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Heavyweight: 2015, Feb 23- Mar 1

Posted in Heavyweight, Rankings with tags Arnold Gjergjaj, Charles Martin, Christian Hammer, David Price, Odlanier Solis, Tony Thompson, Tyson Fury, Zoltan Csala on May 12, 2020 by danboxing

Saturday in Berlin, the comebacking David Price won by 6th-round TKO over Brazilian journeyman Irineu Beato Costa. Costa seemed to be mostly in survival mode from the start, which may have been the major factor in Price looking fairly pedestrian over the first 5 rounds (despite winning them all). The tall Liverpudlian broke through in a big way in round 6, however, bludgeoning Costa to 3 knockdowns and a stoppage.

Price came in at about #30 in the Boxrec rankings, and I’m sure his win over Costa (whom I think they had ranked around #69) will probably improve that a bit. As for me, I’ve got him at about #37, and that wasn’t changed by this one.

No changes this week.

Dan’s Top 20 (Weeks in current position-weeks in top 10 (if applicable)-weeks in top 20)

Champ: Wladimir Klitschko (296-509-509)

Last Fight: 11/15/2014- KO5 #5 Kubrat Pulev

Next Fight: 4/25/2015- vs. #17 Bryant Jennings

Klitschko-Jennings is on, and figures to be a fairly average defense for the Champ.

1) Tyson Fury (54-54-54)

Last Fight: 11/29/2014- RTD10 #6 Dereck Chisora

Next Fight: 2/28/2015- vs. Christian Hammer (UNR)

Christian Hammer is a very beatable gatekeeper, but did look good in his last fight, and is probably about a class better than you’d expect a guy with a mandatory championship shot coming his way to stay busy against.

2) Alexander Povetkin (39-383-383)

Last Fight: 10/24/2014- KO10 #7 Carlos Takam

Next Fight: Unknown

Negotiations are underway for a potential May 22 clash with Mike Perez in Moscow, with the winner to get a mandatory shot at Wilder’s belt.

3) Vyacheslav Glazkov (39-50-114)

Last Fight: 11/8/2014- TKO7 Darnell Wilson (UNR)

Next Fight: 3/14/2015- vs. #10 Steve Cunningham

With Main Events behind both fighters, you could almost see this one coming. Glazkov will take on Steve Cunningham, likely on NBC Sports, in March.

4) Amir Mansour (47-47-47)

Last Fight: 11/8/2014- KO7 Fred Kassi (UNR)

Next Fight: Unknown

Mansour’s power was brought to bear on the mediocre Kassi, who did a good job of hanging in there- perhaps for longer than most expected- while losing every round.

5) Kubrat Pulev (54-147-224)

Last Fight: 11/15/2014- L (KO5) vs. Champ Wladimir Klitschko

Next Fight: Unknown

Despite his knockout loss to the Champ, Pulev and Sauerland have recently extended their promotional contract, and Pulev is set to begin working with Uli Wegner, who is essentially Sauerland’s house trainer.

6) Carlos Takam (13-38-58)

Last Fight: 10/24/2014- L (KO10) vs. #2 Alexander Povetkin

Next Fight: Unknown

Takam found the ceiling on his rise to the top in #2 Povetkin. He actually appeared more than a match for the Russian early in the fight, but couldn’t hang in the later rounds.

7) Deontay Wilder (6-6-96)

Last Fight: 1/17/2015- UD12 #8 Bermane Stiverne

Next Fight: Unknown

With an alphabet belt under his…um…belt….Wilder will have plenty of suitors.

8) Dereck Chisora (6-169-232)

Last Fight: 11/29/2014- L (RTD10) vs. #1 Tyson Fury

Next Fight: Unknown

Chisora apparently doesn’t want to leave the bad taste in his mouth from his last performance, as he is reportedly planning to fight again on February 28. He is also said to be splitting from trainer Don Charles.

9) Bermane Stiverne (6-42-104)

Last Fight: 1/17/2015- L (UD12) vs. #12 Deontay Wilder

Next Fight: Unknown

No word just yet on what’s next for now former beltholder Stiverne.

10) Steve Cunningham (6-114-114)

Last Fight: 10/18/2014- W (RTD7) vs. Natu Visinia (UNR)

Next Fight: 3/14/2015- vs. #3 Vyacheslav Glazkov

See Glazkov’s notes, above.

11) Tony Thompson (6-248)

Last Fight: 6/6/2014- L (UD12) vs. #12 Carlos Takam

Next Fight: 2/27/2015 – vs. #12 Odlanier Solis

It looked for a couple days that the Solis fight was going to be postponed for a 4th time due to problems with the local Hungarian promotion, but Solis’s promotional team appears to have rescued the February 27 date by moving the fight to Turkey.

12) Odlanier Solis (6-248)

Last Fight: 3/22/2014- L* (SD12) vs. #13 Tony Thompson

Next Fight: 2/27/2015- vs. #11 Tony Thompson

See Thompson’s notes, above.

13) Chris Arreola (16-77)

Last Fight: 5/10/2014- L (TKO6) vs. #12 Bermane Stiverne

Next Fight: 3/13/2015- vs. Unknown Opponent

Arreola’s return has now been set for March 13 in Ontario, CA. No opponent yet.

14) Malik Scott (16-25)

Last Fight: 10/31/2014- UD10 #16 Alex Leapai

Next Fight: Unknown

After an apparently dominant win over Leapai, Scott is probably back in the mix for some sort of big fight.

15) Erkan Teper (16-78)

Last Fight: 6/13/2014- RTD6 Newfel Ouatah (UNR)

Next Fight: 3/14/2015- vs. Johann Duhaupas (UNR)

Teper-Duhaupas has a new date: March 14 in Stuttgart.

16) Antonio Tarver (11-11)

Last Fight: 12/11/2014- TKO7 Johnathon Banks (UNR)

Next Fight: Unknown

After being shelved by Showtime due to steroids a few years back, Tarver has landed another commentary gig for Premiere Boxing Champions.

17) Bryant Jennings (10-31)

Last Fight: 7/26/2014- W* (SD12) vs. Mike Perez (UNR)

Next Fight: 4/25/2015- vs. Champ Wladimir Klitschko

Jennings has got his shot at Klitschko for April 25. Almost certanily too soon for him, given his mediocre last performance against Perez.

18) Artur Szpilka (10-16)

Last Fight: 11/8/2014- W (UD10) vs. #11 Tomasz Adamek

Next Fight: 4/24/2015- vs. Unknown Opponent

Now advised by Al Haymon and trained by Ronnie Shields, Szpilka will debut his new team against an opponent to be announced on an April 24 Showtime card in Chicago.

19) Mike Perez (10-31)

Last Fight: 2/5/2015- TKO2 Darnell Wilson (UNR)

Next Fight: Unknown
See Povetkin’s notes, above.

20) Alex Leapai (10-10)

Last Fight: 10/31/2014- L (UD10) vs. #20 Malik Scott

Next Fight: Unknown

THE WEEK AHEAD:

Friday

#11 Tony Thompson vs. #12 Odlanier Solis; Antalya, Turkey; Eurosport

This oft-delayed rematch finally appears good to go for Friday. A clear win would obviously be a huge boon to the career of either man, neither of whom is getting any younger. The first fight was very close, with Thompson getting what I saw as the benefit of the doubt to pull off a split decision victory by a one-round margin on both cards. The 3rd judge had it 116-112 for Solis, which matched my own score. In any case, it was a debatable contest. Solis has been seen as an underachiever for the majority of his professional career, after having been a storied amateur in Cuba. Thompson is the division’s ultimate dark horse spoiler, especially with his recent impressive run at a current age of 43. If Solis plans to ever realize his presumed potential, he needs to emerge from this fight with a win, with his reputation among the public, the media, and the power brokers of the sport probably being even worse than he deserves with his actual performances.

Zoltan Csala vs. Arnold Gjergjaj; Basel, Switzerland; TV Unknown

This is an intriguing little scrap between undefeated European prospects. Csala is from Hungary, and quite long in the tooth at 37. On the bright side, he is coming off a knockout win only two months ago against borderline top-50 gatekeeper Zoltan Petranyi. Gjergjaj has 26 spotless professional fights compared to Csala’s 6, and has won his last 13 by knockout.

Saturday

#1 Tyson Fury vs. Christian Hammer; London, England; BoxNation (UK)

Fury, with two wins over Chisora and a stoppage of Steve Cunningham, is the top contender in the division and in line for a Klitschko shot in his next fight. Boxrec has Hammer ranked #11, making him an apparent solid challenge. I’ve personally got him ranked no better than #42, in part because of a couple losses in 2010, and in part because I believe he lost what shows up in the record as his best win- a December 2013 decision he was given over Kevin Johnson. In my view, this is still a well-above-average tune-up for a guy in line for a Championship fight, but still not a major threat.

Charles Martin vs. Raphael Zumbano; Phoenix, AZ; Off-TV

Undefeated prospect Charles Martin takes on journeyman Raphael Zumbano on a non-televised Phoenix card which I doubt anyone outside Arizona will ever see. Zumbano is approximately a top-75 journeyman, which is about on par with Martin’s previous top opposition to date. Zumbano fought Eric Molina about 6 weeks ago, and was battered to an 8th-round stoppage in that one. His chin probably earned more time off than this, to be honest.

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Heavyweight: 2015, Feb 16-22

Posted in Heavyweight, Rankings with tags Akhror Muralimov, Alexander Povetkin, Amir Mansour, David Price, Derric Rossy, Tyson Fury, Vyacheslav Glazkov, Wladimir Klitschko on May 11, 2020 by danboxing

Saturday in Queens, credible journeyman Derric Rossy pulled out a unanimous decision over Uzbekisatan’s Akhror Muralimov in a see-saw fight that frankly could have gone either way. I personally had it a draw, with Rossy winning the last two rounds to even it up on my card. Rossy was the more active of the two fighters, and kept the jab going enough to nick some close rounds, for me. Muralimov missed many an opportunity by not jabbing his way in, as Rossy tended to back straight up anytime Muralimov threw. Muralimov appeared to hurt Rossy multiple times in the fight, but never really doubled down on his advantage.

In the end, judges Perez and Roldan had it 96-94, while Pasquale saw it 97-93. I thought there was room for a couple toss-up rounds to be flipped in both directions on my card, so I have no particular complaints about the individual scores, though honestly I thought Muralimov deserved better than to lose unanimously, at the very least.

It’s a tricky result to unpack. Boxrec, I think, had Rossy ranked about #49 going in, with Muralimov at around #47. Muralimov hadn’t fought any top-50 opposition yet, so he wasn’t eligible. Rossy had a long resume, though, and I have to say that for me, he was pretty clearly outside the top 50 going in. I personally had him at #57 in my unofficial background rankings, which doesn’t include any rising prospects who might legitimately be ranked higher, but who do not yet qualify by having had success against the top 50 as Rossy has done. The disparity may be due to Rossy’s prizefighter outing against Ian Lewison in particular- a fight I had him clearly losing, though he was the official winner.

In any case, both guys showed themselves to be competitive on the fringe of the top 50, and as the official winner Rossy probably creeps his way barely into my unofficial top 50, while Muralimov still needs to do something against a bona fide top 50 fighter to get his name on my ledger at all.

No changes this week.

Dan’s Top 20 (Weeks in current position-weeks in top 10 (if applicable)-weeks in top 20)

Champ: Wladimir Klitschko (295-508-508)

Last Fight: 11/15/2014- KO5 #5 Kubrat Pulev

Next Fight: 4/25/2015- vs. #17 Bryant Jennings

Klitschko-Jennings is on, and figures to be a fairly average defense for the Champ.

1) Tyson Fury (53-53-53)

Last Fight: 11/29/2014- RTD10 #6 Dereck Chisora

Next Fight: 2/28/2015- vs. Christian Hammer (UNR)

2) Alexander Povetkin (38-382-382)

Last Fight: 10/24/2014- KO10 #7 Carlos Takam

Next Fight: Unknown

Negotiations are underway for a potential May 22 clash with Mike Perez in Moscow, with the winner to get a mandatory shot at Wilder’s belt.

3) Vyacheslav Glazkov (38-49-113)

Last Fight: 11/8/2014- TKO7 Darnell Wilson (UNR)

Next Fight: 3/14/2015- vs. #10 Steve Cunningham

With Main Events behind both fighters, you could almost see this one coming. Glazkov will take on Steve Cunningham, likely on NBC Sports, in March.

4) Amir Mansour (46-46-46)

Last Fight: 11/8/2014- KO7 Fred Kassi (UNR)

Next Fight: Unknown

Mansour’s power was brought to bear on the mediocre Kassi, who did a good job of hanging in there- perhaps for longer than most expected- while losing every round.

5) Kubrat Pulev (53-146-223)

Last Fight: 11/15/2014- L (KO5) vs. Champ Wladimir Klitschko

Next Fight: Unknown

6) Carlos Takam (12-37-57)

Last Fight: 10/24/2014- L (KO10) vs. #2 Alexander Povetkin

Next Fight: Unknown

Takam found the ceiling on his rise to the top in #2 Povetkin. He actually appeared more than a match for the Russian early in the fight, but couldn’t hang in the later rounds.

7) Deontay Wilder (5-5-95)

Last Fight: 1/17/2015- UD12 #8 Bermane Stiverne

Next Fight: Unknown

With an alphabet belt under his…um…belt….Wilder will have plenty of suitors.

8) Dereck Chisora (5-168-231)

Last Fight: 11/29/2014- L (RTD10) vs. #1 Tyson Fury

Next Fight: Unknown

9) Bermane Stiverne (5-41-103)

Last Fight: 1/17/2015- L (UD12) vs. #12 Deontay Wilder

Next Fight: Unknown

No word just yet on what’s next for now former beltholder Stiverne.

10) Steve Cunningham (5-113-113)

Last Fight: 10/18/2014- W (RTD7) vs. Natu Visinia (UNR)

Next Fight: 3/14/2015- vs. #3 Vyacheslav Glazkov

See Glazkov’s notes, above.

11) Tony Thompson (5-247)

Last Fight: 6/6/2014- L (UD12) vs. #12 Carlos Takam

Next Fight: 2/27/2015 – vs. #12 Odlanier Solis

12) Odlanier Solis (5-247)

Last Fight: 3/22/2014- L* (SD12) vs. #13 Tony Thompson

Next Fight: 2/27/2015- vs. #11 Tony Thompson

See Thompson’s notes, above.

13) Chris Arreola (15-76)

Last Fight: 5/10/2014- L (TKO6) vs. #12 Bermane Stiverne

Next Fight: 3/13/2015- vs. Unknown Opponent

Arreola’s return has now been set for March 13 in Ontario, CA. No opponent yet.

14) Malik Scott (15-24)

Last Fight: 10/31/2014- UD10 #16 Alex Leapai

Next Fight: Unknown

After an apparently dominant win over Leapai, Scott is probably back in the mix for some sort of big fight.

15) Erkan Teper (15-77)

Last Fight: 6/13/2014- RTD6 Newfel Ouatah (UNR)

Next Fight: 3/14/2015- vs. Johann Duhaupas (UNR)

Teper-Duhaupas has a new date: March 14 in Stuttgart.

16) Antonio Tarver (10-10)

Last Fight: 12/11/2014- TKO7 Johnathon Banks (UNR)

Next Fight: Unknown

Tarver has recently challenged a comebacking David Haye.

17) Bryant Jennings (9-30)

Last Fight: 7/26/2014- W* (SD12) vs. Mike Perez (UNR)

Next Fight: 4/25/2015- vs. Champ Wladimir Klitschko

Jennings has got his shot at Klitschko for April 25. Almost certanily too soon for him, given his mediocre last performance against Perez.

18) Artur Szpilka (9-15)

Last Fight: 11/8/2014- W (UD10) vs. #11 Tomasz Adamek

Next Fight: 4/24/2015- vs. Unknown Opponent

Now advised by Al Haymon and trained by Ronnie Shields, Szpilka will debut his new team against an opponent to be announced on an April 24 Showtime card in Chicago.

19) Mike Perez (9-30)

Last Fight: 2/5/2015- TKO2 Darnell Wilson (UNR)

Next Fight: Unknown
See Povetkin’s notes, above.

20) Alex Leapai (9-9)

Last Fight: 10/31/2014- L (UD10) vs. #20 Malik Scott

Next Fight: Unknown

THE WEEK AHEAD:

On the Abraham-Smith undercard in Berlin, 31 year-old David Price looks to keep his comeback on track against decent Brazilian journeyman Irineu Beato Costa Junior. I would call it a step up from recent opposition, except I think he’s on a similar level to Ondrej Pala, who was Price’s opponent two fights ago.

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Heavyweight: 2014, Jun 9-15

Posted in Heavyweight, Rankings with tags Arnold Gjergjaj, Carlos Takam, David Price, Erkan Teper, Ian Lewison, Kali Meehan, Martin Rogan, Tony Thompson on October 31, 2014 by danboxing

The heavyweight week got off to an interesting start on Wednesday with the New Zealand version of Prizefighter, dubbed the “Super 8.” The field was made up of 50% has-beens (some more viable than others) like Michael Sprott, Martin Rogan, Kali Meehan, Hasim Rahman, an inactive career high-level journeyman in Alonzo Butler, and 3 novices in Brice Ritani-Coe, Hunter Sam, and Antz Nansen. I’m not sure if it was a random draw or a true seeding system (they called it seeding), but if it was the latter, it was a misbegotten attempt. The correct order of seeding would have been #1 Sprott vs. #8 Brice Ritani-Coe, #2 Martin Rogan vs. #7 Antz Nansen, #3 Kali Meehan vs. #6 Hunter Sam, and #4 Hasim Rahman vs. #5 Alonzo Butler. As it happened, the Meehan-Sam fight was an actual matchup, but the rest were not. #1 Sprott instead fought #2 Rogan inexplicably in the first round, while #4 Rahman and #5 Butler each got what should have been easy matchups in Nansen and Ritani-Coe, respectively. I’ll break down the action fight by fight.

Round 1:

1. Hasim Rahman, the inactive former champion who looked awful in his last fight with Alexander Povetkin in 2012, looked even more awful against 3-2 novice Antz Nansen, whose inclusion in the tournament in the first place couldn’t have been more random. Nansen was coming off back-to-back losses against bad fighters with losing records, including one by KO. His last loss was against an 0-10 fighter, and so it would have been more reasonable to assume he was in the bottom 5% of all pro heavyweights than to assume he belonged in a ring even with a badly faded Rahman. But apparently Rahman’s fadedness knew no bounds. His handspeed was non-existent, and his footwork and balance were pathetic. He was almost totally non-threatening, as even if Nansen couldn’t see every shot coming about 5 seconds before it arrived, Rahman was reaching so badly that he couldn’t have had much power. Even so, I gave him the first round in a close call before Nansen took the last two going away. Two of the judges had it the same as me, while a third had it a shutout.

2. Alonzo Butler- an American who was once a serious prospect, but who failed the only two times he tried his hand with a top 50 opponent, and who has had only 2 fights since 2009- fought his own 3-2 novice in Brice Ritani-Coe. Ritani-Coe had zero boxrec rankings points entering the fight, and while he did suffer a draw against a 3-5 nobody in 2012, his two actual losses were at least more forgivable. He dropped a decision to Jerry Forrest, a 1-0 prospect who now has a loss, but only against legit prospect Gerald Washington, and in his next fight he dropped a decision to current hot prospect Joseph Parker. For no reason at all, the mammoth Butler- who had more than 35 pounds on his 260 pound opponent, chose to try and fight like Miguel Vazquez. He was on the back foot, by choice, the entire time, and honestly didn’t really seem to be trying before he appeared to gas out in the 2nd round. You could make a case for Butler winning the 3rd, but I had it a shutout for Ritani-Coe, who won essentially just by working. He came forward, which made him the aggressor by a mile, and threw punches with reasonable regularity. It was an easy formula. One judge, Jeff Nelson, turned in a 30-27 card in favor of Butler, which is one of the silliest things you’ll ever see. The other two were more reasonable, scoring it 29-28 for Ritani-Coe, who advanced in the second upset in as many fights.

3. Tall Kiwi veteran Kali Meehan, a former contender aged 44 years and without a fight in over 2 years, got through some apparent rust and made it through a very competitive test against the 10-2 Hunter Sam, who fought well despite his record being probably a little better than the reality underlying it. Meehan was actually trailing significantly in the vitally important 3rd round, but came back strong at the end to take it pretty clearly. The already questionable Jeff Nelson struck again, scoring it for Sam. Meehan advances, though not by a lot.

4. Michael Sprott vs. Martin Rogan was a fight that really shouldn’t have been possible until the finals, give or take. Not only were both guys Prizefighter champions at some point (Sprott twice, including the most recent), but both have had relatively recent success against top 25 opposition. Sprott won round one with ease, but with Rogan’s surprisingly straighter punches gave his shots greater leverage and power, and he hurt Sprott in the 2nd, and kept him in borderline buzzed status for the rest of the fight. Rounds two and three were as clear for Rogan as round one was for Sprott, and thus the correct score was a very clear 29-28 Rogan. But this time the judges went too far in crappiness, and botched the result. Nelson wasn’t even involved, surprisingly. Paul McSharry scored an even round in one of Rogan’s two, and therefore had it 29-29. Laurie Glozier and Steve Miles inexplicably had it 29-28 for Sprott, and thus the wrong guy moved on in a clear robbery that marred a really good fight.

Round 2:

1. After an intermission that included a couple entertaining 4-rounders, Sprott returned on short rest and outpointed Nansen in what I would call a lackluster performance in a lackluster fight. Basically Sprott won it simply by being first behind the jab. It’s not that Nansen didn’t try, but he couldn’t grab the initiative and was ineffective and comparatively wild when he tried to counter, or to punch in general. I had it a shutout, though all the rounds were kinda close, and round 1 in particular could have gone either way. All the judges had it a shutout, just like me. Putting Sprott in the Final despite winning a closely-contested fight against a nobody and, by all rights, losing to a gatekeeper in Rogan.

2. The action continued with Meehan vs. Ritani-Coe, who from now on I’ll just call Coe for brevity’s sake, in a battle of Kiwis at very different career stages. Meehan landed almost at will early, apparently having left the rust of the first fight far behind him. Despite the defensive lapses against a solid puncher, Coe showed impressive desire as Meehan began to look a little tired and sloppy from about the midway point of round 2. By the third, Meehan was just looking to hold on, as Coe won that round going away with Meehan trying to hang on him. 29-28 was the clearly correct score, and all the judges got it right this time. Meehan moves on to the final on shorter rest, and looking like the more tired fighter in the first place.

Final:

In a bit of a surprise, Sprott just got caught and dropped by Meehan, and continued getting caught until the fight was stopped after he rose in wobbly fashion from the first round’s second knockdown.

I doubt anyone has ever looked as bad in making the finals of a tournament like this. A top 50 fighter was rightfully defeated twice in the tournament, and it was Sprott both times. I’ll get to the rankings implications later.

Moving ahead to Friday, #12 Carlos Takam dominated the first 9 rounds against #9 Tony Thompson before apparently deciding to coast his way to three lackluster rounds to finish the fight, winning 117-111 on my card. I don’t want to be too hard on Thompson, who follows me on Twitter and is a great guy, but even aside from probably not having the physical tools to compete with the strong and comparatively young Takam, he fought a terrible tactical fight. He spent perhaps most of the fight with his back to the ropes and Takam more or less on his chest, which was not a fight he could remotely win considering his height, long arms, and slow hands. Not only that, but he circled consistently to his left, especially early in the fight. This not only lined him up nicely for Takam’s power shots, but also frequently rendered his own jab largely useless. Robin Dolpierre and Daniel Van de Wiele had it the same as me at 117-111, while Barry Lindenman was maybe a little kind to Takam’s spoiling strategy late, but still had it fairly reasonably 119-109.

Finally, in Saturday action, 2-loss Liverpool prospect David Price (whose two losses were to Thompson, incidentally) turned in a workmanlike 10-round decision win over durable but ultimately low-level Ukrainian journeyman Yaroslav Zavorotnyi in Schwerin, Germany, in a fight that was anything but scintillating. In fairness, Zavorotnyi had only been stopped twice in a long career- once to Valuev and once to Dimitrenko- and had gone an 8-round distance with no less than Kubrat Pulev. So it’s not like Price let a bum hang around who was just looking to collect a check. On the other hand, Price is supposed to be a much bigger puncher than any of the three guys mentioned above, and had built his pre-Thompson career on being an intimidating destroyer that knocked guys out viciously, generally in the first couple rounds. This was only Price’s 3rd decision in 20 fights, and his first of over 6 rounds. The bottom line is that regardless of Zavorotnyi’s bona fides, Price simply doesn’t look like the same monster that terrorized the likes of Audley Harrison less than a couple years ago. He was very jab-heavy and cautious in the fight. He does have a suspect chin and most likely won each of the first 7 rounds with those tactics, so perhaps it wasn’t the worst idea from a competitive perspective. From an analytical perspective, however, it’s hard not to be down on a performance like that. Frankly, Price looked like a guy trying to rebuild his technique from scratch. In addition to the aforementioned caution and reliance on the jab, he was rather robotic and deliberate in letting his hands go, as if his offense was no longer flowing naturally. I don’t know if it was fatigue, or if perhaps the Ukrainian just didn’t feel he had to worry as much about getting knocked out, and thus took more chances, but Zavorotnyi’s shots started finding a home behind Price’s gloves in the 8th round, and he had an argument to have won every round from that point on. I gave him 8 and 9, personally, and scored it 98-92. Gerhard Sigl agreed with my card. Josef Temml had it 100-90, and thus probably didn’t watch the fight. Joerg Milke turned in a 97-92 card, which is about right, but numerically puzzling nevertheless.

Now to the rankings implications of all the above. If Sprott had beaten Rogan legitimately before losing to Meehan, it might have given the Kiwi the fuel he needed to make a run at or near the top 20. Since Sprott was slightly diminished by the Rogan fight instead of better for it, Meehan, Sprott, and Rogan all find themselves mired in the 30s. Takam boosts himself to #7, halted only by Dereck Chisora, whose deserved win over #4-ranked Helenius is by far the best result between the two still, and who has only lost to the very top level (ie guys ranked #1-2 then or now). Thompson drops less drastically than you might think, backtracking only the one place required by Takam’s promotion. This is due largely to Adamek having no legitimate wins of consequence since 2012 to go with his loss to #18 Glazkov, while Thompson at least has the debatable win over #8 Solis to go with his wins over prospect Price and his loss to the more prestigious Takam. This means that Adamek is forced from the top 10 after being an inaugural and continuous member of my top 10, and having been ranked by the Ring for 5 weeks before I started publishing.

Dan’s Top 20 (Weeks in current position-weeks in top 10 (if applicable)-weeks in top 20)

Champ: Wladimir Klitschko (259-472-472)

Last Fight: 4/26/2014- TKO5 #16 Alex Leapai

Next Fight: 9/6/2014- vs. #5 Kubrat Pulev

It’s looking all but certain that Wlad will fight Pulev on September 6.

1) Tyson Fury (17-17-17)

Last Fight: 2/15/2014- TKO4 Joey Abell (UNR)

Next Fight: 7/26/2014- vs. #6 Dereck Chisora

Fury-Chisora has been made. July 26, in Manchester. The winner will become one of Wlad’s mandatories.

2) Alexander Povetkin (2-346-346)

Last Fight: 5/30/2014- TKO7 Manuel Charr (UNR)

Next Fight: Unknown

Povetkin made a case that he’s the most technically skilled heavyweight in the division with a beautifully-executed performance against an outclassed Charr.

3) Vyacheslav Glazkov (2-13-77)

Last Fight: 3/15/2014- UD12 #4 Tomasz Adamek

Next Fight: Unknown

Reports have a fight between Glazkov and Main Events stablemate Bryant Jennings being targeted for July on HBO.

4) Amir Mansour (10-10-10)

Last Fight: 4/4/2014- Robbery L (UD10) vs. #4 Steve Cunningham

Next Fight: Unknown

Cunningham had the more sympathetic story and a legitimately great comeback attempt, but Mansour had the better collection of rounds legitimately won. Mansour was robbed even though the fight was close, and deserves Cunningham’s former position in the rankings for his effort.

5) Kubrat Pulev (17-110-187)

Last Fight: 4/5/2014- RTD3 Ivica Perkovic (UNR)

Next Fight: 9/6/2014- vs. Champ Wladimir Klitschko

See Klitschko’s notes, above.

6) Dereck Chisora (17-132-195)

Last Fight: 2/15/2014- UD12 Kevin Johnson (UNR)

Next Fight: 7/26/2014- vs. #1 Tyson Fury

See Fury’s notes, above.

7) Carlos Takam (1-1-21)

Last Fight: 6/6/2014- UD12 #9 Tony Thompson

Next Fight: Unknown

Takam’s potential appears nearly boundless after he handled Tony Thompson more easily than anyone not named Wladimir Klitschko.

8) Bermane Stiverne (1-5-67)

Last Fight: 5/10/2014- TKO6 #13 Chris Arreola

Next Fight: Unknown

Stiverne is hoping to fight Wilder sometime in November in either Montreal or Las Vegas.

9) Steve Cunningham (1-77-77)

Last Fight: 4/4/2014- Robbery W (UD10) vs. Amir Mansour (UNR)

Next Fight: Unknown

I hope you’ll all pray for his daughter to recover from her life-threatening health condition, and the guy had guts to come back from the 2 knockdowns. But he didn’t win the fight.

10) Tony Thompson (1-12-211)

Last Fight: 6/6/2014- L (UD12) vs. #12 Carlos Takam

Next Fight: Unknown

Not that there’s any shame in being beaten by Takam necessarily, but Thompson’s performance was poor enough that you have to start wondering how much he has left.

11) Tomasz Adamek (1-216)

Last Fight: 3/15/2014- L (UD12) vs. #18 Vyacheslav Glazkov

Next Fight: Unknown

Adamek expects to return on October 18. Not much detail yet, but Ray Austin is a potential opponent.

12) Odlanier Solis (1-211)

Last Fight: 3/22/2014- L* (SD12) vs. #13 Tony Thompson

Next Fight: Unknown

The Solis haters are out in force, claiming a clear loss in a fight that Solis deserved to win. You might not like his physique or his training habits or his style, but if he outfights the other guy, he still deserves to be respected as a winner at least as much as a disappointment. A loss to Thompson is not that embarrassing, especially when you ought to have won it.

13) Deontay Wilder (5-59)

Last Fight: 3/15/2014- KO1 #19 Malik Scott

Next Fight: Unknown

See Stiverne’s notes, above.

14) Chris Arreola (5-40)

Last Fight: 5/10/2014- L (TKO6) vs. #12 Bermane Stiverne

Next Fight: Unknown

Having spent the better part of the last 5 years losing or fighting nobodies, Arreola’s resume now depends entirely on the Mitchell win.

15) Erkan Teper (10-41)

Last Fight: 11/16/2013- KO1 Martin Rogan (UNR)

Next Fight: 6/13/2014- vs. Newfel Ouatah (UNR)

Teper may have upgraded his opponent slightly when Ouatah replaced a slightly less-impressive French prospect in Duhaupas on just about 5 days’ notice.

16) Alex Leapai (10-29)

Last Fight: 4/26/2014- L (KO5) vs. Champ Wladimir Klitschko

Next Fight: Unknown

Leapai is reportedly interested in fighting Shannon Briggs in the wake of his total non-performance against the Champ.

17) Andy Ruiz (10-29)

Last Fight: 5/17/2014- TKO2 Manuel Quezada (UNR)

Next Fight: Unknown

Even against a faded Quezada who showed little resistance, I must confess to being impressed by Ruiz’s skill and heavy hands, especially considering the sharp contrast between his physique and the results it yields.

18) Seth Mitchell (10-53)

Last Fight: 9/7/2013- L (TKO1) vs. Chris Arreola (UNR)

Next Fight: Unknown

Mitchell’s chin is so fragile that he might want to consider calling it a career. Golden Boy’s CEO says he’s advised Mitchell to do just that, though he reports that Mitchell seems to have no such intention.

19) Johnathon Banks (10-14)

Last Fight: 6/22/2013- L (UD12) vs. #20 Seth Mitchell

Next Fight: Unknown

Banks had an offer to fight in the Auckland Super 8 Tournament on June 6, but either turned it down or failed to respond. He’ll need to schedule something else in the next few weeks to avoid removal for inactivity.

20) Francesco Pianeta (10-13)

Last Fight: 5/30/2014- KO1 Mickael Vieira (UNR)

Next Fight: Unknown

Pianeta says he wants to give Vieira a rematch due to the flukey broken arm that KO’d the Frenchman. The fight was a waste of time the first time, honestly, so I’m not sure we need a second helping, regardless of the reason.

THE WEEK AHEAD:

Monday

Arnold Gjergjaj vs. Tibor Balogh; Kaltacker, Switzerland; TV Unknown

Gjergjaj is an undefeated prospect from Kosovo originally, who now lives in Switzerland. He’s 24-0, but still about as unproven as a top 50 fighter could possibly be. Even so, Balogh is far from his best opponent to date, being a low-level journeyman from Hungary.

Ian Lewison vs. Kreso Bogdanovic; Glasgow, Scotland; Off TV

I consider Lewison a borderline top 50 fighter on the basis of a loss against Derric Rossy in Prizefighter that I thought should have been a win. Bogdanovic is a terrible Croatian who has only once beaten a fighter with even a single win, that being the 4-8 Werner Kreiskott.

Friday

#15 Erkan Teper vs. Newfel Ouatah; Munich, Germany; TV Unknown

Teper is finally back in the ring after his vicious demolition of Martin Rogan’s jaw in November. It’s kinda shocking that Rogan, whose career appeared to be over at that time, beat Teper back to action by 9 days. Germany’s Teper has a reasonably decent opponent on his hands, or at least that appears to be a strong possibility. Ouatah is an unbeaten Frenchman who boasts the exact same 12-0 record as Teper. That being said, Teper is ranked due to his having been in with- and beaten- the much better competition. Ouatah’s best wins are a couple domestic-level French journeymen in Gregory Tony and Mickael Vieira. Those guys were nothing to write home about, but there’s a substantial drop-off from them to the next-best guy on Ouatah’s record. Nevertheless, he disposed of both of them by stoppage, and you can never write off a guy who’s never lost, or really come close to losing as far as I can tell. Teper needed a grand total of just over 4 minutes to stop Rogan and Michael Sprott, another fringe contender, in his last two fights.

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Heavyweight: 2014, Jun 2-8

Posted in Heavyweight, Rankings with tags Alexander Povetkin, Carlos Takam, David Price, Francesco Pianeta, Manuel Charr, Martin Rogan, Michael Sprott, Tony Thompson on October 24, 2014 by danboxing

Friday night in Moscow, #3 Alexander Povetkin fought a beautiful, near perfect fight, standing toe-to-toe in the pocket with Manuel Charr and giving the Syrian prospect a lesson in punching technique, as he patiently and crisply picked his opponent apart, while avoiding any telling blows for the entire 7 rounds the fight lasted. Povetkin hurt Charr a few different times during the fight, starting in the first round. He capped it off in the 7th by lifting Charr’s head with a perfect uppercut as the Syrian bent down, and then capitalizing with a relentless fusilade of hooks and right hands to send Charr crashing partially through the ropes. Referee Massimo Barrovecchio stopped the fight without a count for some reason, a trend in the sport that I really hate. Sure, it was a devastating combination, but you never know what a guy’s chin can take and how fast he can recover. In this case, I don’t think Charr would have been able to continue in a meaningful way, but I truly don’t believe Barrovecchio could have known that when he stopped it.

In a much less conventional ending in Dresden, #20 Francesco Pianeta got a knockout win of his own when his opponent, French journeyman Mickael Vieira, broke his arm by hitting Pianeta’s shoulder with a punch.

Povetkin swaps places with #2 Glazkov this week. It’s a very very close call, but the way I see it, #4 Adamek is a bit better of a win than the declining #6 Chagaev, and when it comes to fights they nearly lost that they probably should not have, Povetkin’s debateable win over top 5 cruiser Marco Huck is a bit more forgivable than Glazkov’s debateable draw with unproven Malik Scott. This is one of those races that could swing every time one guy or the other fights.

Dan’s Top 20 (Weeks in current position-weeks in top 10 (if applicable)-weeks in top 20)

Champ: Wladimir Klitschko (258-471-471)

Last Fight: 4/26/2014- TKO5 #16 Alex Leapai

Next Fight: 9/6/2014- vs. #5 Kubrat Pulev

It’s looking all but certain that Wlad will fight Pulev on September 6.

1) Tyson Fury (16-16-16)

Last Fight: 2/15/2014- TKO4 Joey Abell (UNR)

Next Fight: 7/26/2014- vs. #6 Dereck Chisora

Fury-Chisora has been made. July 26, in Manchester. The winner will become one of Wlad’s mandatories.

2) Alexander Povetkin (1-345-345)

Last Fight: 5/30/2014- TKO7 Manuel Charr (UNR)

Next Fight: Unknown

Povetkin made a case that he’s the most technically skilled heavyweight in the division with a beautifully-executed performance against an outclassed Charr.

3) Vyacheslav Glazkov (1-12-76)

Last Fight: 3/15/2014- UD12 #4 Tomasz Adamek

Next Fight: Unknown

Reports have a fight between Glazkov and Main Events stablemate Bryant Jennings being targeted for July on HBO.

4) Amir Mansour (9-9-9)

Last Fight: 4/4/2014- Robbery L (UD10) vs. #4 Steve Cunningham

Next Fight: Unknown

5) Kubrat Pulev (16-109-186)

Last Fight: 4/5/2014- RTD3 Ivica Perkovic (UNR)

Next Fight: 9/6/2014- vs. Champ Wladimir Klitschko

See Klitschko’s notes, above.

6) Dereck Chisora (16-131-194)

Last Fight: 2/15/2014- UD12 Kevin Johnson (UNR)

Next Fight: 7/26/2014- vs. #1 Tyson Fury

See Fury’s notes, above.

7) Bermane Stiverne (4-4-66)

Last Fight: 5/10/2014- TKO6 #13 Chris Arreola

Next Fight: Unknown

Stiverne is hoping to fight Wilder sometime in November in either Montreal or Las Vegas.

8) Steve Cunningham (4-76-76)

Last Fight: 4/4/2014- Robbery W (UD10) vs. Amir Mansour (UNR)

Next Fight: Unknown

I hope you’ll all pray for his daughter to recover from her life-threatening health condition, and the guy had guts to come back from the 2 knockdowns. But he didn’t win the fight.

9) Tony Thompson (4-11-210)

Last Fight: 3/22/2014- W* (SD12) vs. #8 Odlanier Solis

Next Fight: 6/6/2014- vs. #12 Carlos Takam

Thompson- no stranger to the road- will visit France for a fight with tough customer Carlos Takam on June 6.

10) Tomasz Adamek (4-215-215)

Last Fight: 3/15/2014- L (UD12) vs. #18 Vyacheslav Glazkov

Next Fight: Unknown

I’d have to think Adamek would at least consider retirement after being brutalized for 12 rounds by a guy that had looked like he might top out around the top 15. He’s recently announced his candidacy for the European parliament elections in May, so that may be a sign that he’s leaning that direction.

11) Odlanier Solis (4-210)

Last Fight: 3/22/2014- L* (SD12) vs. #13 Tony Thompson

Next Fight: Unknown

12) Carlos Takam (4-20)

Last Fight: 1/18/2014- Robbery Draw (W) vs. #11 Mike Perez

Next Fight: 6/6/2014- vs. #8 Tony Thompson

See Thompson’s notes, above.

13) Deontay Wilder (4-58)

Last Fight: 3/15/2014- KO1 #19 Malik Scott

Next Fight: Unknown

See Stiverne’s notes, above.

14) Chris Arreola (4-39)

Last Fight: 5/10/2014- L (TKO6) vs. #12 Bermane Stiverne

Next Fight: Unknown

Having spent the better part of the last 5 years losing or fighting nobodies, Arreola’s resume now depends entirely on the Mitchell win.

15) Erkan Teper (9-40)

Last Fight: 11/16/2013- KO1 Martin Rogan (UNR)

Next Fight: Unknown

Teper, after months of radio silence, is said to be in line for an impending European Union title fight with France’s Johann Duhaupas, a so-so prospect in my estimation.

16) Alex Leapai (9-28)

Last Fight: 4/26/2014- L (KO5) vs. Champ Wladimir Klitschko

Next Fight: Unknown

Leapai is reportedly interested in fighting Shannon Briggs in the wake of his total non-performance against the Champ.

17) Andy Ruiz (9-28)

Last Fight: 5/17/2014- TKO2 Manuel Quezada (UNR)

Next Fight: Unknown

18) Seth Mitchell (9-52)

Last Fight: 9/7/2013- L (TKO1) vs. Chris Arreola (UNR)

Next Fight: Unknown

19) Johnathon Banks (9-13)

Last Fight: 6/22/2013- L (UD12) vs. #20 Seth Mitchell

Next Fight: Unknown

Banks had an offer to fight in the Auckland Super 8 Tournament on June 6, but either turned it down or failed to respond.

20) Francesco Pianeta (9-12)

Last Fight: 5/30/2014- KO1 Mickael Vieira (UNR)

Next Fight: Unknown

THE WEEK AHEAD:

Wednesday

Super 8 Heavyweight Tournament; Auckland, New Zealand; Main Events PPV (Australia/NZ)

This is the New Zealand version of Prizefighter, complete with 3 minute rounds and a wide range of mid-level talent. The participants include, in approximate order of current quality, Michael Sprott, Martin Rogan, Kali Meehan, Hasim Rahman, Alonzo Butler, and three guys even I’ve never heard of in Hunter Sam (some relation to Sinan Samil Sam, perhaps?), Anthony Nansen, and Brice Ritani-Coe. Based on what I know of the fighters and excluding the guys I’m not familiar with from consideration, I think Sprott has shown the best form of late, and remains close to a top 25 guy. Rahman is a former Heavyweight Champion, but should have been retired for at least 5 years or so by now. Rogan is close to Sprott’s level, but he was knocked out by Erkan Teper last year so brutally that I think everyone thought he was finished, having reportedly shattered his jaw. I’m shocked that he’s fighting again so soon. Meehan was a solid guy in his prime, but he hasn’t made any noise in roughly 5 years.

Friday

#9 Tony Thompson vs. #12 Carlos Takam; Levallois-Perret, France; TV Unknown

Yet another important road fight for Thompson. He got a questionable win over Odlanier Solis just a couple months ago to follow up on a couple upset-type wins over intimidating prospect David Price. Takam is a different challenge, as he’s sure to come forward and looks to stay in on the much taller Thompson. He comes off a clear win over contender Mike Perez, though he was robbed and awarded only a draw in that fight. Before that, he was a sort of gatekeeper/prospect type. If Takam is really as good as he looked against Perez, this may very well be a barn-burner. If he’s more like what most assumed him to be going into that fight, Thompson should win relatively comfortably.

Saturday

David Price vs. Yaroslav Zavorotnyi; Schwerin, Germany; BoxNation (UK)

Zavorotnyi is a mid-level Ukrainian journeyman whose crowning achievement was a knockout of a moderately established undefeated prospect back in 2010. I guess that gives him a puncher’s chance against Price, a hard-hitting but chinny British giant who’s just looking to rebuild his career under new promoter Sauerland following back-to-back stoppage losses to Tony Thompson and a shaky performance against Ondrej Pala in his last fight before he won by knockout.

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Heavyweight: 2014, Apr 14-20

Posted in Heavyweight, Rankings with tags Charles Martin, Christian Hammer, David Price, Eddie Chambers, Kevin Johnson, Manuel Charr, Maurice Harris, Wladimir Klitschko on September 17, 2014 by danboxing

Another relatively busy week led off on Friday with what turned out to be similar to a generic form of Ambien. And no, nobody got put to sleep in the ring. It was simply a sleep-inducing performance by both Konstantin Airich and Christian Hammer. Hammer appears to have decent physical tools, and certainly has a marketable name, but he was less than scintillating in his decision victory (the scores weren’t announced, nor are they available on Boxrec) over Airich. Shopworn veteran journeyman Airich- the shorter man- clearly won the second round, and backed up and probably hurt Hammer in the last round, but overall he was passive and seemed resigned to a decision loss. Hammer probably wasn’t in top shape, as his output was fairly low, even while he was dominating. He also didn’t sit down on what looked like they could have been devastating punches, if thrown with better technique and conviction. Nevertheless, Hammer moves along, while Airich fades further into obscurity.

The following night in Bonn, Germany, Lebanese-German prospect Manuel Charr got the best win of his career by walking down and outpointing gatekeeper Kevin Johnson over 10 rounds. Johnson boxed effectively at times- particularly in the first few rounds of the fight, but in the long run he was unable to hold off the constant pressure of Charr, who had him on the ropes frequently. I had it 98-92 Charr, and 2 of the 3 judges agreed, with the third having it a round closer, which is reasonable.

Meanwhile, in Esbjerg, Denmark, 2-loss prospect David Price got yet another scare- losing the first two rounds and getting dropped in the first against Czech journeyman Ondrej Pala. He didn’t appear to enjoy the idea of a third loss, though, and quickly dispatched Pala with 2 single right hands, scoring two knockdowns in quick succession and ending the fight.

Eddie Chambers also snuck in some late-breaking action in London, stopping the comically bad (5-39-4) Moses Matovu in 70 seconds in the most obvious stay-busy fight since perhaps Chambers’ last fight against 9-45-6 Tomas Mrazek. Don’t strain yourself, Eddie.

Are you randomly wondering how premature Manuel Charr’s ill-fated September 2012 shot at Vitali Klitschko really was? Well, you’re in luck, because I’m gonna tell you. Very premature. Charr hadn’t beaten anyone even arguably within the top 50 at that point. He did so (emphasis on the arguably) in his next fight, for the first time, against Konstantin Airich, and only now- 18 months later- does he beat his first clearly top-50 fighter. Again, to highlight just how premature the opportunity really was: even now that he’s at a much higher level of achievement than he was back then, Charr still barely cracks the top 30 with the Johnson win. Perhaps more importantly, though, he’s reinvigorated his career, and is back on track as a serious prospect. No changes this week.

Dan’s Top 20 (Weeks in current position-weeks in top 10 (if applicable)-weeks in top 20)

Champ: Wladimir Klitschko (251-464-464)

Last Fight: 10/5/2013- UD12 #3 Alexander Povetkin

Next Fight: 4/26/2014- vs. #16 Alex Leapai

Klitschko-Leapai appears to be finalized for April 26 in Germany. He said recently that he wants to capture his brother’s old alphabet title, which would unify all the major titles for the first time since Lewis in 1999. He would have to wait for someone else to pick it up first, as the silly alphabets don’t let current titlists fight for vacant titles.

1) Tyson Fury (9-9-9)

Last Fight: 2/15/2014- TKO4 Joey Abell (UNR)

Next Fight: 7/26/2014- vs. #6 Dereck Chisora

Fury-Chisora has been made. July 26, in Manchester. The winner will become one of Wlad’s mandatories.

2) Vyacheslav Glazkov (5-5-69)

Last Fight: 3/15/2014- UD12 #4 Tomasz Adamek

Next Fight: Unknown

3) Alexander Povetkin (5-338-338)

Last Fight: 10/5/2013- L (UD12) vs. Champ Wladimir Klitschko

Next Fight: Unknown

Povetkin declined an opportunity to fight undefeated Cuban prospect Luis Ortiz for a “regular” title that would have set him up for an eventual rematch for the real title.

4) Amir Mansour (2-2-2)

Last Fight: 4/4/2014- Robbery L (UD10) vs. #4 Steve Cunningham

Next Fight: Unknown

5) Kubrat Pulev (9-102-179)

Last Fight: 4/5/2014- RTD3 Ivica Perkovic (UNR)

Next Fight: Unknown

Pulev dominated Perkovic, a low-level journeyman who took the fight on roughly a day or two’s notice. He’s now back in the position to wait for a Klitschko shot.

6) Dereck Chisora (9-124-187)

Last Fight: 2/15/2014- UD12 Kevin Johnson (UNR)

Next Fight: 7/26/2014- vs. #1 Tyson Fury

See Fury’s notes, above.

7) Steve Cunningham (2-69-69)

Last Fight: 4/4/2014- Robbery W (UD10) vs. Amir Mansour (UNR)

Next Fight: Unknown

I hope you’ll all pray for his daughter to recover from her life-threatening health condition, and the guy had guts to come back from the 2 knockdowns. But he didn’t win the fight.

8) Tony Thompson (2-4-203)

Last Fight: 3/22/2014- W* (SD12) vs. #8 Odlanier Solis

Next Fight: Unknown

Thompson has been on a pretty decent run in the past couple years, and he might be at his highest point since his first fight with Wlad after getting a questionable win in a very close fight with Solis. He has called out Tyson Fury, though the timing for that is a bit odd.

9) Tomasz Adamek (2-208-208)

Last Fight: 3/15/2014- L (UD12) vs. #18 Vyacheslav Glazkov

Next Fight: Unknown

10) Odlanier Solis (2-56-203)

Last Fight: 3/22/2014- L* (SD12) vs. #13 Tony Thompson

Next Fight: Unknown

11) Carlos Takam (2-13)

Last Fight: 1/18/2014- Robbery Draw (W) vs. #11 Mike Perez

Next Fight: Unknown

Takam has been called in to spar with Tyson Fury. Good call. He’s about as close to Chisora as you can get.

12) Bermane Stiverne (2-59)

Last Fight: 4/27/2013- UD12 #15 Chris Arreola

Next Fight: 5/10/2014- vs. #13 Chris Arreola

ESPN has landed the fight- their biggest score in a while on that front. May 10 in Los Angeles.

13) Chris Arreola (2-32)

Last Fight: 9/7/2013- TKO1 #12 Seth Mitchell

Next Fight: 5/10/2014- vs. #12 Bermane Stiverne

See Stiverne’s notes, above.

14) Deontay Wilder (2-51)

Last Fight: 3/15/2014- KO1 #19 Malik Scott

Next Fight: Unknown

With the win over Scott, Wilder appears poised to fight the Stiverne-Arreola winner for an alphabet title and probably near-universal recognition as the best American heavyweight.

15) Erkan Teper (2-33)

Last Fight: 11/16/2013- KO1 Martin Rogan (UNR)

Next Fight: Unknown

16) Alex Leapai (2-21)

Last Fight: 11/23/2013- UD10 #20 Denis Boytsov

Next Fight: 4/26/2014- vs. Champ Wladimir Klitschko

Leapai-Klitschko is done for April 26 in Germany.

17) Andy Ruiz (2-21)

Last Fight: 11/24/2013- RTD3 Tor Hamer (UNR)

Next Fight: 5/17/2014- vs. Manuel Quezada (UNR)

Ruiz was scheduled to fight on the Marquez-Alvarado undercard on May 10, but has been bumped back a week to a fight in Fresno against Manuel Quezada.

18) Seth Mitchell (2-45)

Last Fight: 9/7/2013- L (TKO1) vs. Chris Arreola (UNR)

Next Fight: Unknown

19) Johnathon Banks (2-6)

Last Fight: 6/22/2013- L (UD12) vs. #20 Seth Mitchell

Next Fight: Unknown

20) Francesco Pianeta (2-5)

Last Fight: 12/6/2013- TKO2 Robert Teuber (UNR)

Next Fight: Unknown

THE WEEK AHEAD:

Wednesday

Charles Martin vs. Alexander Flores; Santa Monica, California; Off TV

Martin and Flores are both undefeated prospect, and both are close to top 50 level, give or take. Martin comes from St. Louis and is now based near L.A. Flores is a California native and most likely the local favorite. He also has the cleaner record of the two, having won all but two of his fights by knockout, including each of his last 10. Martin has flashed similar power, earning a stoppage in 13 of his 15 wins, but he did have to settle for a draw with a bad fighter in a 4-rounder last year. The best mark (based on Boxrec rankings) on each man’s resume were similarly-ranked mid-level journeymen. Martin won a 6 round decision at that level, while Flores scored an 8-round TKO. Any way you slice it, it’s a pick ’em fight, though if you split enough hairs, I think you have to make Flores the slight favorite despite his slightly lower ranking. Regardless of who wins, that guy will become a top prospect instantly. The fight and the deep and excellent card it’s part of, is not televised. Hopefully it ends up on YouTube at some point.

Friday

Maurice Harris vs. Andrey Fedosov; Hammond, Indiana; Off TV

Another potentially significant off-TV heavyweight fight. Harris is a 38 year-old American gatekeeper who has lost 3 of his last 4 and 4 of his last 6 against mostly solid competition. Fedosov is a Hollywood-based 3-loss journeyman from Russia who is looking to jump-start his career after a stoppage loss to Bryant Jennings last year stalled his bid to get into the top 50, himself.

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Heavyweight: 2014, Apr 7-13

Posted in Heavyweight, Rankings with tags Amir Mansour, Christian Hammer, David Price, Gerald Washington, Kevin Johnson, Kubrat Pulev, Manuel Charr, Steve Cunningham on September 2, 2014 by danboxing

‘Twas a busy week among the big men this week. Thursday featured two notable contests on FS1 from Indio, California. In the main event, undefeated Cuban prospect Luis Ortiz got an impressive win over 42 year-old veteran journeyman Monte Barrett. Barrett couldn’t really get his punches off, and certainly wasn’t able to earn the respect of Ortiz, who wasn’t a paragon of activity himself, but was generally able to walk right through Barrett. Barrett took a knee after walking right into a hard left from the Cuban southpaw, and the fight was instantly stopped by Raul Caiz, Sr. Why he did so is beyond me. It was the first knockdown of the fight. Though he’d lost every round clearly, it’s not like Barrett had taken a brutal sustained beating at any point. Barrett took a knee of his own volition, and so it’s not like a 10-count would have endangered Barrett’s health any further. Bottom line: there’s a really good chance that Barrett could have and would have continued, but the referee didn’t seem to care about that. On the other hand, the chances that Barrett seriously posed a threat to win the fight from that point were low indeed, so it’s perhaps a little on the moot side.

In what turned out to be a farce on the undercard, undefeated prospect Gerald Washington “KO”d less advanced one-loss fringe prospect Skipp Scott. Here’s how it went down. The first round was close and sloppy. I gave it narrowly to Washington. In the second, Washington landed a hard shot to Scott’s head that caused Scott to fall to a knee in the ensuing clinch. While his opponent was still on a knee, Washington took a step back and landed a hard right hook to the body that sent Scott reeling back to the ropes and onto his back. Scott rose to his feet by the count of 8, but when referee Lou Moret asked if he was okay, he fell back down in apparent agony, whereupon the fight was waved off. But there should never have been a count in the first place. Scott was legitimately knocked down from a punch, but less than a second later, he was hit by an equally hard illegal punch that at least arguably caused him to be unable to continue. I’m not necessarily blaming Washington. Scott is a 6’8” behemoth, and when he’s on his knee, it might be hard to tell since he’s probably still close to 6 feet tall. But at the very least, Moret needed to call time and give Scott up to 5 minutes to recover from the illegal blow. If he couldn’t do so, it should have been a no contest. You just can’t knock a guy out when he’s already down. Lou Moret may have been a good ref in his time, but he’s slow-footed and never in good position, and his judgment at this stage in his career is frequently way off. He should retire from at least this aspect of the sport. On the bright side, Scott was proven at only a fairly low level, and so whether I treat it as a knockout or a no contest, the affect on the rankings is nil.

The following night in an NBC Sports main event from Philadelphia, we saw a heck of a tilt between #4 Steve Cunningham and hard-hitting but aged undefeated prospect/fringe contender Amir Mansour. Cunningham had trouble with the bigger Mansour’s power and physicality early, as he clearly lost the first two rounds before maybe taking the next two narrowly. But it was the 5th in which things really unraveled, as Cunningham tasted the canvas twice and was nearly stopped. Mansour kept the momentum going enough to win a competitive 6th, as well, and by that point was up 58-54 at a minimum on any competent card. Cunningham narrowly edged the 7th on my card to pull within 3 before Mansour won a competitive 8th, but did so fairly clearly. 77-73 Mansour. Cunningham closed strong, easily winning the 9th to pull within 3 points, and dropping Mansour with a well-timed shot in the 10th. That earned him a narrow loss on my card at 94-93. The official scores were 97-90 (Alan Rubenstein) and 95-92 (John Poturaj and David Braslow), all for Cunningham. That’s a joke. My card was already as generous as it reasonably could be in Cunningham’s favor, as the three closest rounds of the fight (3, 4, and 7) were already rounds I gave to him. 97-90 is a borderline reasonable score, but only if it’s in favor of Mansour. BJ Flores in broadcasting the fight stated as a matter of fact that Cunningham had come back to clearly win the fight. That’s obviously a biased view, as he is a friend of Cunningham and- perhaps along with the judges and even Mansour himself in his post-fight comments- was influenced by the heart-wrenching medical problems of Cunningham’s young daughter.

Main Events always seems to get favorable cards for its favored house fighter, whether it be Adamek, Glazkov, Karl Dargan, Curtis Stevens, or now Cunningham, for a change. They’ve all won fights on NBC Sports air that they did not deserve to win, while none of the b-side opponents on their cards have, to the best of my memory, ever received such treatment. I love Steve Cunningham, and have called out a robbery or two that he’s suffered in the past, but in this case he clearly got the benefit of one, and no matter how much he deserves good things due to his being a good guy in a bad situation in his personal life, I can’t just pretend the other guy didn’t deserve to win. Amir Mansour is 41 years old, and is not going to get too many more bites at the apple. He deserved to win this fight, and he deserved to be the guy that moved on to bigger and better things. Thanks to some bad judging (which hurts me to say, since John Poturaj is normally great), he may never get a shot at anything meaningful. It doesn’t help when the media fix is in, as well. I’m just one voice and will never make a big difference, but that won’t stop me from calling it like I see it.

In a tune-up fight on the Braehmer-Maccarinelli undercard in Rostock, Germany on Saturday, #5 Kubrat Pulev got a walk in the park against chubby Croatian travelling opponent Ivica Perkovic. Perkovic has never beaten anyone with a winning record, and has only a few wins against guys with as many as 3 pro wins. He’s best known for dropping a faded Alexander Dimitrenko in what has so far been Dimitrenko’s last fight. In this contest, which he took on just a few days’ notice, he was little more than a human heavy bag. Pulev was able to walk him back to the ropes at will, and then proceeded to pick him apart until Perkovic decided it wasn’t worth it anymore and quit on his stool after round 3. I’m not sure he landed so much as a glancing blow the entire fight.

Due to his should-be win over a top-5 contender, Mansour crashes my top ten (if nobody else’s) at #4. Cunningham’s should-be loss drops him to #7. Everyone ranked #7 and below last week backtracks a spot to make room for Mansour, which forces Carlos Takam out of the top 10 after a 2-week stint, and Eddie Chambers from the top 20 after just a single week.

Dan’s Top 20 (Weeks in current position-weeks in top 10 (if applicable)-weeks in top 20)

Champ: Wladimir Klitschko (250-463-463)

Last Fight: 10/5/2013- UD12 #3 Alexander Povetkin

Next Fight: 4/26/2014- vs. #15 Alex Leapai

1) Tyson Fury (8-8-8)

Last Fight: 2/15/2014- TKO4 Joey Abell (UNR)

Next Fight: 7/26/2014- vs. #6 Dereck Chisora

Fury-Chisora has been made. July 26, in Manchester. The winner will become one of Wlad’s mandatories.

2) Vyacheslav Glazkov (4-4-68)

Last Fight: 3/15/2014- UD12 #4 Tomasz Adamek

Next Fight: Unknown

3) Alexander Povetkin (4-337-337)

Last Fight: 10/5/2013- L (UD12) vs. Champ Wladimir Klitschko

Next Fight: 6/1/2014- vs. Unknown Opponent

The WBA has ordered Povetkin vs. Cuban prospect Luis Ortiz for their “regular” belt. Naturally, Wlad is the “Super Champion.” Povetkin had already held the “regular” belt since beating Chagaev, but apparently it became vacant when the Superchief…er…Super Champion…beat him. Does that make Wlad the Super-Duper Champion? If so, what fight are they going to stage for the “regular” Super Championship? I should stop making fun, before I give them any more ideas.

4) Amir Mansour (1-1-1)

Last Fight: 4/4/2014- Robbery L (UD10) vs. #4 Steve Cunningham

Next Fight: Unknown

5) Kubrat Pulev (8-101-178)

Last Fight: 4/5/2014- RTD3 Ivica Perkovic (UNR)

Next Fight: Unknown

Pulev dominated Perkovic, a low-level journeyman who took the fight on roughly a day or two’s notice. He’s now back in the position to wait for a Klitschko shot.

6) Dereck Chisora (8-123-186)

Last Fight: 2/15/2014- UD12 Kevin Johnson (UNR)

Next Fight: 7/26/2014- vs. #1 Tyson Fury

See Fury’s notes, above.

7) Steve Cunningham (1-68-68)

Last Fight: 4/4/2014- Robbery W (UD10) vs. Amir Mansour (UNR)

Next Fight: Unknown

I hope you’ll all pray for his daughter to recover from her life-threatening health condition, and the guy had guts to come back from the 2 knockdowns. But he didn’t win the fight.

8) Tony Thompson (1-3-202)

Last Fight: 3/22/2014- W* (SD12) vs. #8 Odlanier Solis

Next Fight: Unknown

9) Tomasz Adamek (1-207-207)

Last Fight: 3/15/2014- L (UD12) vs. #18 Vyacheslav Glazkov

Next Fight: Unknown

I’d have to think Adamek would at least consider retirement after being brutalized for 12 rounds by a guy that had looked like he might top out around the top 15. He’s recently announced his candidacy for the European parliament elections in May, so that may be a sign that he’s leaning that direction.

10) Odlanier Solis (1-55-202)

Last Fight: 3/22/2014- L* (SD12) vs. #13 Tony Thompson

Next Fight: Unknown

11) Carlos Takam (1-12)

Last Fight: 1/18/2014- Robbery Draw (W) vs. #11 Mike Perez

Next Fight: Unknown

Takam has been called in to spar with Tyson Fury. Good call. He’s about as close to Chisora as you can get.

12) Bermane Stiverne (1-58)

Last Fight: 4/27/2013- UD12 #15 Chris Arreola

Next Fight: 5/10/2014- vs. #11 Chris Arreola

ESPN has landed the fight- their biggest score in a while on that front. May 10 in Los Angeles.

13) Chris Arreola (1-31)

Last Fight: 9/7/2013- TKO1 #12 Seth Mitchell

Next Fight: 5/10/2014- vs. #10 Bermane Stiverne

See Stiverne’s notes, above.

14) Deontay Wilder (1-50)

Last Fight: 3/15/2014- KO1 #19 Malik Scott

Next Fight: Unknown

With the win over Scott, Wilder appears poised to fight the Stiverne-Arreola winner for an alphabet title and probably near-universal recognition as the best American heavyweight.

15) Erkan Teper (1-32)

Last Fight: 11/16/2013- KO1 Martin Rogan (UNR)

Next Fight: Unknown

16) Alex Leapai (1-20)

Last Fight: 11/23/2013- UD10 #20 Denis Boytsov

Next Fight: 4/26/2014- vs. Champ Wladimir Klitschko

Leapai-Klitschko is done for April 26 in Germany.

17) Andy Ruiz (1-20)

Last Fight: 11/24/2013- RTD3 Tor Hamer (UNR)

Next Fight: 5/17/2014- vs. Unknown Opponent

Ruiz is penciled in for the Marquez-Alvarado undercard on May 10 in LA.

18) Seth Mitchell (1-44)

Last Fight: 9/7/2013- L (TKO1) vs. Chris Arreola (UNR)

Next Fight: Unknown

19) Johnathon Banks (1-5)

Last Fight: 6/22/2013- L (UD12) vs. #20 Seth Mitchell

Next Fight: Unknown

20) Francesco Pianeta (1-4)

Last Fight: 12/6/2013- TKO2 Robert Teuber (UNR)

Next Fight: Unknown

THE WEEK AHEAD:

Friday

Christian Hammer vs. Konstantin Airich; Berlin, Germany; Eurosport

Hammer is a 3-loss gatekeeper who should really have 4 losses, having gotten a gift against Kevin Johnson in his last fight. Airich is a former gatekeeper himself, but is coming off consecutive losses to Solis, Glazkov, and Manuel Charr, steroid controversy, and well over a year of inactivity.

Saturday

Kevin Johnson vs. Manuel Charr; Bonn, Germany; Off TV

This is a heck of a match-up, really, and a pick-’em fight. Charr is a perennial prospect who has flopped at the Klitschko level and pretty much just beat up on journeymen otherwise. This will be his first truly fair test. Johnson is up and down. He owns a dominant win over soon-to-be Championship challenger Alex Leapai and should have beaten Hammer as mentioned above, but has failed at the top 5 level (Klitschko, Fury, and Chisora) and also at the gatekeeper level or below (Tor Hamer, plus an undeserved win over Sosnowski, both on Prizefighter). Johnson would probably be my pick, because he’s won at at least the level Charr has proven himself to belong on. That would mean that if he turns in a good performance for him, he would require Charr to be better than he’s ever been before to win. If Charr turns in as good a performance as he’s ever turned in, Johnson may still be too much for him as far as we know. The venue will likely be an advantage for Charr, however.

David Price vs. Ondrej Pala; Esbjerg, Denmark; BoxNation (UK)

Czech journeyman Pala might qualify as a stay-busy fight for top guys like Chisora, but he’s only lost twice since 2006, and was considered a top 50 fighter as recently as last year. Price has got to be a heavy favorite since he’s clearly at a higher level than Pala’s loss other than Chisora- to a streaking and likely roided-up Konstantin Airich- but it’s no gimme. If Price isn’t prepared for a real fight, he may be in for a difficult night. The English prospect is coming off back-to-back stoppage losses to Tony Thompson and an easy tune-up.

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Heavyweight: 2014, Jan 27- Feb 2

Posted in Heavyweight, Rankings with tags Alexander Povetkin, Andrzej Wawrzyk, Artur Szpilka, Bryant Jennings, David Price, Gerald Washington, Steve Cunningham, Wladimir Klitschko on May 8, 2014 by danboxing

In a Friday showcase fight in Indio, California that failed to make the televised FS1 card, undefeated prospect Gerald Washington took out sub-.500 journeyman Arron Lyons early in the 5th of a scheduled 8. No major waves there.

David Price was supposed to fight Konstantin Airich on Saturday in Stuttgart. Airich is a journeyman on the downside who had nevertheless enjoyed a stint as a notable gatekeeper fairly recently. With the cancellation of that fight, Price had to settle for a relative walk in the park against lesser journeyman Istvan Ruzsinszky of Hungary. He took care of business, stopping his man in the opening round. That being said, to the extent you can look bad scoring a half-round knockout with a heavy knockdown involved, I think Price kinda did. He looked very robotic and uncomfortable behind an awkward jab to begin the fight, though he did start leaning into his punches eventually, which is what led to the impressive 1-2 that dropped the Hungarian as if he’d been shot. I’m probably being too hard on Price, who very likely was just being cautious and feeling his man out. Another note before I move on: referee Jorg Milke botched his job, in my opinion. The knockdown was impressive and heavy, no doubt. But Ruzsinszky was up at 8, and to my eyes looked just fine. Even if he hadn’t looked fine, Milke was already waving it off as the man was in the process of standing, having not wavered at all on his way up. He didn’t look at the eyes or anything. Obviously there was only going to be one winner of a fight like this, but you still can’t call it off any time you want like that if you’re a professional referee.

Last but not least, in what was by far the most consequential heavyweight action of the week, fringe contending unbeaten prospect Bryant Jennings notched the first truly significant win of his much-heralded career, making an impressive showing against power-punching fellow unbeaten Artur Szpilka of Poland in an HBO-televised bout from New York. Szpilka put forth a very respectable effort, and did have some real success in the first 4- and especially the first 2- rounds, but ultimately didn’t have the physical presence over the long haul that Jennings brought to the table, with Jennings imposing his will on the Pole increasingly as the fight wore on. Jennings showed impressive athleticism, and managed to be simultaneously disciplined and exciting in his work. Up on the official cards by an 88-82 margin that I heartily agreed with, Jennings put the cherry on the top of a delicious performance with a stoppage in the final round of the scheduled 10, having already sent Szpilka to the canvas in the 6th.

With the win, Jennings has established himself as a legitimate fringe contender, but despite now having a good win, he still has yet to beat a truly proven opponent who isn’t totally shot, with Szpilka failing the former test. As a result, he falls short of the rankings by about 3 or 4 rungs. No changes this week.

Dan’s Top 20 (Weeks in current position-weeks in top 10 (if applicable)-weeks in top 20)

Champ: Wladimir Klitschko (240-453-453)

Last Fight: 10/5/2013- UD12 #3 Alexander Povetkin

Next Fight: 4/26/2014- vs. #13 Alex Leapai

1) Alexander Povetkin (10-327-327)

Last Fight: 10/5/2013- L (UD12) vs. Champ Wladimir Klitschko

Next Fight: Unknown

Povetkin is calling for a rematch. He would probably need to become the WBA mandatory by winning an eliminator (possibly against Luis Ortiz) in order to get that shot. His promotional ties expired on December 31, and he says he’ll announce his next move in early 2014.

2) Steve Cunningham (10-58-58)

Last Fight: 12/14/2013- UD8 Manuel Quezada (UNR)

Next Fight: Unknown

Cunningham had little trouble dominating a fading former gatekeeper in Quezada.

3) Tomasz Adamek (10-197-197)

Last Fight: 8/3/2013- UD10 Dominick Guinn (UNR)

Next Fight: 3/15/2014- vs. #18 Vyacheslav Glazkov

The rescheduled fight with Glazkov is now official for March 15.

4) Kubrat Pulev (10-91-168)

Last Fight: 12/14/2013- TKO5 Joey Abell (UNR)

Next Fight: 4/5/2014- vs. Unknown Opponent

Pulev is back on the Braehmer card on April 5 in Rostock, Germany, but no opponent just yet.

5) Dereck Chisora (10-113-176)

Last Fight: 11/30/2013- TKO3 Ondrej Pala (UNR)

Next Fight: 2/15/2014- vs. Kevin Johnson (UNR)

After prospect Andriy Rudenko withdrew from their scheduled February 15 fight, Chisora replaced him with a better opponent in credible gatekeeper Kevin Johnson.

6) Odlanier Solis (10-45-192)

Last Fight: 7/27/2013- TKO7 Yakup Saglam (UNR)

Next Fight: 3/22/2014- vs. #10 Tony Thompson

Solis was first set to fight Kevin Johnson. But he backed out because the IBF wanted him to fight Takam. But now word from Tony Thompson is that Solis will fight Thompson, instead, on March 22.

7) Carlos Takam (2-2-2)

Last Fight: 1/18/2014- Robbery Draw (W) vs. #11 Mike Perez

Next Fight: Unknown

Takam clearly beat #11 Perez, and is ranked accordingly.

8) Bermane Stiverne (2-32-48)

Last Fight: 4/27/2013- UD12 #15 Chris Arreola

Next Fight: Unknown

Purse bids were cancelled as Stiverne and Arreola reached an agreement for their upcoming alphabet title fight, with April being targeted.

9) Chris Arreola (2-21-21)

Last Fight: 9/7/2013- TKO1 #12 Seth Mitchell

Next Fight: Unknown

See Stiverne’s notes, above.

10) Tony Thompson (2-11-192)

Last Fight: 8/24/2013- L (UD12) vs. #8 Kubrat Pulev

Next Fight: 3/22/2014- vs. #6 Odlanier Solis

Thompson says he’s fighting Odlanier Solis on March 22.

11) Erkan Teper (2-22)

Last Fight: 11/16/2013- KO1 Martin Rogan (UNR)

Next Fight: Unknown

Teper might have scored the heavyweight knockout of the year, and probably retired Martin Rogan in the process.

12) Deontay Wilder (10-40)

Last Fight: 10/26/2013- TKO4 Nicolai Firtha (UNR)

Next Fight: 3/15/2014- vs. #19 Malik Scott

Wilder will fight his close friend, Malik Scott, on March 15.

13) Alex Leapai (10-10)

Last Fight: 11/23/2013- UD10 #20 Denis Boytsov

Next Fight: 4/26/2014- vs. Champ Wladimir Klitschko

It looks like Leapai-Klitschko is done for April 26 in Germany.

14) Robert Helenius (11-192)

Last Fight: 3/23/2013- W*(UD10) vs. Michael Sprott (UNR)

Next Fight: Unknown

We finally have a bit of clarification on the Helenius-Sauerland situation. Helenius says that when he signed a promotional contract with Sauerland in 2007, he had no representation and couldn’t even read it in German. He is currently trying to get a Finnish court to allow him to fight in Finland, as he says Sauerland is blocking him from fighting now despite the fact that his health will now allow it.

15) Andy Ruiz (10-10)

Last Fight: 11/24/2013- RTD3 Tor Hamer (UNR)

Next Fight: Unknown

Ruiz is being targeted by Mike Perez.

16) Seth Mitchell (11-34)

Last Fight: 9/7/2013- L (TKO1) vs. Chris Arreola (UNR)

Next Fight: Unknown

17) Alexander Dimitrenko (10-159)

Last Fight: 3/9/2013- UD8 Ivica Perkovic (UNR)

Next Fight: Unknown

Dimitrenko is rumored at least to be fighting Sam Sexton in the first round of the WBC World Cup, but that tournament appears to be in limbo for the time being, at least.

18) Vyacheslav Glazkov (10-58)

Last Fight: 11/16/2013- UD10 Garrett Wilson (UNR)

Next Fight: 3/15/2014- vs. #3 Tomasz Adamek

Glazkov-Adamek is back on, for March 15, after the first attempt was cancelled due to an Adamek illness.

19) Malik Scott (10-49)

Last Fight: 7/20/2013- L (KO6*) vs. #8 Dereck Chisora

Next Fight: 3/15/2014- vs. #12 Deontay Wilder

See Wilder’s notes, above.

20) Johnathon Banks (10-63)

Last Fight: 6/22/2013- L (UD12) vs. #20 Seth Mitchell

Next Fight: Unknown

Banks is penciled-in for the second round of the WBC World Cup, against the winner of Sam Sexton and Alexander Dimitrenko, but as noted above, that whole tournament is delayed and in doubt.

THE WEEK AHEAD:

Saturday

Andrzej Wawrzyk vs. Danny Williams; Opole, Poland; Polsat Sport (Poland)

Wawrzyk is a one-loss Polish fringe prospect who should have at least two losses to go with his weak chin and poor reflexes, but there’s an excellent chance he will have little trouble with totally shot English former contender Danny Williams, who has lost 11 of his last 12 against less than stellar opposition, and last beat a worthwhile opponent in 2009.

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Heavyweight: 2014, Jan 20-26

Posted in Heavyweight, Rankings with tags Alexander Povetkin, Artur Szpilka, Bryant Jennings, Carlos Takam, David Price, Gerald Washington, Mike Perez, Wladimir Klitschko on April 16, 2014 by danboxing

2014 is off to a bad start, as the first truly significant heavyweight fight of the year ended in a blatant robbery.

#11 Mike Perez was in action for the first time since the tragic November battle with Magomed Abdusalamov that ended with Abdusalamov fighting for his life in a hospital bed. Whether the psychological impact of that fight impacted Perez’s performance, I don’t know. What I do know is that Perez had a terrible gameplan. One of his strengths is great footwork, which he uses to set up angles. He abandoned that advantage by failing to keep his distance in order to box at all. He basically stood in the trenches with the bigger and cruder Takam, and whether due to tentativeness or due to Takam’s effective body work, he was rarely throwing with bad intentions. Takam, on the flip side, got inside and outslugged Perez. He was in charge from round 6 on, by a wide margin.

Scoring-wise, the first round was a toss-up that I gave to Perez. Perez easily won the 2nd. Takam took the third pretty clearly, though it was pretty close. The 4th was another tossup, but I gave it to Takam. The 5th was another fairly close round, but pretty clearly for Perez. Takam clearly took rounds 6-10, with only the 7th and 8th being even remotely close. I had it 97-93 for Takam, and could see it being either a round closer or a round wider.

Judge Nicolas Esnault had it reasonable at 96-94 Takam. Jean Gauthier and Sylvain LeBlanc both botched it, though, scoring it an unacceptable draw at 95-95. Takam clearly won, and the fight will be treated as a Takam win here.

Takam debuts at #7. He fits in rather well there, as both he and new #8 Stiverne are held back ever-so-slightly by a hiccup against a not-so-great fighter early in their careers. Aside from that, Stiverne has beaten two guys ranked in the 15-20 range in Arreola and Austin, while Takam brings a gatekeeper-level win over Grant and a #11 in Perez. That makes for a close call, but I tend to err on the side of the higher-level win in such situations. Stiverne, Arreola, Thompson, and Teper are each forced down one space, with Teper exiting the top 10 after 8 weeks. Perez takes a major dive out of the top 20- probably even out of the top 25 for the time being- as Takam, while a reasonably legitimate prospect, was only ranked in the low-40s at the time of the fight in my book, and had a loss to a prospect who never rose above the journeyman level.

Dan’s Top 20 (Weeks in current position-weeks in top 10 (if applicable)-weeks in top 20)

Champ: Wladimir Klitschko (239-452-452)

Last Fight: 10/5/2013- UD12 #3 Alexander Povetkin

Next Fight: 4/26/2014- vs. #13 Alex Leapai

1) Alexander Povetkin (9-326-326)

Last Fight: 10/5/2013- L (UD12) vs. Champ Wladimir Klitschko

Next Fight: Unknown

2) Steve Cunningham (9-57-57)

Last Fight: 12/14/2013- UD8 Manuel Quezada (UNR)

Next Fight: Unknown

Cunningham had little trouble dominating a fading former gatekeeper in Quezada.

3) Tomasz Adamek (9-196-196)

Last Fight: 8/3/2013- UD10 Dominick Guinn (UNR)

Next Fight: 3/15/2014- vs. #18 Vyacheslav Glazkov

The rescheduled fight with Glazkov is now official for March 15.

4) Kubrat Pulev (9-90-167)

Last Fight: 12/14/2013- TKO5 Joey Abell (UNR)

Next Fight: 4/5/2014- vs. Unknown Opponent

Pulev is back on the Braehmer card on April 5 in Rostock, Germany, but no opponent just yet.

5) Dereck Chisora (9-112-175)

Last Fight: 11/30/2013- TKO3 Ondrej Pala (UNR)

Next Fight: 2/15/2014- vs. Unknown Opponent (UNR)

Chisora returns on February 15, but he’s looking for a new opponent after undefeated Ukrainian Andriy Rudenko withdrew.

6) Odlanier Solis (9-44-191)

Last Fight: 7/27/2013- TKO7 Yakup Saglam (UNR)

Next Fight: 3/22/2014- vs. #10 Tony Thompson

Solis was first set to fight Kevin Johnson. But he backed out because the IBF wanted him to fight Takam. But now word from Tony Thompson is that Solis will fight Thompson, instead, on March 22.

7) Carlos Takam (1-1-1)

Last Fight: 1/18/2014- Robbery Draw (W) vs. #11 Mike Perez

Next Fight: Unknown

Takam clearly beat #11 Perez, and is ranked accordingly.

8) Bermane Stiverne (1-31-47)

Last Fight: 4/27/2013- UD12 #15 Chris Arreola

Next Fight: Unknown

Despite speculation in the UK of a possible match-up between Fury and Chisora for the WBC title, that organization has officially ordered Stiverne-Arreola, with purse bids due on January 17. Stiverne’s legal situation with Don King seems to be the only possible stumbling block at this point.

9) Chris Arreola (1-20-20)

Last Fight: 9/7/2013- TKO1 #12 Seth Mitchell

Next Fight: Unknown

See Stiverne’s notes, above.

10) Tony Thompson (1-10-191)

Last Fight: 8/24/2013- L (UD12) vs. #8 Kubrat Pulev

Next Fight: 3/22/2014- vs. #6 Odlanier Solis

Thompson says he’s fighting Odlanier Solis on March 22.

11) Erkan Teper (1-21)

Last Fight: 11/16/2013- KO1 Martin Rogan (UNR)

Next Fight: Unknown

Teper might have scored the heavyweight knockout of the year, and probably retired Martin Rogan in the process.

12) Deontay Wilder (9-39)

Last Fight: 10/26/2013- TKO4 Nicolai Firtha (UNR)

Next Fight: Unknown

Wilder had hoped to supersede either Stiverne or Arreola for a shot at the WBC belt, but with that fight now officially ordered, he can only hope that Stiverne can’t work the fight out due to legal problems, or that he can fight the winner.

13) Alex Leapai (9-9)

Last Fight: 11/23/2013- UD10 #20 Denis Boytsov

Next Fight: 4/26/2014- vs. Champ Wladimir Klitschko

It looks like Leapai-Klitschko is done for April 26 in Germany.

14) Robert Helenius (10-191)

Last Fight: 3/23/2013- W*(UD10) vs. Michael Sprott (UNR)

Next Fight: Unknown

15) Andy Ruiz (9-9)

Last Fight: 11/24/2013- RTD3 Tor Hamer (UNR)

Next Fight: Unknown

Ruiz has called out Tyson Fury, whose team says he’s out until at least March.

16) Seth Mitchell (10-33)

Last Fight: 9/7/2013- L (TKO1) vs. Chris Arreola (UNR)

Next Fight: Unknown

17) Alexander Dimitrenko (9-158)

Last Fight: 3/9/2013- UD8 Ivica Perkovic (UNR)

Next Fight: Unknown

Dimitrenko is rumored at least to be fighting Sam Sexton in the first round of the WBC World Cup, but that tournament appears to be in limbo for the time being, at least.

18) Vyacheslav Glazkov (9-57)

Last Fight: 11/16/2013- UD10 Garrett Wilson (UNR)

Next Fight: 3/15/2014- vs. #3 Tomasz Adamek

Glazkov-Adamek is back on, for March 15, after the first attempt was cancelled due to an Adamek illness.

19) Malik Scott (9-48)

Last Fight: 7/20/2013- L (KO6*) vs. #8 Dereck Chisora

Next Fight: Unknown

Scott is getting serious buzz for a fight with Wilder.

20) Johnathon Banks (9-62)

Last Fight: 6/22/2013- L (UD12) vs. #20 Seth Mitchell

Next Fight: Unknown

Banks is penciled-in for the second round of the WBC World Cup, against the winner of Sam Sexton and Alexander Dimitrenko, but as noted above, that whole tournament is delayed and in doubt.

THE WEEK AHEAD:

Friday

Gerald Washington vs. Arron Lyons; Indio, California; Fox Sports 1 (US)

Washington is a pretty solid prospect, having turned in a much better showing against Sherman Williams than did Robert Helenius. He honestly doesn’t look that spectacular to the eye, as I see it, but he’s got the credentials for a guy so early in his career. Lyons is a sub-.500 journeyman from Gulfport, Mississippi, and should pose little or no threat to Washington.

Saturday

David Price vs. Konstantin Airich; Stuttgart, Germany; ARD (Germany)Price will look to start 2014 on the right foot after a VERY rough 2013 campaign. Airich has sprung an upset or two in his time, but is a smallish heavyweight who probably lacks the height and power to exploit Price’s weak chin.

Bryant Jennings vs. Artur Szpilka; New York, New York; HBO (US)

Both of these guys are undefeated prospects, who have shown promise and been given a large degree of exposure on the US and international scene. The winner will most likely claim a top 20 spot, and will accumulate a lot of buzz for a Klitschko shot at some point. Jennings has shown himself to be a boxer-puncher of some skill at the gatekeeper level, while Szpilka is more of a brawler. The hotter the fight, the more it favors Szpilka, as I see it.

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Heavyweight: 2013, Jul 8-14

Posted in Heavyweight, Rankings with tags Alexander Povetkin, David Haye, David Price, Ian Lewison, Tony Thompson, Tyson Fury, Vitali Klitschko, Wladimir Klitschko on July 7, 2013 by danboxing

David Price’s planned redemption in Liverpool this Saturday didn’t go according to…plan. Tony Thompson- still somehow cast as the underdog after essentially losing only to Wladimir Klitschko in his career and making short work of Price the first time- may in some way have been more impressive in battering Price to a 5th round stoppage than he was with his flukey-looking one-punch stoppage the first time. He rose from a 2nd-round knockdown to break down the now-busted prospect. Referee Marcus McDonnell did his best to rescue Price after he turned his back (more or less) during a Thompson onslaught, giving him what amounted to a standing 8 count. But Price was clearly in no condition to go on at that point any more than he was when McDonnell first intervened, and the fight was halted. Price’s promoter was so despondent that he had to halt the interview after the fight to avoid openly weeping.

Thompson did no more than confirm the prior result, however, and still has yet to beat any legit top-20 contenders to Bermane Stiverne’s two, and thus remains stuck at #11 for the time being.

Dan’s Top 20 (Weeks in current position-weeks in top 10 (if applicable)-weeks in top 20)

Champ: Wladimir Klitschko (211-424-424)

Last Fight: 5/4/2013- TKO6 Francesco Pianeta

Next Fight: 10/5/2013- vs. #4 Alexander Povetkin

Klitschko-Povetkin is now officially signed for 10/5 in Moscow.

1) Vitali Klitschko (248-248-248)

Last Fight: 9/8/2012- TKO4 Manuel Charr (UNR)

Next Fight: Unknown

The Vitali-Stiverne deadline has passed with no deal, but I can’t find any evidence that a scheduled purse bid has been held or rescheduled. Pretty odd for a very big international fight.

2) Tyson Fury (12-103-103)

Last Fight: 4/20/2013- KO7 #3 Steve Cunningham

Next Fight: Unknown

It sounds as if there’s a good chance that Fury-Haye will be a done deal by the end of the week.

3) David Haye (12-52-52)

Last Fight: 7/14/2012- TKO5 #6 Dereck Chisora

Next Fight: Unknown

If Haye doesn’t schedule a fight by the end of the week, he risks being removed. Since a Fury deal appears imminent, I will likely give him a bit of latitude, though, so long as that remains the case.

4) Alexander Povetkin (52-298-298)

Last Fight: 5/17/2013- TKO3 Andrzej Wawryzk (UNR)

Next Fight: 10/5/2013- vs. Champ Wladimir Klitschko

See Wlad’s notes, above.

5) Steve Cunningham (12-29-29)

Last Fight: 4/20/2013- L (KO7) vs. #6 Tyson Fury

Next Fight: Unknown

Only time will tell where Cunningham goes form here. His hopes for a title shot are dashed at least for awhile. Perhaps a trilogy with Adamek would make sense at this point.

6) Tomasz Adamek (12-168-168)

Last Fight: 12/22/2012- W (SD12)* vs. CW #4 Steve Cunningham (Robbery)

Next Fight: 8/3/2013- vs. Tony Grano (UNR)

Adamek will fight high-level journeyman Tony Grano on NBC Sports from the Mohegan Sun in Connecticut. He’s one fight too late, as journeyman/prospect Eric Molina already exposed Grano in April.

7) Kubrat Pulev (5-62-139)

Last Fight: 9/29/2012- KO11 Alexander Ustinov (UNR)

Next Fight: Unknown

The EBU has mandated a rematch with Dimitrenko as his next title defense, with purse bids to be held on July 10.

8) Dereck Chisora (5-84-147)

Last Fight: 4/20/2013- TKO9 Hector Avila (UNR)

Next Fight: 7/20/2013- vs. #17 Malik Scott

In a surprise announcement, Chisora will be fighting Malik Scott- a much better opponent than the other guys that had been discussed.

9) Odlanier Solis (5-16-163)

Last Fight: 3/22/2013- UD12 Leif Larsen (UNR)

Next Fight: 7/27/2013- vs. Yakup Saglam (UNR)

Solis has signed on to fight in a planned WBC “World Cup” tournament, but for now is set for a tune-up type fight against Turkish journeyman Yakup Saglam.

10) Bermane Stiverne (3-3-19)

Last Fight: 4/27/2013- UD12 #15 Chris Arreola

Next Fight: Unknown

Stiverne is hoping that Vitali doesn’t retire so that he can try and do the honors himself. At this point he’d be a pretty credible opponent, too.

11) Tony Thompson (3-163)

Last Fight: 7/6/2013- TKO5 David Price (UNR)

Next Fight: Unknown

After twice conquering arguably Britain’s greatest heavyweight hope, Thompson suggested he is interested in getting a British promoter, and would like to fight Tyson Fury.

12) Seth Mitchell (3-5)

Last Fight: 6/22/2013- UD12 #10 Johnathon Banks

Next Fight: Unknown

Banks wants a trilogy, but I’m not sure I see the percentages in it. The fans won’t want it after the mundane last 9 rounds, and it’s not going to enhance Mitchell’s career much at this point, even with another dominant win.

13) Deontay Wilder (5-11)

Last Fight: 4/27/2013- TKO1 Audley Harrison (UNR)

Next Fight: 8/9/2013- vs. Sergei Liakhovich (UNR)

Wilder will fight Sergei Liakhovich in Indio, California on August 9.

14) Robert Helenius (5-163)

Last Fight: 3/23/2013- W*(UD10) vs. Michael Sprott (UNR)

Next Fight: Unknown

If Helenius’ team was accurate on the severity of his hand injury, it should be healed by about now, although there were immediate rumors that the injury was more serious.

15) Alexander Dimitrenko (5-130)

Last Fight: 3/9/2013- UD8 Ivica Perkovic (UNR)

Next Fight: Unknown

Dimitrenko is now the mandatory challenger for Pulev’s European belt, though it sounded a week ago like Pulev was about to sign for a fight with Chagaev.

16) Vyacheslav Glazkov (5-29)

Last Fight: 2/23/2013- Draw* (SD10) vs. Malik Scott (UNR)

Next Fight: 8/3/2013- vs. Alonzo Butler (UNR)

Glazkov will be back in action for the Main Events/NBC Sports card on August 3 in Connecticut against journeyman Alonzo Butler.

17) Malik Scott (5-20)

Last Fight: 2/23/2013- Draw* (SD10) vs. #19 Vyacheslav Glazkov

Next Fight: 7/20/2013- vs. #8 Dereck Chisora

Scott will travel to London and try upset Dereck Chisora on July 20.

18) Johnathon Banks (3-34)

Last Fight: 6/22/2013- L (UD12) vs. #20 Seth Mitchell

Next Fight: Unknown

See Mitchell’s notes, above.

19) Denis Boytsov (3-212)

Last Fight: 6/15/2013- KO3 Alexander Nesterenko (UNR)

Next Fight: Unknown

Boytsov knocked out novice Ukrainian Nesterenko in a very short-notice fight on June 15. No word on a worthwhile fight for the unbeaten Russian, though.

20) Franklin Lawrence (3-19)

Last Fight: 1/25/2013- Mark Brown (UNR)

Next Fight: Unknown

Lawrence reportedly pulled out of a planned (and very good) crossroads fight with prospect Bryant Jennings.

THE WEEK AHEAD: English prospect Ian Lewison looks to avenge his only legitimate loss (as far as I know- it was by one point and I didn’t see it) on Saturday in London against Irish journeyman Colin Kenna.

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Heavyweight: 2013, Jul 1-7

Posted in Heavyweight, Rankings with tags Alexander Povetkin, David Haye, David Price, Steve Cunningham, Tony Thompson, Tyson Fury, Vitali Klitschko, Wladimir Klitschko on July 3, 2013 by danboxing

No fights to report from last week.

Dan’s Top 20 (Weeks in current position-weeks in top 10 (if applicable)-weeks in top 20)

Champ: Wladimir Klitschko (210-423-423)

Last Fight: 5/4/2013- TKO6 Francesco Pianeta

Next Fight: 10/5/2013- vs. #4 Alexander Povetkin

Klitschko-Povetkin is now officially signed for 10/5 in Moscow.

1) Vitali Klitschko (247-247-247)

Last Fight: 9/8/2012- TKO4 Manuel Charr (UNR)

Next Fight: Unknown

The Vitali-Stiverne deadline has passed with no deal, but I can’t find any evidence that a scheduled purse bid has been held or rescheduled. Pretty odd for a very big international fight.

2) Tyson Fury (11-102-102)

Last Fight: 4/20/2013- KO7 #3 Steve Cunningham

Next Fight: Unknown

It sounds as if there’s a good chance that Fury-Haye will be a done deal by the end of the week.

3) David Haye (11-51-51)

Last Fight: 7/14/2012- TKO5 #6 Dereck Chisora

Next Fight: Unknown

See Fury’s notes, above.

4) Alexander Povetkin (51-297-297)

Last Fight: 5/17/2013- TKO3 Andrzej Wawryzk (UNR)

Next Fight: 10/5/2013- vs. Champ Wladimir Klitschko

See Wlad’s notes, above.

5) Steve Cunningham (11-28-28)

Last Fight: 4/20/2013- L (KO7) vs. #6 Tyson Fury

Next Fight: Unknown

Only time will tell where Cunningham goes form here. His hopes for a title shot are dashed at least for awhile. Perhaps a trilogy with Adamek would make sense at this point.

6) Tomasz Adamek (11-167-167)

Last Fight: 12/22/2012- W (SD12)* vs. CW #4 Steve Cunningham (Robbery)

Next Fight: 8/3/2013- vs. Tony Grano (UNR)

Adamek will fight high-level journeyman Tony Grano on NBC Sports from the Mohegan Sun in Connecticut. He’s one fight too late, as journeyman/prospect Eric Molina already exposed Grano in April.

7) Kubrat Pulev (4-61-138)

Last Fight: 9/29/2012- KO11 Alexander Ustinov (UNR)

Next Fight: Unknown

The EBU has mandated a rematch with Dimitrenko as his next title defense, with purse bids to be held on July 10.

8) Dereck Chisora (4-83-146)

Last Fight: 4/20/2013- TKO9 Hector Avila (UNR)

Next Fight: 7/20/2013- vs. #17 Malik Scott

In a surprise announcement, Chisora will be fighting Malik Scott- a much better opponent than the other guys that had been discussed.

9) Odlanier Solis (4-15-162)

Last Fight: 3/22/2013- UD12 Leif Larsen (UNR)

Next Fight: 7/27/2013- vs. Yakup Saglam (UNR)

Solis has signed on to fight in a planned WBC “World Cup” tournament, but for now is set for a tune-up type fight against Turkish journeyman Yakup Saglam.

10) Bermane Stiverne (2-2-18)

Last Fight: 4/27/2013- UD12 #15 Chris Arreola

Next Fight: Unknown

Stiverne is hoping that Vitali doesn’t retire so that he can try and do the honors himself. At this point he’d be a pretty credible opponent, too.

11) Tony Thompson (2-162)

Last Fight: 2/23/2013- TKO2 David Price (UNR)

Next Fight: 7/6/2013- vs. David Price (UNR)

After originally saying he’d only fight David Price in a rematch if Price came to the US, Thompson has instead agreed to fight in Price’s Liverpool backyard again.

12) Seth Mitchell (2-4)

Last Fight: 6/22/2013- UD12 #10 Johnathon Banks

Next Fight: Unknown

13) Deontay Wilder (4-10)

Last Fight: 4/27/2013- TKO1 Audley Harrison (UNR)

Next Fight: 8/9/2013- vs. Sergei Liakhovich (UNR)

Wilder will fight Sergei Liakhovich in Indio, California on August 9.

14) Robert Helenius (4-162)

Last Fight: 3/23/2013- W*(UD10) vs. Michael Sprott (UNR)

Next Fight: Unknown

If Helenius’ team was accurate on the severity of his hand injury, it should be healed by about now, although there were immediate rumors that the injury was more serious.

15) Alexander Dimitrenko (4-129)

Last Fight: 3/9/2013- UD8 Ivica Perkovic (UNR)

Next Fight: Unknown

Dimitrenko is now the mandatory challenger for Pulev’s European belt, though it sounded a week ago like Pulev was about to sign for a fight with Chagaev.

16) Vyacheslav Glazkov (4-28)

Last Fight: 2/23/2013- Draw* (SD10) vs. Malik Scott (UNR)

Next Fight: 8/3/2013- vs. Unknown Opponent

Glazkov will be back in action for the Main Events/NBC Sports card on August 3 in Connecticut, but has no opponent yet.

17) Malik Scott (4-19)

Last Fight: 2/23/2013- Draw* (SD10) vs. #19 Vyacheslav Glazkov

Next Fight: 7/20/2013- vs. #8 Dereck Chisora

Scott will travel to London and try upset Dereck Chisora on July 20.

18) Johnathon Banks (2-33)

Last Fight: 6/22/2013- L (UD12) vs. #20 Seth Mitchell

Next Fight: Unknown

See Mitchell’s notes, above.

19) Denis Boytsov (2-211)

Last Fight: 6/15/2013- KO3 Alexander Nesterenko (UNR)

Next Fight: Unknown

Boytsov knocked out novice Ukrainian Nesterenko in a very short-notice fight on June 15. No word on a worthwhile fight for the unbeaten Russian, though.

20) Franklin Lawrence (2-18)

Last Fight: 1/25/2013- Mark Brown (UNR)

Next Fight: Unknown

Lawrence reportedly pulled out of a planned (and very good) crossroads fight with prospect Bryant Jennings.

THE WEEK AHEAD: Another rematch of a heavyweight upset greets us on Sautrday, as #11 Tony Thompson gives David Price another bite at the apple in Liverpool. Not that I really considered the original an upset to any great extent, but it was certainly set up as a step-up fight for a seemingly can’t-miss prospect. The first fight ended with a 2nd round TKO in favor of Thompson.

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