Junior Middleweight: 2014, Jan 6-12
No meaningful action in the division on New Year’s Week.
Dan’s Top 20 (Weeks in Current Position-Weeks in Top 10 if applicable-Weeks in Top 20) Champ: None 1) Carlos Molina (49-131-146) Last Fight: 9/14/2013- W (SD12) vs. #5 Ishe Smith Next Fight: Unknown Molina was reportedly being considered for the March 8 PPV headliner with Canelo before Angulo was chosen. It evidently it’s going to his head, as he’s now calling out Mayweather, as well. 2) Erislandy Lara (5-131-153) Last Fight: 12/7/2013- UD12 #4 Austin Trout Next Fight: Unknown Lara wants Canelo next, but has reportedly been ruled out by the Mexican superstar. 3) Floyd Mayweather, Jr. (5-17-17) 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. The new kid on the block is Maidana, who it has been said has moved to the front of the line after his win over Broner. 4) Saul Alvarez (5-149-164) Last Fight: 9/14/2013- L* (MD12) vs. WW Champion Floyd Mayweather Next Fight: 3/8/2014- vs. #10 Alfredo Angulo Canelo says he will fight Angulo on March 8. 5) Austin Trout (5-84-153) Last Fight: 12/7/2013- L (UD12) vs. #5 Erislandy Lara Next Fight: Unknown Trout might be getting to that unfortunate position of having a record underwhelming enough to be low-reward, while still being easily skilled enough to be high-risk. He says essentially that he wants worthwhile fights in 2014, rather than a soft diet for rebuilding purposes. 6) Ishe Smith (17-46-46) 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. More recently, he’s been rumored as Mundine’s January 29 opponent, though he’s denied this. 7) Anthony Mundine (6-6-6) Last Fight: 11/27/2013- vs. #4 WW Shane Mosley Next Fight: 1/29/2014- vs. Carson Jones (UNR) Mundine returns from a mere two months away on January 29 in Brisbane. His opponent will be usually welterweight gatekeeper Carson Jones. 8) Miguel Cotto (6-188-188) Last Fight: 10/5/2013- TKO3 #11 Delvin Rodriguez Next Fight: 6/7/2014- vs. MW Champ Sergio Martinez (at MW) Cotto is said to be all but signed for a June 7 superfight with Sergio. 9) Cornelius Bundrage (6-179-179) Last Fight: 2/23/2013- L (MD12) vs. Ishe Smith (UNR) Next Fight: 1/24/2014- vs. Joey Hernandez (UNR) 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. The fight is set for Indio, California on January 24, but incredibly is not a slam dunk to be included on the card’s telecast. 10) Alfredo Angulo (6-224-224) Last Fight: 6/8/2013- L (TKO10) vs. #4 Erislandy Lara Next Fight: 3/8/2014- vs. #4 Saul Alvarez Angulo gets a big shot against Canelo on a March 8 PPV. 11) Sergey Rabchenko (6-82) Last Fight: 11/16/2013- UD12 Bradley Pryce (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown Rabchenko is in line for an alphabet eliminator at any time. The EBU, meanwhile, has set a date of January 21 for purse bids for his mandatory European title defense against Emanuele Della Rosa. 12) Javier Maciel (6-11) Last Fight: 10/26/2013- Robbery L (SD12) vs. #14 Brian Rose Next Fight: 1/11/2014- vs. Unknown Opponent Argentine media reports that Maciel will return in Mar del Plata on January 11. 13) Demetrius Andrade (6-9) 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. 14) Delvin Rodriguez (6-130) 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. 15) Vanes Martirosyan (6-136) Last Fight: 11/9/2013- L* (SD12) vs. Demetrius Andrade (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown Vanes recently challenged Austin Trout, which seems like a good but unlikely matchup considering their ties to rival promoters. 16) Willie Nelson (6-45) Last Fight: 6/29/2013- UD10 Luciano Cuello (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown Nelson’s promoter tells me that he’s recovered from the elbow injury that nixed his fight with Matthew Macklin, and that he might be in line for an alphabet title against Sergey Rabchenko if Mayweather chooses to vacate. 17) Brian Rose (6-42) 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. 18) Jermell Charlo (6-31) Last Fight: 10/14/2013- TKO10 Jose Angel Rodriguez (UNR) Next Fight: 1/25/2014- vs. Gabriel Rosado (UNR) Charlo gets likely his toughest test to date in former junior middleweight contender Gabe Rosado, who has recently been used as an opponent at 160, but with mixed results. 19) Guido Pitto (2-4) Last Fight: 10/26/2013- L* (UD12) vs. #20 Jack Culcay Next Fight: Unknown 20) Kell Brook (2-2) Last Fight: 10/26/2013- vs. Vyacheslav Senchenko (UNR) (at WW) Next Fight: Unknown Brook is the subject of speculation for a Khan fight, which might materialize, theoretically, if Khan doesn’t secure Mayweather.
The Week Ahead: No significant fights in the division this week.
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