Super Middleweight: 2013, Apr 8-14
It appears that Maxim Vlasov’s fight with Ruben Acosta was indeed canceled. I seem to be the only one that noticed, though, as there were no news reports that I could find that mentioned the fight since it was still on a couple weeks ago. That being the case, there’s nothing to report, and no changes to the rankings this week.
Next Fight: Unknown Ward is said to be looking for his next opponent soon, as he recovers from surgery. His top choice seems to be Julio Cesar Chavez. 1) Carl Froch (46-356-356)
Last Fight: 11/17/2012- KO3 LHW #11 Yusaf Mack
Next Fight: 5/25/2013- vs. #3 Mikkel Kessler The deal is done. Froch will get a rematch with Kessler on May 25 in London. 2) Robert Stieglitz (3-189-189) Last Fight: 3/23/2013- TKO3 #2 Arthur Abraham Next Fight: Unknown After being blitzed by an uncharacteristically aggressive Stieglitz, Abraham has demanded a trilogy bout, which Stieglitz seems disposed to grant. Sauerland also seems to be on board. 3) Mikkel Kessler (17-435-435) Last Fight: 12/8/2012- TKO3 Brian Magee (UNR)
Next Fight: 5/25/2013- vs. #1 Carl Froch See Froch’s notes, above. 4) Lucian Bute (33-365-365) Last Fight: 11/3/2012- UD12 LHW #16 Denis Grachev (at LHW) Next Fight: 5/25/2013- vs. LHW #3 Jean Pascal (at LHW) Bute will be fighting Jean Pascal at light heavyweight in a huge Canadian event in May. His super middleweight fight with Carl Froch was just a day shy of one year earlier, and thus Bute will probably be removed for inactivity at this weight the week after that fight unless he signs something immediately. 5) Arthur Abraham (3-181-181)
Last Fight: 3/23/2013- L (TKO3) vs. #5 Robert Stieglitz
Next Fight: Unknown See Stieglitz’s notes above. 6) Thomas Oosthuizen (33-97-145)
Last Fight: 11/10/2012- UD12 Fulgencio Zuniga (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown It sounds very likely that Oosthuizen will be fighting highly overrated and nominally “undefeated ” prospect Brandon Gonzales on the Golovkin-Macklin undercard. 7) Adonis Stevenson (26-70-70) Last Fight: 3/22/2013- TKO6 Darnell Boone (UNR) (at LHW) Next Fight: 6/8/2013- vs. LHW #1 Chad Dawson (at LHW) After tending to unfinished business with the lowly Boone, Stevenson will now set sites on #1 light heavyweight Chad Dawson, who most outlets still consider the Champ. 8) George Groves (12-17-39) Last Fight: 3/23/2013- TKO2 Baker Barakat (UNR) (at LHW) Next Fight: 5/25/2013- vs. Unknown Opponent Groves snuck in a short-notice walk in the park with journeyman Baker Barakat on the Abraham-Stieglitz undercard, and will return on the Froch-Kessler undercard on May 25. 9) Sakio Bika (6-8-314) Last Fight: 2/16/2013- UD12 Nikola Sjekloca (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown Bika is the mandatory for Andre Ward, and has also expressed interest in Bernard Hopkins. 10) Anthony Dirrell (5-5-71) Last Fight: 12/2/2011- TKO4 Renan St. Juste (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown Dirrell stated via Twitter on February 20 that he’d be fighting a tune-up in 2 months. That means roughly mid-April. It’ll be good to see him back in the ring after coming back from several orthopedic injuries due to a motorcycle crash. 11) Will Rosinsky (5-43) Last Fight: 12/19/2012- UD10 Otis Griffin (UNR) (at LHW) Next Fight: Unknown Rosinsky was all but set to fight Brandon Gonzales on Friday Night Fights, but Gonzales withdrew with a bad hamstring. Sounds like Gonzales is moving on to a higher-reward opportunity with Oosthuizen. 12) Mouhamed Ali Ndiaye (5-74) Last Fight: 3/23/2013- W (PTS6) vs. Jevgenijs Andrejevs (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown Ndiaye did nothing other than stay busy against low-level Latvian Andrejevs. But in fairness, he needed to do that. 13) Dimitri Sartison (5-145)
Last Fight: 1/27/2013- UD6 Artem Solomko (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown 14) James DeGale (5-78) Last Fight: 12/8/2012- UD12 Fulgencio Zuniga (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown Date- vs. Alexander Brand (UNR) The DeGale-Brand fight has been postponed. Not sure why. 15) Maxim Vlasov (2-22) Last Fight: 12/30/2012- RTD7 Geard Ajetovic (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown 16) Edwin Rodriguez (2-12) Last Fight: 3/30/2013- W* (UD10) vs. #15 Ezequiel Maderna Next Fight: 7/13/2013- vs. #16 LHW Denis Grachev (at LHW) After getting the benefit of yet another questionable but not totally out-of-bounds decision against Maderna, Rodriguez remains in the mix, but kinda on the periphery of the division’s contenders. He gets a chance at a million bucks against Grachev, who also arguably deserved to lose his first round fight. 17) Ezequiel Maderna (2-15) Last Fight: 3/30/2013- L* (UD10) vs. #17 Edwin Rodriguez Next Fight: Unknown Maderna, despite arguably deserving a win against Rodriguez, did himself few favors in dropping the decision, especially considering how ugly the fight was. I don’t imagine he’ll be getting too many international suitors anytime soon since he seems difficult to look good against. 18) Dyah Davis (5-7) Last Fight: 6/2/2012- L (TKO10) vs. #9 Sakio Bika Next Fight: Unknown 19) Don George (3-3) Last Fight: 3/22/2013- Draw* (SD10) vs. David Lopez (should have been win) Next Fight: Unknown George got robbed against Lopez, but gets credit for the win here (even if it was at a 163 catchweight). 20) Hadillah Mohoumadi (3-6) Last Fight: 1/19/2013- UD10 Cedric Bellais (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown Mohoumadi isn’t maybe the most obvious choice to be ranked, but he arguably beat DeGale (I thought he did better against him than Groves did) and by most accounts may have beaten Sjekloca, as well.
Dan’s Top 20 Champ: Andre Ward (69-203-203) Last Fight: 9/8/2012- TKO10 LHW Champ Chad Dawson
Next Fight: Unknown Ward is said to be looking for his next opponent soon, as he recovers from surgery. His top choice seems to be Julio Cesar Chavez. 1) Carl Froch (46-356-356)
Last Fight: 11/17/2012- KO3 LHW #11 Yusaf Mack
Next Fight: 5/25/2013- vs. #3 Mikkel Kessler The deal is done. Froch will get a rematch with Kessler on May 25 in London. 2) Robert Stieglitz (3-189-189) Last Fight: 3/23/2013- TKO3 #2 Arthur Abraham Next Fight: Unknown After being blitzed by an uncharacteristically aggressive Stieglitz, Abraham has demanded a trilogy bout, which Stieglitz seems disposed to grant. Sauerland also seems to be on board. 3) Mikkel Kessler (17-435-435) Last Fight: 12/8/2012- TKO3 Brian Magee (UNR)
Next Fight: 5/25/2013- vs. #1 Carl Froch See Froch’s notes, above. 4) Lucian Bute (33-365-365) Last Fight: 11/3/2012- UD12 LHW #16 Denis Grachev (at LHW) Next Fight: 5/25/2013- vs. LHW #3 Jean Pascal (at LHW) Bute will be fighting Jean Pascal at light heavyweight in a huge Canadian event in May. His super middleweight fight with Carl Froch was just a day shy of one year earlier, and thus Bute will probably be removed for inactivity at this weight the week after that fight unless he signs something immediately. 5) Arthur Abraham (3-181-181)
Last Fight: 3/23/2013- L (TKO3) vs. #5 Robert Stieglitz
Next Fight: Unknown See Stieglitz’s notes above. 6) Thomas Oosthuizen (33-97-145)
Last Fight: 11/10/2012- UD12 Fulgencio Zuniga (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown It sounds very likely that Oosthuizen will be fighting highly overrated and nominally “undefeated ” prospect Brandon Gonzales on the Golovkin-Macklin undercard. 7) Adonis Stevenson (26-70-70) Last Fight: 3/22/2013- TKO6 Darnell Boone (UNR) (at LHW) Next Fight: 6/8/2013- vs. LHW #1 Chad Dawson (at LHW) After tending to unfinished business with the lowly Boone, Stevenson will now set sites on #1 light heavyweight Chad Dawson, who most outlets still consider the Champ. 8) George Groves (12-17-39) Last Fight: 3/23/2013- TKO2 Baker Barakat (UNR) (at LHW) Next Fight: 5/25/2013- vs. Unknown Opponent Groves snuck in a short-notice walk in the park with journeyman Baker Barakat on the Abraham-Stieglitz undercard, and will return on the Froch-Kessler undercard on May 25. 9) Sakio Bika (6-8-314) Last Fight: 2/16/2013- UD12 Nikola Sjekloca (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown Bika is the mandatory for Andre Ward, and has also expressed interest in Bernard Hopkins. 10) Anthony Dirrell (5-5-71) Last Fight: 12/2/2011- TKO4 Renan St. Juste (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown Dirrell stated via Twitter on February 20 that he’d be fighting a tune-up in 2 months. That means roughly mid-April. It’ll be good to see him back in the ring after coming back from several orthopedic injuries due to a motorcycle crash. 11) Will Rosinsky (5-43) Last Fight: 12/19/2012- UD10 Otis Griffin (UNR) (at LHW) Next Fight: Unknown Rosinsky was all but set to fight Brandon Gonzales on Friday Night Fights, but Gonzales withdrew with a bad hamstring. Sounds like Gonzales is moving on to a higher-reward opportunity with Oosthuizen. 12) Mouhamed Ali Ndiaye (5-74) Last Fight: 3/23/2013- W (PTS6) vs. Jevgenijs Andrejevs (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown Ndiaye did nothing other than stay busy against low-level Latvian Andrejevs. But in fairness, he needed to do that. 13) Dimitri Sartison (5-145)
Last Fight: 1/27/2013- UD6 Artem Solomko (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown 14) James DeGale (5-78) Last Fight: 12/8/2012- UD12 Fulgencio Zuniga (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown Date- vs. Alexander Brand (UNR) The DeGale-Brand fight has been postponed. Not sure why. 15) Maxim Vlasov (2-22) Last Fight: 12/30/2012- RTD7 Geard Ajetovic (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown 16) Edwin Rodriguez (2-12) Last Fight: 3/30/2013- W* (UD10) vs. #15 Ezequiel Maderna Next Fight: 7/13/2013- vs. #16 LHW Denis Grachev (at LHW) After getting the benefit of yet another questionable but not totally out-of-bounds decision against Maderna, Rodriguez remains in the mix, but kinda on the periphery of the division’s contenders. He gets a chance at a million bucks against Grachev, who also arguably deserved to lose his first round fight. 17) Ezequiel Maderna (2-15) Last Fight: 3/30/2013- L* (UD10) vs. #17 Edwin Rodriguez Next Fight: Unknown Maderna, despite arguably deserving a win against Rodriguez, did himself few favors in dropping the decision, especially considering how ugly the fight was. I don’t imagine he’ll be getting too many international suitors anytime soon since he seems difficult to look good against. 18) Dyah Davis (5-7) Last Fight: 6/2/2012- L (TKO10) vs. #9 Sakio Bika Next Fight: Unknown 19) Don George (3-3) Last Fight: 3/22/2013- Draw* (SD10) vs. David Lopez (should have been win) Next Fight: Unknown George got robbed against Lopez, but gets credit for the win here (even if it was at a 163 catchweight). 20) Hadillah Mohoumadi (3-6) Last Fight: 1/19/2013- UD10 Cedric Bellais (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown Mohoumadi isn’t maybe the most obvious choice to be ranked, but he arguably beat DeGale (I thought he did better against him than Groves did) and by most accounts may have beaten Sjekloca, as well.
The Week Ahead: In Shelton, Washington, one-loss Philly prospect Farah Ennis takes on rugged Mexican gatekeeper Francisco Sierra on the Friday Night Fights undercard. It wouldn’t shock me if this one ended up being contested a couple pounds over the limit.
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