Junior Middleweight: 2013, Jul 22-28
In a non-title fight on Tuesday in Minsk, #10 Sergey Rabchenko stopped low-level Georgian Gari Abajian in three rounds after coming in a 2.75 pounds over the divisional limit. No changes to the rankings 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 (25-107-122) Last Fight: 2/1/2013- UD12 #11 Cory Spinks Next Fight: 9/14/2013- vs. #5 Ishe Smith September 14 looks like junior middleweight D-Day. #1 vs. #5 (as of this writing), and it’s probably not even the most important fight in the division on that card. 2) Saul Alvarez (25-125-140) Last Fight: 4/20/2013- W* (UD12) vs. #3 Austin Trout Next Fight: 9/14/2013- vs. WW Champ Floyd Mayweather, Jr. Floyd-Canelo on September 14 appeared to be made way back in February, but then appeared to be a distant memory for months. Now it’s back on, for the exact same date. The only difference is that Floyd got dropped for inactivity because the fight wasn’t signed when his 1-year anniversary at 154 came around. There will be a 152-pound catchweight. 3) Austin Trout (22-60-129) Last Fight: 4/20/2013- L* (UD12) vs. #2 Saul Alvarez Next Fight: Unknown Trout wants a rematch of his very dubious loss to Alvarez. He certainly deserves it. He’ll have to wait until 2014 at the earliest, though, as Canelo is fighting Mayweather. Rumors of Lara-Trout on the Mayweather-Canelo undercard appear to be false according to Leonard Ellerbe. 4) Erislandy Lara (22-107-129) Last Fight: 6/8/2013- TKO10 #8 Alfredo Angulo Next Fight: Unknown See Trout’s notes, above. 5) Ishe Smith (22-22-22) Last Fight: 2/23/2013- W (MD12) vs. #3 Cornelius Bundrage Next Fight: 9/14/2013- vs. #1 Carlos Molina See Molina’s notes, above. 6) Miguel Cotto (12-164-164) Last Fight: 12/1/2012- L (UD12) vs. #8 Austin Trout Next Fight: 10/5/2013- vs. #11 Delvin Rodriguez After a proposed fight with Bundrage was scrapped by the networks, and a brief flirtation with Carlos Molina, Cotto will now be fighting Delvin Rodriguez on HBO on October 5. 7) Cornelius Bundrage (12-155-155) Last Fight: 2/23/2013- L (MD12) vs. Ishe Smith (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown 8) Alfredo Angulo (12-200-200) Last Fight: 6/8/2013- L (TKO10) vs. #4 Erislandy Lara Next Fight: Unknown Angulo has shared the good news that there are no broken bones in his face after the devastating Lara combination that forced him to submit. On one hand, it demystifies Angulo’s warrior image, but it does give him a better outlook for his career going forward, as well. 9) Gabriel Rosado (12-18-129) Last Fight: 5/4/2013- NC vs. J’Leon Love (UNR) (at MW) Next Fight: Unknown With his already-questionable loss to Love overturned due to a positive drug test, Rosado now wants Cotto, Lara, or Trout. Love wants a rematch after his suspension is over. While Cotto is otherwise occupied, the last three seem to be realistic possibilities. 10) Sergey Rabchenko (12-12-58) Last Fight: 7/16/2013- TKO3 Gari Abajian (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown After two other mandatories failed to answer the bell for a shot at Rabchenko’s European title, Cedric Vitu is now the guy, with purse bids scheduled for August 20. This will give the Belorussian an opportunity to answer some questions, as he barely squeaked by Vitu in 2012. 11) Delvin Rodriguez (12-106) Last Fight: 5/24/2013- TKO8 Freddy Hernandez (UNR) Next Fight: 10/5/2013- vs. #6 Miguel Cotto See Cotto’s notes, above. 12) Lukas Konecny (12-102) Last Fight: 7/13/2013- UD12 Moez Fhima (UNR) (at MW) Next Fight: Unknown Konecny took care of business against Fhima at 160. We’ll have to see whether he stays at that weight or not. My guess would be yes, since he’s fighting for minor titles up there at this point. 13) Keith Thurman (12-35) Last Fight: 3/9/2013- UD12 #? WW Jan Zaveck (at WW) Next Fight: 7/27/2013- vs. Diego Chaves (UNR) (at WW) Thurman will be back on July 27 against undefeated Argentine prospect Diego Chaves, again at Welterweight. The fight will be in San Antonio. 14) Vanes Martirosyan (12-112) Last Fight: 6/15/2013- TKO2 Ryan Davis (UNR) (at MW) Next Fight: Unknown It appears likely that Martirosyan will fight Demetrius Andrade for a vacant belt on the Pacquiao-Rios undercard in China. 15) Yuri Foreman (12-26) Last Fight: 4/6/2013- UD6 Gundrick King (UNR) Next Fight: 7/24/2013- vs. Jamaal Davis (UNR) Foreman will be up against a slightly better class of journeyman on July 24 when he meets Jamaal Davis. Still, he’s apparently not exactly in a hurry to get back in the title picture. 16) Willie Nelson (8-21) Last Fight: 6/29/2013- UD10 Luciano Cuello (UNR) Next Fight: 9/28/2013- vs. Unknown Opponent Nelson survived some scares against the rugged Cuello, but managed to stay on his feet and pull out the victory. He’s back in late September in Ohio. 17) Brian Rose (8-18) Last Fight: 6/29/2013- W (PTS10) vs. Alexey Ribchev (UNR) (at MW) Next Fight: Unknown Rose reportedly overcame a back injury to defeat Ribchev. 18) Jermell Charlo (7-7) Last Fight: 6/8/2013- UD12 Demetrius Hopkins (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown Charlo didn’t exactly build his fan base with the Hopkins snoozer, but he satisfied the “win today, look good tomorrow” equation, and earned a ranking for his trouble. 19) Guido Pitto (7-13) Last Fight: 4/27/2013- W* (SD12) vs. Jack Culcay (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown It took an “upset” over highly-touted prospect Culcay for Pitto to get the recognition he earned but was denied against Veron. 20) Kell Brook (2-2) Last Fight: 7/13/2013- TKO8 Carson Jones (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown Brook says he has no intention of moving up from 147 permanently at this point, but he’ll have this tenuous ranking to hang on to if he changes his mind within the next year.
The Week Ahead: #15 Yuri Foreman continues his hike on the comeback trail on Wednesday, throwing hands with journeyman Jamaal Davis in NYC.
#13 Keith Thurman will also see action this week, as he takes on fellow prospect Diego Chaves in San Antonio, but that fight is expected to happen at 147 and will be discussed there.
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