Junior Middleweight: 2012, Jun 4-10
Last week was the most important since the Mayweather-Cotto card shook up the division a month ago.
Friday in Bethlehem, PA, #19 Sechew Powell made a decent showing for a while, demonstrating some slickness, skill, and experience in winning the first three rounds on my card against #10 Gabriel Rosado. As the rounds wore on, however, Rosado’s superior conditioning and overall strength began to shine, as he began to wear Powell down and spring some leaks in the veteran’s defense. Ultimately, Rosado got to show his notable killer instinct as he dropped Powell twice in the 9th, upon the second of which Steve Smoger stopped the fight without a count.
The following night on the Las Vegas undercard for Tarver-Kayode, #12 Austin Trout got the biggest win of his young career against #13 Delvin Rodriguez. Trout wasn’t spectacular by any means, but he generally controlled the action against an uncharacteristically tentative Rodriguez, allowing him to carry most of the rounds. My overall impression is that if Rodriguez had stepped up his base level of aggression a bit, he might have been able to snatch the win. As it was, I gave it to Trout 117-111. Two of the judges saw it similarly to me, while Alejandro Rochin’s shutout scorecard was clearly too wide.
Japanese titlist Daisuke Nakagawa could not make good in his first defense against quality journeyman Akio Shibata, who held the title for a few months in 2009-10 before losing it to transplanted American Charlie Ota. The fight was evidently close, with a total of 3 points separating the two fighters on the two deciding cards, but unfortunately I can’t find a video to verify the accuracy of the result.
Later that night in London, Scotsman Kris Carslaw put up a spirited challenge for Brian Rose’s British title. So spirited, in fact, that I scored the fight for him 115-113. I did happen to give Carslaw all the debateable rounds, though, and a case could be made that Rose won as wide as 117-111. Carslaw was in total control in round two, when he was badly cut by a clash of heads, while Rose was able to hold his own thereafter.
Myriad changes in the rankings, of course. The biggest winner of the week is Austin Trout, who is buoyed from #12 all the way to #8, which forces Alfredo Angulo down to #9. Gabriel Rosado’s win allows him to retain the #10 spot despite the promotion of Trout. Ryan Rhodes falls from #9 to #11 due to the shakeup. Cory Spinks falls one spot to #12. Brian Rose drops all the way to #20 with his highly debateable win over Carslaw, who was not even at a solid journeyman level after having lost to Matthew Hall. This allows Delvin Rodriguez to remain at #13 despite his defeat. Everyone ranked #15-20 last week moves up a spot due to Rose’s decline except Sechew Powell, who swaps places with Antonio Margarito to remain at #19 with the loss.
Dan’s Top 20 (Weeks in Current Position-Weeks in Top 10 if applicable-Weeks in Top 20) Champ: None 1) Saul Alvarez (5-66-81) Last Fight: 5/5/2012- UD12 Shane Mosley (UNR) Next Fight: 9/15/2012- vs. Unknown Opponent Kirkland signed and then immediately withdrew from a fight with Canelo. Lara, K9, and Trout are now being considered. 2) Carlos Molina (5-48-63) Last Fight: 3/23/2012- L*(DQ10) vs. #3 James Kirkland (Robbery) Next Fight: Unknown Molina has said he’ll appeal his DQ against Kirkland. 3) Cornelius Bundrage (11-96-96) Last Fight: 6/25/2011- UD12 #11 Sechew Powell Next Fight: 7/28/2012- vs. #12 Cory Spinks K9 has dropped Don King, and is being considered for a fight with Canelo, though he currently still has a date with Cory Spinks. 4) Floyd Mayweather, Jr. (5-5-5) Last Fight: 5/5/2012- UD12* #4 Miguel Cotto Next Fight: Unknown Floyd says he’s considering retirement after a tough fight with Cotto. But more recently, future fights against Pacquiao, Canelo, Khan, Cotto, Guerrero, and Berto/Ortiz have been mentioned. Of course Floyd is now in jail. 5) Miguel Cotto (5-105-105) Last Fight: 5/5/2012- L* (UD12) vs. WW #1 Floyd Mayweather, Jr. Next Fight: Unknown Cotto plans to return by the end of the year, and continue fighting for 2 or 3 more years. Rematches with both Pacquiao and Mayweather appear to be possibilities at some point. 6) Erislandy Lara (5-48-70) Last Fight: 4/20/2012- TKO1 Ronald Hearns (UNR) (at MW) Next Fight: Unknown Lara is being considered as Alvarez’s next opponent. 7) James Kirkland (5-31-31) Last Fight: 3/24/2012- W*(DQ10) vs. #6 Carlos Molina (Robbery) Next Fight: Unknown Kirkland bailed almost immediately on a fight he signed with Canelo, and says he plans to return in October or November. 8) Austin Trout (1-1-70) Last Fight: 6/2/2012- UD12 #13 Delvin Rodriguez Next Fight: Unknown Trout is among those being considered to tangle with Canelo on 9/15. 9) Alfredo Angulo (1-141-141) Last Fight: 11/5/2011- L (TKO6) vs. James Kirkland (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown Troubling news. Angulo has been detained by US authorities since at least January. Apparently his only crime was being here on an expired Visa. Don’t get me wrong. I’m in favor of enforcing immigration laws, but to lock a guy up for months on end without so much as a trial? Awful. We’re rooting for you, Perro. 10) Gabriel Rosado (2-2-70) Last Fight: 6/1/2013- TKO9 #19 Sechew Powell Next Fight: Unknown Rosado still wants Canelo, though Canelo isn’t considering him as an option at present. 11) Ryan Rhodes (1-137) Last Fight: 11/26/2011- W (PTS8) vs. Sergei Khomitski (UNR) (at MW) Next Fight: 6/16/2012- vs. Sergei Rabchenko (UNR) After suffering a back injury, Rhodes has rescheduled his fight with Rabchenko for June 16 in Manchester. 12) Cory Spinks (1-19) Last Fight: 1/28/2012- UD12 #11 Sechew Powell Next Fight: 7/28/2012- vs. #3 Cornelius Bundrage Spinks will have a rematch with #3 K9 Bundrage in San Jose on July 28. He’s brave for taking it, considering the beating he took last time. 13) Delvin Rodriguez (2-47) Last Fight: 6/2/2012- L (UD12) vs. #12 Austin Trout Next Fight: Unknown 14) Shane Mosley (1-5) Last Fight: 5/5/2012- L (UD12) vs. #2 Saul Alvarez Next Fight: Unknown Everybody but Mosley appears to know he’s done, but he still has the resume to hold a top 20 ranking. Let’s hope he retires soon, though. 15) Vanes Martirosyan (1-53) Last Fight: 2/4/2012- TKO3 Troy Lowry (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown Vanes has become extremely risk averse since his difficult fight with Roman last June, as he has now turned down an eliminator against Lara. 16) Lukas Konecny (1-43) Last Fight: 4/5/2012- TKO7 Salim Larbi (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown The WBO is looking to make Konecny-Baysangurov happen, and has set 6/4 as the deadline for an agreement to avoid purse bids. 17) Carlos Quintana (1-5) Last Fight: 5/5/2012- TKO6 Deandre Latimore (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown Quintana said he wanted Canelo in the immediate aftermath of his upset TKO of Deandre Latimore, and has since expressed interest in Cotto and Trout, as well. 18) Antonio Margarito (1-2) Last Fight: 12/3/2011- L (TKO10) vs. #5 Miguel Cotto Next Fight: 7/7/2012- vs. Unknown Opponent (at MW) Margarito is expecting to be back in the ring on July 7 after recovering from an achilles injury, and expects to fight at Middleweight. 19) Sechew Powell (2-116) Last Fight: 6/1/2012- L (TKO9) vs. #10 Gabriel Rosado Next Fight: Unknown 20) Brian Rose (1-27) Last Fight: 6/2/2012- W* (UD12) vs. Kris Carslaw (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown Rose’s reign as British Champion hasn’t been the greatest- partly due to limited available opposition, and partly due to his own awful performance against Carslaw.
The Week Ahead: No action worth mentioning in the division this week..
Dan's Weekly Boxer Rankings and Blog 
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