Junior Middleweight: 2013, Feb 18-24
At the Mohegan Sun in Connecticut on Friday (in the Friday Night Fights main event), #12 Delvin Rodriguez took a round to get going against 34 year-old Oklahoma Comanche prospect George Tahdooahnippah, but got going in a big way once he did. He beat his opponent from pillar to post in the 2nd, and continued to pound the gutsy but outclassed Tahdooahnippah until the fight was mercifully stopped in the 6th. This fight does not help Rodriguez at all in the rankings, for two reasons. First, he came in at 156.5 lbs, meaning he doesn’t even get partial credit for staying active at 154, as he would if he’d stayed within two pounds. Secondly, Tahdooahnippah was totally unproven.
The following night, there was a fight in Atlantic City that did matter, but was not televised. Gatekeeper Demetrius Hopkins, the nephew of Bernard Hopkins, got his own 6th-round stoppage win, with his opponent and fellow gatekeeper Charles Whittaker retiring before the start of the 7th.
Hopkins’ win gets him into the top 30, but not into the top 20. No changes this week.
Dan’s Top 20 (Weeks in Current Position-Weeks in Top 10 if applicable-Weeks in Top 20) Champ: None 1) Carlos Molina (3-85-100) Last Fight: 2/1/2013- UD12 #11 Cory Spinks Next Fight: Unknown Molina has now beaten 3 top-11 fighters, while Canelo has beaten just 1 ranked in the top 20 (along with a bunch of fringe contenders and smaller guys). 2) Saul Alvarez (3-103-118) Last Fight: 9/15/2012- TKO5 WW#? Josesito Lopez Next Fight: 5/4/2013- vs. #4 Austin Trout After months of speculation, it’s now official: Canelo’s opponent for May 4 is Austin Trout. 3) Cornelius Bundrage (48-133-133) Last Fight: 6/30/2012- TKO7 #11 Cory Spinks Next Fight: 2/23/2013- vs. Ishe Smith (UNR) K9 returns to action against gatekeeper Ishe Smith on Showtime, February 23. 4) Austin Trout (12-38-107) Last Fight: 12/1/2012- UD12 #6 Miguel Cotto Next Fight: Unknown See Alvarez’s notes, above. 5) Erislandy Lara (12-85-107) Last Fight: 11/10/2012- D* (TD9) vs. #15 Vanes Martirosyan (robbery- should be win) Next Fight: Unknown Lara has been ordered by the WBC to fight Emanuele Della Rosa in an eliminator, but his side says he may fight that fight, take on Sergey Rabchenko, or may even go direct to a Canelo fight. 6) Floyd Mayweather, Jr. (12-42-42) 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 (12-142-142) Last Fight: 12/1/2012- L (UD12) vs. #8 Austin Trout Next Fight: Unknown 8) James Kirkland (12-68-68) Last Fight: 3/24/2012- W*(DQ10) vs. #6 Carlos Molina (Robbery) Next Fight: Unknown Kirkland is apparently having managerial problems. 9) Alfredo Angulo (38-178-178) Last Fight: 12/15/2012- UD10 Jorge Silva (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown Angulo proved he can still go to war after gutting out a tough fight with very hungry prospect Jorge Silva. 10) Gabriel Rosado (39-39-107) Last Fight: 1/19/2013- L (TKO7) vs. #3 MW Gennady Golovkin (at MW) Next Fight: Unknown Looks like Rosado should stick to 154. 11) Sergey Rabchenko (3-36) Last Fight: 11/24/2012- W (SD12) vs. Cedric Vitu (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown Rabchenko’s next fight may be a combination EBU title defense and WBC eliminator against Emanuele Della Rosa. 12) Delvin Rodriguez (2-84) Last Fight: 2/15/2013- TKO6 George Tahdooahnippah (UNR) (at MW) Next Fight: Unknown Having not come all that close to making 154 against Tahdooahnippah, Rodriguez will need to schedule a fight at 154 before June 2 to maintain his ranking. 13) Lukas Konecny (2-80) 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. 14) Keith Thurman (2-13) Last Fight: 11/24/2012- TKO4 #16 Carlos Quintana Next Fight: Unknown Thurman will fight welterweight contender Jan Zaveck on HBO March 9 in Brooklyn, at 147. 15) Vanes Martirosyan (2-90) Last Fight: 11/10/2012- D* (TD9) vs. #6 Erislandy Lara (robbery- should be L) Next Fight: 4/6/2013- vs. Javier Maciel (UNR) After ducking a rematch of his robbery draw with Lara, Vanes will fight April 6 in Macau, China against Argentine Champ Javier Maciel. 16) Yuri Foreman (2-4) Last Fight: 1/23/2013- UD6 Brandon Baue (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown Foreman appeared to be retired, but is now back. 17) Sechew Powell (2-153) Last Fight: 6/1/2012- L (TKO9) vs. #10 Gabriel Rosado Next Fight: Unknown 18) Roberto Garcia (2-37) Last Fight: 3/23/2012- UD10 Antwone Smith (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown 19) Anthony Mundine (2-24) Last Fight: 1/30/2013- L (UD12) vs. #1 MW Daniel Geale (at MW) Next Fight: Unknown 20) Brian Rose (2-2) Last Fight: 12/14/2012- UD12* Sam Webb (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown After securing the Lonsdale Challenge belt by (often shakily) defending his British title three times, Rose would now like a shot at Sergey Rabchenko’s European belt.
The Week Ahead: Fringe-contending prospect Charlie Ota returns home to New York for the second time in the last 12 months on Thursday, after fighting all of his other fights in Japan since turning pro in 2006. He faces lower mid-level journeyman Abel Perry.
On Saturday in Detroit, #3 Cornelius Bundrage defends his alphabet belt against gatekeeper Ishe Smith.
Dan's Weekly Boxer Rankings and Blog 
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