Junior Middleweight: 2012, Nov 26- Dec 2
Saturday in Manchester, England, there was nearly an upset, as European beltholder and #12 overall Sergey Rabchenko got a scare from one-loss French prospect Cedric Vitu. Unfortunately, I can’t find any video showing more than a few rounds of the fight, and so I can’t weigh in on what could be a significant result. I have to accept the official verdict, which was a split decision victory for Rabchenko. The judge that had it for Vitu was Mark Green (115-114), whom I’ve seen several times. He does at least a solid job about half the time or so. John Keane (116-113) seems sharper to me, though even he has a couple blips on his radar, having scored Kevin Johnson vs. Albert Sosnowski for Johnson, and having had Andy Lee up by a round on Julio Cesar Chavez when he was stopped. As for Victor Loughlin (116-113), I’ve yet to see him get the wrong winner, though I did think he was clearly a round off in his score for Hamer-Johnson and had Arron vs. Rose significantly too close. Given their past performances, I’d have to say that I trust Mark Green the least out of the three, and thus I’d be willing to bet that a close win for Rabchenko is probably the appropriate call.
Later that night in Ontario, California, #16 Carlos Quintana found himself totally overwhelmed by undefeated prospect Keith Thurman (who is probably a welterweight when he starts fighting for titles). Quintana went down in the 1st, and was getting plastered by thunderous combinations repeatedly when referee Jack Reiss, perhaps a bit belatedly, stopped the fight in the 4th. Thurman was very disciplined in his approach in addition to the devastating nature of his punches, and he did a great job of finding angles and going to the body. Look out for this kid. Quintana retired at the post-fight press conference.
Undefeated prospect Jermell Charlo went to work on low-level journeyman Dashon Johnson on the non-televised undercard, and won anywhere between 8 and 10 out of a possible 10 rounds, depending on the judge. With the fight having not been on TV, I have nothing to add to that info.
With his masterful and impressive win, Thurman debuts at #15. It was a close call with Vanes Martirosyan since Vanes has a much longer resume. But he has not beaten anyone on Quintana’s level since his 2009 win over Andrey Tsurkan, and he has since deserved to lose to a fighter perceived to be at a lower level in Kassim Ouma. Quintana’s retirement makes his placement, or rather lack thereof, much easier. Martirosyan is forced down to #16, with no other changes.
Dan’s Top 20 (Weeks in Current Position-Weeks in Top 10 if applicable-Weeks in Top 20) Champ: None 1) Saul Alvarez (30-91-106) Last Fight: 9/15/2012- TKO5 WW#? Josesito Lopez Next Fight: Unknown Canelo says he’ll decide his next opponent in January- an uncharacteristically long layoff for the very active superstar. 2) Carlos Molina (30-73-88) Last Fight: 8/17/2012- UD10 Damian Frias (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown 3) Cornelius Bundrage (36-121-121) Last Fight: 6/30/2012- TKO7 #11 Cory Spinks Next Fight: Unknown Bundrage has left Don King and signed with Golden Boy, and now says he wants Angulo and Kirkland. 4) Erislandy Lara (3-73-95) Last Fight: 11/10/2012- D* (TD9) vs. #15 Vanes Martirosyan (should be win) Next Fight: Unknown The WBC will order a re-match of the robbery draw that Lara clearly won in his eliminator with Vanes. 5) Floyd Mayweather, Jr. (3-30-30) Last Fight: 5/5/2012- UD12* #4 Miguel Cotto Next Fight: Unknown Mayweather says his next fight will be in the first half of 2013. 6) Miguel Cotto (3-130-130) Last Fight: 5/5/2012- L* (UD12) vs. WW #1 Floyd Mayweather, Jr. Next Fight: 12/1/2012- vs. #8 Austin Trout Cotto fights Austin Trout December 1 at Madison Square Garden. 7) James Kirkland (30-56-56) Last Fight: 3/24/2012- W*(DQ10) vs. #6 Carlos Molina (Robbery) Next Fight: Unknown Kirkland is apparently having managerial problems. 8) Austin Trout (26-26-95) Last Fight: 6/2/2012- UD12 #13 Delvin Rodriguez Next Fight: 12/1/2012- vs. #6 Miguel Cotto See Cotto’s notes, above. 9) Alfredo Angulo (26-166-166) Last Fight: 11/10/2012- KO1 Raul Casarez (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown Delvin Rodriguez passed on a potential fight with Angulo, who will instead potentially fight Freddy Hernandez. 10) Gabriel Rosado (27-27-95) Last Fight: 9/21/2012- TKO10 Charles Whittaker (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown It appears that Rosado may move up to 160 to challenge human steamroller Gennady Golovkin on January 19. 11) Cory Spinks (24-44) Last Fight: 6/30/2012- L (TKO7) vs. #3 Cornelius Bundrage Next Fight: Unknown Spinks failed to revenge his ugly 2010 TKO loss to Bundrage, but managed to look a little better and capture a round or two this time. 12) Sergey Rabchenko (24-24) Last Fight: 11/24/2012- W (SD12) vs. Cedric Vitu (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown Rabchenko survived a scare against Vitu. 13) Delvin Rodriguez (27-72) Last Fight: 6/2/2012- L (UD12) vs. #12 Austin Trout Next Fight: Unknown Rodriguez had an opportunity to fight Angulo, but passed for some reason. 14) Lukas Konecny (8-68) Last Fight: 10/6/2012- L* (UD12) vs. Zaurbek Baysangurov (UNR) (Robbery) Next Fight: Unknown Konecny all but dominated Baysangurov, but walked away with one of the worst robbery losses I’ve ever seen. 15) Keith Thurman (1-1) Last Fight: 11/24/2012- TKO4 #16 Carlos Quintana Next Fight: Unknown Who knows if he’ll fight at this weight again anytime soon, but it sure suited him. 16) Vanes Martirosyan (1-78) Last Fight: 11/10/2012- D* (TD9) vs. #6 Erislandy Lara (robbery- should be L) Next Fight: Unknown Martirosyan clearly lost to Lara, but will get a second opportunity thanks to the failure of 2 judges. 17) Sechew Powell (12-141) Last Fight: 6/1/2012- L (TKO9) vs. #10 Gabriel Rosado Next Fight: Unknown 18) Brian Rose (12-52) Last Fight: 10/5/2012- KO3 Vivian Harris (UNR) Next Fight: 12/14/2012- vs. Sam Webb (UNR) Rose will fight journeyman and former British titlist Sam Webb on December 14. 19) Roberto Garcia (12-25) Last Fight: 3/23/2012- UD10 Antwone Smith (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown 20) Anthony Mundine (12-12) Last Fight: 7/14/2012- TKO7 Bronco McKart (at MW) Next Fight: 1/30/2013- vs. #1 MW Daniel Geale (at MW) Mundine’s next fight will be against top Middleweight contender Daniel Geale on January 30, in Sydney.
The Week Ahead: Saturday at Madison Square Garden, #6 Miguel Cotto does battle with up-and-coming #8 Austin Trout, in what figures to be a clash of titans. Cotto is coming off a very good performance in his close loss to Floyd Mayweather, while Trout has been on an upward trajectory from the start, which recently vaulted him into the top 10 with his decision win over Delvin Rodriguez.
The undercard features Jorge Melendez, a two-loss 24 year old from Puerto Rico, who despite losses to mediocre competition in the past, remains a top 50 fighter. His opponent is the very low-level Mexican journeyman Cesar Bazan.
Dan's Weekly Boxer Rankings and Blog 
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