Super Middleweight: 2014, May 19-25

Both Smith brothers were in action Saturday in Cardiff.

In an 8-rounder, older brother Paul displayed a vicious 2-handed attack in dispatching low-level journeyman David Sarabia of Spain inside of two rounds. Sarabia didn’t have a chance to do anything, and was completely overwhelmed, as one might have expected.

Younger brother Callum followed that with a bit tougher test against one-loss prospect Tobias Webb. Webb actually took the fight to Smith in the first round and pretty clearly took that frame, as the longer-armed Smith was getting beaten to the punch consistently. Webb’s jab, in particular, looked like it might be a major problem for the highly-touted prospect. But what a difference a minute makes. Having made whatever adjustment needed to be made and then some, Smith came out an obliterated Webb to the body, dropping him an incredible 4 times from body shots in that one round. Webb was game enough to obviously get up from what were legitimately crippling blows, but the 4th blast kept him on his hands and knees for the count. It’s hard to say just how good a measuring stick Webb is. He certainly looked more than capable, and his only loss was forgivable in the sense that it came to a legitimate prospect in Rocky Fielding, and was in part a product of the quirky format that is Prizefighter. He’s certainly the only opponent who has ever given Smith any kind of trouble so far, and that means he at least could be better in fact that Ruben Acosta, the only actual top 50 fighter Smith has mixed it up with. In any case, the resume wasn’t there yet, and so this won’t help Smith ascend to the top 20.

No changes this week.

Dan’s Top 20

Champ: Andre Ward (127-261-261)

Last Fight: 11/16/2013- UD12 #13 Edwin Rodriguez
Next Fight: Unknown

Ward lost an arbitration with his promoter, but it sounds like the rift between the two is far from solved. Kessler is the latest guy to renew a stated desire to fight him.

1) Carl Froch (104-414-414)

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 (12-239-239)
Last Fight: 5/3/2014- UD12 Nikola Sjekloca (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown

While he recovers from a broken hand, Abraham’s promoter is working on a fall bout with English gatekeeper Paul Smith.

3) Robert Stieglitz (12-247-247)

Last Fight: 3/1/2014- L (SD12) vs. #4 Arthur Abraham

Next Fight: Unknown

Sauerland prospect Tyron Zeuge has expressed interest in a fight with Stieglitz.

4) Mikkel Kessler (12-493-493)

Last Fight: 5/25/2013- L (UD12) vs. #1 Carl Froch
Next Fight: Unknown

Kessler says he won’t retire, but he hasn’t expressed anything but a wishlist when it comes to upcoming fights. He’ll have to get a lot more concrete than that in a hurry, as he’s scheduled for removal next week if he doesn’t have something signed.

5) Brandon Gonzales (47-47-47)

Last Fight: 11/16/2013- UD10 Jonathan Nelson (UNR)

Next Fight: 5/31/2014- vs. #11 James DeGale

Gonzales’ elminator with DeGale is finally set, for May 31 in London, on the Froch-Groves undercard.

6) Thomas Oosthuizen (34-155-203)
Last Fight: 11/9/2013- W* (MD12) vs. #13 Ezequiel Maderna
Next Fight: 6/21/2014- vs. Doudou Ngumbu (UNR) (at LHW)

Oosthuizen and promoter Rodney Berman have patched things up, and the lanky South African will make effective his move to 175 on June 21 against fringe contender Doudou Ngumbu. He’ll keep his ranking here until after November 9, or until he schedules a clearly light heavyweight fight for after that date.

7) Ezequiel Maderna (28-28-73)

Last Fight: 4/25/2014- TKO3 Richard Vidal (UNR)

Next Fight: Unknown

Maderna stayed busy in impressive fashion against Vidal.

8) George Groves (28-75-97)

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. (12-12-12)

Last Fight: 3/1/2014- UD10 #5 MW Bryan Vera

Next Fight: Unknown

Chavez is, at least for the time being, effectively a former Top Rank fighter, and he and Arum are at odds over who truly scuttled the now apparently unlikely Golovkin fight that appeared all but made at one point.

10) Bryan Vera (12-12-12)

Last Fight: 3/1/2014- L (UD10) vs. Julio Cesar Chavez, Jr. (UNR)

Next Fight: Unknown

Vera is calling out Peter Quillin.

11) James DeGale (12-136)

Last Fight: 3/1/2014- TKO11 Gevorg Khatchikian (UNR)

Next Fight: 5/31/2014- vs. #5 Brandon Gonzales

See Gonzales’ notes, above.

12) Christopher Rebrasse (12-50)

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 (12-372)

Last Fight: 12/7/2013- Draw (SD12) vs. Anthony Dirrell (UNR)

Next Fight: Unknown

After initially granting Julio Cesar Chavez the spot, the WBC has now made James DeGale the mandatory after it appeared Chavez would likely look at a different opportunity. That may also have gone by the wayside by now, as DeGale is fighting Brandon Gonzales for a shot at the IBF title.

14) Maxim Vlasov (12-80)

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 (12-70)

Last Fight: 11/16/2013- L (UD12) vs. Champ Andre Ward

Next Fight: Unknown

Rodriguez was briefly scheduled to fight Marcus Johnson on May 24, but Johnson withdrew.

16) Gilberto Ramirez (6-16)

Last Fight: 4/11/2014- TKO5 Giovanni Lorenzo (UNR)

Next Fight: Unknown

Ramirez was pencilled in to return on the Chavez-Golovkin card, but that fight now looks dead.

17) Ryota Murata (6-39)

Last Fight: 2/22/2014- TKO4 Carlos Nascimento (UNR)

Next Fight: 5/22/2014- vs. Jesus Angel Nerio (UNR)

Murata will stay busy in Kyoto on May 22 with Mexican journeyman Jesus Angel Nerio.

18) Anthony Dirrell (6-24)

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).

19) Hadillah Mohoumadi (6-64)

Last Fight: 11/30/2013- TKO5 Bartlomiej Grafka (UNR)

Next Fight: Unknown

20) Caleb Truax (6-6)

Last Fight: 1/3/2014- Draw (MD10) vs. Ossie Duran (UNR)

Next Fight: Unknown

The Week Ahead:

Thursday

#17 Ryota Murata vs. Jesus Angel Nerio; Kyoto, Japan; TV Unknown

I don’t actually know if this will be here or at 160. Murata is clearly a middleweight when he wants to be, but so far he’s never fought below 160.5. As you may know, Murata is a 2012 Olympic Gold Medalist, and he debuted as a pro with a win over a top 20 middleweight in Akio Shibata. Nerio is a mid-level journeyman from Mexico, and hardly projects as any kind of threat.

Schiller Hyppolite vs. Rafael Sosa; Pointe Claire, Quebec; TV Unknown

Hyppolite is a Haitian living in Montreal. He’s a one-loss prospect on the fringes of the top 50. His only loss was a 2012 split decision against a fighter who remains undefeated to this day, though without having proven anything outside that fight. As for his own credentials, Hyppolite’s best win was a knockout of mid-level journeyman Martin Avila almost exactly a year ago. Sosa represents his best opponent, with the possible exception of Francy Ntetu, the man that beat him. Sosa is a 34 year-old Uruguayan veteran of 56 contests. He’s only an upper-mid-level journeyman, and a natural middleweight at most. He is a serious fighter, though, and even found his way to the fringes of the top 50 at 154 around 2008-2009. If Hyppolite is a mere pretender, Sosa may very well have what it takes to prove that.

This entry was posted on October 16, 2014 at 5:01 am and is filed under Rankings, Super Middleweight with tags Andre Ward, Arthur Abraham, Callum Smith, Carl Froch, Mikkel Kessler, Paul Smith, Ryota Murata, Schiller Hyppolite. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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