Welterweight: 2013, Oct 28- Nov 3
#9 Kell Brook won a short but wild fight with gatekeeper Vyacheslav Senchenko on Saturday in Sheffield, England. The fight was actually fairly back and forth. Brook easily won the first round. Senchenko pretty clearly won the second. Brook scored a knockdown in the third to pull ahead. In the 4th, Senchenko actually clipped Brook pretty hard, but Brook came back and dropped his man again. With Senchenko’s legs clearly too unsteady even to safely complete the remaining few seconds of the round, Referee Shada Murdaugh called it quits.
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 Amir Khan being rumored as the May 3 opponent. 1) Timothy Bradley (3-3-73) Last Fight: 10/12/2013- W (SD12) vs. #1 Juan Manuel Marquez Next Fight: Unknown Bradley says he wants a rematch with Pacquiao, and has also expressed interest in a likely impossible match-up with Mayweather. 2) Juan Manuel Marquez (3-103-103) Last Fight: 10/12/2013- L (SD12) vs. #17 Timothy Bradley Next Fight: Unknown After initially suggesting he might retire, Marquez quickly began pushing hard for a Bradley rematch. 3) Manny Pacquiao (3-256-256)
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. 4) Shane Mosley (3-24-24)
Last Fight: 5/18/2013- UD12 Pablo Cesar Cano (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown Mosley apparently wasn’t happy about not getting all of his pay in advance as agreed, and cut out of Australia lickety-split, cancelling the Mundine fight that had been scheduled for 10/23. 5) Devon Alexander (3-88-88)
Last Fight: 5/18/2013- RTD7 Lee Purdy (UNR) Next Fight: 11/30/2013- vs. Shawn Porter (UNR) With Khan apparently hedging his bets in hopes of a Mayweather payday, Alexander will instead fight prospect Shawn Porter in San Antonio on November 30. 6) Marcos Maidana (3-21-21)
Last Fight: 6/8/2013- TKO6 #4 Josesito Lopez Next Fight: 12/14/2013- vs. Adrien Broner (UNR) The Maidana-Broner fight on December 14 will now headline a regular Showtime Championship boxing broadcast, instead of a PPV, as the undercard has suffered significant collapses. 7) Jesus Soto Karass (3-14-40) Last Fight: 7/27/2013- TKO12 #7 Andre Berto Next Fight: 12/14/2013- vs. #12 Keith Thurman Soto Karass’s fight with Thurman has been moved from the December 7 Malignaggi-Judah undercard in Brooklyn to the following week’s pay-per-view tilt between Broner and Maidana. 8) Robert Guerrero (3-49-66) 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. He’s also been rumored to be in the mix to fight Khan, though his team has denied it. 9) Kell Brook (3-131-131)
Last Fight:10/26/2013- TKO4 Vyacheslav Senchenko (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown Brook is now the mandatory for the winner of Alexander-Porter. 10) Josesito Lopez (2-2-71) Last Fight: 6/8/2013- L (TKO6) vs. #11 Marcos Maidana Next Fight: Unknown Reports of a November fight between Lopez and Aaron Martinez appear to have been premature, as there’s been no mention of the bout since the Ring first reported it a while ago. The latest news is that Victor Ortiz wants a rematch. 11) Andre Berto (2-49) 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 (2-34) Last Fight: 7/27/2013- KO10 Diego Chaves (UNR) Next Fight: 12/14/2013- vs. #7 Jesus Soto Karass See Soto Karass’s notes, above. 13) Chris van Heerden (2-72) 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. Apparently an effort was made to get him on the Froch-Groves undercard against Lee Purdy, but that appears to be a no-go. 14) Luis Carlos Abregu (2-27)
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. The WBC is looking to match him with Antonin Decarie when he returns. 15) Jan Zaveck (2-203)
Last Fight: 10/19/2013- UD8 Sebastien Allais (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown As expected, Zaveck had little trouble with French journeyman Allais. 16) Selcuk Aydin (2-237)
Last Fight: 9/27/2013- W (RTD4) vs. Demarcus Corley (UNR) (at JWW) Next Fight: Unknown 17) Ruslan Provodnikov (2-33) Last Fight: 10/19/2013- RTD10 #3 JWW Mike Alvarado (at JWW) Next Fight: Unknown Provodnikov proved against Alvarado that the Bradley fight was no fluke. He’s a big-time fighter now. 18) Pablo Cesar Cano (2-7) 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. 19) Leonard Bundu (2-19)
Last Fight: 4/6/2013- KO11 Rafal Jackiewicz (UNR) Next Fight: 12/14/2013- vs. Lee Purdy (UNR) Bundu will fight British gatekeeper Lee Purdy December 14 in London. 20) Jessie Vargas (2-2) Last Fight: 10/11/2013- UD10 Ray Narh (UNR) (as JMW) Next Fight: Unknown Vargas is thinking about moving back to 140, and says he wants a fight with Provodnikov.
When a top 10 contender fights an unranked fighter and wins, it’s probably always worth asking “how did he look?” Well, for me it was a mixed bag. Brook obviously looked really good when he hurt his man. But besides getting hurt in the last minute or so of the fight, he also looked tentative, fidgety, and nervous for a lot of the fight. It yielded positive results in the end, but to me it didn’t instill confidence in his being anything like the next superstar in the division. Except for the fact that he did show killer instinct and attack enough to get his guy out of there, he reminded me a little of Devon Alexander at his worst- the tentative, back-foot jab heavy version that fought Kotelnik.
There are no changes this week. Due to Guerrero’s performances against Berto and Aydin, Brook is unlikely to advance higher than the Ghost unless and until he beats a bona fide top-10 contender, despite the volume of gatekeepers and fringe contenders he’s putting in his pocket.
Dan’s Top 20 (Weeks in Current Position-Weeks in Top 10 if applicable-Weeks in Top 20) Champ: Floyd Mayweather, Jr. (183-215-215)
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 Amir Khan being rumored as the May 3 opponent. 1) Timothy Bradley (3-3-73) Last Fight: 10/12/2013- W (SD12) vs. #1 Juan Manuel Marquez Next Fight: Unknown Bradley says he wants a rematch with Pacquiao, and has also expressed interest in a likely impossible match-up with Mayweather. 2) Juan Manuel Marquez (3-103-103) Last Fight: 10/12/2013- L (SD12) vs. #17 Timothy Bradley Next Fight: Unknown After initially suggesting he might retire, Marquez quickly began pushing hard for a Bradley rematch. 3) Manny Pacquiao (3-256-256)
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. 4) Shane Mosley (3-24-24)
Last Fight: 5/18/2013- UD12 Pablo Cesar Cano (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown Mosley apparently wasn’t happy about not getting all of his pay in advance as agreed, and cut out of Australia lickety-split, cancelling the Mundine fight that had been scheduled for 10/23. 5) Devon Alexander (3-88-88)
Last Fight: 5/18/2013- RTD7 Lee Purdy (UNR) Next Fight: 11/30/2013- vs. Shawn Porter (UNR) With Khan apparently hedging his bets in hopes of a Mayweather payday, Alexander will instead fight prospect Shawn Porter in San Antonio on November 30. 6) Marcos Maidana (3-21-21)
Last Fight: 6/8/2013- TKO6 #4 Josesito Lopez Next Fight: 12/14/2013- vs. Adrien Broner (UNR) The Maidana-Broner fight on December 14 will now headline a regular Showtime Championship boxing broadcast, instead of a PPV, as the undercard has suffered significant collapses. 7) Jesus Soto Karass (3-14-40) Last Fight: 7/27/2013- TKO12 #7 Andre Berto Next Fight: 12/14/2013- vs. #12 Keith Thurman Soto Karass’s fight with Thurman has been moved from the December 7 Malignaggi-Judah undercard in Brooklyn to the following week’s pay-per-view tilt between Broner and Maidana. 8) Robert Guerrero (3-49-66) 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. He’s also been rumored to be in the mix to fight Khan, though his team has denied it. 9) Kell Brook (3-131-131)
Last Fight:10/26/2013- TKO4 Vyacheslav Senchenko (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown Brook is now the mandatory for the winner of Alexander-Porter. 10) Josesito Lopez (2-2-71) Last Fight: 6/8/2013- L (TKO6) vs. #11 Marcos Maidana Next Fight: Unknown Reports of a November fight between Lopez and Aaron Martinez appear to have been premature, as there’s been no mention of the bout since the Ring first reported it a while ago. The latest news is that Victor Ortiz wants a rematch. 11) Andre Berto (2-49) 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 (2-34) Last Fight: 7/27/2013- KO10 Diego Chaves (UNR) Next Fight: 12/14/2013- vs. #7 Jesus Soto Karass See Soto Karass’s notes, above. 13) Chris van Heerden (2-72) 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. Apparently an effort was made to get him on the Froch-Groves undercard against Lee Purdy, but that appears to be a no-go. 14) Luis Carlos Abregu (2-27)
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. The WBC is looking to match him with Antonin Decarie when he returns. 15) Jan Zaveck (2-203)
Last Fight: 10/19/2013- UD8 Sebastien Allais (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown As expected, Zaveck had little trouble with French journeyman Allais. 16) Selcuk Aydin (2-237)
Last Fight: 9/27/2013- W (RTD4) vs. Demarcus Corley (UNR) (at JWW) Next Fight: Unknown 17) Ruslan Provodnikov (2-33) Last Fight: 10/19/2013- RTD10 #3 JWW Mike Alvarado (at JWW) Next Fight: Unknown Provodnikov proved against Alvarado that the Bradley fight was no fluke. He’s a big-time fighter now. 18) Pablo Cesar Cano (2-7) 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. 19) Leonard Bundu (2-19)
Last Fight: 4/6/2013- KO11 Rafal Jackiewicz (UNR) Next Fight: 12/14/2013- vs. Lee Purdy (UNR) Bundu will fight British gatekeeper Lee Purdy December 14 in London. 20) Jessie Vargas (2-2) Last Fight: 10/11/2013- UD10 Ray Narh (UNR) (as JMW) Next Fight: Unknown Vargas is thinking about moving back to 140, and says he wants a fight with Provodnikov.
The Week Ahead: Nothing of importance going on in the division this week.
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