Junior Middleweight: 2014, May 12-18
No significant action to report from last week.
Dan’s Top 20 (Weeks in Current Position-Weeks in Top 10 if applicable-Weeks in Top 20) Champ: None 1) Saul Alvarez (10-167-182) Last Fight: 3/8/2014- TKO10 #10 Alfredo Angulo (at 155) Next Fight: 7/12/2014- vs. #3 Erislandy Lara Canelo came knocking, and Lara answered the door. 2) Carlos Molina (10-149-164) Last Fight: 9/14/2013- W (SD12) vs. #5 Ishe Smith Next Fight: Unknown Molina is out of jail and training in Mexico City. He will most likely get Cornelius Bundrage next. 3) Erislandy Lara (10-149-171) Last Fight: 12/7/2013- UD12 #4 Austin Trout Next Fight: 7/12/2014- vs. #1 Saul Alvarez Lara traded an intended fight with Ishe Smith for a more lucrative and important showdown with Canelo. The fight might not determine a legitimate champion, but it should at least crown a preeminent top contender. 4) Floyd Mayweather, Jr. (10-35-35) Last Fight: 5/3/2014- W* (MD12) vs. #4 WW Marcos Maidana (at WW) Next Fight: Unknown I’m not taking anything away from the very impressive Maidana, but it’s been clear to me in recent fights that Floyd is falling back to the pack. He lost this fight beyond all but the most generous of doubt. 5) Austin Trout (23-102-171) 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 (35-64-64) Last Fight: 5/2/2014- KO2 Ryan Davis (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown I know he was a relatively short-notice replacement, but Ryan Davis was a little too hapless even by that standard. 7) Joshua Clottey (5-5-5) Last Fight: 4/9/2014- UD12 #7 Anthony Mundine Next Fight: Unknown For those looking for a good way to revitalize a practically evaporated career, you couldn’t do much better than the example Clottey just provided. He wants to fight Mayweather, but I’d say he’s at least one top 5 win away from having a chance at that. 8) Miguel Cotto (24-206-206) Last Fight: 10/5/2013- TKO3 #11 Delvin Rodriguez Next Fight: 6/7/2014- vs. MW Champ Sergio Martinez (at MW) Cotto and Martinez have now officially agreed to a Middleweight Championship fight on June 7 at MSG. 9) Anthony Mundine (5-24-24) Last Fight: 4/9/2014- L (UD12) vs. Joshua Clottey (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown Not one to be kept down for long, Mundine offered to substitute for Erislandy Lara for Ishe Smith’s May 2 date. 10) Cornelius Bundrage (5-197-197) Last Fight: 1/24/2014- UD12 Joey Hernandez (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown It appears that Bundrage has jumped to the front of the line to challenge for Molina’s belt, and his would-be opponent is now out of jail and training. 11) Alfredo Angulo (5-242) Last Fight: 3/8/2014- L (TKO10) vs. #4 Saul Alvarez Next Fight: Unknown Angulo could probably use a fight with a gatekeeper or low level fringe contender just to get his career momentum going. 12) Sergey Rabchenko (5-100) Last Fight: 11/16/2013- UD12 Bradley Pryce (UNR) Next Fight: 5/17/2014- vs. Emanuele Della Rosa (UNR) Rabchenko will defend his European belt in Rome on May 17 against a local prospect, and is hoping for a shot at a vacant alphabet belt after that. 13) Demetrius Andrade (4-27) Last Fight: 11/9/2013- W* (SD12) vs. #13 Vanes Martirosyan Next Fight: 6/14/2014- vs. Brian Rose (UNR) Andrade and Rose have agreed to fight in the US, with a date of June 14. 14) Cesar Sastre Silva (4-4) Last Fight: 4/19/2014- Robbery UD10 Loss (should be win) vs. #13 Javier Maciel Next Fight: 6/6/2014- vs. Brian Castano (UNR) Sastre Silva dominated a confused-looking Javier Maciel, but got robbed even worse than Maciel had been robbed against Rose in his previous fight. Now he’ll be in with an undefeated prospect in Brian Castano on June 6. 15) Delvin Rodriguez (5-148) Last Fight: 10/5/2013- L (TKO3) vs. #7 Miguel Cotto Next Fight: 5/16/2014- vs. Joachim Alcine (UNR) Rodriguez looks to get back on track on May 16 against veteran Alcine on Friday Night Fights. 16) Vanes Martirosyan (5-154) Last Fight: 3/21/2014- UD10 Mario Lozano (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown Vanes was supposed to fight on the Stiverne-Arreola card from what I understood, but that fight quietly disappeared from the schedule at some unknown point in time. 17) Jermell Charlo (5-49) Last Fight: 1/25/2014- UD10 Gabriel Rosado (UNR) Next Fight: 5/24/2014- vs. Charlie Ota (UNR) With the cancellation of Smith-Lara, Charlo has been bumped back to May 24, and will fight fringe contending prospect Charlie Ota. 18) Gabriel Rosado (5-16) Last Fight: 1/25/2014- L (UD10) vs. #18 Jermell Charlo Next Fight: Unknown Rosado was offered to Ishe Smith as a May 2 replacement, but Smith turned him down. In turn, Rosado is being challenged by Hassan N’Dam. 19) Zaurbek Baysangurov (5-5) Last Fight: 4/12/2014- TKO12 #20 Guido Pitto Next Fight: Unknown Baysangurov looked the best I’ve seen him, by far, against Pitto. 20) Willie Nelson (5-63) Last Fight: 6/29/2013- UD10 Luciano Cuello (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown After a big fight fell through for him in May, Nelson’s co-promoter Lou DiBella says the lanky Nelson will be fighting in a main event in August.
The Week Ahead: Friday #15 Delvin Rodriguez vs. Joachim Alcine; Montreal, Quebec; ESPN2 (US) Rodriguez is not exactly on a roll, having been flat-out destroyed by Miguel Cotto in October. This fight is all about getting a win against a respected fighter on his last legs. Alcine may be just that. He once held an alphabet title, and more recently upset David Lemieux at the outset of his rebuilding effort, but he lost 5 straight against good opposition after that fight, and has only beaten complete nobodies in his two fights since. Rodriguez might be on a downward swing, himself, but he ought to still be a level or two above Alcine at the moment.
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