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Cruiserweight: 2014, Jun 9-15

Posted in Cruiserweight, Rankings with tags , , , , , , , on October 31, 2014 by danboxing
In the week’s biggest cruiserweight fight, #14 and Commonwealth Champion Ovill McKenzie took the fight to British Champion Jon-Lewis Dickinson from the opening bell in Newcastle, England.  Nothing flashy initially, but just hitting Dickinson with solid shots, mostly to the body, and taking the first round clearly.  Dickinson still hadn’t gotten fully untracked, it seemed, when at the bell to end the 2nd, McKenzie hit him with a nice left hook on the temple and behind the gloves, followed by a hard right hand between said gloves and on the chin.  This stretched Dickinson out, and though he was up well before 8, he staggered back at the conclusion of the mandatory count, just as Victor Loughlin was looking to certify him to continue, and necessitating a stoppage.  McKenzie has never won a fight that lasted past 6 rounds in his long career, and so I think it likely that Dickinson wasn’t trying to take any chances, and was probably just trying to feel out McKenzie for 3 or 4 rounds.  The Jamaican native has too much power to even stand in front of him defensively though.  I’ll bet that Dickinson would have mixed in more movement if he had it to do over.  McKenzie now owns the British and Commonwealth title (he lives in Derbyshire now), and says he wants to move on to a European title, or perhaps a world title shot in the near future.  He named Marco Huck as a person of particular interest.

 

#6 Firat Arslan was in a stay-busy fight with a sub-.500 Hungarian fighter in Schwerin named Tamas Bajzath.  To the best of my ability to find, it was not televised, but just from the scores (80-71 unanimously) it appears that Arslan won every round and most likely threw in a knockdown.

 

The same night in Tolfa, Italy, undefeated Italian Mirko Larghetti dropped his own low-level Hungarian, Attila Palko, twice in the 2nd, including the second time for the full count.  This was essentially a tune-up ahead of a planned shot at Marco Huck.

 

#5 Thabiso Mchunu was supposed to be in with a Brazilian prospect on Saturday, but that fight didn’t come off. 

 

No movement in the rankings will occur because of the week’s fights.  McKenzie is still stuck behind Janik, who comes off what should be a win over a #7 contender.  McKenzie has uniformly lost to guys who would so much as go on to that level, and has no fights against guys that were at that level at the time.  Dickinson also stays put, for what it’s worth, unofficially just a few spots shy of the top 25.

 

Dan’s Top 20 (weeks in current position-weeks in top 10 (if applicable)-weeks in top 20)
Champ: None
1) Marco Huck (4-392-392)
Last Fight:1/25/2014- TKO6 #5 Firat Arslan
Next Fight: Unknown
Huck’s TV deal in Germany is set to expire, he’s reportedly leaving Sauerland, and has met with HBO about coming to the US.  Ovill McKenzie would like to fight him.
2) Yoan Pablo Hernandez (4-207-207)
Last Fight: 11/23/2013- TKO10 #12 Alexander Alekseev
Next Fight: Unknown
Hernandez’s fight with Kolodziej- originally postponed- has now been cancelled due to an illness to Hernandez.
3) Denis Lebedev (4-227-227)
Last Fight: 5/17/2013- L (TKO11) vs. Guillermo Jones (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
Given his legitimate injury that shelved him for a big chunk of the year and the fact that his opponent screwed him over via PED use, I’m going to use my discretion and leave Lebedev ranked at this point.  Still, his best work is simply getting too old to stay at the very top.  Some reports have him returning in the fall against Pawel Kolodziej.
4) Krzysztof Wlodarczyk (39-468-468)
Last Fight: 12/6/2013- TKO6 #9 Giacobbe Fragomeni
Next Fight: Unknown
Wlodarczyk probably won’t return until the fall, with Drozd and BJ Flores being considered.
5) Thabiso Mchunu (20-45-83)
Last Fight: 1/24/2014- UD10 Olanrewaju Durodola (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
Mchunu’s scheduled fight with Brazilian prospect was scrapped on just a day’s notice due to the surprise withdrawal of the card’s sponsors.
6) Firat Arslan (20-109-152)
Last Fight: 6/7/2014- UD8 Tamas Bajzath (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
Arslan wasn’t scheduled to fight this weekend, but on short notice, he’ll replace an injured Ruslan Chagaev on the Schwerin undercard of Braehmer-Bolonti.  His opponent is a hopeless Hungarian.
7) Grigory Drozd (29-36-83)
Last Fight: 3/15/2014- KO1 Jeremy Ouanna (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
See Wlodarczyk’s notes, above.
8) Rakhim Chakhkiev (2-2-2)
Last Fight: 5/30/2014- UD12 #11 Santander Silgado
Next Fight: Unknown
Chakhkiev has finally cashed in a high-level win to go with his hype and promise.  Most likely another title shot is not far off.
9) Ola Afolabi (2-274-274)
Last Fight: 11/2/2013- W* (MD12) vs. Lukasz Janik (UNR)
Next Fight: 7/26/2014- vs. Pawel Kolodziej (UNR)
After we got no news on the fight for months, Afolabi-Kolodziej is now scheduled for the Golovkin-Geale undercard on July 26.
10) Giacobbe Fragomeni (2-39-291)
Last Fight: 4/26/2014- vs. Olegs Lopajevs (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
The fight with Lopajevs was purely a stay-busy contest, but he’s talking about another title shot even at 44 years old.
11) Ilunga Makabu (2-48)
Last Fight: 2/1/2014- TKO2 Ruben Angel Mino (UNR)
Next Fight: 6/28/2014- vs. Glen Johnson (UNR)
Initially sketchy reports of a June 28 fight with Glen Johnson appear true.
12) Mateusz Masternak (7-115)
Last Fight: 4/12/2014- UD8 Stjepan Vugdelija (UNR)
Next Fight: 6/21/2014- vs. Youri Kayembre Kalenga (UNR)
Masternak’s fight with Makabu fell through, and he’ll instead be fighting crude and inconsistent one-loss prospect Youri Kalenga.
13) Lukasz Janik (7-32)
Last Fight: 11/2/2013- L* (MD12) vs. #7 Ola Afolabi
Next Fight: 6/28/2014- vs. Rico Hoye (UNR)
Janik will dredge up a name from the past when he fights Rico Hoye on June 28.
14) Ovill McKenzie (7-9)
Last Fight: 6/7/2014- TKO2 Jon-Lewis Dickinson (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
After blowing out the British Champion, McKenzie has his sites set on a European or perhaps World belt.  He wants to fight Marco Huck most of all.
15) Santander Silgado (2-32)
Last Fight: 5/30/2014- L (UD12) vs. Rakhim Chakhkiev (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
I don’t want to say Silgado made it easy for Chakhkiev, because it looked relatively difficult, but he sure didn’t help himself by taking a fight with a fringe contending Olympic Gold Medalist on 2 weeks’ notice.
16) Danie Venter (2-39)
Last Fight: 9/21/2013- KO1 Shawn Cox (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
Venter’s June 6 fight was cancelled a day in advance due to a withdrawal of the card’s sponsors.
17) Dmytro Kucher (2-102)
Last Fight: 7/13/2013- L (MD12) vs. Ilunga Makabu (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
The inactive Kucher may now be in danger of losing his ranking in the next couple months, as his stay-busy fight in late May did not come off.
18) Nuri Seferi (2-25)
Last Fight: 5/16/2014- UD12 Tamas Lodi (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
Seferi looked pretty decent against Lodi, who fought the wrong fight.  At this point, he ought to give Perdomo a rematch.
19) Gusmyr Perdomo (2-9)
Last Fight: 4/11/2014- Robbery Loss (should be draw) vs. #15 Nuri Seferi
Next Fight: Unknown
Perdomo deserved at least a draw against Seferi, but the judges summoned just enough coincidental incompetence to take it from him.
20) Yunier Dorticos (2-8)
Last Fight: 4/16/2014- KO4 Eric Fields (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown

 

THE WEEK AHEAD: 
Friday
Olanrewaju Durodola vs. Max Heyman; St. Joseph, Missouri; Off TV
Durodola is a Nigerian based in Kansas City.  He has an impressive physique and flashed a lot of power in the amateurs.  His pro results have been mixed, but in his only TV exposure to this point, he made a decent account of himself against Thabiso Mchunu, who was coming off a dominating performance against Eddie Chambers.  Heyman is a low-level journeyman from Albuquerque, New Mexico who ought to have no chance whatsoever.
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Cruiserweight: 2014, Jun 2-8

Posted in Cruiserweight, Rankings with tags , , , , , , , on October 25, 2014 by danboxing
Friday in Moscow, much-heralded one-loss prospect Rakhim Chakhkiev got a nice win over #11 Santander Silgado, who shot himself in the foot by taking the fight on short notice.  Chakhkiev is considered by many to be a future champion, and his stoppage loss to Wlodarczyk last year is treated by some as a huge victory, considering he was manhandling a top 5 fighter for the majority of the first fight he’d ever had anywhere near that level.  So how’d he look this week?  Decent.  He was fighting a near-top-10 fighter this time, though I am not sure how many people other than me have him ranked there, and won comfortably, though at no point did he look spectacular.  I had him winning 10 of the 12 rounds, as did one of the judges, with the other two giving Silgado an additional round (good judging, by the way, by Alejandro Rochin, Predrag Aleksic, and Esa Lehtosaari).  The question would be whether losing 2-3 rounds against a possibly overrated #11 contender who took the fight on short notice is a good enough result for an Olympic Gold Medalist tabbed to be the next big thing.  I leave that for you to decide subjectively.  Objectively speaking, it’s going to be great for his ranking.

 

#16 Dmytro Kucher was supposed to have a tune-up in Odessa, Ukraine on Saturday, but that fight did not come off for one reason or another.

 

 Undefeated Ukrainian prospect Oleksandr Usyk knocked out Argentine journeyman Cesar Crenz with a body shot in the 4th round after dropping him with a headshot in the 3rd on Saturday in a fight that actually did come off in Odessa.  Usyk spent much of the fight simply backing Crenz off and throwing the boxing equivalent of a baseball change-up, just showing him soft punches, but everytime he did crank up something hard, it seemed to drop Crenz, who you could almost make a case for as a top 50 fighter, though both Boxrec and I believe he is a little shy of that after several consecutive losses.  That being the case, Usyk still has yet to beat a top 50 fighter, though he’s taken out about 4 guys at the level just below that, all by knockout.  He may be the best fighter in the division not in my rankings.

 

Undefeated prospect Jordan Shimmell of Hudsonville, Michigan was in action Saturday in Davenport, Iowa on Saturday, where he pummelled Jonathan Corn, a 40 year-old Wisconsin journeyman who currently has zero rankings points on Boxrec despite having 78 career fights.  Corn was once better than that, having peaked as a mid-level journeyman at middleweight back in 1999.  He came in on a 14-fight winless streak dating back to 2006, which is pretty rough.  Corn looked extremely overmatched, despite Shimmell looking fairly crude in his attack, and his corner threw in the towel during the 8-count after the first knockdown, while Corn was on his feet.  That tells me they just came to cash a check.

 

Chakhkiev returns to the rankings for the first time since March 3, and makes his debut in the top 10 just behind Russian comrade Grigory Drozd, in what was an extremely close race to call.  Technically, #11 Silgado was a marginally better win than #13 Masternak, but I think the division was slightly better when Drozd beat Masternak.  Drozd also has 2 gatekeeper-level wins to Chakhkiev’s one, and hasn’t lost, while Chakhkiev has, albeit at a higher level than Drozd has fought.  Chakhkiev’s arrival forces Afolabi, Fragomeni, and Makabu down a spot each.  Silgado falls to #15, and everyone ranked below that falls a spot, as well, including Krzysztof Glowacki, who exits the top 20 after 5 consecutive weeks in.  Makabu falls from the top 10, also after 5 weeks.

 

Dan’s Top 20 (weeks in current position-weeks in top 10 (if applicable)-weeks in top 20)
Champ: None
1) Marco Huck (3-391-391)
Last Fight:1/25/2014- TKO6 #5 Firat Arslan
Next Fight: Unknown
Huck’s TV deal in Germany is set to expire, he’s reportedly leaving Sauerland, and has met with HBO about coming to the US.
2) Yoan Pablo Hernandez (3-206-206)
Last Fight: 11/23/2013- TKO10 #12 Alexander Alekseev
Next Fight: Unknown
Hernandez’s fight with Kolodziej- originally postponed- has now been cancelled due to an illness to Hernandez.
3) Denis Lebedev (3-226-226)
Last Fight: 5/17/2013- L (TKO11) vs. Guillermo Jones (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
Given his legitimate injury that shelved him for a big chunk of the year and the fact that his opponent screwed him over via PED use, I’m going to use my discretion and leave Lebedev ranked at this point.  Still, his best work is simply getting too old to stay at the very top.  Some reports have him returning in the fall against Pawel Kolodziej.
4) Krzysztof Wlodarczyk (38-467-467)
Last Fight: 12/6/2013- TKO6 #9 Giacobbe Fragomeni
Next Fight: Unknown
Wlodarczyk probably won’t return until the fall, with Drozd and BJ Flores being considered.
5) Thabiso Mchunu (19-44-82)
Last Fight: 1/24/2014- UD10 Olanrewaju Durodola (UNR)
Next Fight: 6/6/2014- vs. Julio Cesar Dos Santos (UNR)
Mchunu will stay busy with upper-level journeyman Julio Cesar Santos of Brazil on June 6 in South Africa.
6) Firat Arslan (19-108-151)
Last Fight: 1/25/2014- L (TKO6) vs. #3 Marco Huck
Next Fight: 6/6/2014- vs. Tamaz Bajzath (UNR)
Arslan wasn’t scheduled to fight this weekend, but on short notice, he’ll replace an injured Ruslan Chagaev on the Schwerin undercard of Braehmer-Bolonti.  His opponent is a hopeless Hungarian.
7) Grigory Drozd (28-35-82)
Last Fight: 3/15/2014- KO1 Jeremy Ouanna (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
See Wlodarczyk’s notes, above.
8) Rakhim Chakhkiev (1-1-1)
Last Fight: 5/30/2014- UD12 #11 Santander Silgado
Next Fight: Unknown
Chakhkiev has finally cashed in a high-level win to go with his hype and promise.  Most likely another title shot is not far off.
9) Ola Afolabi (1-273-273)
Last Fight: 11/2/2013- W* (MD12) vs. Lukasz Janik (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
Afolabi is now slated for an eventual eliminator with Pawel Kolodziej for a shot at Yoan Pablo Hernandez.  K2 has won the purse bids, and the fight is currently in the process of being worked out.  It’s targeted for the summer.  At least that was the word in the spring.  There have been no reported developments in some time now.
10) Giacobbe Fragomeni (1-38-290)
Last Fight: 4/26/2014- vs. Olegs Lopajevs (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
The fight with Lopajevs was purely a stay-busy contest, but he’s talking about another title shot even at 44 years old.
11) Ilunga Makabu (1-47)
Last Fight: 2/1/2014- TKO2 Ruben Angel Mino (UNR)
Next Fight: 6/28/2014- vs. Glen Johnson (UNR)
Unconfirmed message board reports have Makabu fighting Glen Johnson in the Congo on June 28.  Stay-tuned for confirmation.
12) Mateusz Masternak (6-114)
Last Fight: 4/12/2014- UD8 Stjepan Vugdelija (UNR)
Next Fight: 6/21/2014- vs. Youri Kayembre Kalenga (UNR)
Masternak’s fight with Makabu fell through, and he’ll instead be fighting crude and inconsistent one-loss prospect Youri Kalenga.
13) Lukasz Janik (6-31)
Last Fight: 11/2/2013- L* (MD12) vs. #7 Ola Afolabi
Next Fight: Unknown
Janik would like a well-deserved rematch with Afolabi.
14) Ovill McKenzie (6-8)
Last Fight: 4/12/2014- KO5 #18 Tony Conquest
Next Fight: 6/7/2014- vs. Jon-Lewis Dickinson (UNR)
After capturing the Commonwealth title with an upset knockout of Tony Conquest, McKenzie will have a quick turnaround, as he’ll fight Jon-Lewis Dickinson for the British title on June 7.
15) Santander Silgado (1-31)
Last Fight: 5/30/2014- L (UD12) vs. Rakhim Chakhkiev (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
I don’t want to say Silgado made it easy for Chakhkiev, because it looked relatively difficult, but he sure didn’t help himself by taking a fight with a fringe contending Olympic Gold Medalist on 2 weeks’ notice.
16) Danie Venter (1-38)
Last Fight: 9/21/2013- KO1 Shawn Cox (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
The reason is unclear, but Venter’s scheduled fight in early June appears to be totally off, and his prospective opponent, Silgado, already fought someone else.
17) Dmytro Kucher (1-101)
Last Fight: 7/13/2013- L (MD12) vs. Ilunga Makabu (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
The inactive Kucher may now be in danger of losing his ranking in the next couple months, as his stay-busy fight in late May did not come off.
18) Nuri Seferi (1-24)
Last Fight: 5/16/2014- UD12 Tamas Lodi (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
Seferi looked pretty decent against Lodi, who fought the wrong fight.  At this point, he ought to give Perdomo a rematch.
19) Gusmyr Perdomo (1-8)
Last Fight: 4/11/2014- Robbery Loss (should be draw) vs. #15 Nuri Seferi
Next Fight: Unknown
Perdomo deserved at least a draw against Seferi, but the judges summoned just enough coincidental incompetence to take it from him.
20) Yunier Dorticos (1-7)
Last Fight: 4/16/2014- KO4 Eric Fields (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown

 

THE WEEK AHEAD: 
Saturday
#5 Thabiso Mchunu vs. Julio Cesar Dos Santos; Pretoria, South Africa; TV Unknown
Mchunu takes on Brazilian in Dos Santos who probably projects as a high-level journeyman.  Mchunu shouldn’t have any trouble with him.

 

#6 Firat Arslan vs. Tamas Bajzath; Schwerin, Germany; Off TV
Arslan popped up at the last minute in this short-notice tune-up.  Bajzath is a Hungarian journeyman with a sub-.500 record who has no chance to compete.

 

Mirko Larghetti vs. Attila Palko; Tolfa, Italy; Off TV
Larghetti is an undefeated Italian prospect who is nominally a member of the top 10, though he’s never beat anyone better than an upper-mid-level journeyman.  His opponent is a low-level Hungarian journeyman.  Slightly better than the one Arslan is fighting, perhaps, but no better than Larghetti’s most recent unproven opponent.  Palko has only ever won against bad or completely unproven opponents, and tends to get stopped when he fights guys at or around the top 50.

 

#14 Ovill McKenzie vs. Jon-Lewis Dickinson; Newcastle, England; BoxNation (UK)
This is the best fight of the week at 200 by a long shot.  McKenzie is a long-time fringe contender who actually prefers the light heavyweight division in which reportedly nobody is willing to fight him.  At cruiserweight, he comes off a minor upset over #18 Tony Conquest in April that netted him the Commonwealth title.  Dickinson holds the British title, and McKenzie has to be the favorite, since he not only just beat a guy likely better than Dickinson, but is also proven on an international level.  Dickinson does come off his best career performance in a TKO win over domestic gatekeeper Neil Dawson.  Other than that, his best win is a decision over unproven prospect Matty Askin in 2012, and he has 2 bad stoppage losses from 2010, though both of those were injury-related.

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Cruiserweight: 2014, Apr 14-20

Posted in Cruiserweight, Rankings with tags , , , , , , , , on September 18, 2014 by danboxing
The cruiserweight week began on Wednesday with a big upset.  Unbeaten Australian Brad Pitt appeared to be cruising to a dominant victory through the first 3 rounds of his scheduled 12-rounder with heretofore middling prospect David Aloua of New Zealand, when in the 4th round Aloua shocked him with a sudden bolt of lightning in the form of a right hand that dropped and badly hurt Pitt.  He got up, but the referee should definitely have stopped the fight after seeing Pitt pitching around unsteadily.  He allowed it to continue, which only opened the Australian up to a blistering combination that left him once again senseless on the canvas.  Aloua had been easily brushed aside by Daniel Ammann in 2013 and had been clearly beaten by Anthony McCracken before that, in a fight in which he nevertheless got the decision.  I was fully unprepared for him to be even competitive with Pitt, much less win.  I’d only seen one very short Pitt fight before, so perhaps I can’t draw too much of a comparison, but I sort of wonder if he was really taking the fight seriously.  He had sort of a casual way about his movements, and nevertheless was easily dominating the fight until he just plain got caught.

 

In the best fight on the Berlin Hammer-Airich card on Friday, #15 Nuri Seferi got a gift from the judges against former Super Middleweight title challenger Gusmyr Perdomo of Venezuela.  It’s not that Seferi lost the fight- I had it a draw at 76-76- but he certainly didn’t win it.  The only round, as I saw it, that was really tough to score was the 8th, which I already gave to Seferi.  Hans Larsen had it exactly as I did, while the other two- Torben Seemen Hansen and Freddy Rafn, must have managed to have found a fairly clear Perdomo round to call even, because they had it 77-76.  It must have been the 7th, I suppose.  That’s the only round I gave to Perdomo that wasn’t sort of a blowout.  The Venezuelan clearly won rounds 1, 3, 4, and 7.  Seferi clearly took 2, 5, and 6, and I gave him the narrow nod in 8.  I’ll be treating the fight as a draw, since that’s both what I had, and also the closest I can come to deferring to the judges, the majority of whose cards were unreasonable, if narrowly so.

 

Enad Licina’s scheduled fight on the Charr-Johnson undercard Saturday in Bonn was apparently cancelled, so moving right along…

 

#13 Mateusz Masternak got a unanimous shutout in his 8-rounder with generic eastern European journeyman Stjepan Vugdelija, whose only real qualification for the fight was that he had gone the distance in losing decisions (his only two losses) to a couple halfway decent fighters.  The fight didn’t make the English-language BoxNation broadcast, and I frankly didn’t feel like seeking out the Polish-language video considering the degree of the initial mismatch, coupled with the frankly uninteresting scorecards.  Masternak had to be hoping for a stoppage against this level of guy.  I’m not saying that’s an easy task, but it’s the only feather he could remotely claim to have put in his cap from a stay-busy affair like this.

 

#18 Tony Conquest suffered his own upset that night in London, with veteran light heavyweight Ovill McKenzie (whose appropriate nickname is “The Upsetter”) the beneficiary.  McKenzie dropped Conquest in the closing seconds of the third round in what had otherwise been a fairly uneventful fight with a perfect counter shot right on the chin.  McKenzie probably took another fairly uneventful round in the 4th before catching Conquest again with a jab followed by a right hand to the back of the head as Conquest leaned forward and to the side.  It didn’t look like anything special, really, but Conquest appeared totally unable to even begin to emerge from the crouch that the punch placed him in.  Technically it was an illegal shot, but there wasn’t a ton of controversy due to the fact that it was Conquest’s choice of body position that made it so.

 

Now for the rundown of the rankings changes.  Pitt probably wouldn’t have been ranked even with a win.  Now he’s even further from it, though at least he’s on the active list now.  Aloua tops out just shy of the top 25, weighed down by his performances against Ammann and McCracken.  McKenzie returns to the rankings, at #15, for the first time since a Steve Herelius victory forced him out on July 5, 2010.  Seferi’s inconclusive performance prompts his slide from #15 to #18 this week.  Perdomo debuts at #19 for the same reason.  Last week’s #19 Glowacki is forced down to #20, while Yunier Dorticos is forced out after 6 weeks in the rankings.  Conquest drops out after 7 weeks due to his knockout loss, though I’ve still got him unofficially in the top 25.

 

Dan’s Top 20 (weeks in current position-weeks in top 10 (if applicable)-weeks in top 20)
Champ: None
1) Denis Lebedev (38-219-219)
Last Fight: 5/17/2013- L (TKO11) vs. Guillermo Jones (UNR)
Next Fight: 4/25/2014- vs. Guillermo Jones (UNR)
Reports of a done deal for April 19 were premature…the real date for Lebedev-Jones II will be April 25, in Moscow.
2) Marco Huck (12-384-384)
Last Fight:1/25/2014- TKO6 #5 Firat Arslan
Next Fight: Unknown
Huck fractured his thumb in training, and his fight with Mirko Larghetti is off.
3) Yoan Pablo Hernandez (12-199-199)
Last Fight: 11/23/2013- TKO10 #12 Alexander Alekseev
Next Fight: Unknown
Hernandez’s fight with Kolodziej- originally postponed- has now been cancelled due to an illness to Hernandez.
4) Krzysztof Wlodarczyk (31-460-460)
Last Fight: 12/6/2013- TKO6 #9 Giacobbe Fragomeni
Next Fight: Unknown
Wlodarczyk probably won’t return until the fall, with Huck and Adamek being discussed as options.
5) Thabiso Mchunu (12-37-75)
Last Fight: 1/24/2014- UD10 Olanrewaju Durodola (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
6) Firat Arslan (12-101-144)
Last Fight: 1/25/2014- L (TKO6) vs. #3 Marco Huck
Next Fight: Unknown
Having visibly regressed since his excellent first effort against Huck, it might be time for the 43 year-old Arslan to consider retirement.
7) Grigory Drozd (21-28-75)
Last Fight: 3/15/2014- KO1 Jeremy Ouanna (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
The EBU has named Fragomeni the mandatory challenger for Drozd’s European belt.
8) Ola Afolabi (21-266-266)
Last Fight: 11/2/2013- W* (MD12) vs. Lukasz Janik (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
An alphabet eliminator has been ordered between Afolabi and unbeaten but unproven Italian prospect Mirko Larghetti.
9) Giacobbe Fragomeni (21-31-283)
Last Fight: 12/6/2013- L (TKO6) vs. #4 Krzysztof Wlodarczyk
Next Fight: 4/26/2014- vs. Unknown Opponent
I was sorta rooting for the shopworn Fragomeni to retire after taking a beating from Wlodarczyk, but he’s preparing for a tune-up on April 26 in Italy.  After that, he appears to be set up for the opportunity of fighting the destructive Grigory Drozd next.
10) Silvio Branco (21-21-109)
Last Fight: 7/6/2013- W (TD10) vs. Juho Haapoja (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
Branco says that Chakhkiev lowered their monetary offer at the last minute, and that is why the fight didn’t come off.  He’s saying now that he may soon announce his retirement if he doesn’t get a good fight offer soon.
11) Ilunga Makabu (21-40)
Last Fight: 2/1/2014- TKO2 Ruben Angel Mino (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown Date- vs. #13 Mateusz Masternak
Makabu and Masternak have reportedly agreed to fight, but I don’t have any details on time or place.
12) Santander Silgado (19-24)
Last Fight: 11/1/2013- TKO2 #20 Steve Herelius
Next Fight: 5/17/2014- vs. Unknown Opponent
Silgado is scheduled to return against an unannounced opponent on May 17 in Arjona, Colombia.
13) Mateusz Masternak (19-107)
Last Fight: 4/12/2014- UD8 Stjepan Vugdelija (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
See Makabu’s notes, above.
14) Lukasz Janik (19-24)
Last Fight: 11/2/2013- L* (MD12) vs. #7 Ola Afolabi
Next Fight: Unknown
Janik would like a well-deserved rematch with Afolabi.
15) Ovill McKenzie (1-1)
Last Fight: 4/12/2014- KO5 #18 Tony Conquest
Next Fight: Unknown
McKenzie is at cruiserweight mainly because he can’t get fights at 175.  He doesn’t seem married to the idea of staying at this weight, and has mentioned wanting a shot at Juergen Braehmer.
16) Danie Venter (12-31)
Last Fight: 9/21/2013- KO1 Shawn Cox (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
17) Dmytro Kucher (12-94)
Last Fight: 7/13/2013- L (MD12) vs. Ilunga Makabu (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
18) Nuri Seferi (1-17)
Last Fight: 4/11/2014- Robbery Win (should be draw) vs. Gusmyr Perdomo (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
Before his most recent fight, Seferi expressed a desire for a rematch with Marco Huck.  After getting a 1-point majority decision in a fight that definitely was either a draw or a close loss for him, a rematch with Perdomo would be much more appropriate.
19) Gusmyr Perdomo (1-1)
Last Fight: 4/11/2014- Robbery Loss (should be draw) vs. #15 Nuri Seferi
Next Fight: Unknown
Perdomo deserved at least a draw against Seferi, but the judges summoned just enough coincidental incompetence to take it from him.
20) Krzysztof Glowacki (1-38)
Last Fight: 12/14/2013- TKO9 Varol Vekiloglu (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
Glowacki is the top contender for the title held by Huck, but might never get that exact shot, since Huck is making noise about moving up.

 

THE WEEK AHEAD: 
Wednesday
Yunier Dorticos vs. Eric Fields; Santa Monica, California; Off TV
This is one hell of a match-up.  Fields has been ranked here before, although it’s been awhile.  He’s in a bit of a slump of late, though, while the Cuban, Dorticos, is on the rise, having been ranked here as recently as last week.  This fight really would be a natural for an ESPN card, but it seems that the promoter is a bit new to the sport and probably doesn’t yet have those connections.  Even so, they are putting on one heck of a card- one that I hope I get an opportunity to see at some point.

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Cruiserweight: 2014, Apr 7-13

Posted in Cruiserweight, Rankings with tags , , , , , , , on September 2, 2014 by danboxing
Nothing of note to report on at cruiserweight last week.

 

Dan’s Top 20 (weeks in current position-weeks in top 10 (if applicable)-weeks in top 20)
Champ: None
1) Denis Lebedev (37-218-218)
Last Fight: 5/17/2013- L (TKO11) vs. Guillermo Jones (UNR)
Next Fight: 4/25/2014- vs. Guillermo Jones (UNR)
Reports of a done deal for April 19 were premature…the real date for Lebedev-Jones II will be April 25, in Moscow.
2) Marco Huck (11-383-383)
Last Fight:1/25/2014- TKO6 #5 Firat Arslan
Next Fight: Unknown
Huck fractured his thumb in training, and his fight with Mirko Larghetti is off.
3) Yoan Pablo Hernandez (11-198-198)
Last Fight: 11/23/2013- TKO10 #12 Alexander Alekseev
Next Fight: Unknown
Hernandez’s fight with Kolodziej- originally postponed- has now been cancelled due to an illness to Hernandez.
4) Krzysztof Wlodarczyk (30-459-459)
Last Fight: 12/6/2013- TKO6 #9 Giacobbe Fragomeni
Next Fight: Unknown
Wlodarczyk probably won’t return until the fall, with Huck and Adamek being discussed as options.
5) Thabiso Mchunu (11-36-74)
Last Fight: 1/24/2014- UD10 Olanrewaju Durodola (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
6) Firat Arslan (11-100-143)
Last Fight: 1/25/2014- L (TKO6) vs. #3 Marco Huck
Next Fight: Unknown
Having visibly regressed since his excellent first effort against Huck, it might be time for the 43 year-old Arslan to consider retirement.
7) Grigory Drozd (20-27-74)
Last Fight: 3/15/2014- KO1 Jeremy Ouanna (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
Drozd made quick work of Ouanna, and will hopefully get a short at a top contender soon.
8) Ola Afolabi (20-265-265)
Last Fight: 11/2/2013- W* (MD12) vs. Lukasz Janik (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
An alphabet eliminator has been ordered between Afolabi and unbeaten but unproven Italian prospect Mirko Larghetti.
9) Giacobbe Fragomeni (20-30-282)
Last Fight: 12/6/2013- L (TKO6) vs. #4 Krzysztof Wlodarczyk
Next Fight: Unknown
I really hope that Fragomeni will call it a career.  
10) Silvio Branco (20-20-108)
Last Fight: 7/6/2013- W (TD10) vs. Juho Haapoja (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
Branco says that Chakhkiev lowered their monetary offer at the last minute, and that is why the fight didn’t come off.  He’s saying now that he may soon announce his retirement if he doesn’t get a good fight offer soon.
11) Ilunga Makabu (20-39)
Last Fight: 2/1/2014- TKO2 Ruben Angel Mino (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
Makabu will no doubt look for a big fight after his last one was changed into a stay-busy outing without his consent.
12) Santander Silgado (18-23)
Last Fight: 11/1/2013- TKO2 #20 Steve Herelius
Next Fight: Unknown
Silgado was slammed by his own (now former) manager after he declined an arranged fight with Thabiso Mchunu.
13) Mateusz Masternak (18-106)
Last Fight: 2/1/2014- KO4 Sandro Siproshvili (UNR)
Next Fight: 4/12/2014- vs. Gogita Gorgiladze (UNR)
Masternak will be back on April 12 at Esbjerg, Denmark against generic opponent Gogita Gorgiladze of Georgia.
14) Lukasz Janik (18-23)
Last Fight: 11/2/2013- L* (MD12) vs. #7 Ola Afolabi
Next Fight: Unknown
Janik would like a well-deserved rematch with Afolabi.
15) Nuri Seferi (16-16)
Last Fight: 12/20/2013- W (DQ7*) vs. Steve Herelius (UNR)
Next Fight: 4/11/2014- vs. Gusmyr Perdomo (UNR)
Seferi will now fight on April 11 in Berlin against former super middleweight and light heavyweight fringe contender Gusmyr Perdomo of Venezuela.
16) Danie Venter (11-30)
Last Fight: 9/21/2013- KO1 Shawn Cox (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
17) Dmytro Kucher (11-93)
Last Fight: 7/13/2013- L (MD12) vs. Ilunga Makabu (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
18) Tony Conquest (7-7)
Last Fight: 2/22/2014- UD12 Daniel Ammann (UNR)
Next Fight: 4/12/2014- vs. Ovill McKenzie (UNR)
Conquest is set to fight in London on April 12 against Ovill McKenzie, who takes the fight on just 2 weeks notice after the original opponent, Carl Dilks, was deemed too light a challenge for the Commonwealth title.  It’s rare to see a major upgrade on short notice, but that’s definitely the case here.
19) Krzysztof Glowacki (7-37)
Last Fight: 12/14/2013- TKO9 Varol Vekiloglu (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
Glowacki is the top contender for the title held by Huck, but might never get that exact shot, since Huck is making noise about moving up.
20) Yunier Dorticos (6-6)
Last Fight: 2/28/2014- KO1 Hamilton Ventura (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
Dorticos- after making one step up recently- is shooting for the stars.  He says he wants either Wlodarczyk or the winner of Jones-Lebedev next.

 

THE WEEK AHEAD: 
Wednesday
Brad Pitt vs. David Aloua; Newcastle, Australia; Main Event (Australia)
Pitt is a fairly impressive undefeated prospect from down under who has been known to knock out pretty solid fighters at the top of at least the domestic level.  On the other hand, he’s spent less than one round in the ring since 2012, so there’s bound to be some rust there.  As for Aloua, he’s technically a one-loss Kiwi prospect, having lost a wide decision to gatekeeper Daniel Ammann in early 2013- a guy Pitt had already scored an early knockout against.  But it’s a little worse than that.  He took a split decision victory from gatekeeper Anthony McCracken in 2012, despite clearly losing at least 7 of the 10 rounds.  It’s hard to see him as a top 50 fighter, even though Boxrec has him ranked there, and I see nothing on his record that would suggest he can trouble Pitt much.

 

Friday
#15 Nuri Seferi vs. Gusmyr Perdomo; Berlin, Germany; Eurosport
Seferi is a late-blooming fringe contender who is coming off a controversy-laden DQ win over Steve Herelius in a fight that was even going into the final round before referee Holger Wiemann pulled the plug for little or no reason.  Seferi was easily winning that round, so I credit the Albanian with a narrow victory.  Even so, his place in the rankings is debatable.  He faces Gusmyr Perdomo, a Venezuelan perhaps best remembered as a knockout victim of a pre-Super Six version of Mikkel Kessler.  Perdomo does have some decent wins sprinkled into his record, and you could make the case that he remains gatekeeper material, but he has been in the ring only 5 times in the last 5 years, and 3 of those have been against no-hope opponents.  Also, he’s probably a natural light heavyweight at most currently, and had never fought above 179 pounds until ballooning up to 215 for his last fight.  Advantage Seferi, though if Perdomo can avoid rust and carry the extra weight, he might make it interesting.

 

Saturday
Enad Licina vs. TBA; Bonn, Germany; Off TV
Licina hasn’t beaten anybody worth fighting in over five years, but he hasn’t really don’t anything to prove he’s definitely anything less than a top 20 fighter, either.  I doubt his opponent Saturday will turn out to be anyone who can shed light on that topic one way or another, so it’s just another no doubt modest paycheck for the former fringe contender.

 

#13 Mateusz Masternak vs. Stjepan Vugdelija; Esbjerg, Denmark; BoxNation (UK)
Masternak is still at the drawing board after his crushing loss to Drozd in October.  He’s taking on an inexperienced and low-level Croatian journeyman in Vugdelija, and a guy who has faced only two opponents with any pulse- Ismail Abdoul and Mirko Larghetti- and lost clear decisions both times.  If nothing else, he might give the Pole some needed rounds.  I’m actually not entirely sure if this is scheduled to make the TV card or not.

 

#18 Tony Conquest vs. Ovill McKenzie; London, England; BoxNation (UK)
Conquest is a ranked contender, but a vulnerable guy.  He showed classy boxing skill aplenty in basically dominating the more rugged Daniel Ammann for the Commonwealth title back in February, but his KO loss to the only moderately powerful Neil Dawson indicates he might not be able to hang with real heavy hitters for long.  McKenzie has shown some pop, but he’s not a prolific knockout artist by any means.  Still, he’s a solid gatekeeper, and so I make Conquest only a slight favorite, even though McKenzie is making the big jump up from 175.  Working against McKenzie perhaps more than anything is that he’s coming in on only two weeks notice, and so he’s had very little time to put on the kind of muscle he’d need to be anything but a blown up light heavyweight.

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Year-End Awards: Light Heavyweight, 2013

Posted in Light Heavyweight, Yearly Awards and Wrap Up with tags , , , , , , , on March 28, 2014 by danboxing
Welcome to my 2nd Annual Light Heavyweight Year-End Awards and Wrap-Up.  First, a list of awards for the division.  Then, a look at the 20 fighters that did the best work in 2013 specifically, followed by a rundown of the year’s rankings history.  Dig in!

 

Light Heavyweight Fighter of the Year: Adonis Stevenson
Stevenson burst on the scene at 175 in a big way this year.  Last year he was the hard-hitting #6 contender at 168, frustrated in his efforts to land a fight with Carl Froch.  This year he’s considered the lineal light heavyweight champion by many (I do not share this opinion), and certainly the #1 contender if not.  He beat #1, #6, and #8 contenders on the year (Dawson, Bellew, and Cloud), which clearly beats out runner-up Sergey Kovalev’s impressive year.

 

Prospect of the Year: Hadillah Mohoumadi
I originally was giving the honor to Cedric Agnew before I realized that he had lost his “prospect” status by my definition for these purposes, by briefly cracking the top 10 for just under a month.  The next possible candidate was Edwin Rodriguez, but I’ve had him losing to Aaron Pryor, Jr., Will Rosinsky, and Ezequiel Maderna, so to me he’s more like a veteran fringe contender than a prospect.  That leaves it to Hadillah Mohoumadi, who is maybe more of a super middleweight at present, but went into hostile territory to stop the highly-regarded Pawel Glazewski to earn the honor at this weight.

 

Most Important Knockout of the Year: Adonis Stevenson TKO1 #1 Chad Dawson
In addition to meeting the straightforward criteria I use to decide this category- that being the fight in which the highest-ranked fighter was stopped, this one is a pretty common-sense choice.  Dawson wasn’t exactly at the peak of his powers- having been stopped by Andre Ward in 2012- but he was still the top ranked contender at 175, and his quick knockout came as a shock to many.

 

Most Sensational Knockout of the Year: Yunieski Gonzalez KO8 Rowland Bryant
You know the competition was steep in this category when you stop to consider that Adonis Stevenson’s two sensational destructions of Dawson and Bellew and Kovalev’s massacre of Sillakh were all runners-up.  I know that only about 100 people have seen the actual winner, but check it out by clicking “KO8” above.  The big right hand lands at the 1:56 mark of the video, and it’s well worth a look.  For style points in the landed punches, check out Mateo Veron’s TKO of Ricardo Ramallo, as well.

 

Match-Up of the Year: #1 Adonis Stevenson vs. #6 Tony Bellew
Even with a solid average ranking of 3.5, this matchup had plenty of competition.  Stevenson was ranked #6 a division to the south when he fought #1 Chad Dawson, but 1-6 at 175 beats 1-6 at 168/175. #2 Hopkins vs. #6 Cloud is another really good runner-up.

 

Fight of the Year: Enzo Maccarinelli TKO11 Ovill McKenzie
A lot of big-ticket fights this year, but a lot of them turned out to be beat-downs or dominations.  Maccarinelli and McKenzie put forth a mutually gruelling effort in their rematch, and it was a very competitive battle in general.  That’s covers the action and competitiveness categories that I judge this on…and the result was exciting as well, with Maccarinelli knocking McKenzie clean out on his feet, hunched over.  If you haven’t seen it, you should.  The only other candidate that jumped out at me was Fonfara-Campillo.
 
Upset of the Year: Doudou Ngumbu UD12 #14 Vyacheslav Uzelkoff
This category is a tough call this year, with a relative lack of standout options.  Ultimately I went with Ngumbu over Uzelkoff.  Uzelkoff was a ranked contender, and Ngumbu a fairly low-level gatekeeper.  The runner-up for the honor was probably Mikhalkin over Ngumbu, interestingly enough.  The difference in status at the time of the fight was even more pronounced, but it was less of an upset intellectually, since Mikhalkin had already beaten Ngumbu in a previous fight.

 

Comeback Fighter of the Year: Enzo Maccarinelli
Maccarinelli came back in 2013 from a rather discrediting campaign in 2012.  That year, he was stopped by Ovill McKenzie and most likely needed a timekeeper’s error to avoid suffering the same fate against journeyman Shane McPhilbin.  I’m not saying he’s a top contender now, as he once was, but his revenge knockout of McKenzie goes a long way toward making him relevant again, when it appeared that his trajectory was entirely in the direction of obscurity and/or retirement.

 

Robbery of the Year: Julio Cesar Chavez, Jr. UD10 Bryan Vera
I originally had the first Bellew-Chilemba fight as the winner, but only because I forgot that this fight was actually contested at light heavyweight due to Chavez’s laziness.  This was, if not a true robbery in the sense of being completely unreasonable, about as close as you can get.  I had it 97-93 Vera.  There were a lot of close rounds, and I personally could imagine someone scoring it for Chavez, though I could also have seen Chavez winning as little as one round.  Maybe I was being too kind.  I’ve seldom seen such unanimity in the press and fan reaction.  There were apparently only three people in the world that actually scored it for Chavez.  Still, in the interests of consistency, I have to say that by the standards I use in print here, I don’t consider this a true robbery- merely a bad decision.  Still, it narrowly beats out Bellew-Chilemba as the worst decision of the year in the division.

 

Now, for anyone that cares, I will rank the division based solely on the fighters’ 2013 accomplishments.  I will use the same criteria that I use to rank them overall (with victories, draws, or should-be victories and draws over top 50 opposition making one eligible), but will completely ignore all fights prior to 2013.

 

1) Adonis Stevenson
Significant Results: Jun 8- TKO1 #1 Chad Dawson. Sep 28- RTD7 #8 Tavoris Cloud. Nov 30- TKO6 #6 Tony Bellew.
2013 Rankings History: Jan 1- Jun 9: Ranked only at SMW. Jun 10- Dec 31: #1.
2) Sergey Kovalev
Significant Results: Jan 19- TKO3 #4 Gabriel Campillo. Jun 14- TKO3 #10 Cornelius White. Aug 17- TKO4 #8 Nathan Cleverly. Nov 30- TKO2 Gatekeeper Ismayl Sillakh.
2013 Rankings History: Jan 1-20: Unranked. Jan 21- May 12: #4. May 13-26: #3. May 27-Jun 9: #4. Jun 10-16: #5. Jun 17- Dec 31: #3.
3) Bernard Hopkins
Significant Results: Mar 9- UD12 #6 Tavoris Cloud.  Oct 26- UD12 Inactive Fringe Contender Karo Murat.
2013 Rankings History: Jan 1- Dec 31: #2.
4) Andrzej Fonfara
Significant Results: Aug 16- KO9 #6 Gabriel Campillo.
2013 Rankings History: Jan 1-20: #13. Jan 21- Feb 3: #14. Feb 4- Mar 17: #15. Mar 18- Apr 7: #14. Apr 8-14: #13. Apr 15- May 12: #14. May 13- Jun 2: #13. Jun 3-9: #12. Jun 10- Jul 14: #13. Jul 15- Aug 18: #14. Aug 19- Dec 31: #5.
5) Tony Bellew
Significant Results: Mar 30- Draw (should be loss) vs. #13 Isaac Chilemba. May 25- UD12 #7 Isaac Chilemba. Nov 30- L (TKO6) vs. #1 Adonis Stevenson.
2013 Rankings History: Jan 1-20: #8. Jan 21- Mar 31: #9. Apr 1- May 12: #10. May 13-26: #9. May 27- Jun 9: #3. Jun 10-16: #4. Jun 17- Aug 18: #5. Aug 19- Dec 31: #6.
6) Isaac Chilemba
Significant Results: Mar 30- Draw (should be win) vs. #9 Tony Bellew. May 25- L (UD12) vs. #9 Tony Bellew.
2013 Rankings History: Jan 1-20: #11. Jan 21- Feb 3: #12. Feb 4- Mar 31: #13. Apr 1-21: #7. Apr 22- May 12: #8. May 13-26: #7. May 27- Jun 9: #8. Jun 10- Aug 18: #9. Aug 19- Dec 31: #10.
7) Cedric Agnew
Significant Results: Apr 12- UD12 #14 Yusaf Mack.
2013 Rankings History: Jan 1- Apr 14: Unranked. Apr 15- May 12: #11. May 13- Jun 9: #10. Jun 10- Aug 18: #11. Aug 19-25: #12. Aug 26- Oct 27: #13. Oct 28- Dec 31: #14.
8) Andre Ward
Significant Results: Nov 16- UD12 #15 Edwin Rodriguez.
2013 Rankings History: Jan 1- Dec 31: Champion.
9) Edwin Rodriguez
Significant Results: Mar 30- UD10 W (should have been loss) vs. #15 Ezequiel Maderna (at SMW). Jul 13- TKO1 #16 Denis Grachev. Nov 16- L (UD12) vs. Champ Andre Ward.
2013 Rankings History: Jan 1- Jul 14: Ranked only at SMW. Jul 15- Aug 18: #13. Aug 19- Oct 27: #14. Oct 28- Dec 31: #15.
10) Juergen Braehmer
Significant Results: Feb 2- UD12 Fringe Contender Eduard Gutknecht. Aug 24- UD12 Gatekeeper Stefano Abatangelo. Dec 14- UD12 Undefeated Prospect Marcus Oliveira.
2013 Rankings History: Jan 1-20: #15. Jan 21- Feb 3: #16. Feb 4- Mar 31: #10. Apr 1-14: #11. Apr 15- May 12: #12. May 13- Jun 9: #11. Jun 10- Aug 18: #12. Aug 19-25: #13. Aug 26- Dec 15: #12. Dec 16-31: #11.
11) Hadillah Mohoumadi
Significant Results: Jun 29- TKO7 Fringe Contender Pawel Glazewski.
2013 Rankings History: Jan 1- Jun 30: Ranked only at SMW. Jul 1-14: #15. Jul 15- Oct 27: #16. Oct 28- Dec 31: #17.
12) Enzo Maccarinelli
Significant Results: Aug 17: TKO11 Fringe Contender Ovill McKenzie.
2013 Rankings History: Jan 1- Aug 18: Unranked. Aug 19- Sep 29: #17. Sep 30- Oct 27: #18. Oct 28- Nov 24: #19. Nov 25- Dec 31: #20.
13) Igor Mikhalkin
Significant Results: Jul 5- UD12 #20 Doudou Ngumbu.
2013 Rankings History: Jan 1-Dec 31: Unranked.
14) Yunieski Gonzalez
Significant Results: Mar 15- KO8 Fringe Contender Rowland Bryant.
2013 Rankings History: Jan 1- Mar 17: Unranked. Mar 18- Apr 7: #20. Apr 8- May 12: #19. May 13- Jun 2: #18. Jun 3-9: #17. Jun 10-30: #18. Jul 1-14: #19. Jul 15- Aug 18: #20. Aug 19- Dec 31: Unranked.
15) Blake Caparello
Significant Results: Jul 25- W (MD12) vs. Gatekeeper Daniel MacKinnon. Oct 17- UD12 Gatekeeper Allan Green.
2013 Rankings History: Jan 1-Dec 31: Unranked.
16) Robert Berridge

Significant Results: Apr 18- TKO8 Gatekeeper Serge Yannick.
2013 Rankings History: Jan 1-Dec 31: Unranked.
17) Anatoliy Dudchenko
Significant Results: Oct 26- UD12 Undefeated Prospect Robert Woge.
2013 Rankings History: Jan 1- Dec 31: Unranked.
18) Thomas Williams
Significant Results: Nov 26- UD10 Gatekeeper Yusaf Mack.
2013 Rankings History: Jan 1- Dec 31: Unranked.
19) Umberto Savigne

Significant Results: Mar 29- TKO4 Undefeated Prospect Jackson Junior.
2013 Rankings History: Jan 1-Dec 31: Unranked.
20) Nathan Cleverly

Significant Results: Apr 20- UD12 Gatekeeper Robin Krasniqi. Aug 17- L (TKO4) vs. #3 Sergey Kovalev.
2013 Rankings History: Jan 1-20: #7. Jan 21- Mar 31: #8. Apr 1-21: #9. Apr 22- May 12: #7. May 13-26: #6. May 27- Jun 9: #7. Jun 10- Aug 18: #8. Aug 19- Dec 31: #9.

 

The following fighters could be found in the top 20 at various parts of the year, but did nothing at this weight to help their ranking.  Most are no longer around:

 

Chad Dawson– Jan 1- Jun 9: #1. Jun 10-16: #3. Jun 17- Dec 31: #4.

 

Jean Pascal– Jan 1- May 12: #3. May 13- Dec 31: Unranked (Inactive).

 

Gabriel Campillo– Jan 1-20: #4. Jan 21- May 12: #5. May 13-26: #4. May 27- Jun 9: #5. Jun 10- Aug 18: #6. Aug 19- Dec 31: #7.

 

Tavoris Cloud– Jan 1-20: #5. Jan 21- May 12: #6. May 13-26: #5. May 27- Jun 9: #6. Jun 10- Aug 18: #7. Aug 19- Dec 31: #8.

 

Cornelius White– Jan 1-20: #6. Jan 21- Mar 31: #7. Apr 1-21: #8. Apr 22- May 12: #9. May 13-26: #8. May 27- Jun 9: #9. Jun 10- Aug 18: #10. Aug 19- Dec 15: #11. Dec 16-31: #12.

 

Karo Murat– Jan 1-20: #9. Jan 21- Feb 3: #10. Feb 4- Mar 31: #11. Apr 1-7: #12. Apr 8- Oct 27: Unranked (Inactive). Oct 28- Dec 31: #13.

 

Beibut Shumenov– Jan 1-20: #10. Jan 21- Feb 3: #11. Feb 4- Mar 31: #12. Apr 1-7: #13. Apr 8-14: #12. Apr 15- May 12: #13. May 13- Jun 2: #12. Jun 3- Dec 31: Unranked (Inactive).

 

Vyacheslav Uzelkoff– Jan 1-20: #12. Jan 21- Feb 3: #13. Feb 4- Mar 17: #14. Mar 18- Dec 31: Unranked.

 

Yusaf Mack– Jan 1-20: #14. Jan 21- Feb 3: #15. Feb 4- Mar 17: #16. Mar 18- Apr 7: #15. Apr 8-14: #14. Apr 15- Dec 31: Unranked.

 

Lucian Bute– Jan 1-20: #16. Jan 21- Mar 17: #17. Mar 18- Apr 7: #16. Apr 8- May 12: #15. May 13- Jun 2: #14. Jun 3-9: #13. Jun 10- Jul 14: #14. Jul 15- Oct 27: #15. Oct 28- Dec 31: #16.

 

Denis Grachev– Jan 1-20: #17. Jan 21- Mar 17: #18. Mar 18- Apr 7: #17. Apr 8- May 12: #16. May 13- Jun 2: #15. Jun 3-9: #14. Jun 10-30: #15. Jul 1-14: #16. Jul 15- Aug 18: #17. Aug 19- Sep 29: #18. Sep 30- Oct 27: #19. Oct 28- Nov 24: #20. Nov 25- Dec 31: Unranked.

 

Dmitry Sukhotsky– Jan 1-20: #18. Jan 21- Mar 17: #19. Mar 18- Apr 7: #18. Apr 8- May 12: #17. May 13- Jun 2: #16. Jun 3-9: #15. Jun 10-30: #16. Jul 1-14: #17. Jul 15- Aug 18: #18. Aug 19- Sep 29: #19. Sep 30- Oct 27: #20. Oct 28- Nov 24: Unranked. Nov 25- Dec 31: #19.

 

Mikkel Kessler– Jan 1-20: #19. Jan 21-27: #20. Jan 28- Dec 31: Unranked (Moved Down).

 

Tony Averlant– Jan 1-13: #20. Jan 14- Dec 31: Unranked.

 

Eleider Alvarez– Jan 1-13: Unranked. Jan 14-20: #20. Jan 21-27: Unranked. Jan 28- Mar 17: #20. Mar 18- Apr 7: #19. Apr 8- May 12: #18. May 13- Jun 2: #17. Jun 3-9: #16. Jun 10-30: #17. Jul 1-14: #18. Jul 15- Aug 18: #19. Aug 19- Sep 29: #20. Sep 30- Oct 27: #17. Oct 28- Dec 31: #18.

 

Doudou Ngumbu– Jan 1-Apr 7: Unranked. Apr 8- May 12: #20. May 13- Jun 2: #19. Jun 3-9: #18. Jun 10-30: #19. Jul 1-7: #20. Jul 8- Dec 31: Unranked.

 

Glen Johnson– Jan 1- May 12: Unranked. May 13- Jun 2: #20. Jun 3-9: #19. Jun 10-30: #20. Jul 1-7: Unranked. Jul 8-14: #20. Jul 15- Dec 31: Unranked.

 

Ovill McKenzie– Jan 1- Jun 2: Unranked. Jun 3-9: #20. Jun 10- Dec 31: Unranked.

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Light Heavyweight: 2013, Aug 19-25

Posted in Light Heavyweight, Rankings with tags , , , , , , , on August 24, 2013 by danboxing
Friday at Comiskey Park in Chicago, #14 Andrzej Fonfara pulled one out of the fire against #6 Gabriel Campillo.  This was a great crossroads fight, as it held the potential to prove whether or not Fonfara was for real, and whether or not Campillo had faded.  I’d say the answers to both are likely yes, although I’m more convinced of the negative on Campillo than the positive on Fonfara.  Campillo clearly still has world-class skill, but he has now been stopped in his last two significant fights.  His intangibles seem to have withered.  Not so much his chin, since he went down multiple times in perhaps his finest performance overall against Cloud- but rather his raw desire not to get stopped, and thereby to win. 

 

I don’t know what the likely pro-Fonfara scorecards looked like at the time of the stoppage, but I had Campillo winning 7 of the 8 completed rounds when Fonfara put him down with a combination midway through the 9th, and Campillo stayed there, his body language that of a broken man.

 

The following night in Cardiff, Wales, #3 Sergey Kovalev easily handled #8 Nathan Cleverly in his opponent’s backyard.  It wasn’t quite the all-out, seek-and-destroy destruction from the jump the way Kovalev’s victories over Campillo and White played out, but it was close.  It was more like Kovalev methodically broke Cleverly down, but as a testament to Kovalev’s devastating power, that breaking down process took less than 4 rounds to complete.  Regardless of the method, it was clear in the end that Cleverly was hopelessly outgunned and never had a chance.  The Welshman is by nature a volume puncher, and he had no chance to apply that style against a guy who could counter that style by punching in between with devastating effect.  As a result, he was much more careful than usual, but still couldn’t remotely deal with the Russian’s power, even in more of a skirmish.

 

On the undercard, fringe contender Ovill McKenzie and gatekeeper Enzo Maccarinelli fought a rematch of their very prematurely stopped fight from last fall.  In that fight, McKenzie was looking the better of the two by far, but hadn’t hurt Maccarinelli significantly when the fight was stopped in the 2nd.  It’s also worth noting that McKenzie is known to fade after about 5 or 6 rounds. 

 

Flash forward to last weekend.  It was a gut check for both guys.  The British commentary team took it as a foregone conclusion that the fight would end within a round or two either way.  Not the case.  Both fighters fought with dogged determination through 10 rather grueling rounds, with each guy largely seeking the knockout everyone expected.  On my card, the Welshman Maccarinelli won 3 of the first 4, with McKenzie coming back strong to sweep the next three and claim a narrow lead after 7.  BoxNation color man Barry Jones, who appeared to be strongly biased in favor of Maccarinelli, had it for the home fighter even at that point.  But it became a moot point, as Maccarinelli caught a second wind in the 8th, swept the next three rounds, and- having pinned McKenzie in the corner- landed a devastating uppercut in the 10th that had McKenzie in a very vulnerable position: hunched over with his hands hanging down, completely unconscious, but still very much on his feet.  Luckily, Maccarinelli landed only one glancing blow to the top of the head before the ref made it there to stop it.

 

Fonfara rockets up to #5, joining no less than Kovalev as the only fighters to ever legitimately beat Campillo.  Campillo is forced down to #7 by the move, but avoids further descent due to the fact that he still compares favorably to new #8 Tavoris Cloud, since he clearly beat Cloud last year and since Cloud has no wins since.  Likewise, Cleverly is bumped down to #9 by Fonfara’s promotion, but suffers no further decline since there’s no particular shame in even an early stoppage to Kovalev at this point, and since his overall resume still swamps that of new #10 Chilemba, with both having what could be described as mixed results against Bellew and wins over #16 contenders, but with the remainder of Cleverly’s body of work being far superior.  Kovalev can’t eclipse Hopkins, since Hopkins has won at a Championship level in the last 5 years and failed only at the level of #2 in that span, where Kovalev has yet to venture.  Maccarinelli makes his debut as a light heavyweight player, well after many had written him off as shot, parking at #17 behind Hadillah Mohoumadi and ahead of the recently-struggling Denis Grachev.  Everyone #5-13 last week is forced down a spot by Fonfara’s rise, including Cornelius White, who exits the top 10 after 57 weeks.  Everyone #17 and below likewise takes a slight dip due to Maccarinelli’s debut, including last week’s #20 Yunieski Gonzalez, whose ouster comes after 22 weeks in the rankings.

 

Dan’s Top 20 (weeks in current position-weeks in top 10 (if applicable)-weeks in top 20)
Champ: Andre Ward (50-50-50)
Last Fight: 9/8/2012- TKO10 Champ Chad Dawson (at SMW)
Next Fight: Unknown
Ward has offers more or less on the table to fight Froch or Stevenson.  He is trying to split with promoter Dan Goossen, though, which could conceivably complicate matters.
1) Adonis Stevenson (11-11-11)
Last Fight: 6/8/2013- TKO1 #1 Chad Dawson
Next Fight: 9/28/2013- vs. #8 Tavoris Cloud
It’s Stevenson-Cloud in September, with the winner to fight Bellew in November. 
2) Bernard Hopkins (50-376-376)
Last Fight: 3/9/2012- UD12 #6 Tavoris Cloud
Next Fight: 10/26/2013- vs. Karo Murat (UNR)
Hopkins-Murat has been reset for October 26, with Showtime televising.
3) Sergey Kovalev (10-31-31)
Last Fight: 8/17/2013- TKO4 #8 Nathan Cleverly
Next Fight: Unknown
Kovalev continues to cut through top 10 light heavyweights like butter.  The only two challenges that would really mean anything to his ranking at this point (assuming Ward won’t move up) are Hopkins and Stevenson.
4) Chad Dawson (10-377-377)
Last Fight: 6/8/2013- L(TKO1) vs. SMW #6 Adonis Stevenson
Next Fight: Unknown
Dawson’s career is suddenly in an all-out tailspin just 2 fights after winning the lineal title from Hopkins.
5) Andrzej Fonfara (1-1-58)
Last Fight: 8/16/2013- KO9 #6 Gabriel Campillo
Next Fight: Unknown
Fonfara looked outclassed for the most part, but got the desired result in the end, knocking out a fading Campillo in the latter half of the fight.
6) Tony Bellew (1-97-97)
Last Fight: 5/25/2013- UD12 #7 Isaac Chilemba
Next Fight: 11/30/2013- vs. Unknown Opponent
Bellew is scheduled to fight the Stevenson-Cloud winner on his November 30 birthday.
7) Gabriel Campillo (1-165-165)
Last Fight: 8/16/2013- L (KO9) vs. #14 Andrzej Fonfara
Next Fight: Unknown
Campillo might be on his way to deserved obscurity after being robbed of deserved prominence for so much of his career.  He still has plenty of boxing skill, but his will might be fading just a bit.
8) Tavoris Cloud (1-208-208)
Last Fight: 3/9/2013- L (UD12) vs. #2 Bernard Hopkins
Next Fight: 9/28/2013- vs. #1 Adonis Stevenson
See Stevenson’s notes, above.
9) Nathan Cleverly (1-185-185)
Last Fight: 8/17/2013- L (TKO4) vs. #3 Sergey Kovalev
Next Fight: Unknown
Cleverly says he’ll take a vacation after his drubbing at the hands of Kovalev, and is unsure as to whether he’ll keep fighting or not.
10) Isaac Chilemba (1-21-81)
Last Fight: 5/25/2013- L (UD12) vs. #9 Tony Bellew
Next Fight: Unknown
Chilemba may have lost the second fight to Bellew in his opponent’s back yard, but between the two fights, he’s managed to elevate himself somewhat.
11) Cornelius White (1-88)
Last Fight: 6/14/2013- L (TKO3) vs. #5 Sergey Kovalev
Next Fight: Unknown
White was blasted out by Kovalev, but at least he has good company in that regard.
12) Cedric Agnew (1-19)
Last Fight: 4/12/2013- UD12 #14 Yusaf Mack
Next Fight: Unknown
Agnew may have caught a fading Yusaf Mack at the right time, but he’s clearly a climber, having now beaten both Mack and Otis Griffin.
13) Jürgen Brähmer (1-70)
Last Fight: 4/27/2013- TKO2 Tony Averlant (UNR)
Next Fight: 8/24/2013- vs. Stefano Abatangelo (UNR)
Braehmer will take on low-level Italian gatekeeper Abatangelo on August 24, while awaiting a title shot.
14) Edwin Rodriguez (1-6)
Last Fight: 7/13/2013- TKO1 #16 Denis Grachev
Next Fight: Unknown
Rodriguez turned in a career-best performance against Grachev, and thus has earned a ranking in a division he has no intention of continuing in.  He wants Ward or Bika next.
15) Lucian Bute (6-42)
Last Fight: 11/3/2012- UD12 #16 Denis Grachev
Next Fight: 12/7/2013- vs. Jean Pascal (UNR)
Bute-Pascal has been rescheduled tentatively for December 7 after Bute suffered a hand injury.  They’ve also reserved January 25 as a back-up plan.  Either way, it will be in Montreal.
16) Hadillah Mohoumadi (6-8)
Last Fight: 6/29/2013- TKO7 CW #20 Pawel Glazewski
Next Fight: Unknown
Often robbed at 168, Mohoumadi took matters into his hands in his first major outing at 175 by stopping the local favorite.
17) Enzo Maccarinelli (1-1)
Last Fight: 8/17/2013- TKO11 Ovill McKenzie (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
Maccarinelli has revitalized his career to an extent with the gutsy McKenzie win.
18) Denis Grachev (1-69)
Last Fight: 7/13/2013- L (TKO1) vs. #13 SMW Edwin Rodriguez
Next Fight: Unknown
19) Dmitry Sukhotsky (1-147)
Last Fight: 6/4/2013- KO3 Mikhail Krinitsin (UNR) (at SMW)
Next Fight: Unknown
Sukhotsky may be sticking around at 168 from now on, but only time will tell.  He has until December to schedule a fight at 175 if he wants to keep his ranking.
20) Eleider Alvarez (1-30)
Last Fight: 3/22/2013- TKO3 Nicholson Poulard (UNR)
Next Fight: 9/28/2013- vs. Edison Miranda (UNR)
Alvarez’s 9/28 opponent will be fringe contender Edison Miranda.
 
 
The Week Ahead: There are two Euro fights to report this week, both on Saturday.

 

In Schwerin, Germany, #13 Juergen Braehmer takes on barely top-50 Italian fringe prospect Stefano Abatangelo.

 

In Donetsk, Ukraine, local one-loss prospect Ismayl Sillakh will fight low-level Russian journeyman Konstantin Piternov in essentially a stay-busy fight.

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Light Heavyweight: 2013, Aug 12-18

Posted in Light Heavyweight, Rankings with tags , , , , , , , on August 18, 2013 by danboxing
No action to report from last week.

 

Dan’s Top 20 (weeks in current position-weeks in top 10 (if applicable)-weeks in top 20)
Champ: Andre Ward (49-49-49)
Last Fight: 9/8/2012- TKO10 Champ Chad Dawson (at SMW)
Next Fight: Unknown
Ward has offers more or less on the table to fight Froch or Stevenson.  He is trying to split with promoter Dan Goossen, though, which could conceivably complicate matters.
1) Adonis Stevenson (10-10-10)
Last Fight: 6/8/2013- TKO1 #1 Chad Dawson
Next Fight: 9/28/2013- vs. #7 Tavoris Cloud
It’s Stevenson-Cloud in September, with the winner to fight Bellew in November. 
2) Bernard Hopkins (49-375-375)
Last Fight: 3/9/2012- UD12 #6 Tavoris Cloud
Next Fight: 10/26/2013- vs. Karo Murat (UNR)
Hopkins-Murat has been reset for October 26, with Showtime televising.
3) Sergey Kovalev (9-30-30)
Last Fight: 6/14/2013- TKO3 #10 Cornelius White
Next Fight: 8/17/2013- vs. #8 Nathan Cleverly
Kovalev had the inside track to fight Hopkins, but instead opted for a sure thing against Cleverly.
4) Chad Dawson (9-376-376)
Last Fight: 6/8/2013- L(TKO1) vs. SMW #6 Adonis Stevenson
Next Fight: Unknown
Dawson’s career is suddenly in an all-out tailspin just 2 fights after winning the lineal title from Hopkins.
5) Tony Bellew (9-96-96)
Last Fight: 5/25/2013- UD12 #7 Isaac Chilemba
Next Fight: 11/30/2013- vs. Unknown Opponent
Bellew is scheduled to fight the Stevenson-Cloud winner on his November 30 birthday.
6) Gabriel Campillo (10-164-164)
Last Fight: 6/14/2013- TKO2 Ionut Trandafir Ilie (UNR)
Next Fight: 8/16/2013- vs. #14 Andrzej Fonfara
Campillo will fight Fonfara in an interesting crossroads fight at Comiskey Park in Chicago.  The fight has been declared an eliminator for the Hopkins-Murat winner, too.
7) Tavoris Cloud (10-207-207)
Last Fight: 3/9/2013- L (UD12) vs. #2 Bernard Hopkins
Next Fight: 9/28/2013- vs. #1 Adonis Stevenson
See Stevenson’s notes, above.
8) Nathan Cleverly (10-184-184)
Last Fight: 4/20/2013- UD12 Robin Krasniqi (UNR)
Next Fight: 8/17/2013- vs. #3 Sergey Kovalev
Kovalev-Cleverly is done for 8/17 in Cardiff, with HBO to televise in the states.
9) Isaac Chilemba (10-20-80)
Last Fight: 5/25/2013- L (UD12) vs. #9 Tony Bellew
Next Fight: Unknown
Chilemba may have lost the second fight to Bellew in his opponent’s back yard, but between the two fights, he’s managed to elevate himself somewhat.
10) Cornelius White (10-57-87)
Last Fight: 6/14/2013- L (TKO3) vs. #5 Sergey Kovalev
Next Fight: Unknown
White was blasted out by Kovalev, but at least he has good company in that regard.
11) Cedric Agnew (10-18)
Last Fight: 4/12/2013- UD12 #14 Yusaf Mack
Next Fight: Unknown
Agnew may have caught a fading Yusaf Mack at the right time, but he’s clearly a climber, having now beaten both Mack and Otis Griffin.
12) Jürgen Brähmer (10-69)
Last Fight: 4/27/2013- TKO2 Tony Averlant (UNR)
Next Fight: 8/24/2013- vs. Stefano Abatangelo (UNR)
Braehmer will take on low-level Italian gatekeeper Abatangelo on August 24, while awaiting a title shot.
13) Edwin Rodriguez (5-5)
Last Fight: 7/13/2013- TKO1 #16 Denis Grachev
Next Fight: Unknown
Rodriguez turned in a career-best performance against Grachev, and thus has earned a ranking in a division he has no intention of continuing in.  He wants Ward or Bika next.
14) Andrzej Fonfara (5-57)
Last Fight: 11/16/2012- TKO7 Tommy Karpency (UNR)
Next Fight: 8/16/2013- vs. #6 Gabriel Campillo
Fonfara will get a huge opportunity to launch himself into the top 5 when he takes on Gabriel Campillo in Chicago.  The winner is apparently to become the mandatory for the Hopkins-Murat winner, as well.
15) Lucian Bute (5-41)
Last Fight: 11/3/2012- UD12 #16 Denis Grachev
Next Fight: 12/7/2013- vs. Jean Pascal (UNR)
Bute-Pascal has been rescheduled tentatively for December 7 after Bute suffered a hand injury.  They’ve also reserved January 25 as a back-up plan.  Either way, it will be in Montreal.
16) Hadillah Mohoumadi (5-7)
Last Fight: 6/29/2013- TKO7 CW #20 Pawel Glazewski
Next Fight: Unknown
Often robbed at 168, Mohoumadi took matters into his hands in his first major outing at 175 by stopping the local favorite.
17) Denis Grachev (5-68)
Last Fight: 7/13/2013- L (TKO1) vs. #13 SMW Edwin Rodriguez
Next Fight: Unknown
18) Dmitry Sukhotsky (5-146)
Last Fight: 6/4/2013- KO3 Mikhail Krinitsin (UNR) (at SMW)
Next Fight: Unknown
Sukhotsky may be sticking around at 168 from now on, but only time will tell.  He has until December to schedule a fight at 175 if he wants to keep his ranking.
19) Eleider Alvarez (5-29)
Last Fight: 3/22/2013- TKO3 Nicholson Poulard (UNR)
Next Fight: 9/28/2013- vs. Unknown Opponent
Alvarez is being placed on the September 28 Stevenson-Cloud undercard.
20) Yunieski Gonzalez (5-22)
Last Fight: 6/15/2013- KO7 Emiliano Cayetano (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
Gonzalez snuck in a very low-profile knockout over low-level journeyman Emiliano Cayetano in the Dominican Republic.   Strictly stay-busy material.

 

The Week Ahead: The division kicks back into high gear this weekend, with two crucial bouts, and another that bears watching. 

 

Friday in Comiskey Park in Chicago (yes, I know the name has changed, but I’ll go with history over sponsorship any day), #6 Gabriel Campillo will look to prove he’s still one of the divisional elite after his brutal loss to Sergey Kovalev when he battles locally-based Polish prospect and #14 contender (and noted yet essentially unpunished steroid cheat) Andrzej Fonfara.  

 

The following night in Cardiff, Wales, the sensational #3 Sergey Kovalev goes on the road to take on local favorite and #8 contender Nathan Cleverly.

 

On the Cleverly-Kovalev undercard, fading and chinny gatekeeper and former cruiserweight contender Enzo Macarinelli gets a rematch with fringe contender Ovill McKenzie.  In their first meating back in November, McKenzie was looking good in the 2nd round, when Referee Ian John-Lewis essentially cancelled the fight.  Macca wasn’t hut and hadn’t taken an extraordinary amount of punishment.  Rumors abound that John-Lewis could be found in his hotel lobby before the fight telling anyone that would listen that he didn’t “fancy the fight” because he believed Macca was shot and had no chin left.  Instead of protesting the fight by declining his appointment, he instead took matters into his own hands, turning it into what can only be fairly viewed as a no contest.  He made a mockery of proceedings by giving Macca no chance to show that he had something left, and gave McKenzie no chance to earn the victory.  Based on how he looked in the short first fight, I think McKenzie has an excellent chance to prevail this time.  Hopefully on the level this time.

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Light Heavyweight: 2013, Jun 3-9

Posted in Light Heavyweight, Rankings with tags , , , , , , , on June 6, 2013 by danboxing
Still no word (at least in English) on the result (if any) of the Joey Vegas-Hany Atiyo rematch in Kampala, Uganda.  An undefeated Atiyo was stopped by Vegas in round 11 of their 2012 fight, laying the foundation of Vegas’ current top-40 ranking on Boxrec.  If news of the fight ends up reaching US shores (assuming it even happened), I’ll report it if it is significant.  Another Vegas win probably won’t be worth bringing up that long after the fact, frankly.

 

The biggest deal in the division this week, though, is the fact that #12 Beibut Shumenov hasn’t fought in over a year and has nothing scheduled, and is thus removed.  He hasn’t fought a clearly top 50 opponent in nearly 3 years.  Everyone ranked #13 and below last week moves up, and the #20 vacancy is filled by British-based Jamaican Ovill McKenzie.

 

Dan’s Top 20 (weeks in current position-weeks in top 10 (if applicable)-weeks in top 20)
Champ: Andre Ward (39-39-39)
Last Fight: 9/8/2012- TKO10 Champ Chad Dawson (at SMW)
Next Fight: Unknown
With Pascal-Bute postponed, one of Ward’s best options went with it.  There is now serious discussion of a Ward-Froch rematch, potentially in England.  On one hand, we’ve seen it before, but on another, Froch is clearly still the most worthy challenger for Ward, to the point where he would be the undisputed champion at 168 if Ward didn’t exist.
1) Chad Dawson (39-366-366)
Last Fight: 9/8/2012- L(TKO10) vs. SMW Champ Andre Ward (at SMW)
Next Fight: 6/8/2013- vs. SMW #6 Adonis Stevenson
Dawson will fight Adonis Stevenson (who moves up from 168) on June 8 in Montreal.
2) Bernard Hopkins (39-365-365)
Last Fight: 3/9/2012- UD12 #6 Tavoris Cloud
Next Fight: 7/13/2013- vs. Karo Murat (UNR)
All the buzz had been revolving around a Hopkins-Cleverly showdown, but with little or no warning, he signed to fight his mandatory, the slightly more proven but inactive Karo Murat, instead.
3) Tony Bellew (2-86-86)
Last Fight: 5/25/2013- UD12 #7 Isaac Chilemba
Next Fight: Unknown
Bellew’s ultimate triumph over Chilemba has now set him up with a mandatory shot at the Dawson-Stevenson winner, which would continue the trend of the best fighting the best at 175.
4) Sergey Kovalev (2-20-20)
Last Fight: 1/19/2013- TKO3 #4 Gabriel Campillo
Next Fight: 6/14/2013- vs. #9 Cornelius White
Kovalev is back in action against another pretty tough opponent on June 14.
5) Gabriel Campillo (2-154-154)
Last Fight: 1/19/2013- L(TKO3) vs. Sergey Kovalev (UNR)
Next Fight: 6/14/2013- vs. Unknown Opponent
Campillo will fight Fonfara in an interesting crossroads fight at Comiskey Park in Chicago, but appears to have scheduled a tune-up on June 14 in Madrid, as well.
6) Tavoris Cloud (2-197-197)
Last Fight: 3/9/2013- L (UD12) vs. #2 Bernard Hopkins
Next Fight: Unknown
Cloud’s manager expects him back in action by the end of the year.  Normally that wouldn’t be saying much, but that would be against type for Cloud.
7) Nathan Cleverly (2-174-174)
Last Fight: 4/20/2013- UD12 Robin Krasniqi (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
Cleverly wants to fight Froch at 175, but Froch appears a bit more interested in Ward at the moment.  He even says he’d drop down to 168 for the fight, but it still doesn’t sound like one of Froch’s top 2 or 3 options.
8) Isaac Chilemba (2-10-70)
Last Fight: 5/25/2013- L (UD12) vs. #9 Tony Bellew
Next Fight: Unknown
Chilemba may have lost the second fight to Bellew in his opponent’s back yard, but between the two fights, he’s managed to elevate himself somewhat.
9) Cornelius White (2-47-77)
Last Fight: 3/9/2013- UD8 Otis Griffin (UNR)
Next Fight: 6/14/2013- vs. #4 Sergey Kovalev
Moment of truth time for White.  On June 14 we’ll find out if he’s more the guy that beat up Dmitri Sukhotski, or the guy that got sparked out in just seconds by Don George.  If he’s the latter, Kovalev should prove it pretty quickly.
10) Cedric Agnew (4-4-8)
Last Fight: 4/12/2013- UD12 #14 Yusaf Mack
Next Fight: Unknown
Agnew may have caught a fading Yusaf Mack at the right time, but he’s clearly a climber, having now beaten both Mack and Otis Griffin.
11) Jürgen Brähmer (4-59)
Last Fight: 4/27/2013- TKO2 Tony Averlant (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
Braehmer made an easy first defense of his European belt against Averlant.  He is currently the mandatory for Cleverly’s alphabet strap, as well, though it sounds like the Welshman would prefer bigger fish- or at least fish with bigger belts.
12) Andrzej Fonfara (1-47)
Last Fight: 11/16/2012- TKO7 Tommy Karpency (UNR)
Next Fight: 8/16/2013- vs. #5 Gabriel Campillo
Fonfara will get a huge opportunity to launch himself into the top 5 when he takes on Gabriel Campillo in Chicago.
13) Lucian Bute (1-31)
Last Fight: 11/3/2012- UD12 #16 Denis Grachev
Next Fight: 12/7/2013- vs. Jean Pascal (UNR)
Bute-Pascal has been rescheduled tentatively for December 7 after Bute suffered a hand injury.  They’ve also reserved January 25 as a back-up plan.  Either way, it will be in Montreal.
14) Denis Grachev (1-58)
Last Fight: 3/30/2013– W* (SD10) vs. Zsolt Erdei (UNR) (should be draw)
Next Fight: 7/13/2013- vs. SMW #13 Edwin Rodriguez
Grachev will be fighting Edwin Rodriguez at a catchweight of 171.5 in Monte Carlo for a million dollar prize.
15) Dmitri Sukhotski (1-136)
Last Fight: 12/8/2012- TKO1 Vladimir Borovsky (UNR)
Next Fight: 6/4/2013- vs. Mikhail Krinitsin (UNR)
Sukhotski will fight in Barnaul, Russia on June 4 against low-level Kazakh journeyman Mikhail Krinitsin.
16) Eleider Alvarez (1-19)
Last Fight: 3/22/2013- TKO3 Nicholson Poulard (UNR)
Next Fight: 6/8/2013- vs. Allan Green (UNR)
Alvarez will now be fighting Green on the Dawson-Stevenson undercard.
17) Yunieski Gonzalez (1-12)
Last Fight: 3/15/2013- KO8 Rowland Bryant (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
Gonzalez took a huge step up in competition and made good, knocking out strong fringe contender Bryant. 
18) Doudou Ngumbu (1-9)
Last Fight: 3/16/2013- UD12 #14 Vyacheslav Uzelkoff
Next Fight: Unknown
19) Glen Johnson (1-4)
Last Fight: 4/19/2013- TKO2 Junior Ramos (UNR) (at CW)
Next Fight: Unknown
Strangely, even though Johnson looks completely spent, he is once again ranked (barely) at both 175 and 168.
20) Ovill McKenzie (1-1)
Last Fight: 11/9/2012- TKO2 Enzo Maccarinelli (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown

 

The Week Ahead: Plenty of action at 175 this week:

 

In his hometown of Barnaul, Russia, #15 Dmitri Sukhotski leads us off on Tuesday with a stay-busy outing against low-level Kazakh journeyman Mikhail Krinitsin.

 

On the Afolabi-Huck undercard in Berlin, undefeated German prospect Robert Woge collides with fellow undefeated Dariusz Sek of Poland.  This is the toughest test of either man’s career.  Woge pulled one out of the fire in his last fight, knocking out journeyman Hakim Zoulikha in the 11th after being dominated up to that point, while Sek has been getting by with decisions against a similar level of opponent.

 

Also on the card, gatekeeper Eduard Gutknecht looks to get back on a winning track against low-level super middleweight journeyman Richard Vidal of Uruguay.

 

Across the pond in Montreal, Quebec, #1 Chad Dawson defends his alphabet title against big-time super middleweight puncher Adonis Stevenson, who fights an aggressive power-punching style that Dawson really hasn’t seen much of in recent years.

 

On that undercard, undefeated Colombian prospect and #16 Eleider Alvarez takes on perhaps his toughest opponent in gatekeeper Allan Green.

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Light Heavyweight: 2012, Nov 12-18

Posted in Light Heavyweight, Rankings with tags , , , , , , , on November 16, 2012 by danboxing
Friday: #20 Tony Averlant won a 6-round decision over Lubo Hantak- a Slovakian who is in the discussion for the title of world’s worst light heavyweight. 

 

In Liverpool, British referee Ian John-Lewis essentially canceled the scheduled fight between Enzo Maccarinelli and Ovill McKenzie by stopping it for little or no reason in the 2nd round.  This is a candidate for worst stoppage of the year, with the only other serious contender being Gerber-Sprott.  Rumor has it that John-Lewis was walking around his hotel lobby telling everyone who would listen that he “didn’t fancy the fight” due to his belief that Maccarinelli was a shot fighter who was in danger in the ring.  Well, if true, I must say that I don’t fancy referees sabotaging fights.  If he wished to protest the fight happening, he should have turned down his appointment to it.  I’m treating this one as a no-contest due to an accidental foul by the referee that caused the fight to end before the completion of four rounds.  It’s too bad for McKenzie, too…because he really was looking pretty good.

 

Saturday: #7 Nathan Cleverly went into full windmill mode on South Dakota prospect Shawn Hawk at Staples Center in L.A., stopping Hawk in the 8th round with an overwhelming volume attack. 

 

In South Africa, undefeated local prospect Ryno Liebenberg knocked out novice Zambian journeyman Donald Kampamba in the 9th.

 

In France, local fringe contender Nadjib Mohammedi stopped low-level Russian Sergei Beloshapkin.

 

Due to the completely unsupportable stoppage in the Maccarinelli-McKenzie fight, the only remotely important fight out of these 5 is Cleverly-Hawk, and even that one doesn’t carry much weight, since Hawk is merely a borderline top-50 fighter.  Cleverly remains at #7, as he can’t come close to matching Cornelius White’s win over Sukhotski.  No changes.

 

Dan’s Top 20 (weeks in current position-weeks in top 10 (if applicable)-weeks in top 20)
Champ: Andre Ward (10-10-10)
Last Fight: 9/8/2012- TKO10 Champ Chad Dawson (at SMW)
Next Fight: Unknown
Ward and Pavlik’s promoters have both confirmed that talks are underway for a February 23 fight on HBO.
1) Chad Dawson (10-337-337)
Last Fight: 9/8/2012- L(TKO10) vs. SMW Champ Andre Ward (at SMW)
Next Fight: Unknown
Rumors of a Dawson-Pascal rematch are now floating around.
2) Bernard Hopkins (10-336-336)
Last Fight: 4/28/2012- L(MD12) vs. #2 Chad Dawson
Next Fight: 3/9/2012- vs. Unknown Opponent
Hopkins has decided not to hang ’em up just yet, as he says he will fight either Shumenov, Cloud, or- most likely- Cleverly on March 9 in Brooklyn.
3) Jean Pascal (10-178-178)
Last Fight: 5/21/2011- L(UD12) vs. #1 Bernard Hopkins
Next Fight: 12/14/2012- vs. Aleksy Kuziemski
Pascal will come back in December following his long inactivity and hand injury (thus retaining his ranking), with venue and TV problems ensuring that the Cloud fight could not be rescheduled until 2013.  His opponent will be Polish gatekeeper Aleksy Kuziemski.
4) Gabriel Campillo (10-125-125)
Last Fight: 2/18/2012- L*(UD12) vs. #3 Tavoris Cloud (Robbery)
Next Fight: Unknown
It now looks likely that Campillo will reschedule his fight with hot prospect Sergei Kovalev, from which he withdrew with injury this summer.  It looks like the fight will be the main event of a NBC Sports card from Bethlehem Pennsylvania on January 19.
5) Tavoris Cloud (10-168-168)
Last Fight: 2/18/2012- UD12* vs. #4 Gabriel Campillo (Robbery)
Next Fight: 11/24/2012- vs. #9 Karo Murat
The Cloud-Murat fight has been shifted back a week, but it will still rather inexplicably take place in Venezuela.
6) Cornelius White (10-18-48)
Last Fight: 7/14/2012- UD12 #10 Dmitri Sukhotski
Next Fight: Unknown
White is on a tear.  Is he really top-5 good?  I wouldn’t think so, but he proves me wrong every time I feel I might be overrating him.
7) Nathan Cleverly (10-145-145)
Last Fight: 2/25/2012- UD12 Tommy Karpency (UNR)
Next Fight: 11/10/2012- vs. Shawn Hawk (UNR)
Cleverly’s replacement opponent for his Showtime Extreme debut is actually a bit more proven than ill-fated original choice Ryan Coyne.  It’ll be proud Native American and South Dakota prospect Shawn Hawk.
8) Tony Bellew (18-57-57)
Last Fight: 9/8/2012- TKO9 Edison Miranda (UNR)
Next Fight: 11/17/2012- vs. Roberto Feliciano Bolonti (UNR)
Bellew now has an opponent for his appearance on the Froch-Mack undercard: Argentine Champion Roberto Feliciano Bolonti.
9) Karo Murat (10-59-80)
Last Fight: 6/2/2012- TKO7 Sandro Siproshvili (UNR)
Next Fight: 11/24/2012- vs. #5 Tavoris Cloud
See Cloud’s notes, above.
10) Beibut Shumenov (10-121-125)
Last Fight: 6/2/2012- UD12 Enrique Ornelas (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
11) Yusaf Mack (10-125)
Last Fight: 7/7/2012- UD6 Sabou Ballogou (UNR)
Next Fight: 11/17/2012- vs. #1 SMW Carl Froch (at SMW)
In a fairly sudden development, Mack will drop back down to 168 to fight Carl Froch.
12) Isaac Chilemba (10-41)
Last Fight: 9/29/2012- UD8 Rayco Saunders (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
Chilemba came in a bit heavy, but performed as expected, shutting out journeyman Rayco Saunders.
13) Vyacheslav Uzelkoff (10-41)
Last Fight: 7/21/2012- W(MD12) vs. Mohamed Belkacem (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
14) Andrzej Fonfara (10-18)
Last Fight: 7/13/2012- UD10* SMW #16 Glen Johnson
Next Fight: 11/16/2012- vs. Tommy Karpency (UNR)
Fonfara will fight journeyman Tommy Karpency in Chicago in mid-November.
15) Jürgen Brähmer (10-30)
Last Fight: 4/21/2012- UD10 Vikapita Meroro (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
Here we go again!  An announced Braehmer bout will not go forward as planned.  At least this time there was some notice.  No word on why the Gutknecht fight was scuttled.
16) Lucian Bute (2-2)
Last Fight: 11/3/2012- UD12 #16 Denis Grachev
Next Fight: Unknown Date- vs. SMW #1 Carl Froch (at SMW)
Bute barely beat Grachev, and even more barely did so at light heavyweight, but I’ve still got to rate him. He’ll now fight a rematch with Froch in March or April.
17) Denis Grachev (2-29)
Last Fight: 11/3/2012- L(UD12) vs. SMW #4 Lucian Bute
Next Fight: Unknown
Grachev put forth a valiant effort against a heavy favorite in Bute, even after presumably draining almost all the way to 168.  As a result, his ranking remains mostly intact.
18) Dmitri Sukhotski (2-107)
Last Fight: 7/14/2012- L(UD12) vs. #16 Cornelius White
Next Fight: 12/8/2012- vs. Mikhail Ryzhonkin (UNR)
Sukhotski will look for an easy tune-up on December 8 when he fights a very weak 2-3 Russian in Russia.
19) Mikkel Kessler (2-26)
Last Fight: 5/19/2012- TKO4 Allan Green (UNR)
Next Fight: 12/8/2012- vs. Brian Magee (UNR) (at SMW)
Kessler will fight Irish fringe contender Brian Magee on December 8 in Denmark.  The fight will be at 168 it would seem.
20) Tony Averlant (2-33)
Last Fight: 11/9/2012- UD6 Lubo Hantak (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
It looks like Averlant’s profile hasn’t benefited much from what should have been a victory over a fringe contender from back in March, as he’s back to fighting awful opponents in 6-rounders.

 

The Week Ahead: A pair of fights each on both Friday and Saturday this week.

 

Friday: Serbian two-loss prospect Robin Krasniqi takes on Albuquerque journeyman Max Heyman in Magdeburg, Germany.  Later on in Chicago, #14 Andrzej Fonfara fights Pennsylvania journeyman Tommy Karpency.

 

Saturday: On the Froch-Mack undercard in Nottingham, #8 Tony Bellew fights Argentine fringe contender Roberto Feliciano Bolonti.  Finally, in L.A., aging 2-loss Ukranian prospect Anatoly Dudchenko battles local journeyman Tyrell Hendrix.

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Light Heavyweight: 2012, Nov 5-11

Posted in Light Heavyweight, Rankings with tags , , , , , , , on November 13, 2012 by danboxing
#16 Denis Grachev put forth a heck of an effort against Lucian Bute (#4 at 168).  In truth, he fought a whole heck of a lot better than he did in his crowning victory over Ismayl Sillakh, in which he got the stoppage after being dominated for much of the fight.  He was in the fight every step of the way with Bute.  While Bute appeared to be the much sharper puncher, Grachev was able to impose his physical strength and keep Bute backing up for the vast majority of the fight.  I had it 116-112, with a possible margin of 2 rounds in either direction.  All of the judges did a good job and had it within that range. 

 

In the co-feature of the same Montreal card, two fringe contenders whose careers had been flagging lately met, giving one a chance to get back on the right track.  The combatants?  40-year-old Renan St. Juste and once-hyped prospect Allan Green.  Both men are fairly recent former super middleweights- St. Juste in his last fight, Green most recently 2 years ago.  Green put on a gutsy performance, getting dropped and badly hurt in round 4, but bouncing back to win every other round in a competitive fight.  The unfortunate backstory, however, was that Green badly missed weight (the fight was contracted for the 175 pound limit), and payed for the privilege of weighing in at 178 3/4.  This may have helped him bust St. Juste up to the tune of a 7th round stoppage by the doctor, and also may have helped him avoid being hurt worse by St. Juste’s power punching.  As a result, he gets no credit here, as these rankings don’t encompass cruiserweights who beat light heavyweights.

 

Weight is also a factor in deciding how to treat the main event.  Incredibly, Grachev came in at just 168.5 pounds, while Bute scaled 169.  I can’t see giving Bute full-fledged credit for beating a guy who was practically a super middleweight after presumably draining significantly, especially giving the fairly close margin.  But at the same time, he did technically beat a ranked light heavyweight at light heavyweight, so it’s got to count for something.  In particular, it’s only fair that he be rated ahead of wherever Grachev ends up.  Furthermore, Grachev probably shouldn’t drop too far precisely because of the disadvantages he faced from the contract weight.  The situation is fairly similar to that under which Kessler moved up to face Green, except that Green was a bit bigger, and Grachev a bit better in terms of the rankings.  But then again, Kessler won by early KO, while Bute won by close decision.  When all is said and done, Bute slips into the rankings in Grachev’s former position of #16, causing Grachev and everyone rated below him last week to backtrack one spot.  Grachev’s prior victim, Ismayl Sillakh, exits after 94 consecutive weeks.

 

Dan’s Top 20 (weeks in current position-weeks in top 10 (if applicable)-weeks in top 20)
Champ: Andre Ward (9-9-9)
Last Fight: 9/8/2012- TKO10 Champ Chad Dawson (at SMW)
Next Fight: Unknown
Ward and Pavlik’s promoters have both confirmed that talks are underway for a February 23 fight on HBO.
1) Chad Dawson (9-336-336)
Last Fight: 9/8/2012- L(TKO10) vs. SMW Champ Andre Ward (at SMW)
Next Fight: Unknown
Rumors of a Dawson-Pascal rematch are now floating around.
2) Bernard Hopkins (9-335-335)
Last Fight: 4/28/2012- L(MD12) vs. #2 Chad Dawson
Next Fight: Unknown
Hopkins is currently non-committal on whether or not he’ll fight again.
3) Jean Pascal (9-177-177)
Last Fight: 5/21/2011- L(UD12) vs. #1 Bernard Hopkins
Next Fight: 12/14/2012- vs. Aleksy Kuziemski
Pascal will come back in December following his long inactivity and hand injury (thus retaining his ranking), with venue and TV problems ensuring that the Cloud fight could not be rescheduled until 2013.  His opponent will be Polish gatekeeper Aleksy Kuziemski.
4) Gabriel Campillo (9-124-124)
Last Fight: 2/18/2012- L*(UD12) vs. #3 Tavoris Cloud (Robbery)
Next Fight: Unknown
It now looks likely that Campillo will reschedule his fight with hot prospect Sergei Kovalev, from which he withdrew with injury this summer.  It looks like the fight will be the main event of a NBC Sports card from Bethlehem Pennsylvania on January 19.
5) Tavoris Cloud (9-167-167)
Last Fight: 2/18/2012- UD12* vs. #4 Gabriel Campillo (Robbery)
Next Fight: 11/24/2012- vs. #9 Karo Murat
The Cloud-Murat fight has been shifted back a week, but it will still rather inexplicably take place in Venezuela.
6) Cornelius White (9-17-47)
Last Fight: 7/14/2012- UD12 #10 Dmitri Sukhotski
Next Fight: Unknown
White is on a tear.  Is he really top-5 good?  I wouldn’t think so, but he proves me wrong every time I feel I might be overrating him.
7) Nathan Cleverly (9-144-144)
Last Fight: 2/25/2012- UD12 Tommy Karpency (UNR)
Next Fight: 11/10/2012- vs. Shawn Hawk (UNR)
Cleverly’s replacement opponent for his Showtime Extreme debut is actually a bit more proven than ill-fated original choice Ryan Coyne.  It’ll be proud Native American and South Dakota prospect Shawn Hawk.
8) Tony Bellew (17-56-56)
Last Fight: 9/8/2012- TKO9 Edison Miranda (UNR)
Next Fight: 11/17/2012- vs. Roberto Feliciano Bolonti (UNR)
Bellew now has an opponent for his appearance on the Froch-Mack undercard: Argentine Champion Roberto Feliciano Bolonti.
9) Karo Murat (9-58-79)
Last Fight: 6/2/2012- TKO7 Sandro Siproshvili (UNR)
Next Fight: 11/24/2012- vs. #5 Tavoris Cloud
See Cloud’s notes, above.
10) Beibut Shumenov (9-120-124)
Last Fight: 6/2/2012- UD12 Enrique Ornelas (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
11) Yusaf Mack (9-124)
Last Fight: 7/7/2012- UD6 Sabou Ballogou (UNR)
Next Fight: 11/17/2012- vs. #1 SMW Carl Froch (at SMW)
In a fairly sudden development, Mack will drop back down to 168 to fight Carl Froch.
12) Isaac Chilemba (9-40)
Last Fight: 9/29/2012- UD8 Rayco Saunders (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
Chilemba came in a bit heavy, but performed as expected, shutting out journeyman Rayco Saunders.
13) Vyacheslav Uzelkoff (9-40)
Last Fight: 7/21/2012- W(MD12) vs. Mohamed Belkacem (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
14) Andrzej Fonfara (9-17)
Last Fight: 7/13/2012- UD10* SMW #16 Glen Johnson
Next Fight: 11/16/2012- vs. Tommy Karpency (UNR)
Fonfara will fight journeyman Tommy Karpency in Chicago in mid-November.
15) Jürgen Brähmer (9-29)
Last Fight: 4/21/2012- UD10 Vikapita Meroro (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
Here we go again!  An announced Braehmer bout will not go forward as planned.  At least this time there was some notice.  No word on why the Gutknecht fight was scuttled.
16) Lucian Bute (1-1)
Last Fight: 11/3/2012- UD12 #16 Denis Grachev
Next Fight: Unknown Date- vs. SMW #1 Carl Froch (at SMW)
Bute barely beat Grachev, and even more barely did so at light heavyweight, but I’ve still got to rate him. He’ll now fight a rematch with Froch in March or April.
17) Denis Grachev (1-28)
Last Fight: 11/3/2012- L(UD12) vs. SMW #4 Lucian Bute
Next Fight: Unknown
Grachev put forth a valiant effort against a heavy favorite in Bute, even after presumably draining almost all the way to 168.  As a result, his ranking remains mostly intact.
18) Dmitri Sukhotski (1-106)
Last Fight: 7/14/2012- L(UD12) vs. #16 Cornelius White
Next Fight: Unknown
The White loss must be a bitter disappointment for Sukhotski, who had been in line for a shot at an alphabet strap held by Cleverly for some time, but with Cleverly blatantly ducking him to great effect.
19) Mikkel Kessler (1-25)
Last Fight: 5/19/2012- TKO4 Allan Green (UNR)
Next Fight: 12/8/2012- vs. Brian Magee (UNR) (at SMW)
Kessler will fight Irish fringe contender Brian Magee on December 8 in Denmark.  The fight will be at 168 it would seem.
20) Tony Averlant (1-32)
Last Fight: 3/31/2012- L*(SD12) vs. #12 Eduard Gutknecht (Robbery)
Next Fight: 11/9/2012- vs. Lubo Hantak (UNR)
Averlant is scheduled to return against a truly awful Slovakian opponent this weekend.

 

The Week Ahead: Two mentionable fights on Friday and another four on Saturday, amounting to one of the busiest weeks of the year for any division.

 

Friday: #20 Tony Averlant fights arguably one of the worst light heavyweights in the world, Slovakia’s Lubo Hantak, in France.  In a much more interesting fight in Liverpool, gatekeepers Ovill McKenzie (originally of Jamaica) and Welshman and former top Cruiserweight contender Enzo Maccarinelli do battle in an attempt to halt a negative trend in one of their careers.  The loser is likely done as anything but an opponent. 

 

Saturday: #7 Nathan Cleverly of Wales ventures to the US for the second time and faces South Dakota prospect Shawn Hawk on the Showtime Extreme-televised undercard of Mares-Moreno. 

 

Another notable Brit, Danny McIntosh, is scheduled to return in his hometown of Norwich against an unnamed opponent.  McIntosh has been out of the ring since he was roughed up by Tony Bellew back in April. 

 

Undefeated South African prospect Ryno Liebenberg will fight Zambian journeyman Donald Kampamba on the Oosthuizen-headlined card in Kempton Park, South Africa for what is being billed as a minor alphabet African title fight. 

 

Finally, fringe contender Nadjib Mohammedi of France will see action in his back yard against low-level Russian journeyman Sergei Beloshapkin (who I have referred to in the past as “Shapkin the Napkin,” due to his tendency to fall apart when hit by contenders like Gabriel Campillo and probably Mohammedi.

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