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Super Middleweight: 2014, Jul 21-27

Posted in Rankings, Super Middleweight with tags , , , , , , , on December 13, 2014 by danboxing
In last week’s preview of the Macau undercard fight between #15 Gilberto Ramirez and Junior Talipeau, I opined that Talipeau, a quality journeyman, would provide some resistance for the fast rising Mexican prospect.  I was wrong.  Talipeau got blitzed from the opening bell, and never even managed to get into the fight.  Ramirez caught him on the end of a long uppercut that led to a knockdown, and the fight was functionally over from there.  Ramirez added two more knockdowns in the one and only round before the fight was mercifully stopped. 

 

Talipeau was once a top 50 fighter, but hasn’t deserved such recognition since his 2011 loss to Zac Awad, and so Ramirez gets no opportunity to advance with the victory.  However, last week’s #13 Maxim Vlasov is removed in light of the news that his fight this weekend will be contested at the 175 pound limit.  He hasn’t made 168 in about 20 months, and is thus ineligible for a continued ranking here.  Everyone ranked #14 and below last week moves up a spot, and Don Mouton re-enters for the first time since Gilberto Ramirez knocked him out and out of the rankings at the beginning of February.

 

Dan’s Top 20
Champ: Andre Ward (136-270-270)
Last Fight: 11/16/2013- UD12 #13 Edwin Rodriguez
Next Fight: Unknown
Ward says his lawsuit is not keeping him from fighting, and says he expects a fight by the end of the year, along with 3 in 2015.  Seems optimistic to me.
1) Carl Froch (113-423-423)
Last Fight: 5/31/2014- KO8 #7 George Groves
Next Fight: Unknown
Froch is reportedly close to reaching a deal to fight DeGale in November or December.
2) Arthur Abraham (21-248-248)
Last Fight: 5/3/2014- UD12 Nikola Sjekloca (UNR)
Next Fight: 9/27/2014- vs. Paul Smith (UNR)
Abraham gets what should be a relatively easy defense on September 27 against gatekeeper Paul Smith of England.
3) Robert Stieglitz (21-256-256)
Last Fight: 3/1/2014- L (SD12) vs. #4 Arthur Abraham
Next Fight: 7/26/2014- vs. Sergey Khomitsky (UNR)
I thnk I read the initial report wrong, as Stieglitz will fight on July 26 instead of June 26.  His opponent will be the dangerously underrated Sergey Khomitsky, who arguably ought to own a win over Martin Murray.
4) James DeGale (8-9-145)
Last Fight: 5/31/2014- TKO4* #4 Brandon Gonzales
Next Fight: Unknown
See Froch’s notes, above.
5) Thomas Oosthuizen (9-164-212)
Last Fight: 11/9/2013- W* (MD12) vs. #13 Ezequiel Maderna
Next Fight: Unknown
Oosthuizen was supposed to fight Doudou Ngumbu on 6/21 and then enter his promoter’s Super 6 Tournament at 175.  Instead, Johnny Muller replaced him and lost, and thus ruined his own chances to fight in that tournament.  Now the word is that Oosthuizen is “in no position” to get in the ring for the tournament.  I wonder if that’s a reference to an injury, or just more weight issues.  Either way, it’s entirely clear that the South African is done at 168.
6) Ezequiel Maderna (9-37-82)
Last Fight: 4/25/2014- TKO3 Richard Vidal (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
7) George Groves (9-84-106)
Last Fight: 5/31/2014- L (KO8) vs. #1 Carl Froch
Next Fight: 9/20/2014- vs. #11 Christopher Rebrasse
Groves is scheduled to fight again on September 20, in an eliminator for a shot at the Bika-Dirrell winner.
8) Brandon Gonzales (8-56-56)
Last Fight: 5/31/2014- L (TKO4*) vs. #10 James DeGale
Next Fight: Unknown
Gonzales deserved a shot to continue, but he certainly didn’t look like an eventual winner under the best of circumstances against DeGale.
9) Julio Cesar Chavez, Jr. (8-21-21)
Last Fight: 3/1/2014- UD10 #5 MW Bryan Vera
Next Fight: Unknown
With the Froch fight apparently dead, Cotto is now interested in Chavez, whose camp claims he can still make 160 for the fight.
10) Bryan Vera (8-21-21)
Last Fight: 3/1/2014- L (UD10) vs. Julio Cesar Chavez, Jr. (UNR)
Next Fight: 8/16/2014- vs. #17 JMW Gabriel Rosado (BKB)
In a surprise move, Vera will fight Gabriel Rosado in the main event of a “Big Knockout Boxing” card.  This is not quite the boxing you’re used to, with different rules regarding knockdowns and a circular “pit” replacing the traditional ring.  I haven’t yet decided if I will let it affect the rankings, considering that it will theoretically be a fair fight between two legitimate boxers.  I may have to see it in action before I know how I feel about its applicability to normal boxing.
11) Christopher Rebrasse (9-59)
Last Fight: 3/22/2014- TKO4 Mouhamed Ali Ndiaye (UNR)
Next Fight: 9/20/2014- vs. #7 George Groves
See Groves’ notes, above.
12) Sakio Bika (9-381)
Last Fight: 12/7/2013- Draw (SD12) vs. Anthony Dirrell (UNR)
Next Fight: 8/16/2014- vs. #16 Anthony Dirrell
Bika will re-match Anthony Dirrell on August 16 in Carson, California.
13) Edwin Rodriguez (1-79)
Last Fight: 11/16/2013- L (UD12) vs. Champ Andre Ward
Next Fight: Unknown
14) Gilberto Ramirez (1-25)
Last Fight: 7/19/2014- TKO1 Junior Talipeau (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
Ramirez confirms that he feels comfortable at 168, and is looking for big fights in his more or less new division.
15) Ryota Murata (1-48)
Last Fight: 5/22/2014- KO6 Jesus Angel Nerio (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
Murata is rumored to be fighting in Singapore in October.
16) Anthony Dirrell (1-33)
Last Fight: 12/7/2013- Draw (SD12) vs. #11 Sakio Bika
Next Fight: 8/16/2014- vs. #12 Sakio Bika
Dirrell will get a second crack at Bika on August 16.
17) Hadillah Mohoumadi (1-73)
Last Fight: 11/30/2013- TKO5 Bartlomiej Grafka (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
18) Caleb Truax (1-15)
Last Fight: 1/3/2014- Draw (MD10) vs. Ossie Duran (UNR)
Next Fight: 7/25/2014- vs. Derek Ennis (UNR)
Truax’s July 25 Friday Night Fights opponent is now Derek Ennis, rather than Porky Medina.  Basically a lateral move, but maybe a bit of a downgrade.
19) Derek Edwards (1-9)
Last Fight: 2/28/2014- TKO1 #20 Badou Jack
Next Fight: Unknown
20) Don Mouton (1-1)
Last Fight: 5/3/2014- TKO3 William Johnson (UNR) (at MW)
Next Fight: 7/26/2014- vs. Larry Smith (UNR) (at MW)
Mouton’s career took a big hit with the Ramirez loss, as you can tell from his last opponent and the one for this week.

 

The Week Ahead: 
Wednesday
Avtandil Khurtsidze vs. Allen Conyers; New York, New York; Off TV
Khurtsidze is a long-time middleweight fringe contender from the Republic of Georgia, who is returning to the ring, a few pounds heavier than usual, for the first time since late 2011.  Conyers is a mid-level journeyman who is said to have some power and can handle himself, but is probably not much of a threat on this level.

 

Saturday
#3 Robert Stieglitz vs. Sergey Khomitsky; Dessau, Germany; RAN (Germany) 
The idea of #3 Stieglitz losing to an unranked guy like Khomitsky- a career journeyman until very recently- sounds far-fetched.  That being said, Khomitsky arguably beat Martin Murray (who I would have considered a better fighter than Stieglitz) this year and then upset British prospect Frank Buglioni.  I don’t know that he should be anything like a favorite against Stieglitz’s long and distinguished overall resume, but I do believe you’re likely to get odds that might justify a bet for the underdog, if you are of a betting mind.  Should be an excellent fight.

 

Juergen Doberstein vs. Matingu Kindele; Kaarst, Germany; Off TV
Doberstein is a one-loss prospect.  I’m not sure he qualifies as a blue-chipper, but he is coming off his career best win, by a mile, in a dominant 12-round decision over the very capable William Gare.  Kindele is basically a novice at just 5-2, and hasn’t proven much of anything to this point.  It shouldn’t be all that competitive.
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Light Heavyweight: 2014, Jul 21-27

Posted in Light Heavyweight, Rankings with tags , , , , , , , on December 12, 2014 by danboxing
Nothing to report from last week.

 

Dan’s Top 20 (weeks in current position-weeks   in top 10 (if applicable)-weeks in top 20)
Champ: Andre Ward (98-98-98)
Last Fight: 11/16/2013- UD12 #15 Edwin Rodriguez (as SMW)
Next Fight: Unknown
Ward says his lawsuit is not keeping him from fighting, and says he expects a fight by the end of the year, along with 3 in 2015.  Seems optimistic to me.
1) Adonis Stevenson (59-59-59)
Last Fight: 5/24/2014- UD12 #6 Andrzej Fonfara
Next Fight: Unknown
Hopkins wants Kovalev and then Stevenson, according to the legend.
2) Bernard Hopkins (98-424-424)
Last Fight: 4/19/2014- W (SD12*) vs. Beibut Shumenov (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
See Stevenson’s notes, above.
3) Jean Pascal (27-27-27)
Last Fight: 1/18/2014- UD12 #16 Lucian Bute
Next Fight: Unknown
Pascal is pencilled in for a September fight, and perhaps one more before the end of the year.  There is currently talk of Tavoris Cloud being the September opponent.  That’s a significant step up from Sean Monaghan, who had been the odds-on favorite to fight Pascal on that date.
4) Sergey Kovalev (27-79-79)
Last Fight: 3/29/2014- KO7 #15 Cedric Agnew
Next Fight: 8/2/2014- vs. Blake Caparello (UNR)
Kovalev is back on August 2 against apparently one of the few guys willing to fight him- Australian undefeated prospect Blake Caparello.
5) Tony Bellew (5-145-145)
Last Fight: 7/12/2014- TKO5 Julio Cesar Dos Santos (UNR) (at CW)
Next Fight: Unknown
By all accounts, Bellew will fight Cleverly in the fall.  The date and location is all that’s left to decide.
6) Andrzej Fonfara (5-49-106)
Last Fight: 5/24/2014- L (UD12) vs. #1 Adonis Stevenson
Next Fight: Unknown
There are rumors of negotiations for a fight with Chad Dawson.
7) Gabriel Campillo (5-213-213)
Last Fight: 5/9/2014- TKO7 Ricky Pow (UNR)
Next Fight: 8/1/2014- vs. #13 Thomas Williams, Jr.
This could be the start of Campillo’s resurgence, or the continuation of his decline.  He’ll fight up-and-comer Thomas Williams, Jr. on Friday Night Fights, August 1.
8) Tavoris Cloud (5-256-256)
Last Fight: 9/28/2013- L (TKO7) vs. #1 Adonis Stevenson
Next Fight: Unknown
A September 27 fight with Pascal is a possibility.
9) Nathan Cleverly (5-233-233)
Last Fight: 7/12/2014- TKO4 Alejandro Valori (UNR)(at CW)
Next Fight: Unknown
See Bellew’s notes, above.
10) Isaac Chilemba (5-5-129)
Last Fight: 3/15/2014- UD10 Denis Grachev (UNR)
Next Fight: 8/2/2014- vs. Cory Cummings (UNR)
Chilemba will fight on the Kovalev-Caparello card on August 2, taking on mid-level journeyman Cory Cummings in a stay-busy fight.
11) Jürgen Brähmer (5-118)
Last Fight: 6/7/2014- UD12 Roberto Feliciano Bolonti (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
Braehmer looked solid for 11 of the 12 rounds against Bolonti.  It’s said that he aspires to a Hopkins fight.
12) Karo Murat (5-39)
Last Fight: 10/26/2013- L (UD12) vs. #2 Bernard Hopkins
Next Fight: Unknown
Murat wants Braehmer, his former stablemate, but is now without a promoter, which probably means Sauerland isn’t falling all over themselves to make that fight.
13) Thomas Williams, Jr. (5-26)
Last Fight: 4/24/2014- TKO3 Enrique Ornelas (UNR)
Next Fight: 8/1/2014- vs. #7 Gabriel Campillo
See Campillo’s notes, above.
14) Cedric Agnew (5-67)
Last Fight: 6/27/2014- RTD2 Shannon Miller (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
After taking a risk against Kovalev and coming up short, I can only assume that his prospects for a regional title bout against Dudchenko and a IBF eliminator against Sukhotsky might both be out the window at least for the moment.
15) Edwin Rodriguez (5-54)
Last Fight: 11/16/2013- L (UD12) vs. Champ Andre Ward
Next Fight: Unknown
Rodriguez was scheduled to fight Marcus Johnson on May 24, but Johnson quickly withdrew.
16) Hadillah Mohoumadi (5-56)
Last Fight: 11/30/2013- TKO5 Bartlomiej Grafka (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
17) Cornelius White (5-136)
Last Fight: 1/24/2014- L (TKO1) vs. Thomas Williams, Jr. (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
Never blessed with big-time promotional or managerial ties, White has risked becoming a permanent opponent with his last two losses.
18) Eleider Alvarez (5-78)
Last Fight: 5/24/2014- UD10 Alexander Johnson (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
19) Lucian Bute (5-90)
Last Fight: 1/18/2014- L (UD12) vs. Jean Pascal (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
Bute wants his contractually-guaranteed rematch with Pascal, a fight that appears tentatively planned for late in the year.  He recently parted ways with his long-time trainer, and says he’s in no hurry to get back in the ring.
20) Dmitry Sukhotsky (5-5)
Last Fight: 6/4/2014- UD12 Joey Vegas (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
I can’t find a video anywhere, but Sukhotsky’s win over Joey Vegas in Russia was suspiciously close.

 

The Week Ahead: 
Saturday
Maxim Vlasov vs. Ruben Acosta; Riga, Latvia; TV Unknown
Acosta is a high-level journeyman who was briefly a member of the Boxrec Top 50 at 168 before he was dismantled by undefeated prospect Callum Smith in October.  I doubt he’ll fare much better against the lanky Russian Vlasov, who gave up his right to a #13 super middleweight ranking when he agreed to make this a light heavyweight fight, as he hasn’t made 168 since November 2012.

 

Robin Krasniqi vs. Oleksandr Cherviak; Dessau, Germany; RAN (Germany)
This is an intriguing fight.  Krasniqi is basically a confirmed gatekeeper, having lost only twice very early in his career and then last year when he stepped up to the level of Nathan Cleverly.  His best win- now way too old to matter in the rankings- was a 6 round decision over fringe contender Berry Butler in 2007.  If he can beat Cherviak, it would be his best win since then.  That’s not necessarily saying much, as that honor currently goes to his knockout of unproven undefeated prospect Serdar Sahin just before the Cleverly fight.  Cherviak has plenty of ups and downs, but is no stranger to springing upsets.  His last significant fight was a stoppage loss to Nadjib Mohammedi, but he exposed and stopped the previously undefeated Dustin Dirks before that, and also beat one-loss prospect Vitali Rusal in 2010.  That being said, Krasniqi would be his best win by a fair amount.

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Super Middleweight: 2014, Jul 14-20

Posted in Rankings, Super Middleweight with tags , , , , , , , on November 26, 2014 by danboxing
Undefeated Liverpool prospect Rocky Fielding got his first win on Saturday over a really solid opponent, stopping top 50 gatekeeper Noe Gonzalez of Uruguay in 5 rounds, in what to that point had been an extremely competitive scrap.  I had given Fielding the first and fourth in clear fashion, while I thought Gonzalez had just nicked the third and fourth.  In the 5th, Gonzalez appeared to be fading just a bit when he was caught and dropped hard at center ring.  He managed to get up and convince referee Terry O’Connor that he was good to go, but Fielding followed up with a merciless assault in the corner that led to a very timely stoppage by the veteran Birmingham ref.  All in all, it was an impressive and exciting performance, as he did what only George Groves and Adonis Stevenson were able to do by stopping Gonzalez.

 

Two fights later on the same card, fellow Liverpool undefeated prospect Callum Smith got his sternest test to date against quality journeyman Vladine Biosse, who took a ton of hard shots from Smith for 10 rounds, and put the Brit in an uncomfortable position more often than any other fighter has to date, including some with better resumes.  As the Sky commentators constantly pointed out, this was a very valuable fight for Smith, in that he got quality rounds in, something that has been hard for him to come by up to now.  I had Smith winning 99-91, with a few rounds that could have potentially swung one direction or the other.  Anything between 100-90 and 97-93 Smith would have been okay with me.  The judges more or less saw it right at 99-91 (x2), but Italy’s Franco Ciminale (never one of my favorite judges) saw it a shutout and then also somehow found a 10-8 round that clearly didn’t exist.

 

Fielding gets the only real resume boost of the two, even though Smith maybe progressed more on the night in subjective terms.  Fielding is now, in my opinion, a top 25 fighter, though he falls short of the top 20.  No changes.
 
 

 

Dan’s Top 20
Champ: Andre Ward (135-269-269)
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 (112-422-422)
Last Fight: 5/31/2014- KO8 #7 George Groves
Next Fight: Unknown
Talk of a Chavez fight is quickly being superseded by DeGale discussions.
2) Arthur Abraham (20-247-247)
Last Fight: 5/3/2014- UD12 Nikola Sjekloca (UNR)
Next Fight: 9/27/2014- vs. Paul Smith (UNR)
Abraham gets what should be a relatively easy defense on September 27 against gatekeeper Paul Smith of England.
3) Robert Stieglitz (20-255-255)
Last Fight: 3/1/2014- L (SD12) vs. #4 Arthur Abraham
Next Fight: 7/26/2014- vs. Sergey Khomitsky (UNR)
I thnk I read the initial report wrong, as Stieglitz will fight on July 26 instead of June 26.  His opponent will be the dangerously underrated Sergey Khomitsky, who arguably ought to own a win over Martin Murray.
4) James DeGale (7-8-144)
Last Fight: 5/31/2014- TKO4* #4 Brandon Gonzales
Next Fight: Unknown
See Froch’s notes, above.
5) Thomas Oosthuizen (8-163-211)
Last Fight: 11/9/2013- W* (MD12) vs. #13 Ezequiel Maderna
Next Fight: Unknown
Oosthuizen was supposed to fight Doudou Ngumbu on 6/21 and then enter his promoter’s Super 6 Tournament at 175.  Instead, Johnny Muller replaced him and lost, and thus ruined his own chances to fight in that tournament.  Now the word is that Oosthuizen is “in no position” to get in the ring for the tournament.  I wonder if that’s a reference to an injury, or just more weight issues.  Either way, it’s entirely clear that the South African is done at 168.
6) Ezequiel Maderna (8-36-81)
Last Fight: 4/25/2014- TKO3 Richard Vidal (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
7) George Groves (8-83-105)
Last Fight: 5/31/2014- L (KO8) vs. #1 Carl Froch
Next Fight: 9/20/2014- vs. #11 Christopher Rebrasse
Groves is scheduled to fight again on September 20, in an eliminator for a shot at the Bika-Dirrell winner.
8) Brandon Gonzales (7-55-55)
Last Fight: 5/31/2014- L (TKO4*) vs. #10 James DeGale
Next Fight: Unknown
Gonzales deserved a shot to continue, but he certainly didn’t look like an eventual winner under the best of circumstances against DeGale.
9) Julio Cesar Chavez, Jr. (7-20-20)
Last Fight: 3/1/2014- UD10 #5 MW Bryan Vera
Next Fight: Unknown
Despite Froch’s #1 contender being DeGale now, Chavez is getting buzz as a possible next opponent for the world-beating Brit.
10) Bryan Vera (7-20-20)
Last Fight: 3/1/2014- L (UD10) vs. Julio Cesar Chavez, Jr. (UNR)
Next Fight: 8/16/2014- vs. #17 JMW Gabriel Rosado (BKB)
In a surprise move, Vera will fight Gabriel Rosado in the main event of a “Big Knockout Boxing” card.  This is not quite the boxing you’re used to, with different rules regarding knockdowns and a circular “pit” replacing the traditional ring.  I haven’t yet decided if I will let it affect the rankings, considering that it will theoretically be a fair fight between two legitimate boxers.  I may have to see it in action before I know how I feel about its applicability to normal boxing.
11) Christopher Rebrasse (8-58)
Last Fight: 3/22/2014- TKO4 Mouhamed Ali Ndiaye (UNR)
Next Fight: 9/20/2014- vs. #7 George Groves
See Groves’ notes, above.
12) Sakio Bika (8-380)
Last Fight: 12/7/2013- Draw (SD12) vs. Anthony Dirrell (UNR)
Next Fight: 8/16/2014- vs. #17 Anthony Dirrell
Bika will re-match Anthony Dirrell on August 16 in Carson, California.
13) Maxim Vlasov (8-88)
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.
14) Edwin Rodriguez (8-78)
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.
15) Gilberto Ramirez (8-24)
Last Fight: 4/11/2014- TKO5 Giovanni Lorenzo (UNR)
Next Fight: 7/19/2014- vs. Junior Talipeau (UNR)
Ramirez will fight in Macau on July 19.  The opponent is Junior Talipeau, a relatively high-level Samoan-Kiwi-Australian journeyman.
16) Ryota Murata (8-47)
Last Fight: 5/22/2014- KO6 Jesus Angel Nerio (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
Murata is rumored to be fighting in Singapore in October.
17) Anthony Dirrell (8-32)
Last Fight: 12/7/2013- Draw (SD12) vs. #11 Sakio Bika
Next Fight: 8/16/2014- vs. #12 Sakio Bika
Dirrell will get a second crack at Bika on August 16.
18) Hadillah Mohoumadi (8-72)
Last Fight: 11/30/2013- TKO5 Bartlomiej Grafka (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
19) Caleb Truax (8-14)
Last Fight: 1/3/2014- Draw (MD10) vs. Ossie Duran (UNR)
Next Fight: 7/25/2014- vs. Derek Ennis (UNR)
Truax’s July 25 Friday Night Fights opponent is now Derek Ennis, rather than Porky Medina.  Basically a lateral move, but maybe a bit of a downgrade.
20) Derek Edwards (8-8)
Last Fight: 2/28/2014- TKO1 #20 Badou Jack
Next Fight: Unknown

 

The Week Ahead: 
Saturday
#15 Gilberto Ramirez vs. Junior Talipeau; Macao, China; HBO2 (US)
Ramirez gets a decent if unspectacular match-up this weekend on the Zou Shiming undercard in Macao.  Talipeau is a Kiwi-born resident of Australia.  He’s never beaten anyone on Ramirez’s level, but he did beat a top-50 version of Shannan Taylor back in 2010.  He comes off 3 consecutive wins over nobody in particular, while Ramirez has really been picking up steam with stoppage wins over the likes of underrated gatekeepers Derrick Findley and Don Mouton, along with faded former fringe contender Giovanni Lorenzo.  Talipeau should give him some resistance, but I can’t see him as a real threat to knock off the unbeaten Ramirez.

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Light Heavyweight: 2014, Jul 14-20

Posted in Light Heavyweight, Rankings with tags , , , , , , , on November 25, 2014 by danboxing
Thursday in Miami, Cuban (H)umberto Savigne basically just clubbed the hell out of the stationary target that was Jeff Lacy, or at least the empty shell of what once was Jeff Lacy.  This has been true for years, but Lacy needs to retire.  He barely tried, and he also behaved like a total novice by trying to complain about borderline shots behind the head that he himself caused by bending and twisting excessively.  Savigne dropped him in the first and stopped him in the second for a picnic of a win.

 

No changes.

 

Dan’s Top 20 (weeks in current position-weeks   in top 10 (if applicable)-weeks in top 20)
Champ: Andre Ward (97-97-97)
Last Fight: 11/16/2013- UD12 #15 Edwin Rodriguez (as SMW)
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) Adonis Stevenson (58-58-58)
Last Fight: 5/24/2014- UD12 #6 Andrzej Fonfara
Next Fight: Unknown
Stevenson is very likely to fight Bernard Hopkins next, though there have been no negotiations that I’m aware of yet.
2) Bernard Hopkins (97-423-423)
Last Fight: 4/19/2014- W (SD12*) vs. Beibut Shumenov (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
Hopkins is considering leaving Golden Boy.  This would give him free choice between Stevenson, Kovalev, or anyone else, really.  Mohammedi is now technically his mandatory, but we’ll see if they find some way around that.
3) Jean Pascal (26-26-26)
Last Fight: 1/18/2014- UD12 #16 Lucian Bute
Next Fight: Unknown
Pascal is pencilled in for a September fight, and perhaps one more before the end of the year.  There is currently talk of Tavoris Cloud being the September opponent.  That’s a significant step up from Sean Monaghan, who had been the odds-on favorite to fight Pascal on that date.
4) Sergey Kovalev (26-78-78)
Last Fight: 3/29/2014- KO7 #15 Cedric Agnew
Next Fight: 8/2/2014- vs. Blake Caparello (UNR)
Kovalev is back on August 2 against apparently one of the few guys willing to fight him- Australian undefeated prospect Blake Caparello.
5) Tony Bellew (4-144-144)
Last Fight: 7/12/2014- TKO5 Julio Cesar Dos Santos (UNR) (at CW)
Next Fight: Unknown
By all accounts, Bellew will fight Cleverly in the fall.  The date and location is all that’s left to decide.
6) Andrzej Fonfara (4-48-105)
Last Fight: 5/24/2014- L (UD12) vs. #1 Adonis Stevenson
Next Fight: Unknown
There are rumors of negotiations for a fight with Chad Dawson.
7) Gabriel Campillo (4-212-212)
Last Fight: 5/9/2014- TKO7 Ricky Pow (UNR)
Next Fight: 8/1/2014- vs. #13 Thomas Williams, Jr.
This could be the start of Campillo’s resurgence, or the continuation of his decline.  He’ll fight up-and-comer Thomas Williams, Jr. on Friday Night Fights, August 1.
8) Tavoris Cloud (4-255-255)
Last Fight: 9/28/2013- L (TKO7) vs. #1 Adonis Stevenson
Next Fight: Unknown
A September 27 fight with Pascal is a possibility.
9) Nathan Cleverly (4-232-232)
Last Fight: 7/12/2014- TKO4 Alejandro Valori (UNR)(at CW)
Next Fight: Unknown
See Bellew’s notes, above.
10) Isaac Chilemba (4-4-128)
Last Fight: 3/15/2014- UD10 Denis Grachev (UNR)
Next Fight: 8/2/2014- vs. Cory Cummings (UNR)
Chilemba will fight on the Kovalev-Caparello card on August 2, taking on mid-level journeyman Cory Cummings in a stay-busy fight.
11) Jürgen Brähmer (4-117)
Last Fight: 6/7/2014- UD12 Roberto Feliciano Bolonti (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
Braehmer looked solid for 11 of the 12 rounds against Bolonti.  It’s said that he aspires to a Hopkins fight.
12) Karo Murat (4-38)
Last Fight: 10/26/2013- L (UD12) vs. #2 Bernard Hopkins
Next Fight: Unknown
Murat wants Braehmer, his former stablemate, but is now without a promoter, which probably means Sauerland isn’t falling all over themselves to make that fight.
13) Thomas Williams, Jr. (4-25)
Last Fight: 4/24/2014- TKO3 Enrique Ornelas (UNR)
Next Fight: 8/1/2014- vs. #7 Gabriel Campillo
See Campillo’s notes, above.
14) Cedric Agnew (4-66)
Last Fight: 6/27/2014- RTD2 Shannon Miller (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
After taking a risk against Kovalev and coming up short, I can only assume that his prospects for a regional title bout against Dudchenko and a IBF eliminator against Sukhotsky might both be out the window at least for the moment.
15) Edwin Rodriguez (4-53)
Last Fight: 11/16/2013- L (UD12) vs. Champ Andre Ward
Next Fight: Unknown
Rodriguez was scheduled to fight Marcus Johnson on May 24, but Johnson quickly withdrew.
16) Hadillah Mohoumadi (4-55)
Last Fight: 11/30/2013- TKO5 Bartlomiej Grafka (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
17) Cornelius White (4-135)
Last Fight: 1/24/2014- L (TKO1) vs. Thomas Williams, Jr. (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
Never blessed with big-time promotional or managerial ties, White has risked becoming a permanent opponent with his last two losses.
18) Eleider Alvarez (4-77)
Last Fight: 5/24/2014- UD10 Alexander Johnson (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
19) Lucian Bute (4-89)
Last Fight: 1/18/2014- L (UD12) vs. Jean Pascal (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
Bute wants his contractually-guaranteed rematch with Pascal, a fight that appears tentatively planned for late in the year.  He recently parted ways with his long-time trainer, and says he’s in no hurry to get back in the ring.
20) Dmitry Sukhotsky (4-4)
Last Fight: 6/4/2014- UD12 Joey Vegas (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
I can’t find a video anywhere, but Sukhotsky’s win over Joey Vegas in Russia was suspiciously close.

 

The Week Ahead: No light heavyweight action on tap for this week.

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Super Middleweight: 2014, Jul 7-13

Posted in Rankings, Super Middleweight with tags , , , , , , , on November 21, 2014 by danboxing
Nothing to report from the division last week.

 

Dan’s Top 20
Champ: Andre Ward (134-268-268)
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 (111-421-421)
Last Fight: 5/31/2014- KO8 #7 George Groves
Next Fight: Unknown
Froch now says he doesn’t want Ward due to a lack of marketability on the part of the American Champion.  Bika has offered him a unification, but I imagine there would be similar problems with that.  Chavez, Jr. might be the answer, and that fight is definitely in talks, with Froch apparently targeting November or December.
2) Arthur Abraham (19-246-246)
Last Fight: 5/3/2014- UD12 Nikola Sjekloca (UNR)
Next Fight: 9/27/2014- vs. Paul Smith (UNR)
Abraham gets what should be a relatively easy defense on September 27 against gatekeeper Paul Smith of England.
3) Robert Stieglitz (19-254-254)
Last Fight: 3/1/2014- L (SD12) vs. #4 Arthur Abraham
Next Fight: 7/26/2014- vs. Sergey Khomitsky (UNR)
I thnk I read the initial report wrong, as Stieglitz will fight on July 26 instead of June 26.  His opponent will be the dangerously underrated Sergey Khomitsky, who arguably ought to own a win over Martin Murray.
4) James DeGale (6-7-143)
Last Fight: 5/31/2014- TKO4* #4 Brandon Gonzales
Next Fight: Unknown
DeGale is now set up for a shot at Froch’s title, in a fight that would no doubt do huge numbers in the UK again.  Froch appears cold to the matchup, for his part.  DeGale is likely back on October 11, in any event.
5) Thomas Oosthuizen (7-162-210)
Last Fight: 11/9/2013- W* (MD12) vs. #13 Ezequiel Maderna
Next Fight: Unknown
Oosthuizen was supposed to fight Doudou Ngumbu on 6/21 and then enter his promoter’s Super 6 Tournament at 175.  Instead, Johnny Muller replaced him and lost, and thus ruined his own chances to fight in that tournament.  Now the word is that Oosthuizen is “in no position” to get in the ring for the tournament.  I wonder if that’s a reference to an injury, or just more weight issues.  Either way, it’s entirely clear that the South African is done at 168.
6) Ezequiel Maderna (7-35-80)
Last Fight: 4/25/2014- TKO3 Richard Vidal (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
Maderna stayed busy in impressive fashion against Vidal.
7) George Groves (7-82-104)
Last Fight: 5/31/2014- L (KO8) vs. #1 Carl Froch
Next Fight: 9/13/2014- vs. Unknown Opponent
Groves is scheduled to fight again on September 13, in what is expected to be an eliminator for a shot at the Bika-Dirrell winner.
8) Brandon Gonzales (6-54-54)
Last Fight: 5/31/2014- L (TKO4*) vs. #10 James DeGale
Next Fight: Unknown
Gonzales deserved a shot to continue, but he certainly didn’t look like an eventual winner under the best of circumstances against DeGale.
9) Julio Cesar Chavez, Jr. (6-19-19)
Last Fight: 3/1/2014- UD10 #5 MW Bryan Vera
Next Fight: Unknown
Despite Froch’s #1 contender being DeGale now, Chavez is getting buzz as a possible next opponent for the world-beating Brit.
10) Bryan Vera (6-19-19)
Last Fight: 3/1/2014- L (UD10) vs. Julio Cesar Chavez, Jr. (UNR)
Next Fight: 8/16/2014- vs. #17 JMW Gabriel Rosado (BKB)
In a surprise move, Vera will fight Gabriel Rosado in the main event of a “Big Knockout Boxing” card.  This is not quite the boxing you’re used to, with different rules regarding knockdowns and a circular “pit” replacing the traditional ring.  I haven’t yet decided if I will let it affect the rankings, considering that it will theoretically be a fair fight between two legitimate boxers.  I may have to see it in action before I know how I feel about its applicability to normal boxing.
11) Christopher Rebrasse (7-57)
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.
12) Sakio Bika (7-379)
Last Fight: 12/7/2013- Draw (SD12) vs. Anthony Dirrell (UNR)
Next Fight: 8/16/2014- vs. #17 Anthony Dirrell
Bika will re-match Anthony Dirrell on August 16, with the location yet to be determined.
13) Maxim Vlasov (7-87)
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.
14) Edwin Rodriguez (7-77)
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.
15) Gilberto Ramirez (7-23)
Last Fight: 4/11/2014- TKO5 Giovanni Lorenzo (UNR)
Next Fight: 7/19/2014- vs. Junior Talipeau (UNR)
Ramirez will fight in Macau on July 19.  The opponent is Junior Talipeau, a relatively high-level Samoan-Kiwi-Australian journeyman.
16) Ryota Murata (7-46)
Last Fight: 5/22/2014- KO6 Jesus Angel Nerio (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
Murata is rumored to be fighting in Singapore in October.
17) Anthony Dirrell (7-31)
Last Fight: 12/7/2013- Draw (SD12) vs. #11 Sakio Bika
Next Fight: 8/16/2014- vs. #12 Sakio Bika
Dirrell will get a second crack at Bika on August 16.
18) Hadillah Mohoumadi (7-71)
Last Fight: 11/30/2013- TKO5 Bartlomiej Grafka (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
19) Caleb Truax (7-13)
Last Fight: 1/3/2014- Draw (MD10) vs. Ossie Duran (UNR)
Next Fight: 7/25/2014- vs. Derek Ennis (UNR)
Truax’s July 25 Friday Night Fights opponent is now Derek Ennis, rather than Porky Medina.  Basically a lateral move, but maybe a bit of a downgrade.
20) Derek Edwards (7-7)
Last Fight: 2/28/2014- TKO1 #20 Badou Jack
Next Fight: Unknown

 

The Week Ahead: 
Saturday
Callum Smith vs. Vladine Biosse; Liverpool, England; Sky (UK)
Smith is an undefeated English prospect, and the younger brother of gatekeeper Paul Smith.  He’s been almost entirely impressive in every fight I’ve seen him in so far, using his long arms to get great leverage on his shots.  Biosse is a Rhode Island journeyman originally from Cape Verde.  He was once a promising prospect, but he’s just 1-2-1 in his last four fights, and it’s not like he was fighting Andre Ward.  He’s been stopped in all three of his career losses, so this should be a golden opportunity for Smith to shine.

 

Rocky Fielding vs. Noe Gonzalez; Liverpool, England; Sky (UK)
Fielding is an undefeated Liverpool native.  He’s yet to really be tested above the mid-level journeyman tier of competition.  Now he will be.  Gonzalez is a reliable gatekeeper who has a win over a top 50 fighter within the last 5 years.  The Uruguayan has 3 losses in his career, and they read like a who’s who: Felix Sturm, Adonis Stevenson, and George Groves.  The latter two stopped Gonzalez with little difficulty, though, and that is an accomplishment to which Fielding would love to lay claim.

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Light Heavyweight: 2014, Jul 7-13

Posted in Light Heavyweight, Rankings with tags , , , , , , , on November 20, 2014 by danboxing
One-loss Kiwi prospect Robert Berridge lived up to his “butcher” nickname on Saturday, chopping down overpowered fellow one-loss prospect Rogerio Damasco of Brazil with big right hands to score two knockdowns and end it by the end of the first, when the unproven Brazilian’s corner stepped up to call it off.  No changes this week.

 

Dan’s Top 20 (weeks in current position-weeks   in top 10 (if applicable)-weeks in top 20)
Champ: Andre Ward (96-96-96)
Last Fight: 11/16/2013- UD12 #15 Edwin Rodriguez (as SMW)
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) Adonis Stevenson (57-57-57)
Last Fight: 5/24/2014- UD12 #6 Andrzej Fonfara
Next Fight: Unknown
Stevenson is very likely to fight Bernard Hopkins next, though there have been no negotiations that I’m aware of yet.
2) Bernard Hopkins (96-422-422)
Last Fight: 4/19/2014- W (SD12*) vs. Beibut Shumenov (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
Hopkins is considering leaving Golden Boy.  This would give him free choice between Stevenson, Kovalev, or anyone else, really.  Mohammedi is now technically his mandatory, but we’ll see if they find some way around that.
3) Jean Pascal (25-25-25)
Last Fight: 1/18/2014- UD12 #16 Lucian Bute
Next Fight: Unknown
Pascal is pencilled in for a September fight, and perhaps one more before the end of the year.  There is currently talk of Tavoris Cloud being the September opponent.  That’s a significant step up from Sean Monaghan, who had been the odds-on favorite to fight Pascal on that date.
4) Sergey Kovalev (25-77-77)
Last Fight: 3/29/2014- KO7 #15 Cedric Agnew
Next Fight: 8/2/2014- vs. Blake Caparello (UNR)
Kovalev is back on August 2 against apparently one of the few guys willing to fight him- Australian undefeated prospect Blake Caparello.
5) Tony Bellew (3-143-143)
Last Fight: 3/15/2014- KO12 Valery Brudov (UNR) (at CW)
Next Fight: 7/12/2014- vs. Julio Cesar Dos Santos (UNR) (at CW)
Bellew’s July 12 opponent has been announced as Brazilian 2-loss fringe prospect Julio Cesar Dos Santos, who will basically just be extending his training camp after an aborted fight with Thabiso Mchunu. 
6) Andrzej Fonfara (3-47-104)
Last Fight: 5/24/2014- L (UD12) vs. #1 Adonis Stevenson
Next Fight: Unknown
See Kovalev’s notes, above.
7) Gabriel Campillo (3-211-211)
Last Fight: 5/9/2014- TKO7 Ricky Pow (UNR)
Next Fight: 8/1/2014- vs. #13 Thomas Williams, Jr.
This could be the start of Campillo’s resurgence, or the continuation of his decline.  He’ll fight up-and-comer Thomas Williams, Jr. on Friday Night Fights, August 1.
8) Tavoris Cloud (3-254-254)
Last Fight: 9/28/2013- L (TKO7) vs. #1 Adonis Stevenson
Next Fight: Unknown
A September 27 fight with Pascal is a possibility.
9) Nathan Cleverly (3-231-231)
Last Fight: 5/17/2013- TKO2 Shawn Corbin (UNR) (at CW)
Next Fight: 7/12/2014- vs. Alejandro Valori (UNR)
Cleverly looked good against Corbin in his cruiserweight debut.  He’ll keep his ranking here until he schedules a cruiserweight fight for after August 17 (the anniversary of his last fight in this division), or until that date passes, whichever comes first.  He will fight next on July 12, when he takes on Argentine gatekeeper Alejandro Valori at the 200 pound limit.  Valori is a solid performer on the South American scene, but has never fought outside Argentina.  If he gets by that, Bellew-Cleverly II is being targeted for November.
10) Isaac Chilemba (3-3-127)
Last Fight: 3/15/2014- UD10 Denis Grachev (UNR)
Next Fight: 8/2/2014- vs. Cory Cummings (UNR)
Chilemba will fight on the Kovalev-Caparello card on August 2, taking on mid-level journeyman Cory Cummings in a stay-busy fight.
11) Jürgen Brähmer (3-116)
Last Fight: 6/7/2014- UD12 Roberto Feliciano Bolonti (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
Braehmer looked solid for 11 of the 12 rounds against Bolonti.  It’s said that he aspires to a Hopkins fight.
12) Karo Murat (3-37)
Last Fight: 10/26/2013- L (UD12) vs. #2 Bernard Hopkins
Next Fight: Unknown
Murat wants Braehmer, his former stablemate, but is now without a promoter, which probably means Sauerland isn’t falling all over themselves to make that fight.
13) Thomas Williams, Jr. (3-24)
Last Fight: 4/24/2014- TKO3 Enrique Ornelas (UNR)
Next Fight: 8/1/2014- vs. #7 Gabriel Campillo
See Campillo’s notes, above.
14) Cedric Agnew (3-65)
Last Fight: 6/27/2014- RTD2 Shannon Miller (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
After taking a risk against Kovalev and coming up short, I can only assume that his prospects for a regional title bout against Dudchenko and a IBF eliminator against Sukhotsky might both be out the window at least for the moment.
15) Edwin Rodriguez (3-52)
Last Fight: 11/16/2013- L (UD12) vs. Champ Andre Ward
Next Fight: Unknown
Rodriguez was scheduled to fight Marcus Johnson on May 24, but Johnson quickly withdrew.
16) Hadillah Mohoumadi (3-54)
Last Fight: 11/30/2013- TKO5 Bartlomiej Grafka (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
17) Cornelius White (3-134)
Last Fight: 1/24/2014- L (TKO1) vs. Thomas Williams, Jr. (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
Never blessed with big-time promotional or managerial ties, White has risked becoming a permanent opponent with his last two losses.
18) Eleider Alvarez (3-76)
Last Fight: 5/24/2014- UD10 Alexander Johnson (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
There are rumors springing up in Russia of Alvarez fighting Dmitry Sukhotsky on July 19 in Quebec.
19) Lucian Bute (3-88)
Last Fight: 1/18/2014- L (UD12) vs. Jean Pascal (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
Bute wants his contractually-guaranteed rematch with Pascal, a fight that appears tentatively planned for late in the year.  He recently parted ways with his long-time trainer, and says he’s in no hurry to get back in the ring.
20) Dmitry Sukhotsky (3-3)
Last Fight: 6/4/2014- UD12 Joey Vegas (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
I can’t find a video anywhere, but Sukhotsky’s win over Joey Vegas in Russia was suspiciously close.

 

The Week Ahead: 
Thursday
Umberto Savigne vs. Jeff Lacy; Miami, Florida; FS1 (US)
Savigne is a one-loss Cuban prospect who is roughly at about the top 25-30 level, but hasn’t made 175 since March of last year.  Not only that, but he failed a drug test for that fight, though for the life of me I can’t find any reporting on what exactly he tested positive for.  Lacy was once a serious contender, but he’s all kinds of shot at this point, and has been for a while.  Lacy last beat a fighter that was even kinda good back in April 2009, when he won a questionable decision against Otis Griffin.  Since then, he’s lost to someone named Dhafir Smith (2010) and made a fairly shot Roy Jones look fantastic in late 2009.  Savigne should cut through him like butter.

 

Ranked contenders Tony Bellew and Nathan Cleverly are in action, but their fights are both at cruiserweight and will only be mentioned there unless they happen to affect the rankings here.

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Super Middleweight: 2014, Jun 30- Jul 6

Posted in Rankings, Super Middleweight with tags , , , , , , , on November 20, 2014 by danboxing
Wednesday in the boxing hotbed of Flemington, Australia, undefeated prospect Jake Carr got a dominant decision over less advanced undefeated Dane Mulivai to capture the Australian title.  Carr got the nod from every one of the three judges in 9 of the 10 rounds, while judge Samantha Bulner gave Mulivai a share of one single round.  

 

Friday’s ShoBox telecast from Las Vegas featured, as I predicted, a well-matched fight between prospects Dominic Wade and Nick Brinson.  It was a very tight contest.  I had it 95-95, but 4 of the 10 rounds were fairly classified as toss-ups (two of which I gave to each fighter).  I thought anything between 97-93 either way would have been reasonable.  Tim Cheatham and Robert Hoyle both took that opportunity, giving all of the toss-ups to Wade, it would appear, to score it 97-93 for the more well-connected of the two prospects.  Adelaide Byrd had a perhaps more impartial view, scoring it only 96-94 for Wade.  The Showtime crew, as is often the case, was horrifically biased toward the house fighter, and I won’t even mention how they saw it.  Overall, Wade liked to dance a bit much on the outside for my taste, and wasted some potential by letting the fight get away from him a bit late, as Brinson closed strong by clearly winning two of the last 3, and maybe even all three if you’re generous.  Brinson was more aggressive in general over the second half, and was the harder worker overall.  That being said, he was forced to work harder to land punches, it appeared, due to his shots being a little wider than Wade’s.  A clear win for either man might have put the winner in the hunt for a ranking, but the indecisive result keeps them both on the fringes for the moment.  By the way, this was barely a super middleweight fight, with the bigger of the two guys coming in under 162.  But with neither guy having a top 50 victory at 160, this is the only division that this could have an impact upon.

 

Saturday in Santo Domingo of the Dominican Republic. undefeated prospect Fedor Chudinov scored a 3rd-round TKO over undefeated but completely untested prospect Andy Ruiz, who was also a late replacement.  Along the way, Chudinov knocked the hopeless Ruiz down once in each round.

 

Another mismatch scheduled to proceed in Kinshasa, Congo failed to come off, with #11 Christopher Rebrasse not getting his expected opportunity to beat up on the hopeless Cedric Sperra.

 

Wade and Brinson each top out at about the lower reaches of the top 40, with none of the other fights having the necessary level to have any effect.  No changes this week.

 

Dan’s Top 20
Champ: Andre Ward (133-267-267)
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 (110-420-420)
Last Fight: 5/31/2014- KO8 #7 George Groves
Next Fight: Unknown
Froch now says he doesn’t want Ward due to a lack of marketability on the part of the American Champion.  Bika has offered him a unification, but I imagine there would be similar problems with that.  Chavez, Jr. might be the answer, and that fight is definitely in talks, with Froch apparently targeting November or December.
2) Arthur Abraham (18-245-245)
Last Fight: 5/3/2014- UD12 Nikola Sjekloca (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
September 27 will likely feature a fight with Paul Smith.
3) Robert Stieglitz (18-253-253)
Last Fight: 3/1/2014- L (SD12) vs. #4 Arthur Abraham
Next Fight: 7/26/2014- vs. Sergey Khomitsky (UNR)
I thnk I read the initial report wrong, as Stieglitz will fight on July 26 instead of June 26.  His opponent will be the dangerously underrated Sergey Khomitsky, who arguably ought to own a win over Martin Murray.
4) James DeGale (5-6-142)
Last Fight: 5/31/2014- TKO4* #4 Brandon Gonzales
Next Fight: Unknown
DeGale is now set up for a shot at Froch’s title, in a fight that would no doubt do huge numbers in the UK again.  Froch appears cold to the matchup, for his part.  DeGale is likely back on October 11, in any event.
5) Thomas Oosthuizen (6-161-209)
Last Fight: 11/9/2013- W* (MD12) vs. #13 Ezequiel Maderna
Next Fight: Unknown
Oosthuizen was scheduled to fight at 175 against Doudou Ngumbu on 6/21, but was replaced by countryman Johnny Muller on short notice.  I still haven’t heard why.
6) Ezequiel Maderna (6-34-79)
Last Fight: 4/25/2014- TKO3 Richard Vidal (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
Maderna stayed busy in impressive fashion against Vidal.
7) George Groves (6-81-103)
Last Fight: 5/31/2014- L (KO8) vs. #1 Carl Froch
Next Fight: Unknown
Groves is rumored to be expected back in September.  Some unconfirmed theories suggest Groves might finally rematch DeGale soon, though DeGale is already in line for a shot at Froch.
8) Brandon Gonzales (5-53-53)
Last Fight: 5/31/2014- L (TKO4*) vs. #10 James DeGale
Next Fight: Unknown
Gonzales deserved a shot to continue, but he certainly didn’t look like an eventual winner under the best of circumstances against DeGale.
9) Julio Cesar Chavez, Jr. (5-18-18)
Last Fight: 3/1/2014- UD10 #5 MW Bryan Vera
Next Fight: Unknown
Despite Froch’s #1 contender being DeGale now, Chavez is getting buzz as a possible next opponent for the world-beating Brit.
10) Bryan Vera (5-18-18)
Last Fight: 3/1/2014- L (UD10) vs. Julio Cesar Chavez, Jr. (UNR)
Next Fight: 8/16/2014- vs. #17 JMW Gabriel Rosado (BKB)
In a surprise move, Vera will fight Gabriel Rosado in the main event of a “Big Knockout Boxing” card.  This is not quite the boxing you’re used to, with different rules regarding knockdowns and a circular “pit” replacing the traditional ring.  I haven’t yet decided if I will let it affect the rankings, considering that it will theoretically be a fair fight between two legitimate boxers.  I may have to see it in action before I know how I feel about its applicability to normal boxing.
11) Christopher Rebrasse (6-56)
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.
12) Sakio Bika (6-378)
Last Fight: 12/7/2013- Draw (SD12) vs. Anthony Dirrell (UNR)
Next Fight: 8/16/2014- vs. #17 Anthony Dirrell
Bika will re-match Anthony Dirrell on August 16, with the location yet to be determined.
13) Maxim Vlasov (6-86)
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.
14) Edwin Rodriguez (6-76)
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.
15) Gilberto Ramirez (6-22)
Last Fight: 4/11/2014- TKO5 Giovanni Lorenzo (UNR)
Next Fight: 7/19/2014- vs. Junior Talipeau (UNR)
Ramirez will fight in Macau on July 19.  The opponent is Junior Talipeau, a relatively high-level Samoan-Kiwi-Australian journeyman.
16) Ryota Murata (6-45)
Last Fight: 5/22/2014- KO6 Jesus Angel Nerio (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
Murata is rumored to be fighting in Singapore in October.
17) Anthony Dirrell (6-30)
Last Fight: 12/7/2013- Draw (SD12) vs. #11 Sakio Bika
Next Fight: 8/16/2014- vs. #12 Sakio Bika
Dirrell will get a second crack at Bika on August 16.
18) Hadillah Mohoumadi (6-70)
Last Fight: 11/30/2013- TKO5 Bartlomiej Grafka (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
19) Caleb Truax (6-12)
Last Fight: 1/3/2014- Draw (MD10) vs. Ossie Duran (UNR)
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.
20) Derek Edwards (6-6)
Last Fight: 2/28/2014- TKO1 #20 Badou Jack
Next Fight: Unknown

 

The Week Ahead: There’s no super middleweight action of importance planned for this week.

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Light Heavyweight: 2014, Jun 30- Jul 6

Posted in Light Heavyweight, Rankings with tags , , , , , , , on November 20, 2014 by danboxing
#14 Cedric Agnew got an easy night on Friday in Houston against hopelessly outmatched very low-level veteran journeyman Shannon Miller, who failed to answer the bell for the 2nd round.  For what it’s worth, Agnew came in at 176.  No changes.

 

Dan’s Top 20 (weeks in current position-weeks   in top 10 (if applicable)-weeks in top 20)
Champ: Andre Ward (95-95-95)
Last Fight: 11/16/2013- UD12 #15 Edwin Rodriguez (as SMW)
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) Adonis Stevenson (56-56-56)
Last Fight: 5/24/2014- UD12 #6 Andrzej Fonfara
Next Fight: Unknown
Stevenson is very likely to fight Bernard Hopkins next, though there have been no negotiations that I’m aware of yet.
2) Bernard Hopkins (95-421-421)
Last Fight: 4/19/2014- W (SD12*) vs. Beibut Shumenov (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
Hopkins is considering leaving Golden Boy.  This would give him free choice between Stevenson, Kovalev, or anyone else, really.  Mohammedi is now technically his mandatory, but we’ll see if they find some way around that.
3) Jean Pascal (24-24-24)
Last Fight: 1/18/2014- UD12 #16 Lucian Bute
Next Fight: Unknown
Pascal is pencilled in for a September fight, and perhaps one more before the end of the year.  There is currently talk of Tavoris Cloud being the September opponent.  That’s a significant step up from Sean Monaghan, who had been the odds-on favorite to fight Pascal on that date.
4) Sergey Kovalev (24-76-76)
Last Fight: 3/29/2014- KO7 #15 Cedric Agnew
Next Fight: 8/2/2014- vs. Blake Caparello (UNR)
Kovalev is back on August 2 against apparently one of the few guys willing to fight him- Australian undefeated prospect Blake Caparello.
5) Tony Bellew (2-142-142)
Last Fight: 3/15/2014- KO12 Valery Brudov (UNR) (at CW)
Next Fight: 7/12/2014- vs. Julio Cesar Dos Santos (UNR) (at CW)
Bellew’s July 12 opponent has been announced as Brazilian 2-loss fringe prospect Julio Cesar Dos Santos, who will basically just be extending his training camp after an aborted fight with Thabiso Mchunu. 
6) Andrzej Fonfara (2-46-103)
Last Fight: 5/24/2014- L (UD12) vs. #1 Adonis Stevenson
Next Fight: Unknown
See Kovalev’s notes, above.
7) Gabriel Campillo (2-210-210)
Last Fight: 5/9/2014- TKO7 Ricky Pow (UNR)
Next Fight: 8/1/2014- vs. #13 Thomas Williams, Jr.
This could be the start of Campillo’s resurgence, or the continuation of his decline.  He’ll fight up-and-comer Thomas Williams, Jr. on Friday Night Fights, August 1.
8) Tavoris Cloud (2-253-253)
Last Fight: 9/28/2013- L (TKO7) vs. #1 Adonis Stevenson
Next Fight: Unknown
A September 27 fight with Pascal is a possibility.
9) Nathan Cleverly (2-230-230)
Last Fight: 5/17/2013- TKO2 Shawn Corbin (UNR) (at CW)
Next Fight: 7/12/2014- vs. Alejandro Valori (UNR)
Cleverly looked good against Corbin in his cruiserweight debut.  He’ll keep his ranking here until he schedules a cruiserweight fight for after August 17 (the anniversary of his last fight in this division), or until that date passes, whichever comes first.  He will fight next on July 12, when he takes on Argentine gatekeeper Alejandro Valori at the 200 pound limit.  Valori is a solid performer on the South American scene, but has never fought outside Argentina.  If he gets by that, Bellew-Cleverly II is being targeted for November.
10) Isaac Chilemba (2-2-126)
Last Fight: 3/15/2014- UD10 Denis Grachev (UNR)
Next Fight: 8/2/2014- vs. Unknown Opponent
Chilemba looked very very sharp in dominating a game Denis Grachev, and might soon be in line for a shot at Adonis Stevenson. He’s coming back on the Rios-Chaves undercard on August 2, but no opponent yet.
11) Jürgen Brähmer (2-115)
Last Fight: 6/7/2014- UD12 Roberto Feliciano Bolonti (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
Braehmer looked solid for 11 of the 12 rounds against Bolonti.  It’s said that he aspires to a Hopkins fight.
12) Karo Murat (2-36)
Last Fight: 10/26/2013- L (UD12) vs. #2 Bernard Hopkins
Next Fight: Unknown
Murat wants Braehmer, his former stablemate, but is now without a promoter, which probably means Sauerland isn’t falling all over themselves to make that fight.
13) Thomas Williams, Jr. (2-23)
Last Fight: 4/24/2014- TKO3 Enrique Ornelas (UNR)
Next Fight: 8/1/2014- vs. #7 Gabriel Campillo
See Campillo’s notes, above.
14) Cedric Agnew (2-64)
Last Fight: 6/27/2014- RTD2 Shannon Miller (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
After taking a risk against Kovalev and coming up short, I can only assume that his prospects for a regional title bout against Dudchenko and a IBF eliminator against Sukhotsky might both be out the window at least for the moment.
15) Edwin Rodriguez (2-51)
Last Fight: 11/16/2013- L (UD12) vs. Champ Andre Ward
Next Fight: Unknown
Rodriguez was scheduled to fight Marcus Johnson on May 24, but Johnson quickly withdrew.
16) Hadillah Mohoumadi (2-53)
Last Fight: 11/30/2013- TKO5 Bartlomiej Grafka (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
17) Cornelius White (2-133)
Last Fight: 1/24/2014- L (TKO1) vs. Thomas Williams, Jr. (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
Never blessed with big-time promotional or managerial ties, White has risked becoming a permanent opponent with his last two losses.
18) Eleider Alvarez (2-75)
Last Fight: 5/24/2014- UD10 Alexander Johnson (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
There are rumors springing up in Russia of Alvarez fighting Dmitry Sukhotsky on July 19 in Quebec.
19) Lucian Bute (2-87)
Last Fight: 1/18/2014- L (UD12) vs. Jean Pascal (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
Bute wants his contractually-guaranteed rematch with Pascal, a fight that appears tentatively planned for late in the year.  He recently parted ways with his long-time trainer, and says he’s in no hurry to get back in the ring.
20) Dmitry Sukhotsky (2-2)
Last Fight: 6/4/2014- UD12 Joey Vegas (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
I can’t find a video anywhere, but Sukhotsky’s win over Joey Vegas in Russia was suspiciously close.

 

The Week Ahead: 
Saturday
Robert Berridge vs. Rogerio Damasco; Manukau, New Zealand; Sky Arena (NZ)
Robbie “the Butcher” is a veteran prospect of some note, whose only loss was to Blake Caparello.  Damasco, from Brazil, is a one-loss prospect in his own right, and his only career loss was to a fellow undefeated in Isidro Ranoni Prieto earlier this year in Argentina.  That was the only real fighter he’s been in with, unfortunately, so Berridge has to be the heavy favorite, as if the location of the fight wasn’t enough of a clue.

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Super Middleweight: 2014, Jun 23-29

Posted in Rankings, Super Middleweight with tags , , , , , , , on November 17, 2014 by danboxing
Super Middleweight was utterly devoid of any action last week.  Devoid, I say!

 

Dan’s Top 20
Champ: Andre Ward (132-266-266)
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 (109-419-419)
Last Fight: 5/31/2014- KO8 #7 George Groves
Next Fight: Unknown
Froch now says he doesn’t want Ward due to a lack of marketability on the part of the American Champion.  Bika has offered him a unification, but I imagine there would be similar problems with that.  Chavez, Jr. might be the answer, and that fight is lightly rumored.
2) Arthur Abraham (17-244-244)
Last Fight: 5/3/2014- UD12 Nikola Sjekloca (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
September 27 will likely feature a fight with Paul Smith.
3) Robert Stieglitz (17-252-252)
Last Fight: 3/1/2014- L (SD12) vs. #4 Arthur Abraham
Next Fight: 7/26/2014- vs. Sergey Khomitsky (UNR)
I thnk I read the initial report wrong, as Stieglitz will fight on July 26 instead of June 26.  His opponent will be the dangerously underrated Sergey Khomitsky, who arguably ought to own a win over Martin Murray.
4) James DeGale (4-5-141)
Last Fight: 5/31/2014- TKO4* #4 Brandon Gonzales
Next Fight: Unknown
DeGale is now set up for a shot at Froch’s title, in a fight that would no doubt do huge numbers in the UK again.  Froch appears cold to the matchup, for his part.
5) Thomas Oosthuizen (5-160-208)
Last Fight: 11/9/2013- W* (MD12) vs. #13 Ezequiel Maderna
Next Fight: Unknown
Oosthuizen was scheduled to fight at 175 against Doudou Ngumbu on 6/21, but was replaced by countryman Johnny Muller on short notice.  I still haven’t heard why.
6) Ezequiel Maderna (5-33-78)
Last Fight: 4/25/2014- TKO3 Richard Vidal (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
Maderna stayed busy in impressive fashion against Vidal.
7) George Groves (5-80-102)
Last Fight: 5/31/2014- L (KO8) vs. #1 Carl Froch
Next Fight: Unknown
Groves is rumored to be expected back in September.  Some unconfirmed theories suggest Groves might finally rematch DeGale soon, though DeGale is already in line for a shot at Froch.
8) Brandon Gonzales (4-52-52)
Last Fight: 5/31/2014- L (TKO4*) vs. #10 James DeGale
Next Fight: Unknown
Gonzales deserved a shot to continue, but he certainly didn’t look like an eventual winner under the best of circumstances against DeGale.
9) Julio Cesar Chavez, Jr. (4-17-17)
Last Fight: 3/1/2014- UD10 #5 MW Bryan Vera
Next Fight: Unknown
Despite Froch’s #1 contender being DeGale now, Chavez is getting buzz as a possible next opponent for the world-beating Brit.
10) Bryan Vera (4-17-17)
Last Fight: 3/1/2014- L (UD10) vs. Julio Cesar Chavez, Jr. (UNR)
Next Fight: 8/16/2014- vs. #17 JMW Gabriel Rosado (BKB)
In a surprise move, Vera will fight Gabriel Rosado in the main event of a “Big Knockout Boxing” card.  This is not quite the boxing you’re used to, with different rules regarding knockdowns and a circular “pit” replacing the traditional ring.  I haven’t yet decided if I will let it affect the rankings, considering that it will theoretically be a fair fight between two legitimate boxers.  I may have to see it in action before I know how I feel about its applicability to normal boxing.
11) Christopher Rebrasse (5-55)
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.
12) Sakio Bika (5-377)
Last Fight: 12/7/2013- Draw (SD12) vs. Anthony Dirrell (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
Bika is interested in a fight with Froch.
13) Maxim Vlasov (5-85)
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.
14) Edwin Rodriguez (5-75)
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.
15) Gilberto Ramirez (5-21)
Last Fight: 4/11/2014- TKO5 Giovanni Lorenzo (UNR)
Next Fight: 7/19/2014- vs. Junior Talipeau (UNR)
Ramirez will fight in Macau on July 19.  The opponent is Junior Talipeau, a relatively high-level Samoan-Kiwi-Australian journeyman.
16) Ryota Murata (5-44)
Last Fight: 5/22/2014- KO6 Jesus Angel Nerio (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
Murata set the bar high for himself by beating a fringe contender in his pro debut.  Fights like the Nerio domination are just stay-busy efforts by comparison.
17) Anthony Dirrell (5-29)
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).
18) Hadillah Mohoumadi (5-69)
Last Fight: 11/30/2013- TKO5 Bartlomiej Grafka (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
19) Caleb Truax (5-11)
Last Fight: 1/3/2014- Draw (MD10) vs. Ossie Duran (UNR)
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.
20) Derek Edwards (5-5)
Last Fight: 2/28/2014- TKO1 #20 Badou Jack
Next Fight: Unknown

 

The Week Ahead: 
Wednesday
Jake Carr vs. Dane Mulivai; Flemington, Australia; FS2 (Australia)
This is an intriguing battle of two young undefeated prospects.  23 year-old Carr is the more advanced of the two in terms of accomplishment, as he’s already a top 50 fighter at just 8-0.  Mulivai is 4-0, and is still a relative novice, especially for a scheduled 10-round fight.

 

Friday
Dominic Wade vs. Nick Brinson; Las Vegas, Nevada; Showtime (US)
Like the fight above, both guys are prospects.  Wade is undefeated and is the better connected of the two.  He’s coming off an impressively quick stoppage win over the typically tough Marcus Upshaw that represents clearly the best opponent of his career, though maybe not top 50 at that point in his career.  Brinson has just one loss- a 2010 stoppage to Lennox Allen, a prospect that remains undefeated to this day.  He also boasts a clear decision win over Jorge Melendez at middleweight about a year ago, which is roughly equivalent to Wade’s win over Upshaw.  Brinson’s record features the slightly better level of overall competition, as well.  Should be a good fight.

 

Saturday
#11 Christopher Rebrasse vs. Cedric Spera; Kinshasa, Congo; TV Unknown
A Belgian vs. a Frenchman in the Congo.  Not sure why they decided to do that, but that’s what the schedule says.  Rebrasse is a contender due to his having twice dominated and once stopped Mohammed Ali Ndiaye, who was a top 10 contender the first time, if a bit under the radar.  Prior to that, Rebrasse had been a high-level journeyman and/or fringe prospect.  I’m not sure it’s quite established which one he’s going to look more like going forward, but he really was impressive in the Ndiaye fights.  Spera was an undefeated but unproven prospect until recently, but he comes off two consecutive losses to not particularly impressive opposition at 154.  Rebrasse should handle him easily, even if he’s not up to his recent performance level.

 

Fedor Chudinov vs. Emiliano Cayetano; Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic; TV Unknown
Chudinov is the slightly less advanced younger brother of middleweight prospect Dmitry.  It’s not particularly common to bring a Russian into the Caribbean to fight a big underdog of a local fighter like Cayetano will be, but that’s the scenario here.  Cayetano was an undefeated and eventually aging prospect while feasting on soft opposition in his first 16 fights from 1999-2007, but now nearly 42 years old, he’s just 6-7 since that point, and none of those 6 wins were against anyone even halfway decent.  Chudinov should do what 6 of those 7 victors did, and stop the Dominican journeyman.
 
 

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Light Heavyweight: 2014, Jun 23-29

Posted in Light Heavyweight, Rankings with tags , , , , , , , on November 15, 2014 by danboxing
Congolese Gatekeeper Doudou Ngumbu notched a win in Monte Carlo on Saturday, outpointing high-level South African journeyman Johnny Muller over 10 rounds.  Scores were 99-91 (Pawel Kardyni), 97-93 (Juan Manuel Garica Reyes), and 96-94 (Olena Pobyvailo), all for the winner.  The only video I had unfortunately had an error and cut out permanently after round 7, but all of those scores were possible on my card, depending on how I saw the last rounds, since I had it 69-64 for Ngumbu to that point.  Muller looked heavy-handed, but was having all kinds of trouble finding the awkwardly elusive Ngumbu, who was light-hitting by comparison, but still effective while lighting Muller up consistently with counters off misses.

 

Later that night in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, of all places, French gatekeeper Nadjib Mohammedi jump-started his career in a big way with a dominant and dynamic 7-round TKO win over Ukrainian gatekeeper/fringe prospect Anatoliy Dudchenko on an NBC Sports card.  Mohammedi, an unorthodox pressure fighter, looked really impressive overall.  His hands were surprisingly fast, his head movement was good, his accuracy was accurate, and his power looked solid.  As for Dudchenko, he was almost as disappointing as Mohammedi was…appointing.  Dudchenko stood stiff and straight up, like the bad version of Sergei Dzinziruk.  He also may have been concussed in the third or fourth round, because he had pretty much nothing left with which to slow down Mohammedi’s momentum after that point.

 

Chad Dawson returned to action after more than a year of inactivity, and didn’t make any friends in doing so.  The contract weight was an already generous 179, making it highly likely that the ex-Champ would be removed for moving up in weight anyway, but he failed to even come close to making that weight.  At 182.75, he outweighed George Blades by 5.25 pounds on the scale, and doubtless more than that on fight night.  That no doubt helped him in scoring a first-round knockout, featuring two knockdowns.  As if the extra weight and talent gap weren’t already enough of an advantage, referee Raul Caiz, Jr. awarded Dawson one of those knockdowns despite a fairly clear low blow.  The result has no bearing on the rankings, since Blades (who I consider a friend and a really good guy, by the way) was a gatekeeper at his peak, when he challenged Zsolt Erdei for the lineal Championship, and is very much a journeyman at this late stage in his career.  The weigh-in does, however, have an effect, as Dawson is removed, having not made anything close to 175 in over a year.  He has been ranked in my top 10, and the Ring Top 10 before I started publishing, for a total of 420 consecutive weeks.

 

Dawson’s removal allows everyone ranked #6 and below last week to move up one, including Isaac Chilemba, who re-enters the top 10 after a handful of months out.  Dmitry Sukhotsky returns to the top 20.  Mohammedi just barely misses the top 20 with his big win, as I now have him unofficially at #22.  If not for a loss to unheralded Thierry Karl nearly 5 years ago, he might have squeaked in.  I may re-evaluate his standing in July, when that loss passes the 5-year mark.

 

Dan’s Top 20 (weeks in current position-weeks   in top 10 (if applicable)-weeks in top 20)
Champ: Andre Ward (94-94-94)
Last Fight: 11/16/2013- UD12 #15 Edwin Rodriguez (as SMW)
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) Adonis Stevenson (55-55-55)
Last Fight: 5/24/2014- UD12 #6 Andrzej Fonfara
Next Fight: Unknown
Stevenson is very likely to fight Bernard Hopkins next, though there have been no negotiations that I’m aware of yet.
2) Bernard Hopkins (94-420-420)
Last Fight: 4/19/2014- W (SD12*) vs. Beibut Shumenov (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
Hopkins is considering leaving Golden Boy.  This would give him free choice between Stevenson, Kovalev, or anyone else, really.  Mohammedi is now technically his mandatory, but we’ll see if they find some way around that.
3) Jean Pascal (23-23-23)
Last Fight: 1/18/2014- UD12 #16 Lucian Bute
Next Fight: Unknown
Pascal is pencilled in for a September fight, and perhaps one more before the end of the year.  There is currently talk of Tavoris Cloud being the September opponent.  That’s a significant step up from Sean Monaghan, who had been the odds-on favorite to fight Pascal on that date.
4) Sergey Kovalev (23-75-75)
Last Fight: 3/29/2014- KO7 #15 Cedric Agnew
Next Fight: 8/2/2014- vs. Blake Caparello (UNR)
Kovalev is back on August 2 against apparently one of the few guys willing to fight him- Australian undefeated prospect Blake Caparello.
5) Tony Bellew (1-141-141)
Last Fight: 3/15/2014- KO12 Valery Brudov (UNR) (at CW)
Next Fight: 7/12/2014- vs. Julio Cesar Dos Santos (UNR) (at CW)
Bellew’s July 12 opponent has been announced as Brazilian 2-loss fringe prospect Julio Cesar Dos Santos, who will basically just be extending his training camp after an aborted fight with Thabiso Mchunu. 
6) Andrzej Fonfara (1-45-102)
Last Fight: 5/24/2014- L (UD12) vs. #1 Adonis Stevenson
Next Fight: Unknown
See Kovalev’s notes, above.
7) Gabriel Campillo (1-209-209)
Last Fight: 5/9/2014- TKO7 Ricky Pow (UNR)
Next Fight: 8/1/2014- vs. #13 Thomas Williams, Jr.
This could be the start of Campillo’s resurgence, or the continuation of his decline.  He’ll fight up-and-comer Thomas Williams, Jr. on Friday Night Fights, August 1.
8) Tavoris Cloud (1-252-252)
Last Fight: 9/28/2013- L (TKO7) vs. #1 Adonis Stevenson
Next Fight: Unknown
A September 27 fight with Pascal is a possibility.
9) Nathan Cleverly (1-229-229)
Last Fight: 5/17/2013- TKO2 Shawn Corbin (UNR) (at CW)
Next Fight: 7/12/2014- vs. Alejandro Valori (UNR)
Cleverly looked good against Corbin in his cruiserweight debut.  He’ll keep his ranking here until he schedules a cruiserweight fight for after August 17 (the anniversary of his last fight in this division), or until that date passes, whichever comes first.  He will fight next on July 12, when he takes on Argentine gatekeeper Alejandro Valori at the 200 pound limit.  Valori is a solid performer on the South American scene, but has never fought outside Argentina.  If he gets by that, Bellew-Cleverly II is being targeted for November.
10) Isaac Chilemba (1-1-125)
Last Fight: 3/15/2014- UD10 Denis Grachev (UNR)
Next Fight: 8/2/2014- vs. Unknown Opponent
Chilemba looked very very sharp in dominating a game Denis Grachev, and might soon be in line for a shot at Adonis Stevenson.  He’s coming back on the Rios-Chaves undercard on August 2, but no opponent yet.
11) Jürgen Brähmer (1-114)
Last Fight: 6/7/2014- UD12 Roberto Feliciano Bolonti (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
Braehmer looked solid for 11 of the 12 rounds against Bolonti.  It’s said that he aspires to a Hopkins fight.
12) Karo Murat (1-35)
Last Fight: 10/26/2013- L (UD12) vs. #2 Bernard Hopkins
Next Fight: Unknown
Murat wants Braehmer, his former stablemate, but is now without a promoter, which probably means Sauerland isn’t falling all over themselves to make that fight.
13) Thomas Williams, Jr. (1-22)
Last Fight: 4/24/2014- TKO3 Enrique Ornelas (UNR)
Next Fight: 8/1/2014- vs. #7 Gabriel Campillo
See Campillo’s notes, above.
14) Cedric Agnew (1-63)
Last Fight: 3/29/2014- L (KO7) vs. #4 Sergey Kovalev
Next Fight: Unknown
After taking a risk against Kovalev and coming up short, I can only assume that his prospects for a regional title bout against Dudchenko and a IBF eliminator against Sukhotsky might both be out the window at least for the moment.
15) Edwin Rodriguez (1-50)
Last Fight: 11/16/2013- L (UD12) vs. Champ Andre Ward
Next Fight: Unknown
Rodriguez was scheduled to fight Marcus Johnson on May 24, but Johnson quickly withdrew.
16) Hadillah Mohoumadi (1-52)
Last Fight: 11/30/2013- TKO5 Bartlomiej Grafka (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
17) Cornelius White (1-132)
Last Fight: 1/24/2014- L (TKO1) vs. Thomas Williams, Jr. (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
Never blessed with big-time promotional or managerial ties, White has risked becoming a permanent opponent with his last two losses.
18) Eleider Alvarez (1-74)
Last Fight: 5/24/2014- UD10 Alexander Johnson (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
There are rumors springing up in Russia of Alvarez fighting Dmitry Sukhotsky on July 19 in Quebec.
19) Lucian Bute (1-86)
Last Fight: 1/18/2014- L (UD12) vs. Jean Pascal (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
Bute wants his contractually-guaranteed rematch with Pascal, a fight that appears tentatively planned for late in the year.  He recently parted ways with his long-time trainer, and says he’s in no hurry to get back in the ring.
20) Dmitry Sukhotsky (1-1)
Last Fight: 6/4/2014- UD12 Joey Vegas (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
I can’t find a video anywhere, but Sukhotsky’s win over Joey Vegas in Russia was suspiciously close.

 

The Week Ahead: 
Friday
#14 Cedric Agnew vs. TBA; Houston, Texas; Off TV
There’s not a lot to say about this one, since Agnew doesn’t have an opponent yet.  Obviously not likely to be too stiff a challenge.

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