Cruiserweight: 2013: Jun 17-23
In a very close fight in Poland, undefeated Pole Pawel Kolodziej walked away as the winner of an 8-round decision over Argentine gatekeeper Cesar Crenz. I can’t give you my exact score because the Polsat Sport broadcast (and likely any other broadcast of the fight) cut out for the entire last minute of round one, and I was therefore forced to score that one even (it had been virtually even for the first two minutes). With that caveat, my score overall was 77-76 Kolodziej, and (making allowances for the first round to go either way), I could have seen anything between 78-74 Kolodziej and 77-75 Crenz as reasonable. To the extent I’m able to opine, Pawel Kardyni and Olena Pobyvailo both fell within that range (with Pobyvailo potentially seeing it exactly as I did, if we assume she got round 1 right. Leszek Jankowiak had it too wide at 79-74. He turns in unreasonabl cards in about half the fights I see him judge. His greatest hits in that respect, aside from this, are Helenius-Chisora (he had it for Chisora, but not by nearly enough) and Rodriguez-Maderna.
Apparently an agreement has been reached for Wlodarczyk to fight undefeated and fringe-contending Russian Olympian Rakhim Chakhkiev in Moscow, June 21. Wlodarczyk will reportedly have a rematch clause in the event he loses.
7) Firat Arslan (5-58-101) Last Fight: 4/27/2013- UD10 Varol Vekiloglu (UNR) Next Fight: 9/14/2013- vs. #5 Marco Huck See Huck’s notes, above. 8) Ola Afolabi (2-223-223) Last Fight: 6/8/2013- L (MD12) vs. #8 Marco Huck Next Fight: Unknown 9) Danny Green (3-32-185) Last Fight: 11/21/2012- UD12 Shane Cameron (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown Green has been helping an Australian UFC fighter prepare for an upcoming fight, but still no word on whether he plans to fight again. 10) B.J. Flores (3-3-156) Last Fight: 10/6/2012- TKO2 David McNemar (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown Flores’ fight with Nuri Seferi appears to have been off very quickly after it was apparently made. No word on his next move.
11) Giacobbe Fragomeni (3-240) Last Fight: 12/15/2012- W*(SD12) vs. #13 Silvio Branco Next Fight: Unknown There is some speculation that Masternak might try to lure Fragomeni out of his mandatory shot at Wlodarczyk with a higher monetary offer that might put Masternak in the same position with a victory. 12) Silvio Branco (3-66) Last Fight: 12/15/2012- L*(SD12) vs. #12 Giacobbe Fragomeni Next Fight: Unknown Branco can still hang with whippersnappers like 43 year-old countryman Fragomeni, but you’ve gotta think his active days are numbered at 46. 13) Alexander Alekseev (3-127) Last Fight: 2/22/2013- UD12* Garrett Wilson (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown Alekseev barely squeaked by after building an early lead against Wilson, but it’s still an improvement from his previous fight. 14) Mateusz Masternak (3-64) Last Fight: 4/13/2013- TKO9 Sean Corbin (UNR) Next Fight: 8/24/2013- vs. Unknown Opponent Masternak returns on August 24, but no other details are available. 15) Francisco Palacios (3-116) Last Fight: 9/22/2012- L(U12) vs. #7 Krzysztof Wlodarczyk Next Fight: Unknown Palacios has been trying to convince Antonio Tarver to fight him, but is behind held back in all of his pursuits by having Don King as a promoter. 16) Thabiso Mchunu (3-32) Last Fight: 11/10/2012- TKO5 #20 Danie Venter Next Fight: 8/3/2013- vs. Eddie Chambers (UNR) Mchunu is being treated as a stepping stone f0r the cruiserweight ambitions of recent heavyweight contender Eddie Chambers, and the two will do battle in that context on NBC Sports Network come August 3. 17) Dmytro Kucher (3-51) Last Fight: 3/21/2013- UD12 Julio Cesar Dos Santos (UNR) Next Fight: 7/13/2013- vs. Ilunga Makabu (UNR) A clash of good-looking prospects is on tap for July 13, as Kucher will meet Junior Makabu in Monaco. 18) Enad Licina (3-156) Last Fight: 6/15/2013- KO3 Marcel Zeller (UNR) (at HW) Next Fight: Unknown Licina has now fought two generic weak opponents in a row. No idea if he plans to be a serious contender ever again or not. His only significant win in the last 5 years is now roughly 4 1/2 years old. That means he’ll fade to obscurity if he doesn’t beat someone worth beating in the next half-year or so. 19) Grigory Drozd (3-32) Last Fight: 12/17/2012- UD12 Jean-Marc Monrose (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown 20) Pawel Glazewski (3-3) Last Fight: 2/23/2013- UD10 Bartlomiej Grafka (UNR) (at LHW) Next Fight: 6/29/2013- vs. Hadillah Mohoumadi (UNR) (at LHW) Glazewski’s opponent for 6/29 appears to be Hadillah Mohoumadi, the super middleweight fringe contender. Odd, considering Mohoumadi has a pretty significant fight at 168 scheduled for a week before that.
On the undercard, undefeated prospect Lukasz Janik got a shutout on 2 of the 3 cards in his 6-rounder against very weak journeyman Lukasz Rusiewicz.
As it turns out, #18 Enad Licina ventured up to heavyweight for his stay-busy fight with low-level journeyman Marcel Zeller, knocking his man out in 3. I’m not sure if this foreshadows a permanent move to heavyweight, or if he just didn’t feel like losing the weight for a weak opponent.
Kolodziej advances to the borderline of the top 25, but can’t quite sniff a ranking yet. No changes.
Dan’s Top 20 (weeks in current position-weeks in top 10 (if applicable)-weeks in top 20) Champ: None 1) Guillermo Jones (5-5-5) Last Fight: 5/17/2013- TKO11 #1 Denis Lebedev Next Fight: Unknown Jones wants to fight Wladimir Klitschko (he said the same a couple years ago), while Lebedev is asking for a rematch. 2) Yoan Pablo Hernandez (40-156-156) Last Fight: 9/15/2012- W*(UD12) vs. #20 Troy Ross Next Fight: Unknown Hernandez pulled out of his scheduled 2/2 fight with Eric Fields with a fractured hand. 3) Troy Ross (40-40-72) Last Fight: 9/15/2012- L*(UD12) vs. #1 Yoan Pablo Hernandez Next Fight: Unknown Quote from Ross’s Twitter: “If the right opportunity arises I will fight again.” That sounds more like a semi-retired fighter than the guy that just outfought the division’s #1 contender. Here’s hoping he starts hunting for good fights like a starving mountain man any second now. 4) Denis Lebedev (5-176-176) Last Fight: 5/17/2013- L (TKO11) vs. Guillermo Jones (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown Lebedev hopes to return on the Klitschko-Povetkin undercard in early October, which seems a bit quick given how ugly his eye looked after his last fight. He is hoping for a rematch with Jones, too. He has also parted from his promoter. 5) Marco Huck (2-341-341) Last Fight: 6/8/2013- W (MD12) vs. #5 Ola Afolabi Next Fight: 9/14/2013- vs. #7 Firat Arslan Huck will make a mandatory defense in a rematch against Firat Arslan on September 14. 6) Krzysztof Wlodarczyk (5-417-417) Last Fight: 9/22/2012- UD12 #13 Francisco Palacios Next Fight: 6/21/2013- vs. Rakhim Chakhkiev (UNR)
Apparently an agreement has been reached for Wlodarczyk to fight undefeated and fringe-contending Russian Olympian Rakhim Chakhkiev in Moscow, June 21. Wlodarczyk will reportedly have a rematch clause in the event he loses.
7) Firat Arslan (5-58-101) Last Fight: 4/27/2013- UD10 Varol Vekiloglu (UNR) Next Fight: 9/14/2013- vs. #5 Marco Huck See Huck’s notes, above. 8) Ola Afolabi (2-223-223) Last Fight: 6/8/2013- L (MD12) vs. #8 Marco Huck Next Fight: Unknown 9) Danny Green (3-32-185) Last Fight: 11/21/2012- UD12 Shane Cameron (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown Green has been helping an Australian UFC fighter prepare for an upcoming fight, but still no word on whether he plans to fight again. 10) B.J. Flores (3-3-156) Last Fight: 10/6/2012- TKO2 David McNemar (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown Flores’ fight with Nuri Seferi appears to have been off very quickly after it was apparently made. No word on his next move.
11) Giacobbe Fragomeni (3-240) Last Fight: 12/15/2012- W*(SD12) vs. #13 Silvio Branco Next Fight: Unknown There is some speculation that Masternak might try to lure Fragomeni out of his mandatory shot at Wlodarczyk with a higher monetary offer that might put Masternak in the same position with a victory. 12) Silvio Branco (3-66) Last Fight: 12/15/2012- L*(SD12) vs. #12 Giacobbe Fragomeni Next Fight: Unknown Branco can still hang with whippersnappers like 43 year-old countryman Fragomeni, but you’ve gotta think his active days are numbered at 46. 13) Alexander Alekseev (3-127) Last Fight: 2/22/2013- UD12* Garrett Wilson (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown Alekseev barely squeaked by after building an early lead against Wilson, but it’s still an improvement from his previous fight. 14) Mateusz Masternak (3-64) Last Fight: 4/13/2013- TKO9 Sean Corbin (UNR) Next Fight: 8/24/2013- vs. Unknown Opponent Masternak returns on August 24, but no other details are available. 15) Francisco Palacios (3-116) Last Fight: 9/22/2012- L(U12) vs. #7 Krzysztof Wlodarczyk Next Fight: Unknown Palacios has been trying to convince Antonio Tarver to fight him, but is behind held back in all of his pursuits by having Don King as a promoter. 16) Thabiso Mchunu (3-32) Last Fight: 11/10/2012- TKO5 #20 Danie Venter Next Fight: 8/3/2013- vs. Eddie Chambers (UNR) Mchunu is being treated as a stepping stone f0r the cruiserweight ambitions of recent heavyweight contender Eddie Chambers, and the two will do battle in that context on NBC Sports Network come August 3. 17) Dmytro Kucher (3-51) Last Fight: 3/21/2013- UD12 Julio Cesar Dos Santos (UNR) Next Fight: 7/13/2013- vs. Ilunga Makabu (UNR) A clash of good-looking prospects is on tap for July 13, as Kucher will meet Junior Makabu in Monaco. 18) Enad Licina (3-156) Last Fight: 6/15/2013- KO3 Marcel Zeller (UNR) (at HW) Next Fight: Unknown Licina has now fought two generic weak opponents in a row. No idea if he plans to be a serious contender ever again or not. His only significant win in the last 5 years is now roughly 4 1/2 years old. That means he’ll fade to obscurity if he doesn’t beat someone worth beating in the next half-year or so. 19) Grigory Drozd (3-32) Last Fight: 12/17/2012- UD12 Jean-Marc Monrose (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown 20) Pawel Glazewski (3-3) Last Fight: 2/23/2013- UD10 Bartlomiej Grafka (UNR) (at LHW) Next Fight: 6/29/2013- vs. Hadillah Mohoumadi (UNR) (at LHW) Glazewski’s opponent for 6/29 appears to be Hadillah Mohoumadi, the super middleweight fringe contender. Odd, considering Mohoumadi has a pretty significant fight at 168 scheduled for a week before that.
THE WEEK AHEAD: Friday features a big-ticket fight in Moscow between #6 Krzysztof Wlodarczyk and undefeated and highly touted Russian prospect Rakhim Chakhkiev. As I understand it, there’s a rematch clause. Needless to say, this is a huge step up for Chakhkiev.
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