Light Heavyweight: 2013, Oct 21-27
Undefeated Australian prospect Blake Caparello easily out-boxed and out-punched a clearly disinterested Allan Green, who heralded his inauspicious performance by showing up 6.5 pounds overweight for what was supposed to be a minor title fight. Caparello won by scores of 117-111, 118-110, and 119-109. I agreed with the first score, since Caparello did take a round or two off himself, but all were reasonable.
Champ: Andre Ward (59-59-59) Last Fight: 9/8/2012- TKO10 Champ Chad Dawson (at SMW) Next Fight: 11/16/2013- vs. #14 Edwin Rodriguez (at SMW) After tons of posturing, Ward-Rodriguez is now done for 11/16 in Ontario, California. 1) Adonis Stevenson (20-20-20) Last Fight: 9/28/2013- TKO7 #8 Tavoris Cloud Next Fight: 11/30/2013- vs. #6 Tony Bellew Stevenson is set to fight Tony Bellew on November 30 in a quick turnaround from his fight two months earlier. 2) Bernard Hopkins (59-385-385) Last Fight: 3/9/2012- UD12 #6 Tavoris Cloud
Next Fight: 10/26/2013- vs. Karo Murat (UNR) Hopkins-Murat has been reset for October 26, with Showtime televising. 3) Sergey Kovalev (19-40-40) Last Fight: 8/17/2013- TKO4 #8 Nathan Cleverly Next Fight: 11/30/2013- vs. Ismayl Sillakh (UNR) Kovalev will fight Ismayl Sillakh on a twin bill with Stevenson-Bellew on HBO November 30. 4) Chad Dawson (19-386-386) Last Fight: 6/8/2013- L(TKO1) vs. SMW #6 Adonis Stevenson Next Fight: Unknown Dawson may be returning sometime in November. 5) Andrzej Fonfara (10-10-67) Last Fight: 8/16/2013- KO9 #6 Gabriel Campillo Next Fight: 12/6/2013- vs. Unknown Opponent Fonfara will return on December 6, on the Chicago undercard of Wlodarczyk-Fragomeni III. 6) Tony Bellew (10-106-106) Last Fight: 5/25/2013- UD12 #7 Isaac Chilemba Next Fight: 11/30/2013- vs. #1 Adonis Stevenson Bellew will fight Stevenson on his November 30 birthday. 7) Gabriel Campillo (10-174-174)
Last Fight: 8/16/2013- L (KO9) vs. #14 Andrzej Fonfara
Next Fight: Unknown Campillo might be on his way to deserved obscurity after being robbed of deserved prominence for so much of his career. He still has plenty of boxing skill, but his will might be fading just a bit. 8) Tavoris Cloud (10-217-217)
Last Fight: 9/28/2013- L (TKO7) vs. #1 Adonis Stevenson
Next Fight: Unknown Cloud should probably get himself back in the win column at some point. 9) Nathan Cleverly (10-194-194) Last Fight: 8/17/2013- L (TKO4) vs. #3 Sergey Kovalev
Next Fight: Unknown After originally indicating retirement as a possibility, Cleverly has now called for a rematch with Kovalev. He obviously could stand to rebuild a bit first, though. More recently, he’s hinted at a possible move to Cruiser. 10) Isaac Chilemba (10-30-90) Last Fight: 5/25/2013- L (UD12) vs. #9 Tony Bellew Next Fight: 11/16/2013- vs. Unknown Opponent Chilemba has recently signed with Main Events, the Northeastern US-based promotional outfit whose NBC affiliation has them solidly in the 2nd tier of American promotional firms, behind Golden Boy and Top Rank. They’ll have him back in the ring on November 16 in New York. 11) Cornelius White (10-97) Last Fight: 6/14/2013- L (TKO3) vs. #5 Sergey Kovalev Next Fight: Unknown White was blasted out by Kovalev, but at least he has good company in that regard. 12) Jürgen Brähmer (9-79) Last Fight: 8/24/2013- UD12 Stefano Abatangelo (UNR) Next Fight: 12/14/2013- vs. Marcus Oliveira (UNR) Since getting dominated in your title fight, fighting journeymen, and then taking two years off is the required resume for becoming a WBA Super Champion, Beibut Shumenov has now assumed that dubious title. Braehmer will now fight prospect Marcus Oliveira for the “regular” title on December 14 in Neubrandenburg, Germany. 13) Cedric Agnew (9-28) Last Fight: 4/12/2013- UD12 #14 Yusaf Mack Next Fight: Unknown Agnew was approved by HBO as a potential November 30 opponent for Kovalev, but reportedly turned down the opportunity. 14) Edwin Rodriguez (10-15) Last Fight: 7/13/2013- TKO1 #16 Denis Grachev Next Fight: 11/16/2013- vs. Champ Andre Ward (at SMW) See Ward’s notes, above. 15) Lucian Bute (15-51) Last Fight: 11/3/2012- UD12 #16 Denis Grachev Next Fight: 1/18/2014- vs. Jean Pascal (UNR) Bute-Pascal has been pushed back to January 18. 16) Hadillah Mohoumadi (15-17) Last Fight: 10/17/2013- TKO1 Raimonds Sniedze (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown 17) Eleider Alvarez (4-39) Last Fight: 9/28/2013- UD10 Edison Miranda (UNR) Next Fight: 1/18/2013- vs. #6 SMW Thomas Oosthuizen Alvarez is scheduled to fight Oosthuizen in January, but likely only if Oosthuizen gets past Maderna in November. 18) Enzo Maccarinelli (4-10) Last Fight: 8/17/2013- TKO11 Ovill McKenzie (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown Maccarinelli has revitalized his career to an extent with the gutsy McKenzie win. 19) Denis Grachev (4-78) Last Fight: 7/13/2013- L (TKO1) vs. #13 SMW Edwin Rodriguez Next Fight: Unknown 20) Dmitry Sukhotsky (4-156) Last Fight: 6/4/2013- KO3 Mikhail Krinitsin (UNR) (at SMW) Next Fight: 11/23/2013- vs. Eduard Gutknecht (UNR) Looks like Sukhotsky is returning to 175 just in the nick of time to save his ranking, clashing with former 168 contender Eddy Gutknecht on November 23.
Hmm…how to evaluate the win. Allan Green is a relatively big, flashy name, even after a few years of weight issues and inconsistency. He was kinda-sorta in the Super Six. He beat Renan St. Juste recently, and showed guts in doing so. But he also came in overweight for that fight. In the 3 years since he lost to Glen Johnson in his last fight at 168, he’s made 175 only twice. And frankly I think he was a fair bit overrated even back then. I can’t see him as much more than a #35-range gatekeeper at this point, and by his obvious lack of desire, I think that is a bit on the flattering side.
Given that assessment of Green, this ends up going in the books as just a modest step up for Caparello. He’s now got 3 top-50 wins on his resume, but still hasn’t scored one quite impressive enough to overcome the likes of a Dmitry Sukhotsky. As a result, he settles in right at the edge of what I call fringe contention- essentially the top 25.
Oh, and apparently Hadillah Mohoumadi snuck in a first-round TKO over some nobody named Raimonds Sniedze in France.
No changes this week.
Dan’s Top 20 (weeks in current position-weeks in top 10 (if applicable)-weeks in top 20)
Champ: Andre Ward (59-59-59) Last Fight: 9/8/2012- TKO10 Champ Chad Dawson (at SMW) Next Fight: 11/16/2013- vs. #14 Edwin Rodriguez (at SMW) After tons of posturing, Ward-Rodriguez is now done for 11/16 in Ontario, California. 1) Adonis Stevenson (20-20-20) Last Fight: 9/28/2013- TKO7 #8 Tavoris Cloud Next Fight: 11/30/2013- vs. #6 Tony Bellew Stevenson is set to fight Tony Bellew on November 30 in a quick turnaround from his fight two months earlier. 2) Bernard Hopkins (59-385-385) Last Fight: 3/9/2012- UD12 #6 Tavoris Cloud
Next Fight: 10/26/2013- vs. Karo Murat (UNR) Hopkins-Murat has been reset for October 26, with Showtime televising. 3) Sergey Kovalev (19-40-40) Last Fight: 8/17/2013- TKO4 #8 Nathan Cleverly Next Fight: 11/30/2013- vs. Ismayl Sillakh (UNR) Kovalev will fight Ismayl Sillakh on a twin bill with Stevenson-Bellew on HBO November 30. 4) Chad Dawson (19-386-386) Last Fight: 6/8/2013- L(TKO1) vs. SMW #6 Adonis Stevenson Next Fight: Unknown Dawson may be returning sometime in November. 5) Andrzej Fonfara (10-10-67) Last Fight: 8/16/2013- KO9 #6 Gabriel Campillo Next Fight: 12/6/2013- vs. Unknown Opponent Fonfara will return on December 6, on the Chicago undercard of Wlodarczyk-Fragomeni III. 6) Tony Bellew (10-106-106) Last Fight: 5/25/2013- UD12 #7 Isaac Chilemba Next Fight: 11/30/2013- vs. #1 Adonis Stevenson Bellew will fight Stevenson on his November 30 birthday. 7) Gabriel Campillo (10-174-174)
Last Fight: 8/16/2013- L (KO9) vs. #14 Andrzej Fonfara
Next Fight: Unknown Campillo might be on his way to deserved obscurity after being robbed of deserved prominence for so much of his career. He still has plenty of boxing skill, but his will might be fading just a bit. 8) Tavoris Cloud (10-217-217)
Last Fight: 9/28/2013- L (TKO7) vs. #1 Adonis Stevenson
Next Fight: Unknown Cloud should probably get himself back in the win column at some point. 9) Nathan Cleverly (10-194-194) Last Fight: 8/17/2013- L (TKO4) vs. #3 Sergey Kovalev
Next Fight: Unknown After originally indicating retirement as a possibility, Cleverly has now called for a rematch with Kovalev. He obviously could stand to rebuild a bit first, though. More recently, he’s hinted at a possible move to Cruiser. 10) Isaac Chilemba (10-30-90) Last Fight: 5/25/2013- L (UD12) vs. #9 Tony Bellew Next Fight: 11/16/2013- vs. Unknown Opponent Chilemba has recently signed with Main Events, the Northeastern US-based promotional outfit whose NBC affiliation has them solidly in the 2nd tier of American promotional firms, behind Golden Boy and Top Rank. They’ll have him back in the ring on November 16 in New York. 11) Cornelius White (10-97) Last Fight: 6/14/2013- L (TKO3) vs. #5 Sergey Kovalev Next Fight: Unknown White was blasted out by Kovalev, but at least he has good company in that regard. 12) Jürgen Brähmer (9-79) Last Fight: 8/24/2013- UD12 Stefano Abatangelo (UNR) Next Fight: 12/14/2013- vs. Marcus Oliveira (UNR) Since getting dominated in your title fight, fighting journeymen, and then taking two years off is the required resume for becoming a WBA Super Champion, Beibut Shumenov has now assumed that dubious title. Braehmer will now fight prospect Marcus Oliveira for the “regular” title on December 14 in Neubrandenburg, Germany. 13) Cedric Agnew (9-28) Last Fight: 4/12/2013- UD12 #14 Yusaf Mack Next Fight: Unknown Agnew was approved by HBO as a potential November 30 opponent for Kovalev, but reportedly turned down the opportunity. 14) Edwin Rodriguez (10-15) Last Fight: 7/13/2013- TKO1 #16 Denis Grachev Next Fight: 11/16/2013- vs. Champ Andre Ward (at SMW) See Ward’s notes, above. 15) Lucian Bute (15-51) Last Fight: 11/3/2012- UD12 #16 Denis Grachev Next Fight: 1/18/2014- vs. Jean Pascal (UNR) Bute-Pascal has been pushed back to January 18. 16) Hadillah Mohoumadi (15-17) Last Fight: 10/17/2013- TKO1 Raimonds Sniedze (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown 17) Eleider Alvarez (4-39) Last Fight: 9/28/2013- UD10 Edison Miranda (UNR) Next Fight: 1/18/2013- vs. #6 SMW Thomas Oosthuizen Alvarez is scheduled to fight Oosthuizen in January, but likely only if Oosthuizen gets past Maderna in November. 18) Enzo Maccarinelli (4-10) Last Fight: 8/17/2013- TKO11 Ovill McKenzie (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown Maccarinelli has revitalized his career to an extent with the gutsy McKenzie win. 19) Denis Grachev (4-78) Last Fight: 7/13/2013- L (TKO1) vs. #13 SMW Edwin Rodriguez Next Fight: Unknown 20) Dmitry Sukhotsky (4-156) Last Fight: 6/4/2013- KO3 Mikhail Krinitsin (UNR) (at SMW) Next Fight: 11/23/2013- vs. Eduard Gutknecht (UNR) Looks like Sukhotsky is returning to 175 just in the nick of time to save his ranking, clashing with former 168 contender Eddy Gutknecht on November 23.
The Week Ahead: The big fight this week features #2 Bernard Hopkins- now closing in on 49 years old- looking to continue his improbable streak of wins at his advanced age, and doing so against a pretty solid and possibly underrated opponent in Karo Murat. I believe Murat was ranked around #6 when he was removed due to his failure to schedule a fight after being snubbed by Nathan Cleverly for a title shot, and he earned a draw with Campillo to get there. He’s obviously not the name that Pascal and Cloud were, but both of those guys fought with flawed game plans that allowed the geriatric Hopkins to cruise to victories that were much easier than they ought to have been. If Murat just fights an honest, aggressive fight, he should be more than capable of testing Hopkins- especially if he’s been winning partly on smoke and mirrors as I rather suspect. We’ll find out Saturday, in Atlantic City and on Showtime.
Earlier in the night, on the Arthur Abraham undercard in Oldenburg, undefeated but crude German prospect Robert Woge will take a major step up in competition against Ukrainian gatekeeper Anatoliy Dudchenko. Dudchenko is unofficially ranked #31 in my private rankings, while Woge barely escaped his last major outing, hitting what was akin to an 11-run homer in knocking out Hakim Zoulikha in the 11th round after not legitimately winning any of the first ten. I strongly favor Dudchenko to get the better of the contest, but it’s hard to beat a Sauerland fighter on a Sauerland card. Case in point- in the aforementioned Woge-Zoulikha fight, all of the pathetic judges had Woge up, and two of them had him up big. That, in a fight that was 98-92 Zoulikha at the absolute minimum. Needless to say, I’ll probably watch this one for accuracy even if Woge wins what looks like a clear decision.
Dan's Weekly Boxer Rankings and Blog 
Leave a Reply