Junior Middleweight: 2014, Jun 2-8
There was no significant action to report from 154 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 (13-170-185) 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 (13-152-167) 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 lobbied the IBF to give him an exemption to defend his belt against Jermall Charlo, whom he was supposed to face already before he was jailed, but the alphabet is sticking to its guns and will try to make him fight Bundrage, instead. 3) Erislandy Lara (13-152-174) 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. (13-38-38) Last Fight: 5/3/2014- W* (MD12) vs. #4 WW Marcos Maidana (at WW) Next Fight: 9/13/2014- vs. Unknown Opponent Floyd will be fighting on September 13. A Maidana rematch remains a possibility. 5) Austin Trout (26-105-174) Last Fight: 12/7/2013- L (UD12) vs. #5 Erislandy Lara Next Fight: 7/19/2014- vs. Daniel Dawson (UNR) Trout will look to get back on track with a fairly easy Friday Night Fights main event against upper mid-level Australian journeyman Daniel Dawson, who was once a fringe contender, but not since 2007. 6) Ishe Smith (38-67-67) 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 (8-8-8) 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 (27-209-209) 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 (8-27-27) Last Fight: 4/9/2014- L (UD12) vs. Joshua Clottey (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown Mundine is reportedly in talks to bring the now much larger and also more retired Danny Green into a rematch. 10) Cornelius Bundrage (8-200-200) 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 (8-245) 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 (8-103) Last Fight: 11/16/2013- UD12 Bradley Pryce (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown Rabchenko’s fight in Rome was cancelled on 3 days’ notice due to Visa issues, and his would-be opponent, journeyman Emanuele Della Rosa, will be fighting undefeated prospect Isaac Real for what had been Rabchenko’s European title. 13) Jermell Charlo (2-52) Last Fight: 5/24/2014- UD12 Charlie Ota (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown With the cancellation of Smith-Lara, Charlo has been bumped back to May 24, and will fight fringe contending prospect Charlie Ota. 14) Demetrius Andrade (2-30) 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. 15) Cesar Sastre Silva (2-7) 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. 16) Vanes Martirosyan (2-157) 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. He’s been dropped by Top Rank and signed with Dan Goossen, as well. 17) Gabriel Rosado (3-19) 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. 18) Zaurbek Baysangurov (3-8) Last Fight: 4/12/2014- TKO12 #20 Guido Pitto Next Fight: Unknown Baysangurov looked the best I’ve seen him, by far, against Pitto. 19) Willie Nelson (3-66) Last Fight: 6/29/2013- UD10 Luciano Cuello (UNR) Next Fight: 6/7/2014- vs. Darryl Cunningham (UNR) Nelson gets a fairly easy tune-up after a year of inactivity when he gets in with 39 year-old journeyman Darryl Cunningham Saturday. 20) Brian Rose (3-3) Last Fight: 10/26/2014- Robbery SD12 W (Draw at best) vs. Javier Maciel (UNR) Next Fight: 6/14/2014- vs. #14 Demetrius Andrade See Andrade’s notes, above.
The Week Ahead: Friday Frank Haroche Horta vs. Unknown Opponent; Levallois-Perret, France; Ma Chaine Sport (France) Horta comes off a robbery loss against Andy Lee in April, and will almost certainly get an easier night, as his opponent has not been announced less than a week before fight night.
#15 Cesar Sastre Silva vs. Brian Castano; Benavidez, Argentina; TyC Sports (Argentina) Sastre Silva is about as vulnerable as a top 15 contender gets. He is ranked based on a loss that clearly should have been a win over #13 Javier Maciel back in April. He actually benefitted from his own inactivity in earning his ranking, since he had three consecutive losses in 2008, but they are too old to be counted against him. He only had 4 fairly inconsequential wins between that and the Maciel fight. He’s not really that good, I don’t think, but caught Maciel on a terrible night. Castano is an undefeated Argentine prospect, and despite only having 6 pro fights, he’s beaten one pretty highly-ranked (though not top 50) journeyman already. This is a really interesting matchup, and could serve as a great launching pad for Castano if he can pull off the victory.
Eddie Gomez vs. Francisco Santana; Indio, California; Showtime (US) Gomez is an undefeated Bronx prospect who comes off his best career win against fellow undefeated Daquan Arnett in January. Santana has 3 losses and a draw on his record, so it’s hard to rate him a prospect, but his only losses were two against Karim Mayfield (once by split decision, the other by stoppage) and one against Jermell Charlo, and his draw was against Julian Williams. He owns wins over Freddy Hernandez and Joachim Alcine. All of this illuminates the fact that he’s been in tougher overall, by a long shot. This is a very intriguing fight.
Saturday Javier Maciel vs. Jorge Melendez; New York, New York; HBO (US) Maciel was a top 15 contender before he very clearly lost to journeyman Cesar Sastre Silva in his last fight. Most will still view him as a major player in the division because that fight got zero press, as opposed to his prior fight, which he clearly won against top-20 ranked Brian Rose, but in which HE was the victim of a blatant robbery. Melendez is a gatekeeper, but he’s never beaten a top 50 fighter, while being saddled with 3 losses and a draw against lesser opposition. Based on that alone, you’d have to make Maciel the favorite. If he does pull off the win, Maciel would gain back some of the stock he lost to Sastre Silva.
John Jackson vs. Andy Lee; New York, New York; HBO (US) Another fight on the Martinez-Cotto undercard in which the guy who would have been a heavy favorite just a few months ago looked abysmal in his last fight. Lee needed a blatant robbery to beat French gatekeeper Frank Haroche Horta in April, and Jackson is most likely better than Horta. For his part, Jackson has had two fights on the top 50 level. A little over a year ago, he solidly outpointed undefeated prospect Ceresso Fort in an 8-rounder, and in 2012 he dropped a close unanimous decision to current #19 Willie Nelson. This could be a heck of a match-up.
#19 Willie Nelson vs. Darryl Cunningham; New York, New York; Off TV This will be an easy showcase for Nelson. Cunningham was once a credible high-level journeyman (though never top 50), but at 39, he’s been in decline, and comes off a 4th round TKO loss to a 4-13 scrub in his last fight back in October. Nelson might be rusty after nearly a year out of the ring, and in fact he struggled in his last fight, but this should be nothing more than an opportunity to shake off that rust and get some momentum going.
On the same card, Miguel Cotto gets a shot at the middleweight title against Sergio Martinez. I’ll discuss the fight itself at middleweight, and only mention it here to the extent it affects the rankings at 154.
Dan's Weekly Boxer Rankings and Blog 
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