Middleweight: 2014, May 12-18
Saturday in Niort, France, gatekeeper Karim Achour defended his French national title with a comfortable 10-round decision over mid-level journeyman Davy Armand. I can’t find video, but Achour won by margins of 5, 6, and 6.
Next Fight: 6/7/2014- vs. # 8 JMW Miguel Cotto If there was any lingering doubt, Martinez-Cotto is now on for June 7 at Madison Square Garden. 1) Gennady Golovkin (22-89-152) Last Fight: 2/1/2014- TKO7 Osumanu Adama (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown With the Chavez fight possibly dead, lots of names are being floated to fill the void in GGG’s schedule. 2) Felix Sturm (22-556-556) Last Fight: 12/7/2013- TKO2 #3 Darren Barker
Next Fight: 5/31/2014- vs. #8 Sam Soliman (UNR)
Soliman has obfuscated his clear banned stimulant violation to the point that he has perhaps most people thinking he was totally clean. He wasn’t. And he didn’t win that fight even if he had been. Sturm got screwed all the way around, and now he’s forced to rematch the Australian, who deserves the opportunity much less than would Macklin, Murray, or Geale. But that’s what we’ve got. May 31 in Krefeld. 3) Daniel Geale (12-256-256) Last Fight: 2/19/2014- RTD6 Garth Wood (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown Geale-Macklin is off due to an injury to one of the card’s headliners, Mike Perez. In the wake of that disappointment, Geale’s name is among those being mentioned as a possible Golovkin opponent. 4) Peter Quillin (4-82-103) Last Fight: 4/19/2014- UD12 Lukas Konecny (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown Quillin is trying to float the idea of him fighting Mayweather, with whom he shares a hometown. He also wants a Golovkin fight. 5) Martin Murray (4-128-128) Last Fight: 4/23/2014- RTD6 Ishmael Tetteh (UNR) at SMW Next Fight: 6/21/2014- vs. #13 Max Bursak Murray hasn’t looked at all special since nearly and probably deservedly knocking off the Champ last April, but he’ll need to be in some kind of form in June if he hopes to handle the always tough Max Bursak. 6) Matthew Macklin (4-151-242) Last Fight: 12/7/2013- UD10 Lamar Russ (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown Macklin’s fight with Geale is off due to an injury on the card. 7) Hassan N’Dam N’Jikam (17-22-22) Last Fight: 4/16/2014- UD10 Fulgencio Zuniga (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown N’Dam says he wants Rosado next, and then Golovkin. 8) Sam Soliman (17-22-22) Last Fight: 12/11/2013- TKO9 Les Sherrington (UNR) Next Fight: 5/31/2014- vs. #2 Felix Sturm Soliman cheated with a stimulant, won by ridiculous robbery before being stripped of the victory, and now he gets what I would argue is an undeserved chance at a do-over. 9) Sergio Mora (17-46-46) Last Fight: 11/16/2013- KO5 Milton Nunez (UNR) Next Fight: 5/31/2014- vs. Samuel Rogers (UNR) I missed the memo about the date for Mora-Rogers. I originally read that it was going to be on Arreola-Stiverne II in LA, but at some point it was moved to HBO2’s May 31 card in Vegas. 10) Osumanu Adama (15-15-15) Last Fight: 2/1/2014- L (TKO7) vs. #1 Gennady Golovkin Next Fight: Unknown Not the most pleasant entry into the rankings we’ve ever seen, but his resume stacks up pretty well as long as he’s active and on weight. 11) Marco Antonio Rubio (15-172) Last Fight: 4/5/2014- KO10* Domenico Spada (UNR)
Next Fight:Unknown Rubio likely will rather embarrassingly take on the still-existing Ricardo Mayorga in late July. Anytime the early fight hype involves talk of extensive medical tests to ensure fighter safety, you know the fight shouldn’t be happening. 12) Jarrod Fletcher (5-15) Last Fight: 2/1/2014- W* (UD12) vs. #12 Max Bursak Next Fight: Unknown Fletcher was among the candidates for a fight with Chudinov on June 1, but the Russian opted for Patrick Nielsen, instead. 13) Max Bursak (5-172) Last Fight: 2/1/2014- L* (UD12) vs. Jarrod Fletcher (UNR)
Next Fight: 6/21/2014- vs. #5 Martin Murray Bursak will get a big opportunity before Jarrod Fletcher, who outpointed him in a moderately controversial decision in February, as he has been tapped by Martin Murray for a June 21 fight in Monte Carlo. 14) Grzegorz Proksa (5-161) Last Fight: 6/28/2013- L (UD10) vs. Sergio Mora (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown 15) Caleb Truax (5-34) Last Fight: 1/3/2014- Draw (UD10) vs. Ossie Duran (UNR) (at SMW) Next Fight: Unknown Truax’s status as a promising prospect has been derailed somewhat by the very tough Ossie Duran. 16) Curtis Stevens (5-41) Last Fight: 4/4/2014- TKO10* Tureano Johnson (UNR) (at SMW) Next Fight: Unknown Stevens’ haplessness for all but the last few seconds of his prematurely-stopped bout with Tureano Johnson has got to raise questions about his ability to rise any higher than he finds himself now. Johnson has respectfully pushed for a rematch. 17) Andrey Meryasev (5-27) Last Fight: 4/26/2014- UD10 Carlos Baldomir (UNR) (at SMW) Next Fight: Unknown Meryasev dominated in pedestrian fashion against the now-retired Baldomir. 18) Daniel Jacobs (5-38) Last Fight: 3/15/2014- TKO1 Milton Nunez (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown Easy work for Jacobs against Nunez. He’s looking for a title fight- probably against Quillin- at the earliest opportunity. 19) Dmitry Chudinov (5-7) Last Fight: 12/21/2013- TKO6 Juan Camilo Novoa (UNR) Next Fight: 6/1/2014- vs. Patrick Nielsen (UNR) Chudinov will fight promising Danish prospect Patrick Nielsen in a very interesting clash on June 1 in Moscow. 20) Akio Shibata (5-5) Last Fight: 3/1/2014- UD12 Daisuke Nakagawa (UNR) Next Fight: 7/5/2014- vs. Hikaru Nishida (UNR) Shibata takes on his second consecutive domestic gatekeeper in Hikaru Nishida in early July in Tokyo.
Last week, I foolishly opined that Robert Swierzbinski might somehow give Chris Eubank, Jr. some trouble if Eubank looked past him. I was painfully wrong. Robert Swierzbinski couldn’t give Chris Eubank, Jr. any trouble if he brought a baseball bat. Eubank, as usual, posed constantly and barely threw, but it’s a testament to the roundness of the Pole’s heels to note that Eubank still dropped him 7 times officially, and another clear time that was ludicrously called a slip. It was probably the easiest-won fight I’ve ever seen.
No changes.
Dan’s Top 20 (Weeks in Current Position-Weeks in Top 10 if applicable-Weeks in Top 20) Champ: Sergio Martinez (213-213-213) Last Fight: 4/27/2013- UD12* #9 Martin Murray (Robbery- draw at best)
Next Fight: 6/7/2014- vs. # 8 JMW Miguel Cotto If there was any lingering doubt, Martinez-Cotto is now on for June 7 at Madison Square Garden. 1) Gennady Golovkin (22-89-152) Last Fight: 2/1/2014- TKO7 Osumanu Adama (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown With the Chavez fight possibly dead, lots of names are being floated to fill the void in GGG’s schedule. 2) Felix Sturm (22-556-556) Last Fight: 12/7/2013- TKO2 #3 Darren Barker
Next Fight: 5/31/2014- vs. #8 Sam Soliman (UNR)
Soliman has obfuscated his clear banned stimulant violation to the point that he has perhaps most people thinking he was totally clean. He wasn’t. And he didn’t win that fight even if he had been. Sturm got screwed all the way around, and now he’s forced to rematch the Australian, who deserves the opportunity much less than would Macklin, Murray, or Geale. But that’s what we’ve got. May 31 in Krefeld. 3) Daniel Geale (12-256-256) Last Fight: 2/19/2014- RTD6 Garth Wood (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown Geale-Macklin is off due to an injury to one of the card’s headliners, Mike Perez. In the wake of that disappointment, Geale’s name is among those being mentioned as a possible Golovkin opponent. 4) Peter Quillin (4-82-103) Last Fight: 4/19/2014- UD12 Lukas Konecny (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown Quillin is trying to float the idea of him fighting Mayweather, with whom he shares a hometown. He also wants a Golovkin fight. 5) Martin Murray (4-128-128) Last Fight: 4/23/2014- RTD6 Ishmael Tetteh (UNR) at SMW Next Fight: 6/21/2014- vs. #13 Max Bursak Murray hasn’t looked at all special since nearly and probably deservedly knocking off the Champ last April, but he’ll need to be in some kind of form in June if he hopes to handle the always tough Max Bursak. 6) Matthew Macklin (4-151-242) Last Fight: 12/7/2013- UD10 Lamar Russ (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown Macklin’s fight with Geale is off due to an injury on the card. 7) Hassan N’Dam N’Jikam (17-22-22) Last Fight: 4/16/2014- UD10 Fulgencio Zuniga (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown N’Dam says he wants Rosado next, and then Golovkin. 8) Sam Soliman (17-22-22) Last Fight: 12/11/2013- TKO9 Les Sherrington (UNR) Next Fight: 5/31/2014- vs. #2 Felix Sturm Soliman cheated with a stimulant, won by ridiculous robbery before being stripped of the victory, and now he gets what I would argue is an undeserved chance at a do-over. 9) Sergio Mora (17-46-46) Last Fight: 11/16/2013- KO5 Milton Nunez (UNR) Next Fight: 5/31/2014- vs. Samuel Rogers (UNR) I missed the memo about the date for Mora-Rogers. I originally read that it was going to be on Arreola-Stiverne II in LA, but at some point it was moved to HBO2’s May 31 card in Vegas. 10) Osumanu Adama (15-15-15) Last Fight: 2/1/2014- L (TKO7) vs. #1 Gennady Golovkin Next Fight: Unknown Not the most pleasant entry into the rankings we’ve ever seen, but his resume stacks up pretty well as long as he’s active and on weight. 11) Marco Antonio Rubio (15-172) Last Fight: 4/5/2014- KO10* Domenico Spada (UNR)
Next Fight:Unknown Rubio likely will rather embarrassingly take on the still-existing Ricardo Mayorga in late July. Anytime the early fight hype involves talk of extensive medical tests to ensure fighter safety, you know the fight shouldn’t be happening. 12) Jarrod Fletcher (5-15) Last Fight: 2/1/2014- W* (UD12) vs. #12 Max Bursak Next Fight: Unknown Fletcher was among the candidates for a fight with Chudinov on June 1, but the Russian opted for Patrick Nielsen, instead. 13) Max Bursak (5-172) Last Fight: 2/1/2014- L* (UD12) vs. Jarrod Fletcher (UNR)
Next Fight: 6/21/2014- vs. #5 Martin Murray Bursak will get a big opportunity before Jarrod Fletcher, who outpointed him in a moderately controversial decision in February, as he has been tapped by Martin Murray for a June 21 fight in Monte Carlo. 14) Grzegorz Proksa (5-161) Last Fight: 6/28/2013- L (UD10) vs. Sergio Mora (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown 15) Caleb Truax (5-34) Last Fight: 1/3/2014- Draw (UD10) vs. Ossie Duran (UNR) (at SMW) Next Fight: Unknown Truax’s status as a promising prospect has been derailed somewhat by the very tough Ossie Duran. 16) Curtis Stevens (5-41) Last Fight: 4/4/2014- TKO10* Tureano Johnson (UNR) (at SMW) Next Fight: Unknown Stevens’ haplessness for all but the last few seconds of his prematurely-stopped bout with Tureano Johnson has got to raise questions about his ability to rise any higher than he finds himself now. Johnson has respectfully pushed for a rematch. 17) Andrey Meryasev (5-27) Last Fight: 4/26/2014- UD10 Carlos Baldomir (UNR) (at SMW) Next Fight: Unknown Meryasev dominated in pedestrian fashion against the now-retired Baldomir. 18) Daniel Jacobs (5-38) Last Fight: 3/15/2014- TKO1 Milton Nunez (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown Easy work for Jacobs against Nunez. He’s looking for a title fight- probably against Quillin- at the earliest opportunity. 19) Dmitry Chudinov (5-7) Last Fight: 12/21/2013- TKO6 Juan Camilo Novoa (UNR) Next Fight: 6/1/2014- vs. Patrick Nielsen (UNR) Chudinov will fight promising Danish prospect Patrick Nielsen in a very interesting clash on June 1 in Moscow. 20) Akio Shibata (5-5) Last Fight: 3/1/2014- UD12 Daisuke Nakagawa (UNR) Next Fight: 7/5/2014- vs. Hikaru Nishida (UNR) Shibata takes on his second consecutive domestic gatekeeper in Hikaru Nishida in early July in Tokyo.
The Week Ahead: Friday Jose Miguel Torres vs. Jhonatan Ricar; Puerto Colombia, Colombia; TV Unknown Torres is a Colombian gatekeeper best known for exposing hot prospect Patrick Majewski in 2011 before getting beaten up by a resurgent David Lemieux in 2013. He’s probably a bit overrated by the Majewski win, but still clearly qualifies as a top 50 fighter in my book. Ricar, not so much. He’s a low-level journeyman who hasn’t fought in over a year.
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