Middleweight: 2013, Jun 17-23
On the non-televised Garcia-Juanma undercard on Saturday in Dallas, undefeated Russian Matt Korobov took a large step up in competition against seasoned veteran Ossie Duran. Duran had at least deserved to upset one major prospect in recent years- dominating but getting robbed against Brandon Gonzales. But Korobov proved up to the task. After a round and a half of close, tactical action, Korobov opened up with a brilliant, quick, and concise 3-punch combo, with one to the body and two follow-ups to the head that sent Duran to his back. In the following round, Korobov pressed his advantage and chased Duran back to the canvas with a ton of pressure and a well-placed body shot. Duran looked likely not to reach his feet when, at 7, novice referee Robert Chapa inexplicably stopped the count. I’m not saying Duran would have gotten up, though he was slowly moving in that direction. But there was no change that Duran was in any imminent danger, and it was simply nonsensical to shorten the count in that instance. Still, that should take nothing away from Korobov’s fine performance. He should be ready to move forward to the contender level now.
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 (8-81-81) Last Fight: 4/27/2013- L* (UD12) vs. Champ Sergio Martinez (Robbery- D at worst) Next Fight: Unknown Murray hopes to fight in the US before 2013 is over, and also would like to fight Carl Froch at some point. 2) Daniel Geale (8-209-209) Last Fight: 1/30/2013- UD12 #11 Anthony Mundine
Next Fight: 8/17/2013- vs. #15 Darren Barker
Geale will get back to action on August 17, making his US debut in just his 3rd fight outside Australia when he takes on Darren Barker at the Turning Stone in New York state. 3) Felix Sturm (8-509-509) Last Fight: 2/1/2013- L* (UD12) vs. #12 Sam Soliman (on PEDs)
Next Fight: 7/6/2013- vs. Predrag Radosevic (UNR)
Sturm is set to return on July 6 against undefeated/untested Montenegran prospect Predrag Radosevic in Dortmund. I’m not sure why this match was made. There’s no payoff for Sturm in terms of resume. 4) Gennady Golovkin (8-42-105) 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 (8-104-195) 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. (8-107-125) 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. Chavez had tried to replace Vera with Murray, but rumor has it that will not happen. 7) Peter Quillin (8-35-56) 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. 8) Dmitry Pirog (8-151-151) 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 (8-114-114) Last Fight: 2/9/2013- UD6 Norbert Szekeres (UNR)
Next Fight: 6/28/2013- vs. Sergio Mora (UNR) Proksa gets a good showcase opportunity on Friday Night Fights against rather big-name gatekeeper Sergio Mora. 10) Hassan N’Dam N’Jikam (16-16-138) Last Fight: 10/20/2012- L (UD12) vs. #20 Peter Quillin Next Fight: Unknown 11) Marco Antonio Rubio (14-125) Last Fight: 3/23/2013- UD12 Marcus Upshaw (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown Rubio will likely fight for an interim alphabet title against totally undeserving Polish one-loss prospect Patrick Majewski, with July 27 in Mexico being the target. How Majewski is being considered for this opportunity when his last significant fight was a loss to the otherwise anonymous Jose Miguel Torres is beyond me. 12) Anthony Mundine (14-125) Last Fight: 1/30/2013- L (UD12) vs. #1 Daniel Geale
Next Fight: Unknown
There is serious discussion of a fight with Shane Mosley in Australia later in the year. This would almost certainly happen at 154 since Mosley is still a natural welterweight. 13) Osumanu Adama (14-117) Last Fight: 3/16/2012- W(SD10) vs. Grady Brewer (UNR) Next Fight: 7/13/2013- vs. Unknown Opponent Adama is back in action 7/13. No opponent yet. 14) Akio Shibata (7-7) 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 (7-88) Last Fight: 3/9/2013- RTD4 Simone Rotolo (UNR) Next Fight: 8/17/2013- vs. #2 Daniel Geale Barker will get his second big opportunity to rise to the top, as he takes on #2 Daniel Geale in New York state August 17. 16) Max Bursak (7-125) 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 (7-96) 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 (7-35) 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 there is some talk from the promoter that September 7 may be more likely. 19) Nobuhiro Ishida (9-68) 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) Dmitry Chudinov (5-5) Last Fight: 5/17/2013- RTD3 Grady Brewer (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown The version of Grady Brewer that Chudinov quickly broke to earn his ranking was clearly not the same guy that knocked out Fernando Guerrero, but still had enough credibility to sneak the young Russian into the rankings.
Undefeated Dane Patrick Nielsen also saw action, taking one round longer to dispose of Argentine journeyman Crispulo Andino in Aarhaus, Denmark.
At this point, Korobov still technically lacks the win over a top 50 opponent at middleweight he needs to get ranking consideration. Oh, Duran is plenty credible. It’s just that Korobov came in at 161.25. I’ll give the fight some consideration if and when the Russian gets a win after making the divisional limit, but for now it can’t be considered independently. No changes this week.
Dan’s Top 20 (Weeks in Current Position-Weeks in Top 10 if applicable-Weeks in Top 20) Champ: Sergio Martinez (166-166-166) 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 (8-81-81) Last Fight: 4/27/2013- L* (UD12) vs. Champ Sergio Martinez (Robbery- D at worst) Next Fight: Unknown Murray hopes to fight in the US before 2013 is over, and also would like to fight Carl Froch at some point. 2) Daniel Geale (8-209-209) Last Fight: 1/30/2013- UD12 #11 Anthony Mundine
Next Fight: 8/17/2013- vs. #15 Darren Barker
Geale will get back to action on August 17, making his US debut in just his 3rd fight outside Australia when he takes on Darren Barker at the Turning Stone in New York state. 3) Felix Sturm (8-509-509) Last Fight: 2/1/2013- L* (UD12) vs. #12 Sam Soliman (on PEDs)
Next Fight: 7/6/2013- vs. Predrag Radosevic (UNR)
Sturm is set to return on July 6 against undefeated/untested Montenegran prospect Predrag Radosevic in Dortmund. I’m not sure why this match was made. There’s no payoff for Sturm in terms of resume. 4) Gennady Golovkin (8-42-105) 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 (8-104-195) 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. (8-107-125) 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. Chavez had tried to replace Vera with Murray, but rumor has it that will not happen. 7) Peter Quillin (8-35-56) 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. 8) Dmitry Pirog (8-151-151) 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 (8-114-114) Last Fight: 2/9/2013- UD6 Norbert Szekeres (UNR)
Next Fight: 6/28/2013- vs. Sergio Mora (UNR) Proksa gets a good showcase opportunity on Friday Night Fights against rather big-name gatekeeper Sergio Mora. 10) Hassan N’Dam N’Jikam (16-16-138) Last Fight: 10/20/2012- L (UD12) vs. #20 Peter Quillin Next Fight: Unknown 11) Marco Antonio Rubio (14-125) Last Fight: 3/23/2013- UD12 Marcus Upshaw (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown Rubio will likely fight for an interim alphabet title against totally undeserving Polish one-loss prospect Patrick Majewski, with July 27 in Mexico being the target. How Majewski is being considered for this opportunity when his last significant fight was a loss to the otherwise anonymous Jose Miguel Torres is beyond me. 12) Anthony Mundine (14-125) Last Fight: 1/30/2013- L (UD12) vs. #1 Daniel Geale
Next Fight: Unknown
There is serious discussion of a fight with Shane Mosley in Australia later in the year. This would almost certainly happen at 154 since Mosley is still a natural welterweight. 13) Osumanu Adama (14-117) Last Fight: 3/16/2012- W(SD10) vs. Grady Brewer (UNR) Next Fight: 7/13/2013- vs. Unknown Opponent Adama is back in action 7/13. No opponent yet. 14) Akio Shibata (7-7) 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 (7-88) Last Fight: 3/9/2013- RTD4 Simone Rotolo (UNR) Next Fight: 8/17/2013- vs. #2 Daniel Geale Barker will get his second big opportunity to rise to the top, as he takes on #2 Daniel Geale in New York state August 17. 16) Max Bursak (7-125) 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 (7-96) 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 (7-35) 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 there is some talk from the promoter that September 7 may be more likely. 19) Nobuhiro Ishida (9-68) 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) Dmitry Chudinov (5-5) Last Fight: 5/17/2013- RTD3 Grady Brewer (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown The version of Grady Brewer that Chudinov quickly broke to earn his ranking was clearly not the same guy that knocked out Fernando Guerrero, but still had enough credibility to sneak the young Russian into the rankings.
The Week Ahead: No fights at the weight that I know of, but it’s entirely possible that either Jorge Cota’s fight against an unknown opponent or the George-Truax fight could stray into 160 territory. I’ll mention them if it makes sense next week. Otherwise, I won’t.
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