Junior Middleweight: 2013, Nov 18-24
#18 Yuri Foreman- not noted as a puncher- was nevertheless able to get his weak opponent, Javier Gomez, out of there in the first first round by knockout in Hollywood, Florida on Tuesday.
The following night in Sao Paolo, undefeated prospect Patrick Teixeira took care of Alejandro Falliga- an Argentine former fringe contender turned journeyman- in 5 rounds via TKO.
And Saturday in Bulgaria, #10 Sergey Rabchenko got a tougher than expected test from Welsh journeyman Bradley Pryce. Rabchenko was his normal consistently aggressive self, but he pretty much always came in the front door, and his defense was lacking enough to give Pryce his moments. On the bright side, Rabchenko banged away for twelve solid rounds and never appeared to tire much, so you can’t really take much away from him except to say that he couldn’t quite stop a really tough guy. Pryce was given a standing 8 in the 3rd and appeared done in the corner after that round, but the guy was all guts. My final score: 116-111.
No changes 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 (42-124-139) Last Fight: 9/14/2013- W (SD12) vs. #5 Ishe Smith Next Fight: Unknown Molina is dreaming of a fight with Canelo. But it’s just a dream. Molina’s style and low-profile makes him essentially unpromotable, and he would be a serious threat to win that fight. No chance Golden Boy puts it together. On a possibly more realistic note, Demetrius Andrade wants him. 2) Floyd Mayweather, Jr. (10-10-10) Last Fight: 9/14/2013- W* (MD12) vs. #2 Saul Alvarez Next Fight: Unknown Mayweather intends to fight twice in 2014: on May 3 and September 13, if all goes to plan. Amir Khan is the rumored opponent for May 3. Bradley is getting a bit of buzz lately, too, as is Bernard Hopkins, at middleweight- though Floyd Sr. has said the latter will never happen. 3) Saul Alvarez (10-142-157) Last Fight: 9/14/2013- L* (MD12) vs. WW Champion Floyd Mayweather Next Fight: 3/8/2014- vs. Unknown Opponent Alvarez will be back on March 8. He’s hoping for either Cotto or Sergio. After that, he expects to fight two additional times in 2014. 4) Austin Trout (10-77-146) Last Fight: 4/20/2013- L* (UD12) vs. #2 Saul Alvarez Next Fight: 12/7/2013- vs. #5 Erislandy Lara It looks like Lara-Trout for December 7 is a done deal. 5) Erislandy Lara (10-124-146) Last Fight: 6/8/2013- TKO10 #8 Alfredo Angulo Next Fight: 12/7/2013- vs. #4 Austin Trout See Trout’s note, above. 6) Ishe Smith (10-39-39) Last Fight: 9/14/2013- L (SD12) vs. #1 Carlos Molina Next Fight: Unknown Smith sounds like he’s open to a variety of options for his next fight. Anything from a Molina rematch, to Trout, to Angulo or Lara. And even more various than that- he says he wants one UFC fight. He’s also been in a war of words with Shane Mosley recently. 7) Miguel Cotto (10-181-181) Last Fight: 10/5/2013- TKO3 #11 Delvin Rodriguez Next Fight: Unknown Cotto reportedly has a $10 million offer to fight Canelo on the table, and is also being courted by Sergio Martinez. 8) Cornelius Bundrage (10-172-172) Last Fight: 2/23/2013- L (MD12) vs. Ishe Smith (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown Bundrage has been approved to fight Joey Hernandez in an IBF eliminator. Golden Boy won the purse bid at a paltry $11,000, meaning Bundrage will bank just $6,600. 9) Alfredo Angulo (10-217-217) Last Fight: 6/8/2013- L (TKO10) vs. #4 Erislandy Lara Next Fight: Unknown Angulo may be returning in January, and Carlos Molina has been discussed as a possible foe. 10) Sergey Rabchenko (29-29-75) Last Fight: 11/16/2013- UD12 Bradley Pryce (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown Rabchenko is in line for an alphabet eliminator at any time. 11) Javier Maciel (4-4) Last Fight: 10/26/2013- Robbery L (SD12) vs. #14 Brian Rose Next Fight: Unknown The one upside to a guy being robbed of a win that should have propelled him very near the top 10 is that it allows me to shine a light on the incompetence and/or corruption that caused the situation by ranking him exactly where he deserves, despite their attempts. 12) Demetrius Andrade (2-2) Last Fight: 11/9/2013- W* (SD12) vs. #13 Vanes Martirosyan Next Fight: Unknown Andrade wants to unify against Carlos Molina, but negotiations are underway for a Brian Rose fight. 13) Delvin Rodriguez (2-123) Last Fight: 10/5/2013- L (TKO3) vs. #7 Miguel Cotto Next Fight: Unknown Rodriguez appears to be solid against borderline top-10 types (see Wolak), but completely out of his depth at just a tad higher level. 14) Vanes Martirosyan (2-129) Last Fight: 11/9/2013- L* (SD12) vs. Demetrius Andrade (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown 15) Willie Nelson (2-38) Last Fight: 6/29/2013- UD10 Luciano Cuello (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown Nelson has injured his elbow, and his middleweight fight with Macklin has been cancelled as a result. 16) Brian Rose (2-35) Last Fight: 10/26/2013- Robbery W (Draw at best) vs. Javier Maciel (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown Rose will be fighting Andrade for his alphabet title at some point. Totally undeserved, although the WBO title at 154 is particularly meaningless already, having been handed to the very mediocre Zaurbek Baysangurov before being contested between two prospects. 17) Jermell Charlo (2-24) Last Fight: 10/14/2013- TKO10 Jose Angel Rodriguez (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown Charlo would like to fight Carlos Molina for an alphabet title, after saying he is above the level of Victor Ortiz, and would not be interested in that fight as a result. 18) Yuri Foreman (2-43) Last Fight: 11/12/2013- KO1 Javier Gomez (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown 19) Jack Culcay (2-7) Last Fight: 10/26/2013- W* (UD12) vs. #17 Guido Pitto Next Fight: Unknown Culcay barely squeaked by Pitto in a rematch of a fight in which Pitto barely squeaked by. For my part, I had them both scored a draw. 20) Guido Pitto (2-30) Last Fight: 10/26/2013- L* (UD12) vs. #20 Jack Culcay Next Fight: Unknown Pitto wants a 3rd fight with Mateo Veron, whom he pretty much dominated- but still somehow lost to- in 2012.
The Week Ahead: Saturday in Poland, unbeaten Polish prospect Damian Jonak tangles with upset-minded Kris Carslaw of Scotland.
Dan's Weekly Boxer Rankings and Blog 
Leave a Reply