Middleweight: 2013, May 13-19
One-loss Australian prospect Jarrod Fletcher stopped low-level Ghanaian journeyman Philip Kotey in 6, having dropped him in the 3rd and swept every round. No changes to the rankings.
Next Fight: Unknown In addition to rightfully doing no better than a draw while beating Murray by way of robbery, Martinez has apparently re-injured his hand and possibly his knee, and is expected to be out of action until 2014. His mandatory for now is Marco Antonio Rubio, though it’s likely the WBC will pull an Andre Ward and take the full title from him before he returns. He may take that as an opportunity to go for a much more lucrative Chavez rematch, instead. 1) Martin Murray (3-76-76) Last Fight: 4/27/2013- L* (UD12) vs. Champ Sergio Martinez (Robbery- D at worst) Next Fight: Unknown Murray absolutely deserves to be Champion, but there is an argument that Sergio deserved a draw, and thus he retains the Championship by the slimmest margin possible. There’s absolutely no way Murray lost the fight. I hope (but doubt) that he’ll get a rematch. Chavez is also trying to get Murray to replace Vera as his August 3 opponent. 2) Daniel Geale (3-204-204) Last Fight: 1/30/2013- UD12 #11 Anthony Mundine
Next Fight: Unknown
Geale hopes to announce his next fight this week. Darren Barker and a stay-busy fight have both been floated. 3) Felix Sturm (3-504-504) Last Fight: 2/1/2013- L* (UD12) vs. #12 Sam Soliman (on PEDs)
Next Fight: Unknown
The IBF has suspended Sam Soliman for 9 months, and will put Sturm in another eliminator for a shot at Geale. 4) Gennady Golovkin (3-37-100) Last Fight: 3/30/2013- KO3 #19 Nobuhiro Ishida Next Fight: 6/29/2013- vs. #5 Matthew Macklin Golovkin-Macklin appears to be on for June 29 on HBO, and that’s huge. 5) Matthew Macklin (3-99-190) Last Fight: 9/15/2012- TKO1 Joachim Alcine (UNR) Next Fight: 6/29/2013- vs. #4 Gennady Golovkin
See Golovkin’s notes, above. 6) Julio Cesar Chavez, Jr. (3-102-120) Last Fight: 9/15/2012- L (UD12) vs. Champ Sergio Martinez
Next Fight: 8/3/2013- vs. #18 Bryan Vera
Chavez has apparently settled on Bryan Vera for his next outing, which has been delayed to August 3. He’s also trying to replace Vera with Martin Murray. 7) Peter Quillin (3-30-51) Last Fight: 4/27/2013- TKO7 Fernando Guerrero (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown Quillin looked pretty darned good and as powerful as ever against Guerrero, scoring 4 knockdowns and getting his man out of there. He’s hoping to fight Geale next. 8) Dmitry Pirog (3-146-146) Last Fight: 5/1/2012- UD12 #20 Nobuhiro Ishida
Next Fight: Unknown
After bleak reports of his back injury situation surfaced over recent weeks, finally we get a bit of hopeful news, as Pirog’s US promoter Art Pelullo says that Pirog is hoping to return in late August if all goes well. 9) Grzegorz Proksa (3-109-109) Last Fight: 2/9/2013- UD6 Norbert Szekeres (UNR)
Next Fight: 6/28/2013- vs. Unknown Opponent Proksa will bounce back from a hand injury and return on June 28 in the US. No further details yet. 10) Hassan N’Dam N’Jikam (11-11-133) Last Fight: 10/20/2012- L (UD12) vs. #20 Peter Quillin Next Fight: Unknown 11) Marco Antonio Rubio (9-120) Last Fight: 3/23/2013- UD12 Marcus Upshaw (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown With Martinez (for whom he is the mandatory) sidelined until 2014, Rubio may get a shot at Sergio’s alphabet belt against someone else in the interim. Alternatively, I think he is also in line for Quillin’s belt, as well. 12) Anthony Mundine (9-120) Last Fight: 1/30/2013- L (UD12) vs. #1 Daniel Geale
Next Fight: Unknown
Mundine expects to fight again in late June or July, but doesn’t know against whom or in what division yet. He has hinted he may be moving back down to 154, and has recently agitated for fights with Trout and Mayweather- both of whom have bigger/smaller fish to fry, I would think. 13) Osumanu Adama (9-112) Last Fight: 3/16/2012- W(SD10) vs. Grady Brewer (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown Adama came in heavy and nearly lost to 42 year-old Grady Brewer. The fact that he missed weight by only a half pound gives him the opportunity to schedule a middleweight fight by September 7 to maintain a ranking, though. 14) Akio Shibata (2-2) Last Fight: W (TD9) vs. #18 Makoto Fuchigami Next Fight: Unknown Shibata made good on his move up to 160, becoming the clear Japanese champion and the best middleweight in Asia. 15) Darren Barker (2-83) Last Fight: 3/9/2013- RTD4 Simone Rotolo (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown After apparently losing out to Vera and maybe also to Murray for a shot at Chavez, Barker is now setting his sites on Daniel Geale. 16) Max Bursak (2-120) Last Fight: 2/2/2013- TKO3 Julien Marie Sainte (UNR)
Next Fight: 7/13/2013- vs. Prince Arron (UNR)
Bursak will defend his European belt against fallen former British 154 Champion Prince Arron on July 13. This will be on the very good Monaco card that night. 17) Demetrius Andrade (2-91) Last Fight: 1/25/2013- UD10 Freddy Hernandez (UNR) (at JMW) Next Fight: 7/6/2013- vs. Zaurbek Baysangurov (UNR) (at JMW) Andrade will finally have a significant fight at the 154 pound limit, as he challenges for the ridiculous title of Russia’s Zaurbek Baysangurov in Kiev. 18) Bryan Vera (2-30) Last Fight: 3/29/2013- TKO7* Donatas Bondorovas (UNR) Next Fight: 8/3/2013- vs. #6 Julio Cesar Chavez, Jr. Vera’s fight with Chavez has been delayed to August 3, and Chavez appears willing to jump ship for Martin Murray if the opportunity arises. 19) Nobuhiro Ishida (4-63) Last Fight: 3/30/2013- L (KO3) vs. #3 Gennady Golovkin Next Fight: Unknown Ishida said before the Golovkin fight that he’d retire if he lost. But that could have just been posturing. I won’t remove him as a retired fighter until I find some post-fight confirmation of his intentions. 20) Jose Miguel Torres (4-4) Last Fight: 3/16/2013- TKO4 Javier Gonzalez (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown Torres sneaks into the rankings based on a nearly 18 month old upset win over Patrick Majewski, but considering the awful opposition he has faced since, I’m not particularly happy about it.
Dan’s Top 20 (Weeks in Current Position-Weeks in Top 10 if applicable-Weeks in Top 20) Champ: Sergio Martinez (161-161-161) Last Fight: 4/27/2013- UD12* #9 Martin Murray (Robbery- draw at best)
Next Fight: Unknown In addition to rightfully doing no better than a draw while beating Murray by way of robbery, Martinez has apparently re-injured his hand and possibly his knee, and is expected to be out of action until 2014. His mandatory for now is Marco Antonio Rubio, though it’s likely the WBC will pull an Andre Ward and take the full title from him before he returns. He may take that as an opportunity to go for a much more lucrative Chavez rematch, instead. 1) Martin Murray (3-76-76) Last Fight: 4/27/2013- L* (UD12) vs. Champ Sergio Martinez (Robbery- D at worst) Next Fight: Unknown Murray absolutely deserves to be Champion, but there is an argument that Sergio deserved a draw, and thus he retains the Championship by the slimmest margin possible. There’s absolutely no way Murray lost the fight. I hope (but doubt) that he’ll get a rematch. Chavez is also trying to get Murray to replace Vera as his August 3 opponent. 2) Daniel Geale (3-204-204) Last Fight: 1/30/2013- UD12 #11 Anthony Mundine
Next Fight: Unknown
Geale hopes to announce his next fight this week. Darren Barker and a stay-busy fight have both been floated. 3) Felix Sturm (3-504-504) Last Fight: 2/1/2013- L* (UD12) vs. #12 Sam Soliman (on PEDs)
Next Fight: Unknown
The IBF has suspended Sam Soliman for 9 months, and will put Sturm in another eliminator for a shot at Geale. 4) Gennady Golovkin (3-37-100) Last Fight: 3/30/2013- KO3 #19 Nobuhiro Ishida Next Fight: 6/29/2013- vs. #5 Matthew Macklin Golovkin-Macklin appears to be on for June 29 on HBO, and that’s huge. 5) Matthew Macklin (3-99-190) Last Fight: 9/15/2012- TKO1 Joachim Alcine (UNR) Next Fight: 6/29/2013- vs. #4 Gennady Golovkin
See Golovkin’s notes, above. 6) Julio Cesar Chavez, Jr. (3-102-120) Last Fight: 9/15/2012- L (UD12) vs. Champ Sergio Martinez
Next Fight: 8/3/2013- vs. #18 Bryan Vera
Chavez has apparently settled on Bryan Vera for his next outing, which has been delayed to August 3. He’s also trying to replace Vera with Martin Murray. 7) Peter Quillin (3-30-51) Last Fight: 4/27/2013- TKO7 Fernando Guerrero (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown Quillin looked pretty darned good and as powerful as ever against Guerrero, scoring 4 knockdowns and getting his man out of there. He’s hoping to fight Geale next. 8) Dmitry Pirog (3-146-146) Last Fight: 5/1/2012- UD12 #20 Nobuhiro Ishida
Next Fight: Unknown
After bleak reports of his back injury situation surfaced over recent weeks, finally we get a bit of hopeful news, as Pirog’s US promoter Art Pelullo says that Pirog is hoping to return in late August if all goes well. 9) Grzegorz Proksa (3-109-109) Last Fight: 2/9/2013- UD6 Norbert Szekeres (UNR)
Next Fight: 6/28/2013- vs. Unknown Opponent Proksa will bounce back from a hand injury and return on June 28 in the US. No further details yet. 10) Hassan N’Dam N’Jikam (11-11-133) Last Fight: 10/20/2012- L (UD12) vs. #20 Peter Quillin Next Fight: Unknown 11) Marco Antonio Rubio (9-120) Last Fight: 3/23/2013- UD12 Marcus Upshaw (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown With Martinez (for whom he is the mandatory) sidelined until 2014, Rubio may get a shot at Sergio’s alphabet belt against someone else in the interim. Alternatively, I think he is also in line for Quillin’s belt, as well. 12) Anthony Mundine (9-120) Last Fight: 1/30/2013- L (UD12) vs. #1 Daniel Geale
Next Fight: Unknown
Mundine expects to fight again in late June or July, but doesn’t know against whom or in what division yet. He has hinted he may be moving back down to 154, and has recently agitated for fights with Trout and Mayweather- both of whom have bigger/smaller fish to fry, I would think. 13) Osumanu Adama (9-112) Last Fight: 3/16/2012- W(SD10) vs. Grady Brewer (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown Adama came in heavy and nearly lost to 42 year-old Grady Brewer. The fact that he missed weight by only a half pound gives him the opportunity to schedule a middleweight fight by September 7 to maintain a ranking, though. 14) Akio Shibata (2-2) Last Fight: W (TD9) vs. #18 Makoto Fuchigami Next Fight: Unknown Shibata made good on his move up to 160, becoming the clear Japanese champion and the best middleweight in Asia. 15) Darren Barker (2-83) Last Fight: 3/9/2013- RTD4 Simone Rotolo (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown After apparently losing out to Vera and maybe also to Murray for a shot at Chavez, Barker is now setting his sites on Daniel Geale. 16) Max Bursak (2-120) Last Fight: 2/2/2013- TKO3 Julien Marie Sainte (UNR)
Next Fight: 7/13/2013- vs. Prince Arron (UNR)
Bursak will defend his European belt against fallen former British 154 Champion Prince Arron on July 13. This will be on the very good Monaco card that night. 17) Demetrius Andrade (2-91) Last Fight: 1/25/2013- UD10 Freddy Hernandez (UNR) (at JMW) Next Fight: 7/6/2013- vs. Zaurbek Baysangurov (UNR) (at JMW) Andrade will finally have a significant fight at the 154 pound limit, as he challenges for the ridiculous title of Russia’s Zaurbek Baysangurov in Kiev. 18) Bryan Vera (2-30) Last Fight: 3/29/2013- TKO7* Donatas Bondorovas (UNR) Next Fight: 8/3/2013- vs. #6 Julio Cesar Chavez, Jr. Vera’s fight with Chavez has been delayed to August 3, and Chavez appears willing to jump ship for Martin Murray if the opportunity arises. 19) Nobuhiro Ishida (4-63) Last Fight: 3/30/2013- L (KO3) vs. #3 Gennady Golovkin Next Fight: Unknown Ishida said before the Golovkin fight that he’d retire if he lost. But that could have just been posturing. I won’t remove him as a retired fighter until I find some post-fight confirmation of his intentions. 20) Jose Miguel Torres (4-4) Last Fight: 3/16/2013- TKO4 Javier Gonzalez (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown Torres sneaks into the rankings based on a nearly 18 month old upset win over Patrick Majewski, but considering the awful opposition he has faced since, I’m not particularly happy about it.
The Week Ahead: Wednesday in New York, Andy Lee will see action against mid-level journeyman Darryl Cunningham.
The next night in Flemington, Australia, fringe contender Garth Wood looks to stay busy against low-level South African journeyman Virgil Kalakoda.
Finally, Friday in Moscow, 42 year-old gatekeeper Grady Brewer looks to do to undefeated but somewhat untested prospect Dmitry Chudinov what he did to Fernando Guerrero a couple years ago. Brewer may still have some gas in the tank, but has been inconsistent- turning in fine performances against Adama and Guerrero, but laying eggs against Michael Medina and Demetrius Andrade.
Dan's Weekly Boxer Rankings and Blog 
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