bute is tentatively scheduled to fight the Bika/Sjekloca winner on May 25, part of a split-site pay per view broadcast with Froch-Kessler, at 168. 18) Denis Grachev (2-40) 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. 19) Dmitri Sukhotski (2-118) Last Fight: 12/8/2012- TKO1 Vladimir Borovsky (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown 20) Eleider Alvarez (1-1)
Last Fight: 12/14/2012- KO8 Danny McIntosh (UNR) (at CW) Next Fight: Unknown Alvarez is a real prospect to watch. He’d be ranked even higher if his fight with McIntosh had been under the 175 limit, I do believe.
Last week’s #20 Mikkel Kessler scheduled a fight at 168 for more than a year after his last fight at 175, and is thus removed. Taking his place is undefeated Colombian Eleider Alvarez, after just one week out.
Dan’s Top 20 (weeks in current position-weeks in top 10 (if applicable)-weeks in top 20)
Champ: Andre Ward (21-21-21) Last Fight: 9/8/2012- TKO10 Champ Chad Dawson (at SMW) Next Fight: Unknown Ward’s surgery is complete. He’s expected to be out until at least Summer. 1) Chad Dawson (21-348-348)
Last Fight: 9/8/2012- L(TKO10) vs. SMW Champ Andre Ward (at SMW)
Next Fight: 5/25/2013- vs. #3 Jean Pascal Likely in large part due to Pascal’s torn shoulder, Dawson will be fighting Pascal in May rather than March. In the mean time, Dawson has switched trainers from John Scully back to Eddie Mustafa Muhammed. 2) Bernard Hopkins (21-347-347)
Last Fight: 4/28/2012- L(MD12) vs. #2 Chad Dawson
Next Fight: 3/9/2012- vs. #6 Tavoris Cloud Hopkins appeared likely to fight Nathan Cleverly, but instead opted for Tavoris Cloud. The fight will take place in Brooklyn. 3) Jean Pascal (21-189-189)
Last Fight: 12/14/2012- UD10 Alexei Kuziemski (UNR)
Next Fight: 5/25/2013- vs. #1 Chad Dawson This latest delay is really testing my patience on continuing to rate Pascal, who will not have fought for approximately 2 years at 175 when the Dawson fight goes down. But he keeps staying rateable by constantly having a fight scheduled- even if the fights seldom come off when intended.
4) Sergey Kovalev (2-2-2) Last Fight: 1/19/2013- TKO3 #4 Gabriel Campillo Next Fight: Unknown We knew Kovalev could punch, but I don’t know how many observers imagined him thoroughly destroying arguably the best fighter in the division like that… 5) Gabriel Campillo (2-136-136)
Last Fight: 1/19/2013- L(TKO3) vs. Sergey Kovalev (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown It remains to be seen whether we’ve seen Campillo rapidly decline, have a bad night, or just run into a world-beater. But he’s still going to be highly ranked because he recently beat the guy ranked right below him. 6) Tavoris Cloud (2-179-179)
Last Fight: 2/18/2012- UD12* vs. #4 Gabriel Campillo (Robbery)
Next Fight: 3/9/2013- vs. #2 Bernard Hopkins Perhaps Cloud’s reasoning for pulling out of the Murat fight had something to do with his apparently better-than-expected chances of landing a much more lucrative Hopkins battle- a fight that now appears set for March. 7) Cornelius White (2-29-59) 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. 8) Nathan Cleverly (2-156-156)
Last Fight: 11/10/2012- TKO8 Shawn Hawk (UNR)
Next Fight: 3/16/2013- vs. Robin Krasniqi (UNR) Cleverly will be fighting a long-rumored fight with fringe prospect Robin Krasniqi on March 16 in the UK. 9) Tony Bellew (2-68-68) Last Fight: 11/17/2012- UD12 Roberto Feliciano Bolonti (UNR) Next Fight: 3/30/2013- vs. #12 Isaac Chilemba A big time opportunity for two up-and-comers on tap for March 30, as Bellew collides with Isaac Chilemba in Liverpool. 10) Karo Murat (2-70-91) Last Fight: 6/2/2012- TKO7 Sandro Siproshvili (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown No idea what’s next for Murat after Cloud left him at the proverbial altar. 11) Beibut Shumenov (2-136) Last Fight: 6/2/2012- UD12 Enrique Ornelas (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown 12) Isaac Chilemba (2-52) Last Fight: 9/29/2012- UD8 Rayco Saunders (UNR) Next Fight: 3/30/2013- vs. #9 Tony Bellew Up-and-coming African star Chilemba takes a high-risk, high-reward fight on March 30 in Tony Bellew’s hometown of Liverpool. 13) Vyacheslav Uzelkoff (2-52) Last Fight: 12/15/2012- TKO1 Giorgi Marosi (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown Uzelkoff easily dispatched Marosi, in a fight so last-minute that I didn’t even know about it a week in advance. 14) Andrzej Fonfara (2-29) Last Fight: 11/16/2012- TKO7 Tommy Karpency (UNR) Next Fight: 3/22/2013- vs. Nicholson Poulard (UNR) Fonfara is scheduled to be in action on March 22 in Chicago. His opponent is Jean Pascal’s brother, journeyman Nicholson Poulard. 15) Yusaf Mack (2-136)
Last Fight: 11/17/2012- L(KO3) vs. #1 SMW Carl Froch (at SMW)
Next Fight: Unknown It’s no shame to lose to Carl Froch, but Mack’s showing was bad enough that you’ve got to wonder if he’s finished. 16) Jürgen Brähmer (2-41) Last Fight: 4/21/2012- UD10 Vikapita Meroro (UNR) Next Fight: 2/2/2013- vs. Eduard Gutknecht (UNR) Braehmer has reportedly rescheduled his fight with Gutknecht for early February. We’ll see if he follows through this time- always a big “if” with him. 17) Lucian Bute (2-13) Last Fight: 11/3/2012- UD12 #16 Denis Grachev Next Fight: 5/25/2013- vs. Unknown Opponent Bute is tentatively scheduled to fight the Bika/Sjekloca winner on May 25, part of a split-site pay per view broadcast with Froch-Kessler, at 168. 18) Denis Grachev (2-40) 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. 19) Dmitri Sukhotski (2-118) Last Fight: 12/8/2012- TKO1 Vladimir Borovsky (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown 20) Eleider Alvarez (1-1)
Last Fight: 12/14/2012- KO8 Danny McIntosh (UNR) (at CW) Next Fight: Unknown Alvarez is a real prospect to watch. He’d be ranked even higher if his fight with McIntosh had been under the 175 limit, I do believe.
The Week Ahead: Two fights worth mentioning, both on Saturday, and both in Berlin. #16 Juergen Braehmer takes on once-prominent fringe contender Eduard Gutknecht. Gutknecht is clearly not what he once appeared to be after needing a gift to get by journeyman Tony Averlant in March, but Braehmer hasn’t stepped in with anyone worthwhile in over 2 1/2 years. This could be an interesting match-up, but perhaps not for the best reasons. On the undercard, undefeated German prospect Dustin Dirks- considered a top 50 fighter despite his best career opponent being a mid-level journeyman he fought 3 years ago- continues his pattern of mediocrity by fighting journeyman Christian Cruz, a loser in his last 9 outings.
Dan's Weekly Boxer Rankings and Blog 
Leave a Reply