Welterweight: 2013, Sep 16-22
For a discussion of Mayweather-Canelo, check my Junior Middleweight update. Mayweather’s Championship at this weight was not at stake.
Last Fight: 9/14/2013- W* (MD12) vs. #2 JMW Saul Alvarez (at JMW) Next Fight: Unknown Floyd will likely be back on both May 3 and September 13, with Danny Garcia and the potential Alexander-Khan winner as possibilities. 1) Juan Manuel Marquez (97-97-97)
Last Fight: 12/8/2012- KO6 #2 Manny Pacquiao Next Fight: 10/12/2013- vs. #18 Timothy Bradley With Mayweather apparently wanting to stay busy, a hard-earned rematch with the Champ might not be out of the question over the next year or two. For now, it’s all about Tim Bradley. 2) Manny Pacquiao (97-250-250)
Last Fight: 12/8/2012- L (KO6) vs. #1 Juan Manuel Marquez Next Fight: 11/23/2013- vs. #4 JWW Brandon Rios (UNR) Pac Man needs to prove he can still get it done when he tries to rebound from a devastating knockout against former top lightweight Brandon Rios in China. 3) Shane Mosley (18-18-18)
Last Fight: 5/18/2013- UD12 Pablo Cesar Cano (UNR) Next Fight: 10/23/2013- vs. #12 MW Anthony Mundine (at JMW) Mosley-Mundine now has a date of October 23. 4) Devon Alexander (14-82-82)
Last Fight: 5/18/2013- RTD7 Lee Purdy (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown It looks likely that Alexander will fight Khan on December 7, but no contract yet. 5) Marcos Maidana (15-15-15)
Last Fight: 6/8/2013- TKO6 #4 Josesito Lopez Next Fight: Unknown Maidana is reportedly very close to a deal for a Pay-Per-View showdown with lightweight Champion Adrien Broner in Vegas on December 14. 6) Jesus Soto Karass (8-8-34)
Last Fight: 7/27/2013- TKO12 #7 Andre Berto Next Fight: Unknown Keith Thurman believes Soto Karass will be his next opponent. 7) Robert Guerrero (8-43-60)
Last Fight: 5/4/2013- L (UD12) vs. Champ Floyd Mayweather, Jr. Next Fight: Unknown Guerrero turned down Keith Thurman for a proposed November fight, according to both fighters’ promoter. Dan Rafael reports that Guerrero might be waiting around to fight the winner of Maidana-Broner. 8) Kell Brook (18-125-125)
Last Fight: 7/13/2013- TKO8 Carson Jones (UNR) (at JMW) Next Fight: 10/26/2013- vs. Vyacheslav Senchenko (UNR) Brook fights Senchenko in late October. He’d better make 147 for the non-title fight if he wants to maintain his ranking here. 9) Randall Bailey (18-67-67) Last Fight: 10/20/2012- L (UD12) vs. #? Devon Alexander Next Fight: Unknown I haven’t heard any buzz about an upcoming Bailey fight since he was comfortably outpointed by Alexander in October. 10) Josesito Lopez (15-65-65)
Last Fight: 6/8/2013- L (TKO6) vs. #11 Marcos Maidana Next Fight: 11/?/2013- vs. Aaron Martinez (UNR) The Ring’s website has Lopez returning sometime November against fringe prospect Aaron Martinez. 11) Andre Berto (8-43)
Last Fight: 7/27/2013- L (TKO12) vs. #11 Jesus Soto Karass Next Fight: Unknown Berto’s shoulder surgery will keep him out until sometime in 2014. 12) Keith Thurman (8-28) Last Fight: 7/27/2013- KO10 Diego Chaves (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown See Soto Karass’s notes, above. 13) Chris van Heerden (8-66)
Last Fight: 3/2/2013- UD12 Matthew Hatton (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown Van Heerden recently moved his home base to Southern California from his native South Africa in search of better sparring and bigger fights. He is likley to work with Brandon Rios in the coming months, and hopes to make his US debut in October. 14) Luis Carlos Abregu (8-21)
Last Fight: 4/27/2013- UD10 Antonin Decarie (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown Abregu’s plans for an October fight have been scrapped, as he recently had 2013-ending hand surgery. 15) Jan Zaveck (8-197)
Last Fight: 3/9/2013- L (UD12) vs. #15 JMW Keith Thurman Next Fight: 10/19/2013- vs. Unknown Opponent Zaveck is back in action on the undercard of Stieglitz-Ekpo in Leipzig. 16) Selcuk Aydin (8-231)
Last Fight: 7/27/2013- KO8 Aaron Herrera (UNR) Next Fight: 9/27/2013- vs. Demarcus Corley (UNR) Aydin will move back down to 140 to seek a minor title in Istanbul against gatekeeper Demarcus Corley. 17) Timothy Bradley (8-67)
Last Fight: 3/16/2013- W* (UD12) vs. Ruslan Provodnikov (UNR) (should be draw) Next Fight: 10/12/2013- vs. #1 Juan Manuel Marquez Bradley will look for redemption after very nearly losing to an inconsistent prospect. It’ll be a tall order. 18) Ruslan Provodnikov (8-27)
Last Fight: 3/16/2013- L* (UD12) vs. #11? Timothy Bradley (should be draw) Next Fight: 10/19/2013- vs. JWW #3 Mike Alvarado (at JWW) Alvarado-Provodnikov is done for 10/19 in Denver, at 140, with HBO to televise. 19) Pablo Cesar Cano (1-1) Last Fight: 9/14/2013- W (SD10*) vs. Ashley Theophane (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown Cano said after the 143-pound catchweight win against Theophane that he intends to seek title contention at 140 now. I must say I’m surprised by the move, considering he failed to make weight for one of his biggest fights at 147 against Malignaggi. 20) Leonard Bundu (1-13)
Last Fight: 4/6/2013- KO11 Rafal Jackiewicz (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown Bundu is apparently set to fight 43 year-old former fringe contender Gianluca Branco for the EBU title, though no official announcement has yet been made.
In the Thursday warm-up card in Vegas, Shawn Porter won an ugly fight in a rematch against gatekeeper Julio Diaz that was really a bit of a preview of Molina-Smith in some ways. Porter took the initiative, such as it was, by constantly lunging in from a low crouch. This made for a very awkward fight, but managed to disrupt Diaz’s rhythm and gave Porter control of the pace. I had it 97-93, as did two of the three judges.
In the opening bout of the Pay-Per-View itself, prospect Pablo Cesar Cano finally won a significant fight while making the welterweight limit. He unloaded more than his share of devastating shots on the iron-chinned British gatekeeper Ashley Theophane, but the resilient Englishman fired back and made a heck of a fight of it in the middle rounds before Cano reasserted himself late to win the fight clearly. I had it 97-93 and can scarcely see how it could be scored otherwise. Ricardo Ocasio, however, turned in an inexplicable 96-94 card in favor of Theophane, meaning he botched at least 3 clear rounds out of a possible 10.
Porter’s win supersedes his earlier deadlock with Diaz, and he perhaps deserves some extra prestige due to the fact that Diaz truly deserved to have beaten Khan in the meantime, but ultimately he’s still a prospect, and in my opinion has not been tested much beyond the top 30 level in a competitive division. Cano’s win is tempered a bit by what has been a poor last couple years in the career of Theophane, but in my judgement the Brit was still just barely a top 50 player, and even at a 142 pound catchweight, the win gives me the pretext I need to allow the young Mexican to profit from what was by all rights a dominant win over Paulie Malignaggi, which I could not use to rate him due to the fact that he missed weight in that fight by less than a pound. Giving that result the proper weight, Cano makes his debut at #19. This forces Leonard Bundu back to #20 and ousts Jessie Vargas (no doubt temporarily) after a 7-week stint.
Dan’s Top 20 (Weeks in Current Position-Weeks in Top 10 if applicable-Weeks in Top 20) Champ: Floyd Mayweather, Jr. (177-209-209)
Last Fight: 9/14/2013- W* (MD12) vs. #2 JMW Saul Alvarez (at JMW) Next Fight: Unknown Floyd will likely be back on both May 3 and September 13, with Danny Garcia and the potential Alexander-Khan winner as possibilities. 1) Juan Manuel Marquez (97-97-97)
Last Fight: 12/8/2012- KO6 #2 Manny Pacquiao Next Fight: 10/12/2013- vs. #18 Timothy Bradley With Mayweather apparently wanting to stay busy, a hard-earned rematch with the Champ might not be out of the question over the next year or two. For now, it’s all about Tim Bradley. 2) Manny Pacquiao (97-250-250)
Last Fight: 12/8/2012- L (KO6) vs. #1 Juan Manuel Marquez Next Fight: 11/23/2013- vs. #4 JWW Brandon Rios (UNR) Pac Man needs to prove he can still get it done when he tries to rebound from a devastating knockout against former top lightweight Brandon Rios in China. 3) Shane Mosley (18-18-18)
Last Fight: 5/18/2013- UD12 Pablo Cesar Cano (UNR) Next Fight: 10/23/2013- vs. #12 MW Anthony Mundine (at JMW) Mosley-Mundine now has a date of October 23. 4) Devon Alexander (14-82-82)
Last Fight: 5/18/2013- RTD7 Lee Purdy (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown It looks likely that Alexander will fight Khan on December 7, but no contract yet. 5) Marcos Maidana (15-15-15)
Last Fight: 6/8/2013- TKO6 #4 Josesito Lopez Next Fight: Unknown Maidana is reportedly very close to a deal for a Pay-Per-View showdown with lightweight Champion Adrien Broner in Vegas on December 14. 6) Jesus Soto Karass (8-8-34)
Last Fight: 7/27/2013- TKO12 #7 Andre Berto Next Fight: Unknown Keith Thurman believes Soto Karass will be his next opponent. 7) Robert Guerrero (8-43-60)
Last Fight: 5/4/2013- L (UD12) vs. Champ Floyd Mayweather, Jr. Next Fight: Unknown Guerrero turned down Keith Thurman for a proposed November fight, according to both fighters’ promoter. Dan Rafael reports that Guerrero might be waiting around to fight the winner of Maidana-Broner. 8) Kell Brook (18-125-125)
Last Fight: 7/13/2013- TKO8 Carson Jones (UNR) (at JMW) Next Fight: 10/26/2013- vs. Vyacheslav Senchenko (UNR) Brook fights Senchenko in late October. He’d better make 147 for the non-title fight if he wants to maintain his ranking here. 9) Randall Bailey (18-67-67) Last Fight: 10/20/2012- L (UD12) vs. #? Devon Alexander Next Fight: Unknown I haven’t heard any buzz about an upcoming Bailey fight since he was comfortably outpointed by Alexander in October. 10) Josesito Lopez (15-65-65)
Last Fight: 6/8/2013- L (TKO6) vs. #11 Marcos Maidana Next Fight: 11/?/2013- vs. Aaron Martinez (UNR) The Ring’s website has Lopez returning sometime November against fringe prospect Aaron Martinez. 11) Andre Berto (8-43)
Last Fight: 7/27/2013- L (TKO12) vs. #11 Jesus Soto Karass Next Fight: Unknown Berto’s shoulder surgery will keep him out until sometime in 2014. 12) Keith Thurman (8-28) Last Fight: 7/27/2013- KO10 Diego Chaves (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown See Soto Karass’s notes, above. 13) Chris van Heerden (8-66)
Last Fight: 3/2/2013- UD12 Matthew Hatton (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown Van Heerden recently moved his home base to Southern California from his native South Africa in search of better sparring and bigger fights. He is likley to work with Brandon Rios in the coming months, and hopes to make his US debut in October. 14) Luis Carlos Abregu (8-21)
Last Fight: 4/27/2013- UD10 Antonin Decarie (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown Abregu’s plans for an October fight have been scrapped, as he recently had 2013-ending hand surgery. 15) Jan Zaveck (8-197)
Last Fight: 3/9/2013- L (UD12) vs. #15 JMW Keith Thurman Next Fight: 10/19/2013- vs. Unknown Opponent Zaveck is back in action on the undercard of Stieglitz-Ekpo in Leipzig. 16) Selcuk Aydin (8-231)
Last Fight: 7/27/2013- KO8 Aaron Herrera (UNR) Next Fight: 9/27/2013- vs. Demarcus Corley (UNR) Aydin will move back down to 140 to seek a minor title in Istanbul against gatekeeper Demarcus Corley. 17) Timothy Bradley (8-67)
Last Fight: 3/16/2013- W* (UD12) vs. Ruslan Provodnikov (UNR) (should be draw) Next Fight: 10/12/2013- vs. #1 Juan Manuel Marquez Bradley will look for redemption after very nearly losing to an inconsistent prospect. It’ll be a tall order. 18) Ruslan Provodnikov (8-27)
Last Fight: 3/16/2013- L* (UD12) vs. #11? Timothy Bradley (should be draw) Next Fight: 10/19/2013- vs. JWW #3 Mike Alvarado (at JWW) Alvarado-Provodnikov is done for 10/19 in Denver, at 140, with HBO to televise. 19) Pablo Cesar Cano (1-1) Last Fight: 9/14/2013- W (SD10*) vs. Ashley Theophane (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown Cano said after the 143-pound catchweight win against Theophane that he intends to seek title contention at 140 now. I must say I’m surprised by the move, considering he failed to make weight for one of his biggest fights at 147 against Malignaggi. 20) Leonard Bundu (1-13)
Last Fight: 4/6/2013- KO11 Rafal Jackiewicz (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown Bundu is apparently set to fight 43 year-old former fringe contender Gianluca Branco for the EBU title, though no official announcement has yet been made.
The Week Ahead: Undefeated Birmingham prospect Frankie Gavin meets Manchester journeyman David Barnes in London for the British and Commonwealth titles on Saturday, though obviously Kell Brook is the preeminent British welterweight overall.
Dan's Weekly Boxer Rankings and Blog 
Leave a Reply