Junior Middleweight: 2014, Jan 13-19

No action in the division last week.

 

Dan’s Top 20 (Weeks in Current Position-Weeks in Top 10 if applicable-Weeks in Top 20)
Champ: None
1Carlos Molina (50-132-147)
Last Fight: 9/14/2013- W (SD12) vs. #5 Ishe Smith
Next Fight: Unknown
Golden Boy is working on a fight between Molina and undefeated prospect Jermall Charlo.
2) Erislandy Lara (6-132-154)
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. In the meantime, Ishe Smith is trying to fight him.
3) Floyd Mayweather, Jr. (6-18-18)
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 (6-150-165)
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 (6-85-154)
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 (18-47-47)
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.
7) Anthony Mundine (7-7-7)
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 (7-189-189)
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 (7-180-180)
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.
10Alfredo Angulo (7-225-225)
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 (7-83)
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 (7-12)
Last Fight: 10/26/2013- Robbery L (SD12) vs. #14 Brian Rose
Next Fight: 1/17/2014- vs. Adonisio Reges (UNR)
Argentine media originally had Maciel back in the ring on January 11, but instead he will fight low-level Brazilian Adonisio Reges on the 17th.
13) Demetrius Andrade (7-10)
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 (7-131)
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 (7-137)
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 (7-46)
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 (7-43)
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 (7-32)
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 (3-5)
Last Fight: 10/26/2013- L* (UD12) vs. #20 Jack Culcay
Next Fight: Unknown
20) Kell Brook (3-3)
Last Fight: 10/26/2013- vs. Vyacheslav Senchenko (UNR) (at WW)
Next Fight: 3/15/2014- vs. Unknown Opponent
Brook will be back on March 15 in what is being tabbed as a stay-busy fight.

 

The Week Ahead: 
Saturday
#11 Javier Maciel vs. Adonisio Reges; Mar del Plata, Argentina; TyC Sports
Maciel is strictly keeping busy against low-level Brazilian Reges.  That’s about all there is to say about this one.
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