Super Middleweight: 2013, Sep 9-15
Saturday in Saarbrucken, Germany, one-loss German prospect Juergen Doberstein scored the first top-50 win of his career against South African trial horse William Gare, dominating on the scorecards, albeit in his own back yard. Not really a hint of controversy on the scores, though. Gare was down hard in the 10th, and by all accounts Doberstein won clearly.
Next Fight: 11/16/2013- vs. Unknown Opponent Ward was looking for a comeback fight on September 28 against Caleb Truax, Dimitri Sartison, or Stas Kashtanov. HBO rejected all three, and Edwin Rodriguez wanted more time to prepare. The comeback has now been tentatively moved to November 16, but Ward is still looking for an HBO-friendly opponent after Rodriguez priced himself out with outlandish financial demands. 1) Carl Froch (68-378-378)
Last Fight: 5/25/2013- UD12 #3 Mikkel Kessler
Next Fight: 11/23/2013- vs. #8 George Groves Froch-Groves is set for November 23 in Manchester. 2) Robert Stieglitz (25-211-211) Last Fight: 7/13/2013- TKO10 Yuzo Kiyota (UNR) Next Fight: 10/19/2013- vs. Isaac Ekpo (UNR) Stieglitz and Abraham seem to be competing on who can fight the more mediocre opponents before rematching. Ekpo is the worst yet- a low-level Nigerian prospect. 3) Mikkel Kessler (39-457-457) Last Fight: 5/25/2013- L (UD12) vs. #1 Carl Froch
Next Fight: Unknown Froch is interested in a trilogy on neutral ground, perhaps even more so than a Ward rematch. But it’s not even clear that Kessler will fight again, after saying pre-fight he might retire. 4) Arthur Abraham (17-203-203)
Last Fight: 8/24/2013- UD12 Wilbeforce Shihepo (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown Abraham is hoping his weak effort against non-entity Shihepo will earn him a mandatory spot for a trilogy with Stieglitz. 5) Brandon Gonzales (11-11-11) Last Fight: 6/29/2013- D* vs. #5 Thomas Oosthuizen Next Fight: Unknown Gonzales at least earned a draw with Oosthuizen despite fading late. I had it a win, and I give him credit for that. 6) Adonis Stevenson (17-92-92) Last Fight: 6/8/2013- TKO1 LHW#1 Chad Dawson (at LHW) Next Fight: 9/28/2013- vs. #8 LHW Tavoris Cloud (at LHW) Stevenson looks like he’ll be fighting Cloud in Montreal in late September. After that, he’ll probably get Tony Bellew before the end of the year when he wins. He’ll probably be removed here in October, since he hasn’t fought at 168 in nearly a year. 7) Thomas Oosthuizen (11-119-167)
Last Fight: 6/29/2013- D* vs. Brandon Gonzales (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown Oosthuizen laid a complete, fully-formed goose egg in the first half of his fight with deserved underdog Brandon Gonzales, and was extremely lucky to escape with a draw. 8) George Groves (11-39-61) Last Fight: 5/25/2013- TKO5 Noe Gonzalez (UNR) Next Fight: 11/23/2013- vs. #1 Carl Froch Groves and Froch will face off on November 23 in Manchester. 9) Sakio Bika (11-30-336) Last Fight: 6/22/2013- MD12 Marco Antonio Periban (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown Bika seems to consider an Andre Ward rematch his top priority. The two fought a very close fight the first time around. He’s also been called out by Chavez, Rodriguez, Badou Jack, and Anthony Dirrell recently. A guy gets a meaningless alphabet belt, and all of a sudden he goes from one of the most avoided fighters in the sport to a guy everyone wants to fight. 10) James DeGale (11-14-100) Last Fight: 6/8/2013- RTD4 Stjepan Bozic (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown DeGale badly wants a big-money fight with Froch. 11) Christopher Rebrasse (11-14)
Last Fight: 6/8/2013- Robbery Draw (W) vs. #10 Mouhamed Ali Ndiaye Next Fight: 10/26/2013- vs. Mouhamed Ali Ndiaye (UNR) Rebrasse should have no reason to rematch Ndiaye, having beaten him decisively in June, but the judges completely corrupt ripoff has somehow conspired to make Rebrasse waste time and take a risk to confirm a very clear result. 12) Maxim Vlasov (10-44) Last Fight: 7/12/2013- UD8 Mark Suarez (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown 13) Edwin Rodriguez (10-34) Last Fight: 7/13/2013- TKO1 #16 LHW Denis Grachev (at LHW) Next Fight: Unknown Rodriguez named Bika as someone he’d like to fight next. Both are talented fighters who care little about technique as they wing wild punches. Could be fun if it happens. Turns out he had two different shots at Andre Ward since the Grachev fight. He turned down one and priced himself out of the other. 14) Ezequiel Maderna (10-37) Last Fight: 9/6/2013- UD10 Arnaldo Alcides Benitez (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown Maderna, despite arguably deserving a win against Rodriguez, did himself few favors in dropping the decision, especially considering how ugly the fight was. I don’t imagine he’ll be getting too many international suitors anytime soon since he seems difficult to look good against. 15) Andy Lee (10-17) Last Fight: 5/15/2013- TKO1 Darryl Cunningham (UNR) Next Fight: 9/28/2013- vs. Domenico Spada (UNR) (at MW) Lee will be in a rare title fight for him, and will thus most likely make the 160 pound limit for his Haye-Fury undercard fight with Domenico Spada. 16) Ryoto Murata (3-3) Last Fight: 8/25/2013- TKO2 #14 MW Akio Shibata Next Fight: Unknown Murata joins Lee and Truax as Middleweights who can claim a ranking in this very shallow division by beating an opponent a few pounds or less over 160. But he comes with a twist…he’s done so in his very first fight. 17) Caleb Truax (3-12) Last Fight: 6/21/2013- KO6 #15 Don George Next Fight: 9/21/2013- vs. Ceresso Fort (UNR) (at MW) Truax will see action in Minneapolis on September 21 against fellow Minnesota prospect Ceresso Fort. 18) Hadillah Mohoumadi (3-28) Last Fight: 6/29/2013- TKO7 #20 CW Pawel Glazewski (at LHW) Next Fight: 9/21/2013- vs. Giovanni De Carolis (UNR) Mohoumadi is once again scheduled to fight borderline top-50 Italian gatekeeper Giovanni De Carolis. Let’s hope it’s not another Italian robbery of a Frenchman like Rebrasse-Ndiaye. 19) Glen Johnson (3-19) Last Fight: 4/19/2013- TKO2 Junior Ramos (UNR) (at CW) Next Fight: Unknown
Looks like Johnson’s scheduled fight with Isiah Thomas, which would have been on Friday Night Fights, was canceled. I don’t know why. 20) Badou Jack (3-8) Last Fight: 7/19/2013- UD10 Farah Ennis (UNR) Next Fight: 9/12/13- vs. Marco Antonio Periban (UNR) No soft touches for Jack. He will get prospect Marco Antonio Periban- who gave Sakio Bika all he could handle- on the newly rebranded Fox Sports 2 (formerly Fuel TV) a couple days before Mayweather-Canelo.
One-loss NYC prospect Phillip Jackson Benson took care of business the same night, taking out Virginia journeyman Scott Sigmon in the 6th round of a fight that I thought might be a good upset candidate.
In a fight that appeared on the schedule too late to be previewed last week, #14 Ezequiel Maderna dominated mid-level, sub-.500 journeyman Arnaldo Alcides Benitez to a 10-round decision.
Doberstein has now made a bit of a name for himself, but is only established somewhere in the top 30-something. No changes.
Dan’s Top 20 Champ: Andre Ward (91-225-225) Last Fight: 9/8/2012- TKO10 LHW Champ Chad Dawson
Next Fight: 11/16/2013- vs. Unknown Opponent Ward was looking for a comeback fight on September 28 against Caleb Truax, Dimitri Sartison, or Stas Kashtanov. HBO rejected all three, and Edwin Rodriguez wanted more time to prepare. The comeback has now been tentatively moved to November 16, but Ward is still looking for an HBO-friendly opponent after Rodriguez priced himself out with outlandish financial demands. 1) Carl Froch (68-378-378)
Last Fight: 5/25/2013- UD12 #3 Mikkel Kessler
Next Fight: 11/23/2013- vs. #8 George Groves Froch-Groves is set for November 23 in Manchester. 2) Robert Stieglitz (25-211-211) Last Fight: 7/13/2013- TKO10 Yuzo Kiyota (UNR) Next Fight: 10/19/2013- vs. Isaac Ekpo (UNR) Stieglitz and Abraham seem to be competing on who can fight the more mediocre opponents before rematching. Ekpo is the worst yet- a low-level Nigerian prospect. 3) Mikkel Kessler (39-457-457) Last Fight: 5/25/2013- L (UD12) vs. #1 Carl Froch
Next Fight: Unknown Froch is interested in a trilogy on neutral ground, perhaps even more so than a Ward rematch. But it’s not even clear that Kessler will fight again, after saying pre-fight he might retire. 4) Arthur Abraham (17-203-203)
Last Fight: 8/24/2013- UD12 Wilbeforce Shihepo (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown Abraham is hoping his weak effort against non-entity Shihepo will earn him a mandatory spot for a trilogy with Stieglitz. 5) Brandon Gonzales (11-11-11) Last Fight: 6/29/2013- D* vs. #5 Thomas Oosthuizen Next Fight: Unknown Gonzales at least earned a draw with Oosthuizen despite fading late. I had it a win, and I give him credit for that. 6) Adonis Stevenson (17-92-92) Last Fight: 6/8/2013- TKO1 LHW#1 Chad Dawson (at LHW) Next Fight: 9/28/2013- vs. #8 LHW Tavoris Cloud (at LHW) Stevenson looks like he’ll be fighting Cloud in Montreal in late September. After that, he’ll probably get Tony Bellew before the end of the year when he wins. He’ll probably be removed here in October, since he hasn’t fought at 168 in nearly a year. 7) Thomas Oosthuizen (11-119-167)
Last Fight: 6/29/2013- D* vs. Brandon Gonzales (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown Oosthuizen laid a complete, fully-formed goose egg in the first half of his fight with deserved underdog Brandon Gonzales, and was extremely lucky to escape with a draw. 8) George Groves (11-39-61) Last Fight: 5/25/2013- TKO5 Noe Gonzalez (UNR) Next Fight: 11/23/2013- vs. #1 Carl Froch Groves and Froch will face off on November 23 in Manchester. 9) Sakio Bika (11-30-336) Last Fight: 6/22/2013- MD12 Marco Antonio Periban (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown Bika seems to consider an Andre Ward rematch his top priority. The two fought a very close fight the first time around. He’s also been called out by Chavez, Rodriguez, Badou Jack, and Anthony Dirrell recently. A guy gets a meaningless alphabet belt, and all of a sudden he goes from one of the most avoided fighters in the sport to a guy everyone wants to fight. 10) James DeGale (11-14-100) Last Fight: 6/8/2013- RTD4 Stjepan Bozic (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown DeGale badly wants a big-money fight with Froch. 11) Christopher Rebrasse (11-14)
Last Fight: 6/8/2013- Robbery Draw (W) vs. #10 Mouhamed Ali Ndiaye Next Fight: 10/26/2013- vs. Mouhamed Ali Ndiaye (UNR) Rebrasse should have no reason to rematch Ndiaye, having beaten him decisively in June, but the judges completely corrupt ripoff has somehow conspired to make Rebrasse waste time and take a risk to confirm a very clear result. 12) Maxim Vlasov (10-44) Last Fight: 7/12/2013- UD8 Mark Suarez (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown 13) Edwin Rodriguez (10-34) Last Fight: 7/13/2013- TKO1 #16 LHW Denis Grachev (at LHW) Next Fight: Unknown Rodriguez named Bika as someone he’d like to fight next. Both are talented fighters who care little about technique as they wing wild punches. Could be fun if it happens. Turns out he had two different shots at Andre Ward since the Grachev fight. He turned down one and priced himself out of the other. 14) Ezequiel Maderna (10-37) Last Fight: 9/6/2013- UD10 Arnaldo Alcides Benitez (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown Maderna, despite arguably deserving a win against Rodriguez, did himself few favors in dropping the decision, especially considering how ugly the fight was. I don’t imagine he’ll be getting too many international suitors anytime soon since he seems difficult to look good against. 15) Andy Lee (10-17) Last Fight: 5/15/2013- TKO1 Darryl Cunningham (UNR) Next Fight: 9/28/2013- vs. Domenico Spada (UNR) (at MW) Lee will be in a rare title fight for him, and will thus most likely make the 160 pound limit for his Haye-Fury undercard fight with Domenico Spada. 16) Ryoto Murata (3-3) Last Fight: 8/25/2013- TKO2 #14 MW Akio Shibata Next Fight: Unknown Murata joins Lee and Truax as Middleweights who can claim a ranking in this very shallow division by beating an opponent a few pounds or less over 160. But he comes with a twist…he’s done so in his very first fight. 17) Caleb Truax (3-12) Last Fight: 6/21/2013- KO6 #15 Don George Next Fight: 9/21/2013- vs. Ceresso Fort (UNR) (at MW) Truax will see action in Minneapolis on September 21 against fellow Minnesota prospect Ceresso Fort. 18) Hadillah Mohoumadi (3-28) Last Fight: 6/29/2013- TKO7 #20 CW Pawel Glazewski (at LHW) Next Fight: 9/21/2013- vs. Giovanni De Carolis (UNR) Mohoumadi is once again scheduled to fight borderline top-50 Italian gatekeeper Giovanni De Carolis. Let’s hope it’s not another Italian robbery of a Frenchman like Rebrasse-Ndiaye. 19) Glen Johnson (3-19) Last Fight: 4/19/2013- TKO2 Junior Ramos (UNR) (at CW) Next Fight: Unknown
Looks like Johnson’s scheduled fight with Isiah Thomas, which would have been on Friday Night Fights, was canceled. I don’t know why. 20) Badou Jack (3-8) Last Fight: 7/19/2013- UD10 Farah Ennis (UNR) Next Fight: 9/12/13- vs. Marco Antonio Periban (UNR) No soft touches for Jack. He will get prospect Marco Antonio Periban- who gave Sakio Bika all he could handle- on the newly rebranded Fox Sports 2 (formerly Fuel TV) a couple days before Mayweather-Canelo.
The Week Ahead: Thursday in the Fox Sports 2-televised appetizer for Mayweather-Canelo from Vegas, #20 Badou Jack throws down with fringe-contending one-loss Mexican prospect Marco Antonio Periban in what should be a very good, very well-matched fight.
Friday in Hammond, Indiana, gatekeeper Derrick Findley takes on undefeated Chicago prospect Mike Jimenez in a fight that could be contested at either 160 or 168 (or more likely somewhere in between).
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