Middleweight: 2014, Jun 16-22
After a choc-full slate a week ago, the division took a break this past week. No changes.
Next Fight: 7/26/2014- vs. #5 Daniel Geale Golovkin-Geale is official for July 26 in New York. 2) Sam Soliman (3-27-27) Last Fight: 5/31/2014- UD12 #2 Felix Sturm Next Fight: Unknown Soliman dominated Sturm in the rematch after getting a very fortunate decision the first time before a banned stimulant incident led to a no contest. So far as we know so far, he was clean this time, too, though he did look extremely energetic. His trainer wants Cotto, but Martin Murray looks more likely, assuming he gets by Bursak. 3) Sergio Martinez (2-218-218) Last Fight: 6/7/2014- L (RTD10) vs. #8 JMW Miguel Cotto
Next Fight: Unknown When assessing Maravilla’s viability as a contender at this point, it really comes down to one question: is his base athletic level and chin as bad as his performance against Cotto, or can it be blamed on a knee or other sort of leg injury? If the latter, he might stand some chance to come back given enough recuperation time. If the former, then he’s one of the most obviously finished fighters I’ve ever seen. His manager ominously said after the fight that his only injury was a broken nose. That’s incredible, if true, considering how bad his legs looked. 4) Felix Sturm (2-561-561) Last Fight: 5/31/2014- L (UD12) vs. #8 Sam Soliman
Next Fight: Unknown
Sturm might be on his way out, with his rematch performance head and shoulders below his effort in the first fight with Soliman. Nevertheless, he has denied any thoughts of retirement. He’s still in position for an alphabet eliminator. Lemieux turned down a crack at him, and now it seems Curtis Stevens is in line for that shot. 5) Daniel Geale (2-261-261) Last Fight: 2/19/2014- RTD6 Garth Wood (UNR)
Next Fight: 7/26/2014- vs. #1 Gennady Golovkin See Golovkin’s notes, above. 6) Peter Quillin (2-87-108) Last Fight: 4/19/2014- UD12 Lukas Konecny (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown The WBO has mandated Quillin to fight British prospect Billy Joe Saunders next. There continues to be talk of an endlessly-theorized all-Golden Boy showdown with Daniel Jacobs, though, and perhaps a fight with Lemieux after that. Sergio Mora has also indicated interest. 7) Martin Murray (2-133-133) Last Fight: 4/23/2014- RTD6 Ishmael Tetteh (UNR) at SMW Next Fight: 6/21/2014- vs. #15 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. 8) Matthew Macklin (2-156-247) 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, and Geale has bailed on the fight altogether in favor of a shot at GGG. 9) Hassan N’Dam N’Jikam (2-27-27) Last Fight: 4/16/2014- UD10 Fulgencio Zuniga (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown N’Dam’s team is trying to get a shot at Soliman. 10) Sergio Mora (2-51-51) Last Fight: 5/31/2014- TKO5 Samuel Rogers (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown Mora wants Quillin or Golovkin. 11) Osumanu Adama (2-20) 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. 12) Dmitry Chudinov (2-12) Last Fight: 6/1/2014- UD12 Patrick Nielsen (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown Chudinov’s promoter has verbally offered Sam Soliman a fight on August 8. 13) Marco Antonio Rubio (2-177) Last Fight: 4/5/2014- KO10* Domenico Spada (UNR)
Next Fight:Unknown Rubio wants a shot at Cotto. 14) Jarrod Fletcher (2-20) Last Fight: 2/1/2014- W* (UD12) vs. #12 Max Bursak Next Fight: 8/?/2014- vs. Daniel Jacobs (UNR) Fletcher will fight fringe contender Daniel Jacobs on either August 2 or 9 for a trumped up (aka WBA) title. 15) Max Bursak (2-177) Last Fight: 2/1/2014- L* (UD12) vs. Jarrod Fletcher (UNR)
Next Fight: 6/21/2014- vs. #7 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. 16) David Lemieux (2-4) Last Fight: 5/24/2014- KO3 Fernando Guerrero (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown Lemieux’s eye-popping domination of Guerrero has fueled idle speculation of a potential shot at Peter Quillin, who is short on options for high-level opponents due to the ongoing Showtime-HBO feud. In the meantime, he’s reportedly turned down an eliminator with Sturm. 17) Grzegorz Proksa (2-166) Last Fight: 6/28/2013- L (UD10) vs. Sergio Mora (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown Proksa has just a couple weeks to schedule a fight before he’s removed for inactivity. 18) Caleb Truax (2-39) Last Fight: 1/3/2014- Draw (UD10) vs. Ossie Duran (UNR) (at SMW) Next Fight: 7/25/2014- vs. Rogelio Medina (UNR) Truax fights the very serviceable Porky Medina, who comes off a split decision loss to to Jonathan Gonzalez that could have gone the other way. He’s on a similar level to Duran, who gave Truax all he could handle. 19) Curtis Stevens (2-46) Last Fight: 4/4/2014- TKO10* Tureano Johnson (UNR) (at SMW) Next Fight: Unknown Stevens is backed by the IBF to fight Sturm in an eliminator, should both men so choose. 20) Andrey Meryasev (2-32) Last Fight: 4/26/2014- UD10 Carlos Baldomir (UNR) (at SMW) Next Fight: Unknown Meryasev dominated in pedestrian fashion against the now-retired Baldomir.
Dan’s Top 20 (Weeks in Current Position-Weeks in Top 10 if applicable-Weeks in Top 20) Champ: Miguel Cotto (2-2-2) Last Fight: RTD10 Champ Sergio Martinez Next Fight: Unknown Cotto is the Champion. The only question now is whether he will risk that Championship against the dominant #1 contender against whom he probably would have very little chance. His thoughts seem to be more in the direction of Canelo. 1) Gennady Golovkin (27-94-157) Last Fight: 2/1/2014- TKO7 Osumanu Adama (UNR)
Next Fight: 7/26/2014- vs. #5 Daniel Geale Golovkin-Geale is official for July 26 in New York. 2) Sam Soliman (3-27-27) Last Fight: 5/31/2014- UD12 #2 Felix Sturm Next Fight: Unknown Soliman dominated Sturm in the rematch after getting a very fortunate decision the first time before a banned stimulant incident led to a no contest. So far as we know so far, he was clean this time, too, though he did look extremely energetic. His trainer wants Cotto, but Martin Murray looks more likely, assuming he gets by Bursak. 3) Sergio Martinez (2-218-218) Last Fight: 6/7/2014- L (RTD10) vs. #8 JMW Miguel Cotto
Next Fight: Unknown When assessing Maravilla’s viability as a contender at this point, it really comes down to one question: is his base athletic level and chin as bad as his performance against Cotto, or can it be blamed on a knee or other sort of leg injury? If the latter, he might stand some chance to come back given enough recuperation time. If the former, then he’s one of the most obviously finished fighters I’ve ever seen. His manager ominously said after the fight that his only injury was a broken nose. That’s incredible, if true, considering how bad his legs looked. 4) Felix Sturm (2-561-561) Last Fight: 5/31/2014- L (UD12) vs. #8 Sam Soliman
Next Fight: Unknown
Sturm might be on his way out, with his rematch performance head and shoulders below his effort in the first fight with Soliman. Nevertheless, he has denied any thoughts of retirement. He’s still in position for an alphabet eliminator. Lemieux turned down a crack at him, and now it seems Curtis Stevens is in line for that shot. 5) Daniel Geale (2-261-261) Last Fight: 2/19/2014- RTD6 Garth Wood (UNR)
Next Fight: 7/26/2014- vs. #1 Gennady Golovkin See Golovkin’s notes, above. 6) Peter Quillin (2-87-108) Last Fight: 4/19/2014- UD12 Lukas Konecny (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown The WBO has mandated Quillin to fight British prospect Billy Joe Saunders next. There continues to be talk of an endlessly-theorized all-Golden Boy showdown with Daniel Jacobs, though, and perhaps a fight with Lemieux after that. Sergio Mora has also indicated interest. 7) Martin Murray (2-133-133) Last Fight: 4/23/2014- RTD6 Ishmael Tetteh (UNR) at SMW Next Fight: 6/21/2014- vs. #15 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. 8) Matthew Macklin (2-156-247) 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, and Geale has bailed on the fight altogether in favor of a shot at GGG. 9) Hassan N’Dam N’Jikam (2-27-27) Last Fight: 4/16/2014- UD10 Fulgencio Zuniga (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown N’Dam’s team is trying to get a shot at Soliman. 10) Sergio Mora (2-51-51) Last Fight: 5/31/2014- TKO5 Samuel Rogers (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown Mora wants Quillin or Golovkin. 11) Osumanu Adama (2-20) 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. 12) Dmitry Chudinov (2-12) Last Fight: 6/1/2014- UD12 Patrick Nielsen (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown Chudinov’s promoter has verbally offered Sam Soliman a fight on August 8. 13) Marco Antonio Rubio (2-177) Last Fight: 4/5/2014- KO10* Domenico Spada (UNR)
Next Fight:Unknown Rubio wants a shot at Cotto. 14) Jarrod Fletcher (2-20) Last Fight: 2/1/2014- W* (UD12) vs. #12 Max Bursak Next Fight: 8/?/2014- vs. Daniel Jacobs (UNR) Fletcher will fight fringe contender Daniel Jacobs on either August 2 or 9 for a trumped up (aka WBA) title. 15) Max Bursak (2-177) Last Fight: 2/1/2014- L* (UD12) vs. Jarrod Fletcher (UNR)
Next Fight: 6/21/2014- vs. #7 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. 16) David Lemieux (2-4) Last Fight: 5/24/2014- KO3 Fernando Guerrero (UNR) Next Fight: Unknown Lemieux’s eye-popping domination of Guerrero has fueled idle speculation of a potential shot at Peter Quillin, who is short on options for high-level opponents due to the ongoing Showtime-HBO feud. In the meantime, he’s reportedly turned down an eliminator with Sturm. 17) Grzegorz Proksa (2-166) Last Fight: 6/28/2013- L (UD10) vs. Sergio Mora (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown Proksa has just a couple weeks to schedule a fight before he’s removed for inactivity. 18) Caleb Truax (2-39) Last Fight: 1/3/2014- Draw (UD10) vs. Ossie Duran (UNR) (at SMW) Next Fight: 7/25/2014- vs. Rogelio Medina (UNR) Truax fights the very serviceable Porky Medina, who comes off a split decision loss to to Jonathan Gonzalez that could have gone the other way. He’s on a similar level to Duran, who gave Truax all he could handle. 19) Curtis Stevens (2-46) Last Fight: 4/4/2014- TKO10* Tureano Johnson (UNR) (at SMW) Next Fight: Unknown Stevens is backed by the IBF to fight Sturm in an eliminator, should both men so choose. 20) Andrey Meryasev (2-32) Last Fight: 4/26/2014- UD10 Carlos Baldomir (UNR) (at SMW) Next Fight: Unknown Meryasev dominated in pedestrian fashion against the now-retired Baldomir.
The Week Ahead: Saturday #7 Martin Murray vs. #15 Max Bursak; Monte Carlo, Monaco; PolSat Sport (Poland) Murray was a borderline robbery away from being Middleweight Champion a little over a year ago, but his recent performances have allowed others to pass him by pretty clearly. If he’s still hanging over, he might get upset this week. Max Bursak is a solid operator, and probably a hair better than his current ranking. He most likely deserved at least a draw in his February fight with Jarrod Fletcher, for which he took an upset loss.
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