Light Heavyweight: 2013, Feb 11-17
No action to report from last week.
Champ: Andre Ward (23-23-23) 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 (23-350-350)
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 (23-349-349)
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 (23-191-191)
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 (4-4-4) Last Fight: 1/19/2013- TKO3 #4 Gabriel Campillo Next Fight: Unknown Kovalev is hoping to return in Moscow in April. 5) Gabriel Campillo (4-138-138)
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 (4-181-181)
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 (4-31-61) 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 (4-158-158)
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 (4-70-70) Last Fight: 11/17/2012- UD12 Roberto Feliciano Bolonti (UNR) Next Fight: 3/30/2013- vs. #13 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) Jürgen Brähmer (2-2-43) Last Fight: 2/2/2013- UD12 Eduard Gutknecht (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown Braehmer is now has the EBU European title, meaning he’ll probably have a steady stream of fringe contenders available to him. Gutknecht aside, that’s an upgrade form his last 3 years of activity or lack thereof. 11) Karo Murat (2-93) Last Fight: 6/2/2012- TKO7 Sandro Siproshvili (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown Murat last made 175 on October 1, 2011. He’s fought once slightly over the limit since then, giving him until April 1 to schedule a fight here. This is partly Cloud’s fault for essentially standing him up, but that’s way too little activity to draw sympathy from me. 12) Beibut Shumenov (2-138) Last Fight: 6/2/2012- UD12 Enrique Ornelas (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown 13) Isaac Chilemba (2-54) 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. 14) Vyacheslav Uzelkoff (2-54) 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. 15) Andrzej Fonfara (2-31) 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. 16) Yusaf Mack (2-138)
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. 17) Lucian Bute (4-15) 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 (4-42) Last Fight: 11/3/2012- L(UD12) vs. SMW #4 Lucian Bute Next Fight: 3/30/2013- vs. Zsolt Erdei (UNR) Grachev will fight inactive former champ Zsolt Erdei in Monaco on March 30, with the winner to fight there against the winner of Edwin Rodriguez vs. Ezequiel Maderna in July. 19) Dmitri Sukhotski (4-120) Last Fight: 12/8/2012- TKO1 Vladimir Borovsky (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown Sukhotski was originally rumored for the Monaco tourney, but he is not one of the 4 scheduled. 20) Eleider Alvarez (3-3)
Last Fight: 12/14/2012- KO8 Danny McIntosh (UNR) (at CW) Next Fight: 3/22/2013- vs. Unknown Opponent Alvarez will fight in Montreal on March 22.
Dan’s Top 20 (weeks in current position-weeks in top 10 (if applicable)-weeks in top 20)
Champ: Andre Ward (23-23-23) 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 (23-350-350)
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 (23-349-349)
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 (23-191-191)
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 (4-4-4) Last Fight: 1/19/2013- TKO3 #4 Gabriel Campillo Next Fight: Unknown Kovalev is hoping to return in Moscow in April. 5) Gabriel Campillo (4-138-138)
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 (4-181-181)
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 (4-31-61) 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 (4-158-158)
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 (4-70-70) Last Fight: 11/17/2012- UD12 Roberto Feliciano Bolonti (UNR) Next Fight: 3/30/2013- vs. #13 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) Jürgen Brähmer (2-2-43) Last Fight: 2/2/2013- UD12 Eduard Gutknecht (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown Braehmer is now has the EBU European title, meaning he’ll probably have a steady stream of fringe contenders available to him. Gutknecht aside, that’s an upgrade form his last 3 years of activity or lack thereof. 11) Karo Murat (2-93) Last Fight: 6/2/2012- TKO7 Sandro Siproshvili (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown Murat last made 175 on October 1, 2011. He’s fought once slightly over the limit since then, giving him until April 1 to schedule a fight here. This is partly Cloud’s fault for essentially standing him up, but that’s way too little activity to draw sympathy from me. 12) Beibut Shumenov (2-138) Last Fight: 6/2/2012- UD12 Enrique Ornelas (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown 13) Isaac Chilemba (2-54) 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. 14) Vyacheslav Uzelkoff (2-54) 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. 15) Andrzej Fonfara (2-31) 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. 16) Yusaf Mack (2-138)
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. 17) Lucian Bute (4-15) 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 (4-42) Last Fight: 11/3/2012- L(UD12) vs. SMW #4 Lucian Bute Next Fight: 3/30/2013- vs. Zsolt Erdei (UNR) Grachev will fight inactive former champ Zsolt Erdei in Monaco on March 30, with the winner to fight there against the winner of Edwin Rodriguez vs. Ezequiel Maderna in July. 19) Dmitri Sukhotski (4-120) Last Fight: 12/8/2012- TKO1 Vladimir Borovsky (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown Sukhotski was originally rumored for the Monaco tourney, but he is not one of the 4 scheduled. 20) Eleider Alvarez (3-3)
Last Fight: 12/14/2012- KO8 Danny McIntosh (UNR) (at CW) Next Fight: 3/22/2013- vs. Unknown Opponent Alvarez will fight in Montreal on March 22.
The Week Ahead: Friday: Middleweight fringe contender Garth Wood- who at one point was a super middleweight fringe contender before that- bloats all the way up to light heavyweight to challenge journeyman Togasilimai Letoa, the Samoan who scored one of the biggest upsets in the division last year by stopping gatekeeper Manny Vlamis in March, for a minor regional title. After beating Vlamis, Letoa went back to his previous pattern in his next fight, losing a 6-round decision to a less experienced journeyman.
Saturday: Undefeated South African prospect Ryno Liebenberg takes on low-level Ghanaian journeyman Flash Issaka in Kempton Park, South Africa.
Half a world away in Montevideo, Uruguay, 2-loss Argentine Pablo Farias will fight his countryman, journeyman Mauricio Caceda.
Dan's Weekly Boxer Rankings and Blog 
Leave a Reply