Junior Middleweight: 2012, Dec 3-9
Saturday at Madison Square Garden in New York, Austin Trout made the transition from contender to star by soundly outboxing future Hall of Famer Miguel Cotto. In doing so, he looked both much bigger and also more skilled than Cotto, while keeping the Puerto Rican superstar on the outside too much to land anything big against him. My card read 117-111 for Trout, which was the same as John Poturaj (probably my favorite judge) and Steve Weisfeld. Adelaide Byrd had it even wider at 119-109. No doubt of the winner, as I thought if you swung the close rounds all to one guy, it would have been anywhere between 115-113 Trout and 119-109 Trout.
On the non-TV undercard, borderline top-50 fighter Jorge Melendez of Puerto Rico dropped low-level journeyman James Winchester in rounds 2 and 3, before eventually stopping him on his feet early in the 4th. Winchester was a late replacement for similarly no-hope Mexican journeyman Cesar Bazan. The fight was contested at a 155-pound contract weight.
Trout cuts his ranking in half, parking at #4. Cotto falls just one place to #7, since Kirkland’s Ishida and Molina performances still weigh him down a bit too much. Lara, Mayweather, and Kirkland are also forced down a spot in the re-alignment.
Dan’s Top 20 (Weeks in Current Position-Weeks in Top 10 if applicable-Weeks in Top 20) Champ: None 1) Saul Alvarez (31-92-107) Last Fight: 9/15/2012- TKO5 WW#? Josesito Lopez Next Fight: Unknown Canelo had been looking seriously at a fight with Canelo, and Golden Boy says the fight is still possible despite Cotto’s loss to Trout. 2) Carlos Molina (31-74-89) Last Fight: 8/17/2012- UD10 Damian Frias (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown 3) Cornelius Bundrage (37-122-122) 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) Austin Trout (1-27-96) Last Fight: 12/1/2012- UD12 #6 Miguel Cotto Next Fight: Unknown Trout has placed himself amidst a very prestigious top 5 contenders with his win over Cotto.
5) Erislandy Lara (1-74-96)
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. 6) Floyd Mayweather, Jr. (1-31-31) Last Fight: 5/5/2012- UD12* #4 Miguel Cotto Next Fight: Unknown Mayweather is in discussions to fight Robert Guerrero at welterweight sometime in the first half of 2013. 7) Miguel Cotto (1-131-131) Last Fight: 12/1/2012- L (UD12) vs. #8 Austin Trout Next Fight: Unknown In the aftermath of his defeat, Cotto shrugged off talk of retirement, and may be heartened by news from Golden Boy that Canelo is still intersted in a fight with him. 8) James Kirkland (1-57-57) Last Fight: 3/24/2012- W*(DQ10) vs. #6 Carlos Molina (Robbery) Next Fight: Unknown Kirkland is apparently having managerial problems. 9) Alfredo Angulo (27-167-167) Last Fight: 11/10/2012- KO1 Raul Casarez (UNR) Next Fight: 12/15/2012- vs. Jorge Silva (UNR) Angulo will fight undersized but very tough prospect Jorge Silva on December 15. 10) Gabriel Rosado (28-28-96) Last Fight: 9/21/2012- TKO10 Charles Whittaker (UNR) Next Fight: 1/19/2013- vs. #3 MW Gennady Golovkin Rosado is set to fight intimidating middleweight puncher Gennady Golovkin on January 19 in New York. 11) Cory Spinks (25-45) 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 (25-25) Last Fight: 11/24/2012- W (SD12) vs. Cedric Vitu (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown Rabchenko survived a scare against Vitu. 13) Delvin Rodriguez (28-73) 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 (9-69) 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 (2-2) 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 (2-79) 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 (13-142) Last Fight: 6/1/2012- L (TKO9) vs. #10 Gabriel Rosado Next Fight: Unknown 18) Brian Rose (13-53) 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 (13-26) Last Fight: 3/23/2012- UD10 Antwone Smith (UNR) Next Fight: 12/8/2012- vs. Inocente Fiz (UNR) Garcia’s fight with Fiz appears to be back on for this weekend, in Jamaica. 20) Anthony Mundine (13-13) 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: I’ve got three fights to mention, all on Saturday.
In Spodek, Poland, undefeated Polish prospect Damian Jonak takes on Ghanaian gatekeeper Jackson Osei Bonsu.
On the Kessler-Magee undercard in Herning, Denmark, should-be undefeated prospect Guido Pitto takes on less advanced one-loss Lebanese prospect Reda Zam Zam.
And in Kingston, Jamaica, the previously-postponed matchup between #19 Roberto Garcia and undefeated Cuban Inocente Fiz will hopefully get off the ground.
Dan's Weekly Boxer Rankings and Blog 
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