Junior Middleweight: 2013, Apr 29- May 5
In what was only an upset because of where it was fought, fringe contending Argentine prospect Guido Pitto eked out a split decision win in a 12-rounder in Hamburg over local favorite and undefeated prospect Jack Culcay on Saturday. The fight was very very close. I had it a draw, having given Culcay both of the toss-up rounds (9 and 11). The fight should have been either a draw or a majority decision. It was a split decision only because judge Ingo Barrabas gave a clear Pitto round to Culcay (my guess would be round 8- the only remotely close one besides the two toss-ups), and had it 115-113 for Culcay. Howard John Foster and Philippe Verbecke should be given credit for scoring the fight fairly (115-113 and 116-112 Pitto, respectively) despite the setting and the promoter. Nevertheless, I will treat it as essentially a draw, with the barest edge to Pitto, since I did have it a draw. No complaints about Pitto getting the decision, though. If nothing else, he deserved the benefit of the doubt after having his “0” stolen 3 fights earlier in a robbery loss against Mateo Veron.
This fight really elevates both guys in my eyes, but both fall just shy of eclipsing #20 Michel Soro to claim a ranking. No changes.
Dan’s Top 20 (Weeks in Current Position-Weeks in Top 10 if applicable-Weeks in Top 20) Champ: None 1) Carlos Molina (13-95-110) Last Fight: 2/1/2013- UD12 #11 Cory Spinks Next Fight: Unknown Ishe Smith says he plans to offer Molina a shot at his alphabet belt, and has since reported that the fight is almost signed. 2) Saul Alvarez (13-113-128) Last Fight: 4/20/2013- W* (UD12) vs. #3 Austin Trout Next Fight: Unknown Canelo wants Floyd next. That fight had already appeared set for September up until a few weeks before he fought Trout. 3) Austin Trout (10-48-117) Last Fight: 4/20/2013- L* (UD12) vs. #2 Saul Alvarez Next Fight: Unknown Trout probably deserves to be ranked #1 now, but was the victim of some poor judging against Alvarez. 4) Erislandy Lara (10-95-117) Last Fight: 11/10/2012- D* (TD9) vs. #15 Vanes Martirosyan (robbery- should be win) Next Fight: 6/8/2013- vs. #9 Alfredo Angulo Lara will fight Angulo on Showtime, June 8 in Carson, California. 5) Ishe Smith (10-10-10) Last Fight: 2/23/2013- W (MD12) vs. #3 Cornelius Bundrage Next Fight: Unknown See Molina’s notes, above. 6) Floyd Mayweather, Jr. (22-52-52) Last Fight: 5/5/2012- UD12* #4 Miguel Cotto Next Fight: 5/4/2013- vs. WW #? Robert Guerrero (at WW) Mayweather will officially be fighting Robert Guerrero on Showtime PPV on May 4. That’s just a day before the 1-year anniversary of his last fight at 154, and since the fight will be at 147, he will likely be removed the following week. 7) Miguel Cotto (22-152-152) Last Fight: 12/1/2012- L (UD12) vs. #8 Austin Trout Next Fight: Unknown Cotto has laid out the plans for the rest of his career. He says he’ll fight in October or November, twice in 2014, and then retire. Canelo wants him in September. 8) Cornelius Bundrage (6-143-143) Last Fight: 2/23/2013- L (MD12) vs. Ishe Smith (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown Bundrage should probably retire after how awful he looked against Smith. 9) Alfredo Angulo (6-188-188) Last Fight: 12/15/2012- UD10 Jorge Silva (UNR) Next Fight: 6/8/2013- vs. #4 Erislandy Lara After it looked for awhile that he might fight Rosado next, Angulo will instead battle #4 Lara in Carson, California in early June. 10) Gabriel Rosado (6-6-117) Last Fight: 1/19/2013- L (TKO7) vs. #3 MW Gennady Golovkin (at MW) Next Fight: 5/4/2013- vs. J’Leon Love (UNR) (at MW) Rosado will fight undefeated prospect J’Leon Love on the Mayweather-Guerrero undercard on May 4, at 160. 11) Sergey Rabchenko (6-46) Last Fight: 3/30/2013- KO2 Adriano Nicchi (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown Rabchenko might be fighting Italian prospect Emanuele Della Rosa on July 13 in Monaco. 12) Delvin Rodriguez (6-94) Last Fight: 2/15/2013- TKO6 George Tahdooahnippah (UNR) (at MW) Next Fight: 5/24/2013- vs. Freddy Hernandez (UNR) Rodriguez will fight gatekeeper Freddy Hernandez on May 24, on Friday Night Fights. 13) Lukas Konecny (6-90) Last Fight: 3/23/2013- W (TD12) vs. Karim Achour (UNR) (at MW) Next Fight: Unknown 14) Keith Thurman (6-23) Last Fight: 3/9/2013- UD12 #? WW Jan Zaveck (at WW) Next Fight: Unknown Date- vs. Diego Chaves (UNR) (at WW) Thurman will be back on either July 20 or 27 against undefeated Argentine prospect Diego Chaves, again at Welterweight. 15) Vanes Martirosyan (6-100) Last Fight: 11/10/2012- D* (TD9) vs. #6 Erislandy Lara (robbery- should be L) Next Fight: Unknown Martirosyan was set to fight Javier Maciel on April 6 in China, but broke his thumb. 16) Yuri Foreman (6-14) Last Fight: 4/6/2013- UD6 Gundrick King (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown Foreman is keeping his comeback at a very low level for the time being. 17) Sechew Powell (6-163) Last Fight: 6/1/2012- L (TKO9) vs. #10 Gabriel Rosado Next Fight: Unknown 18) Willie Nelson (6-9) Last Fight: 3/1/2013- TKO1 Michael Medina (UNR) Next Fight: 6/29/2013- vs. Unknown Opponent Nelson is set to return on the Golovkin-Macklin undercard on June 29, but no opponent yet. He was rumored to fight Joshua Clottey, but those rumors appear false. 19) Brian Rose (2-2) Last Fight: 4/20/2013- TKO12 Joachim Alcine (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown Rose has now stepped out of the moribund British light middleweight scene, and showed pretty well on the international scene against the reasonably credible Alcine. 20) Michel Soro (2-16) Last Fight: 1/12/2013- UD12 Kris Carslaw (UNR) Next Fight: 5/4/2013- vs. Frederic Serre (UNR) Soro’s fight with Serre for the French title has been postponed to May 4.
The Week Ahead: Friday in Accra, Ghana, top 50 operator Joshua Okine participates in a gross mismatch against 0-2 novice Alaba Okusote.
The next night, #20 Michel Soro battles Frederic Serre for the French title in Villeurbanne.
Two ranked guys step into the ring later that night, but in different divisions. #6 Floyd Mayweather, Jr. moves back down to 147 to fight Robert Guerrero in a pay-per-view headliner from Vegas, while #10 Gabriel Rosado fights Mayweather protege and undefeated prospect J’Leon Love at the middleweight limit on the undercard.
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