Super Middleweight: 2014, Mar 24-30
Saturday in Toscano, Italy, #12 Christopher Rebrasse stopped gatekeeper Mouhamed Ali Ndiaye in the fourth of a scheduled 12. This was a rematch of a 2013 meeting in which Rebrasse won perhaps every round, but was mugged by the judges in one of the most disgusting and blatant robberies in recent memory. It was so monumentally bad that it’s one of the few times I’ve ever been willing to outright accuse the judges of actual corruption as opposed to mere incompetence.
Next Fight: Unknown Ward says his manager is working on his next fight despite his lawsuit against promoter Dan Goossen. He had indicated interest in Golovkin, but the Kazakh’s own trainer recently said his fighter is not ready for that fight. 1) Carl Froch (96-406-406)
Last Fight: 11/23/2013- TKO9 #8 George Groves
Next Fight: 5/31/2014- vs. #8 George Groves There is talk of a record gate when Froch meets Groves in a highly anticipated rematch in a London soccer stadium at the end of May. 2) Arthur Abraham (4-231-231)
Last Fight: 3/1/2014- W (SD12) vs. #2 Robert Stieglitz
Next Fight: 5/3/2014- vs. Nikola Sjekloca (UNR) Abraham will have a quick turn-around when he defends his newly-won belt against the mostly fraudulent Nikola Sjekloca on May 3 in Berlin. 3) Robert Stieglitz (4-239-239) Last Fight: 3/1/2014- L (SD12) vs. #4 Arthur Abraham Next Fight: Unknown It’s back to the drawing board for Stieglitz, though his resume still compares favorably to the field. 4) Mikkel Kessler (4-485-485) Last Fight: 5/25/2013- L (UD12) vs. #1 Carl Froch
Next Fight: Unknown Kessler is reportedly discussing a return with Sauerland, but there is no obvious opponent available for him at present. 5) Brandon Gonzales (39-39-39) Last Fight: 11/16/2013- UD10 Jonathan Nelson (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown Date- vs. #11 James DeGale The IBF has ordered an eliminator between Gonzales and DeGale, with the winner becoming the mandatory to the Froch-Groves winner, and DeGale confirmed that he’s agreed to the battle. 6) Thomas Oosthuizen (26-147-195)
Last Fight: 11/9/2013- W* (MD12) vs. #13 Ezequiel Maderna
Next Fight: Unknown Oosthuizen was yanked from his intended January 18 fight with Eleider Alvarez and released by his promoter after a bicycle accident and reportedly being hopelessly out of shape about 2 weeks before the fight. 7) Ezequiel Maderna (20-20-65) Last Fight: 11/9/2013- L* (MD12) vs. #6 Thomas Oosthuizen Next Fight: Unknown I doubt he’ll get much love from the alphabets for his effort, but I think you could make a better case for him winning than losing against Oosthuizen, though I had it a draw personally. 8) George Groves (20-67-89) Last Fight: 11/23/2013- L (TKO9) vs. #1 Carl Froch Next Fight: 5/31/2014- vs. #1 Carl Froch See Froch’s notes, above. 9) Julio Cesar Chavez, Jr. (4-4-4) Last Fight: 3/1/2014- UD10 #15 MW Bryan Vera Next Fight: Unknown Bob Arum wants to put Chavez in with either Golovkin or Pascal next. July 12 in LA is possible for the Golovkin fight. 10) Bryan Vera (4-4-4) Last Fight: 3/1/2014- L (UD10) vs. Julio Cesar Chavez, Jr. (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown Even in defeat, Vera has regained a ranking at 168 and is- at least temporarily- ranked in 2 divisions. There are also credible-looking reports to the effect that he broke his left hand early in the fight, for what it’s worth. 11) James DeGale (4-128) Last Fight: 3/1/2014- TKO11 Gevorg Khatchikian (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown Date- vs. #5 Brandon Gonzales See Gonzales’ notes, above. 12) Christopher Rebrasse (4-42)
Last Fight: 3/22/2014- TKO4 Mouhamed Ali Ndiaye (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown Rebrasse now has two dominant wins over what was a top 10 contender the first time around. He didn’t need the judges to notice the second time. 13) Sakio Bika (4-364) Last Fight: 12/7/2013- Draw (SD12) vs. Anthony Dirrell (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown With both Anthony Dirrell and James DeGale having rather legitimate claims to the spot, the WBC has instead, it appears, installed JC Chavez as Bika’s mandatory. Bika seems happy with the decision, as it will no doubt net him a huge payday. 14) Maxim Vlasov (4-72) Last Fight: 3/15/2014- UD8 Derrick Findley (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown Vlasov looked very good against Findley, but he’ll need to schedule a fight at Super Middleweight before May 5 and make weight in order to keep his ranking, since he hasn’t made the divisional limit since November 2012. 15) Edwin Rodriguez (4-62) Last Fight: 11/16/2013- L (UD12) vs. Champ Andre Ward Next Fight: Unknown According to his trainer Ronnie Shields, they might be looking to fight a top-15 level light heavyweight, and have absolutely no intention to ever try to make 168 again. He’ll be on the shelf for a little while due to bone chip-removal surgery on his elbow in December. 16) Andy Lee (4-45) Last Fight: 11/23/2013-TKO2 Ferenc Hafner (UNR) Next Fight: 4/12/2014- vs. Unknown Opponent Lee will see action on April 12 in Denmark, with the opponent yet to be named. 17) Gilberto Ramirez (4-8) Last Fight: 2/1/2014- TKO1 #19 Don Mouton Next Fight: 4/11/2014- vs. Giovanni Lorenzo (UNR) Ramirez is back on April 11 in the Friday Night Fights main event against gatekeeper Lorenzo. 18) Ryota Murata (4-31) Last Fight: 2/22/2014- TKO4 Carlos Nascimento (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown Bob Arum plans to have Murata in action at Singapore this year according to Dan Rafael, but I don’t have any further details. 19) Anthony Dirrell (4-16) Last Fight: 12/7/2013- Draw (SD12) vs. #11 Sakio Bika Next Fight: Unknown His hard-fought draw with Sakio Bika gained Dirrell a measure of redemption for what pretty clearly should have been a loss against Don Mouton, and has him back in the hot prospect category. He’s called for a rematch (good idea) and a fight with Golovkin (bad idea). 20) Hadillah Mohoumadi (4-56) Last Fight: 11/30/2013- TKO5 Bartlomiej Grafka (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown
The rematch was even more of a wipeout, and the type of wipeout even the judges couldn’t fix for Ndiaye. The Italy-based Senegalese Ndiaye had a decent first round, wildly throwing bombs and nicking the round on my card. But his wildness came with incredibly leaky defense, and Rebrasse began to pick him apart a bit in the next round, and had clearly taken control by the 3rd. In the 4th, Ndiaye got caught with his hands completely down in prime punching range, and a well placed shot from Rebrasse had him totally out on his feet. A few follow up punches later, and referee Howard John Foster was calling an end to it. Nice win for Rebrasse, but it was really just an emphatic confirmation of what he’d already shown us.
Sunday in Noginsk, Russia, undefeated prospect Fedor Chudinov won every round on 2 of the 3 cards, scored a knockdown in the 5th, and left his opponent wanting no more after that same round against former gatekeeper and current journeyman Stjepan Bozic of Croatia and Slovenia.
Rebrasse’s win over a now-discredited Ndiaye isn’t enough to overwhelm the far superior activity of James DeGale, especially when a couple of very poor 2011 performances are factored in for Rebrasse. No changes.
Dan’s Top 20 Champ: Andre Ward (119-253-253) Last Fight: 11/16/2013- UD12 #13 Edwin Rodriguez
Next Fight: Unknown Ward says his manager is working on his next fight despite his lawsuit against promoter Dan Goossen. He had indicated interest in Golovkin, but the Kazakh’s own trainer recently said his fighter is not ready for that fight. 1) Carl Froch (96-406-406)
Last Fight: 11/23/2013- TKO9 #8 George Groves
Next Fight: 5/31/2014- vs. #8 George Groves There is talk of a record gate when Froch meets Groves in a highly anticipated rematch in a London soccer stadium at the end of May. 2) Arthur Abraham (4-231-231)
Last Fight: 3/1/2014- W (SD12) vs. #2 Robert Stieglitz
Next Fight: 5/3/2014- vs. Nikola Sjekloca (UNR) Abraham will have a quick turn-around when he defends his newly-won belt against the mostly fraudulent Nikola Sjekloca on May 3 in Berlin. 3) Robert Stieglitz (4-239-239) Last Fight: 3/1/2014- L (SD12) vs. #4 Arthur Abraham Next Fight: Unknown It’s back to the drawing board for Stieglitz, though his resume still compares favorably to the field. 4) Mikkel Kessler (4-485-485) Last Fight: 5/25/2013- L (UD12) vs. #1 Carl Froch
Next Fight: Unknown Kessler is reportedly discussing a return with Sauerland, but there is no obvious opponent available for him at present. 5) Brandon Gonzales (39-39-39) Last Fight: 11/16/2013- UD10 Jonathan Nelson (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown Date- vs. #11 James DeGale The IBF has ordered an eliminator between Gonzales and DeGale, with the winner becoming the mandatory to the Froch-Groves winner, and DeGale confirmed that he’s agreed to the battle. 6) Thomas Oosthuizen (26-147-195)
Last Fight: 11/9/2013- W* (MD12) vs. #13 Ezequiel Maderna
Next Fight: Unknown Oosthuizen was yanked from his intended January 18 fight with Eleider Alvarez and released by his promoter after a bicycle accident and reportedly being hopelessly out of shape about 2 weeks before the fight. 7) Ezequiel Maderna (20-20-65) Last Fight: 11/9/2013- L* (MD12) vs. #6 Thomas Oosthuizen Next Fight: Unknown I doubt he’ll get much love from the alphabets for his effort, but I think you could make a better case for him winning than losing against Oosthuizen, though I had it a draw personally. 8) George Groves (20-67-89) Last Fight: 11/23/2013- L (TKO9) vs. #1 Carl Froch Next Fight: 5/31/2014- vs. #1 Carl Froch See Froch’s notes, above. 9) Julio Cesar Chavez, Jr. (4-4-4) Last Fight: 3/1/2014- UD10 #15 MW Bryan Vera Next Fight: Unknown Bob Arum wants to put Chavez in with either Golovkin or Pascal next. July 12 in LA is possible for the Golovkin fight. 10) Bryan Vera (4-4-4) Last Fight: 3/1/2014- L (UD10) vs. Julio Cesar Chavez, Jr. (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown Even in defeat, Vera has regained a ranking at 168 and is- at least temporarily- ranked in 2 divisions. There are also credible-looking reports to the effect that he broke his left hand early in the fight, for what it’s worth. 11) James DeGale (4-128) Last Fight: 3/1/2014- TKO11 Gevorg Khatchikian (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown Date- vs. #5 Brandon Gonzales See Gonzales’ notes, above. 12) Christopher Rebrasse (4-42)
Last Fight: 3/22/2014- TKO4 Mouhamed Ali Ndiaye (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown Rebrasse now has two dominant wins over what was a top 10 contender the first time around. He didn’t need the judges to notice the second time. 13) Sakio Bika (4-364) Last Fight: 12/7/2013- Draw (SD12) vs. Anthony Dirrell (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown With both Anthony Dirrell and James DeGale having rather legitimate claims to the spot, the WBC has instead, it appears, installed JC Chavez as Bika’s mandatory. Bika seems happy with the decision, as it will no doubt net him a huge payday. 14) Maxim Vlasov (4-72) Last Fight: 3/15/2014- UD8 Derrick Findley (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown Vlasov looked very good against Findley, but he’ll need to schedule a fight at Super Middleweight before May 5 and make weight in order to keep his ranking, since he hasn’t made the divisional limit since November 2012. 15) Edwin Rodriguez (4-62) Last Fight: 11/16/2013- L (UD12) vs. Champ Andre Ward Next Fight: Unknown According to his trainer Ronnie Shields, they might be looking to fight a top-15 level light heavyweight, and have absolutely no intention to ever try to make 168 again. He’ll be on the shelf for a little while due to bone chip-removal surgery on his elbow in December. 16) Andy Lee (4-45) Last Fight: 11/23/2013-TKO2 Ferenc Hafner (UNR) Next Fight: 4/12/2014- vs. Unknown Opponent Lee will see action on April 12 in Denmark, with the opponent yet to be named. 17) Gilberto Ramirez (4-8) Last Fight: 2/1/2014- TKO1 #19 Don Mouton Next Fight: 4/11/2014- vs. Giovanni Lorenzo (UNR) Ramirez is back on April 11 in the Friday Night Fights main event against gatekeeper Lorenzo. 18) Ryota Murata (4-31) Last Fight: 2/22/2014- TKO4 Carlos Nascimento (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown Bob Arum plans to have Murata in action at Singapore this year according to Dan Rafael, but I don’t have any further details. 19) Anthony Dirrell (4-16) Last Fight: 12/7/2013- Draw (SD12) vs. #11 Sakio Bika Next Fight: Unknown His hard-fought draw with Sakio Bika gained Dirrell a measure of redemption for what pretty clearly should have been a loss against Don Mouton, and has him back in the hot prospect category. He’s called for a rematch (good idea) and a fight with Golovkin (bad idea). 20) Hadillah Mohoumadi (4-56) Last Fight: 11/30/2013- TKO5 Bartlomiej Grafka (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown
The Week Ahead: No major fights to talk about this week.
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