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Middleweight: 2014, Jul 14-20

Posted in Middleweight, Rankings with tags , , , , , , , on December 10, 2014 by danboxing
In a fight I’ll discuss in detail at 154, #1 light middleweight Canelo Alvarez clearly and convincingly beat #3 Erislandy Lara, but was cast in a light of ridiculous controversy by commentators like Paulie Malignaggi, who somehow believes that running like a jackrabbit in a totally defensive manner is somehow equal to or greater than coming forward and throwing meaningful punches.

 

The fight was contested, for no apparent reason, at a catchweight of 155.  This creates a quandry for me.  The boxing rankings blog equivalent of a constitutional crisis.  In light of all of my prior decisions in similar cases, it’s very difficult to make a case for what I’m about to say as a matter of consistency.  I can’t rank Canelo as a middleweight.  Frankly, if I did, I’d have to rank him easily in the top 10.  To do anything else would be arbitrary, at best.  But everyone knows that Lara and Canelo are both light middleweights in both their past and present.  The extra pound was superfluous.  Granted, that was the case in the barely-super middleweight fight that got Ryota Murata ranked there while being ineligible at middleweight.  That makes it hard to make a rule based on this, but let me give it a shot.  In cases where a fight barely within a given division could affect the rankings in that division, it will only be allowed to do so under one of the following circumstances: a) the fighter has proven himself against a fighter who was in the top 50 of that division at the time he fought him, or b) the fighter is ineligible for a ranking in his more natural home division.  That accounts for Murata and super middleweight Andy Lee from days past, as well as this outcome. 

 

No changes.

 

Dan’s Top 20 (Weeks in Current Position-Weeks in Top 10 if applicable-Weeks in Top 20)
Champ: Miguel Cotto (6-6-6)
Last Fight: RTD10 Champ Sergio Martinez
Next Fight: Unknown
Cotto is the Champion.  The only question now is whether he will risk that Championship against the dominant #1 contender against whom he probably would have very little chance.  His thoughts seem to be more in the direction of Canelo.
1) Gennady Golovkin (31-98-161)
Last Fight: 2/1/2014- TKO7 Osumanu Adama (UNR)
Next Fight: 7/26/2014- vs. #5 Daniel Geale
Golovkin-Geale is official for July 26 in New York.
2) Sam Soliman (7-31-31)
Last Fight: 5/31/2014- UD12 #2 Felix Sturm
Next Fight: Unknown
His trainer wants Cotto, but Martin Murray looks more likely.  Soliman himself says he wants the winner of Golovkin-Geale.  On the other hand, the winner of N’Dam-Stevens will become his mandatory.
3) Sergio Martinez (6-222-222)
Last Fight: 6/7/2014- L (RTD10) vs. #8 JMW Miguel Cotto
Next Fight: Unknown
When assessing Maravilla’s viability as a contender at this point, it really comes down to one question: is his base athletic level and chin as bad as his performance against Cotto, or can it be blamed on a knee or other sort of leg injury?  If the latter, he might stand some chance to come back given enough recuperation time.  If the former, then he’s one of the most obviously finished fighters I’ve ever seen.  His manager ominously said after the fight that his only injury was a broken nose.  That’s incredible, if true, considering how bad his legs looked.  A big soccer fan, he says he’ll determine his future after the World Cup.
4) Felix Sturm (6-565-565)
Last Fight: 5/31/2014- L (UD12) vs. #8 Sam Soliman
Next Fight: Unknown
Sturm passed on an eliminator with Curtis Stevens, right after David Lemieux passed on an eliminator with Sturm.  Apparently nobody wants the IBF title.
5) Daniel Geale (6-265-265)
Last Fight: 2/19/2014- RTD6 Garth Wood (UNR)
Next Fight: 7/26/2014- vs. #1 Gennady Golovkin
See Golovkin’s notes, above.
6) Martin Murray (4-137-137)
Last Fight: 6/21/2014- UD12 #15 Max Bursak
Next Fight: Unknown
Murray wants Cotto, in what would be his second shot at the lineal Championship.  I thought he won the first one pretty clearly, and I’d favor him in this one.
7) Peter Quillin (4-91-112)
Last Fight: 4/19/2014- UD12 Lukas Konecny (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
The WBO has ordered Quillin-Korobov.
8) Matthew Macklin (6-160-251)
Last Fight: 12/7/2013- UD10 Lamar Russ (UNR)
Next Fight: 8/30/2014- vs. Unknown Opponent
Macklin is back on August 30 in Dublin.
9) Hassan N’Dam N’Jikam (6-31-31)
Last Fight: 4/16/2014- UD10 Fulgencio Zuniga (UNR)
Next Fight: 9/30/2014- vs. #19 Curtis Stevens
N’Dam-Stevens is set for September 30, with the winner getting a shot at Soliman’s belt.
10) Sergio Mora (6-55-55)
Last Fight: 5/31/2014- TKO5 Samuel Rogers (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
Mora wants Quillin or Golovkin.
11) Osumanu Adama (6-24)
Last Fight: 2/1/2014- L (TKO7) vs. #1 Gennady Golovkin
Next Fight: Unknown
Not the most pleasant entry into the rankings we’ve ever seen, but his resume stacks up pretty well as long as he’s active and on weight.
12) Dmitry Chudinov (6-16)
Last Fight: 6/1/2014- UD12 Patrick Nielsen (UNR)
Next Fight: 8/9/2014- vs. Mehdi Bouadla (UNR)
Russian Chudinov will be in action in Sevastopol- a city his country is currently occupying in the Ukraine- against decent French journeyman Mehdi Bouadla on August 9.
13) Marco Antonio Rubio (6-181)
Last Fight: 4/5/2014- KO10* Domenico Spada (UNR)
Next Fight:Unknown
Rubio wants a shot at Cotto.
14) Matt Korobov (3-3)
Last Fight: 6/28/2014- UD10 Jose Uzcategui (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
See Quillin’s notes, above.
15) Jarrod Fletcher (3-24)
Last Fight: 2/1/2014- W* (UD12) vs. #12 Max Bursak
Next Fight: 8/9/2014- vs. Daniel Jacobs (UNR)
Fletcher will fight fringe contender Daniel Jacobs on August 9 for a trumped up (aka WBA) title.
16) Max Bursak (3-181)
Last Fight: 6/21/2014- L (UD12) vs. #7 Martin Murray
Next Fight: Unknown
Monte Carlo isn’t kind to Bursak.  He lost a debatable decision to Jarrod Fletcher there, and then was more or less dominated by Martin Murray.
17) David Lemieux (3-8)
Last Fight: 5/24/2014- KO3 Fernando Guerrero (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
Lemieux’s eye-popping domination of Guerrero has fueled idle speculation of a potential shot at Peter Quillin, who is short on options for high-level opponents due to the ongoing Showtime-HBO feud.  In the meantime, he’s reportedly turned down an eliminator with Sturm.
18) Caleb Truax (6-43)
Last Fight: 1/3/2014- Draw (UD10) vs. Ossie Duran (UNR) (at SMW)
Next Fight: 7/25/2014- vs. Derek Ennis (UNR)
Truax has a new opponent for 7/25, with a slight downgrade to Derek Ennis.
19) Curtis Stevens (6-50)
Last Fight: 4/4/2014- TKO10* Tureano Johnson (UNR) (at SMW)
Next Fight: 9/30/2014- vs. #9 Hassan N’Dam N’Jikam
The winner of Stevens-N’Dam will get a shot at Soliman’s belt.
20) Andrey Meryasev (6-36)
Last Fight: 4/26/2014- UD10 Carlos Baldomir (UNR) (at SMW)
Next Fight: Unknown
Meryasev dominated in pedestrian fashion against the now-retired Baldomir.

 

The Week Ahead: No action to report this week.
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Middleweight: 2014, May 19-25

Posted in Middleweight, Rankings with tags , , , , , , , on October 16, 2014 by danboxing
Colombian gatekeeper Jose Miguel Torres was scheduled to fight Jhonatan Ricar over the weekend, but that fight fell through.  No action to report, and no changes.

 

Dan’s Top 20 (Weeks in Current Position-Weeks in Top 10 if applicable-Weeks in Top 20)
Champ: Sergio Martinez (214-214-214)
Last Fight: 4/27/2013- UD12* #9 Martin Murray (Robbery- draw at best)
Next Fight: 6/7/2014- vs. # 8 JMW Miguel Cotto
If there was any lingering doubt, Martinez-Cotto is now on for June 7 at Madison Square Garden.
1) Gennady Golovkin (23-90-153)
Last Fight: 2/1/2014- TKO7 Osumanu Adama (UNR)
Next Fight: 7/26/2014- vs. Unknown Opponent
Golovkin will fight July 26 in New York, and the Chavez fight looks dead.  All signs point to Daniel Geale as the opponent, though the WBA has ordered him to fight Jarrod Fletcher.
2) Felix Sturm (23-557-557)
Last Fight: 12/7/2013- TKO2 #3 Darren Barker
Next Fight: 5/31/2014- vs. #8 Sam Soliman (UNR)
Soliman has obfuscated his clear banned stimulant violation to the point that he has perhaps most people thinking he was totally clean.  He wasn’t.  And he didn’t win that fight even if he had been.  Sturm got screwed all the way around, and now he’s forced to rematch the Australian, who deserves the opportunity much less than would Macklin, Murray, or Geale.  But that’s what we’ve got.  May 31 in Krefeld.
3) Daniel Geale (13-257-257)
Last Fight: 2/19/2014- RTD6 Garth Wood (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
It looks extremely likely that Geale will get a shot at Golovkin on July 26.
4) Peter Quillin (5-83-104)
Last Fight: 4/19/2014- UD12 Lukas Konecny (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
The WBO has mandated Quillin to fight British prospect Billy Joe Saunders next.
5) Martin Murray (5-129-129)
Last Fight: 4/23/2014- RTD6 Ishmael Tetteh (UNR) at SMW
Next Fight: 6/21/2014- vs. #13 Max Bursak
Murray hasn’t looked at all special since nearly and probably deservedly knocking off the Champ last April, but he’ll need to be in some kind of form in June if he hopes to handle the always tough Max Bursak.
6) Matthew Macklin (5-152-243)
Last Fight: 12/7/2013- UD10 Lamar Russ (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
Macklin’s fight with Geale is off due to an injury on the card, and Geale has bailed on the fight altogether in favor of a shot at GGG.
7) Hassan N’Dam N’Jikam (18-23-23)
Last Fight: 4/16/2014- UD10 Fulgencio Zuniga (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
N’Dam says he wants Rosado next, and then Golovkin.
8) Sam Soliman (18-23-23)
Last Fight: 12/11/2013- TKO9 Les Sherrington (UNR)
Next Fight: 5/31/2014- vs. #2 Felix Sturm
Soliman cheated with a stimulant, won by ridiculous robbery before being stripped of the victory, and now he gets what I would argue is an undeserved chance at a do-over.
9) Sergio Mora (18-47-47)
Last Fight: 11/16/2013- KO5 Milton Nunez (UNR)
Next Fight: 5/31/2014- vs. Samuel Rogers (UNR)
I missed the memo about the date for Mora-Rogers.  I originally read that it was going to be on Arreola-Stiverne II in LA, but at some point it was moved to HBO2’s May 31 card in Vegas.
10) Osumanu Adama (16-16-16)
Last Fight: 2/1/2014- L (TKO7) vs. #1 Gennady Golovkin
Next Fight: Unknown
Not the most pleasant entry into the rankings we’ve ever seen, but his resume stacks up pretty well as long as he’s active and on weight.
11) Marco Antonio Rubio (16-173)
Last Fight: 4/5/2014- KO10* Domenico Spada (UNR)
Next Fight:Unknown
Rubio likely will rather embarrassingly take on the still-existing Ricardo Mayorga in late July.  Anytime the early fight hype involves talk of extensive medical tests to ensure fighter safety, you know the fight shouldn’t be happening.
12) Jarrod Fletcher (6-16)
Last Fight: 2/1/2014- W* (UD12) vs. #12 Max Bursak
Next Fight: Unknown
The WBA randomly ordered Golovkin to fight Fletcher, but then apparently relented in favor of Daniel Geale.
13) Max Bursak (6-173)
Last Fight: 2/1/2014- L* (UD12) vs. Jarrod Fletcher (UNR)
Next Fight: 6/21/2014- vs. #5 Martin Murray
Bursak will get a big opportunity before Jarrod Fletcher, who outpointed him in a moderately controversial decision in February, as he has been tapped by Martin Murray for a June 21 fight in Monte Carlo.
14) Grzegorz Proksa (6-162)
Last Fight: 6/28/2013- L (UD10) vs. Sergio Mora (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
15) Caleb Truax (6-35)
Last Fight: 1/3/2014- Draw (UD10) vs. Ossie Duran (UNR) (at SMW)
Next Fight: Unknown
Truax’s status as a promising prospect has been derailed somewhat by the very tough Ossie Duran.
16) Curtis Stevens (6-42)
Last Fight: 4/4/2014- TKO10* Tureano Johnson (UNR) (at SMW)
Next Fight: Unknown
Stevens’ haplessness for all but the last few seconds of his prematurely-stopped bout with Tureano Johnson has got to raise questions about his ability to rise any higher than he finds himself now.  Johnson has respectfully pushed for a rematch.
17) Andrey Meryasev (6-28)
Last Fight: 4/26/2014- UD10 Carlos Baldomir (UNR) (at SMW)
Next Fight: Unknown
Meryasev dominated in pedestrian fashion against the now-retired Baldomir.
18) Daniel Jacobs (6-39)
Last Fight: 3/15/2014- TKO1 Milton Nunez (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
Easy work for Jacobs against Nunez.  He’s looking for a title fight- probably against Quillin- at the earliest opportunity.
19) Dmitry Chudinov (6-8)
Last Fight: 12/21/2013- TKO6 Juan Camilo Novoa (UNR)
Next Fight: 6/1/2014- vs. Patrick Nielsen (UNR)
Chudinov will fight promising Danish prospect Patrick Nielsen in a very interesting clash on June 1 in Moscow.
20) Akio Shibata (6-6)
Last Fight: 3/1/2014- UD12 Daisuke Nakagawa (UNR)
Next Fight: 7/5/2014- vs. Hikaru Nishida (UNR)
Shibata takes on his second consecutive domestic gatekeeper in Hikaru Nishida in early July in Tokyo.

 

The Week Ahead:  
Saturday
David Lemieux vs. Fernando Guerrero; Montreal, Quebec; Showtime (US)
Lemieux is a two-loss prospect who makes fun fights.  Guerrero could be best described as a two-loss fringe prospect.  He’s still probably top 50 despite losses to Grady Brewer and Peter Quillin, but he came dangerously close to becoming a full-on busted prospect when he narrowly outpointed Ray Gatica in life-or-death fashion.  Guerrero’s losses have been narrowly more forgivable (Lemieux’s loss to Alcine was particularly unexpected) perhaps, but Lemieux looks more impressive when he’s winning.  This fight is very much a toss-up based on levels, and both guys really need it to maintain their viability.  I lean toward Lemieux coming out on top.  He’s the home fighter for one, and he’s a power guy.  Guerrero was overwhelmed by power in both of his losses, as well as in the difficult moments of the Gatica fight.  Good style matchup for Lemieux, I think.
 

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Middleweight: 2014, May 12-18

Posted in Middleweight, Rankings with tags , , , , , , , on October 13, 2014 by danboxing
Saturday in Niort, France, gatekeeper Karim Achour defended his French national title with a comfortable 10-round decision over mid-level journeyman Davy Armand.  I can’t find video, but Achour won by margins of 5, 6, and 6.  

 

Last week, I foolishly opined that Robert Swierzbinski might somehow give Chris Eubank, Jr. some trouble if Eubank looked past him.  I was painfully wrong.  Robert Swierzbinski couldn’t give Chris Eubank, Jr. any trouble if he brought a baseball bat.  Eubank, as usual, posed constantly and barely threw, but it’s a testament to the roundness of the Pole’s heels to note that Eubank still dropped him 7 times officially, and another clear time that was ludicrously called a slip.  It was probably the easiest-won fight I’ve ever seen.

 

No changes.

 

Dan’s Top 20 (Weeks in Current Position-Weeks in Top 10 if applicable-Weeks in Top 20)
Champ: Sergio Martinez (213-213-213)
Last Fight: 4/27/2013- UD12* #9 Martin Murray (Robbery- draw at best)
Next Fight: 6/7/2014- vs. # 8 JMW Miguel Cotto
If there was any lingering doubt, Martinez-Cotto is now on for June 7 at Madison Square Garden.
1) Gennady Golovkin (22-89-152)
Last Fight: 2/1/2014- TKO7 Osumanu Adama (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
With the Chavez fight possibly dead, lots of names are being floated to fill the void in GGG’s schedule.
2) Felix Sturm (22-556-556)
Last Fight: 12/7/2013- TKO2 #3 Darren Barker
Next Fight: 5/31/2014- vs. #8 Sam Soliman (UNR)
Soliman has obfuscated his clear banned stimulant violation to the point that he has perhaps most people thinking he was totally clean.  He wasn’t.  And he didn’t win that fight even if he had been.  Sturm got screwed all the way around, and now he’s forced to rematch the Australian, who deserves the opportunity much less than would Macklin, Murray, or Geale.  But that’s what we’ve got.  May 31 in Krefeld.
3) Daniel Geale (12-256-256)
Last Fight: 2/19/2014- RTD6 Garth Wood (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
Geale-Macklin is off due to an injury to one of the card’s headliners, Mike Perez.  In the wake of that disappointment, Geale’s name is among those being mentioned as a possible Golovkin opponent.
4) Peter Quillin (4-82-103)
Last Fight: 4/19/2014- UD12 Lukas Konecny (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
Quillin is trying to float the idea of him fighting Mayweather, with whom he shares a hometown.  He also wants a Golovkin fight.
5) Martin Murray (4-128-128)
Last Fight: 4/23/2014- RTD6 Ishmael Tetteh (UNR) at SMW
Next Fight: 6/21/2014- vs. #13 Max Bursak
Murray hasn’t looked at all special since nearly and probably deservedly knocking off the Champ last April, but he’ll need to be in some kind of form in June if he hopes to handle the always tough Max Bursak.
6) Matthew Macklin (4-151-242)
Last Fight: 12/7/2013- UD10 Lamar Russ (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
Macklin’s fight with Geale is off due to an injury on the card.
7) Hassan N’Dam N’Jikam (17-22-22)
Last Fight: 4/16/2014- UD10 Fulgencio Zuniga (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
N’Dam says he wants Rosado next, and then Golovkin.
8) Sam Soliman (17-22-22)
Last Fight: 12/11/2013- TKO9 Les Sherrington (UNR)
Next Fight: 5/31/2014- vs. #2 Felix Sturm
Soliman cheated with a stimulant, won by ridiculous robbery before being stripped of the victory, and now he gets what I would argue is an undeserved chance at a do-over.
9) Sergio Mora (17-46-46)
Last Fight: 11/16/2013- KO5 Milton Nunez (UNR)
Next Fight: 5/31/2014- vs. Samuel Rogers (UNR)
I missed the memo about the date for Mora-Rogers.  I originally read that it was going to be on Arreola-Stiverne II in LA, but at some point it was moved to HBO2’s May 31 card in Vegas.
10) Osumanu Adama (15-15-15)
Last Fight: 2/1/2014- L (TKO7) vs. #1 Gennady Golovkin
Next Fight: Unknown
Not the most pleasant entry into the rankings we’ve ever seen, but his resume stacks up pretty well as long as he’s active and on weight.
11) Marco Antonio Rubio (15-172)
Last Fight: 4/5/2014- KO10* Domenico Spada (UNR)
Next Fight:Unknown
Rubio likely will rather embarrassingly take on the still-existing Ricardo Mayorga in late July.  Anytime the early fight hype involves talk of extensive medical tests to ensure fighter safety, you know the fight shouldn’t be happening.
12) Jarrod Fletcher (5-15)
Last Fight: 2/1/2014- W* (UD12) vs. #12 Max Bursak
Next Fight: Unknown
Fletcher was among the candidates for a fight with Chudinov on June 1, but the Russian opted for Patrick Nielsen, instead.
13) Max Bursak (5-172)
Last Fight: 2/1/2014- L* (UD12) vs. Jarrod Fletcher (UNR)
Next Fight: 6/21/2014- vs. #5 Martin Murray
Bursak will get a big opportunity before Jarrod Fletcher, who outpointed him in a moderately controversial decision in February, as he has been tapped by Martin Murray for a June 21 fight in Monte Carlo.
14) Grzegorz Proksa (5-161)
Last Fight: 6/28/2013- L (UD10) vs. Sergio Mora (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
15) Caleb Truax (5-34)
Last Fight: 1/3/2014- Draw (UD10) vs. Ossie Duran (UNR) (at SMW)
Next Fight: Unknown
Truax’s status as a promising prospect has been derailed somewhat by the very tough Ossie Duran.
16) Curtis Stevens (5-41)
Last Fight: 4/4/2014- TKO10* Tureano Johnson (UNR) (at SMW)
Next Fight: Unknown
Stevens’ haplessness for all but the last few seconds of his prematurely-stopped bout with Tureano Johnson has got to raise questions about his ability to rise any higher than he finds himself now.  Johnson has respectfully pushed for a rematch.
17) Andrey Meryasev (5-27)
Last Fight: 4/26/2014- UD10 Carlos Baldomir (UNR) (at SMW)
Next Fight: Unknown
Meryasev dominated in pedestrian fashion against the now-retired Baldomir.
18) Daniel Jacobs (5-38)
Last Fight: 3/15/2014- TKO1 Milton Nunez (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
Easy work for Jacobs against Nunez.  He’s looking for a title fight- probably against Quillin- at the earliest opportunity.
19) Dmitry Chudinov (5-7)
Last Fight: 12/21/2013- TKO6 Juan Camilo Novoa (UNR)
Next Fight: 6/1/2014- vs. Patrick Nielsen (UNR)
Chudinov will fight promising Danish prospect Patrick Nielsen in a very interesting clash on June 1 in Moscow.
20) Akio Shibata (5-5)
Last Fight: 3/1/2014- UD12 Daisuke Nakagawa (UNR)
Next Fight: 7/5/2014- vs. Hikaru Nishida (UNR)
Shibata takes on his second consecutive domestic gatekeeper in Hikaru Nishida in early July in Tokyo.

 

The Week Ahead:  
Friday
Jose Miguel Torres vs. Jhonatan Ricar; Puerto Colombia, Colombia; TV Unknown
Torres is a Colombian gatekeeper best known for exposing hot prospect Patrick Majewski in 2011 before getting beaten up by a resurgent David Lemieux in 2013.  He’s probably a bit overrated by the Majewski win, but still clearly qualifies as a top 50 fighter in my book.  Ricar, not so much.  He’s a low-level journeyman who hasn’t fought in over a year.

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Middleweight: 2014, May 5-11

Posted in Middleweight, Rankings with tags , , , , , , , on October 8, 2014 by danboxing
No significant combat to report from last week.

 

Dan’s Top 20 (Weeks in Current Position-Weeks in Top 10 if applicable-Weeks in Top 20)
Champ: Sergio Martinez (212-212-212)
Last Fight: 4/27/2013- UD12* #9 Martin Murray (Robbery- draw at best)
Next Fight: 6/7/2014- vs. # 8 JMW Miguel Cotto
If there was any lingering doubt, Martinez-Cotto is now on for June 7 at Madison Square Garden.
1) Gennady Golovkin (21-88-151)
Last Fight: 2/1/2014- TKO7 Osumanu Adama (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
It’s not clear that the fight is dead, but delays related to a cloudy promotional situation on the part of Chavez have left that superfight very much in doubt, as Golovkin is looking for other options.
2) Felix Sturm (21-555-555)
Last Fight: 12/7/2013- TKO2 #3 Darren Barker
Next Fight: 5/31/2014- vs. #8 Sam Soliman (UNR)
Soliman has obfuscated his clear banned stimulant violation to the point that he has perhaps most people thinking he was totally clean.  He wasn’t.  And he didn’t win that fight even if he had been.  Sturm got screwed all the way around, and now he’s forced to rematch the Australian, who deserves the opportunity much less than would Macklin, Murray, or Geale.  But that’s what we’ve got.  May 31 in Krefeld.
3) Daniel Geale (11-255-255)
Last Fight: 2/19/2014- RTD6 Garth Wood (UNR)
Next Fight: 5/24/2014- vs. #6 Matthew Macklin
Geale is apparently set to fight Macklin in an intriguing fight on May 24 in the US, on HBO.
4) Peter Quillin (3-81-102)
Last Fight: 4/19/2014- UD12 Lukas Konecny (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
Quillin is trying to float the idea of him fighting Mayweather, with whom he shares a hometown.
5) Martin Murray (3-127-127)
Last Fight: 4/23/2014- RTD6 Ishmael Tetteh (UNR) at SMW
Next Fight: 6/21/2014- vs. #13 Max Bursak
Murray hasn’t looked at all special since nearly and probably deservedly knocking off the Champ last April, but he’ll need to be in some kind of form in June if he hopes to handle the always tough Max Bursak.
6) Matthew Macklin (3-150-241)
Last Fight: 12/7/2013- UD10 Lamar Russ (UNR)
Next Fight: 5/24/2014- vs. #3 Daniel Geale
See Geale’s notes, above.
7) Hassan N’Dam N’Jikam (16-21-21)
Last Fight: 4/16/2014- UD10 Fulgencio Zuniga (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
N’Dam says he wants Rosado next, and then Golovkin.
8) Sam Soliman (16-21-21)
Last Fight: 12/11/2013- TKO9 Les Sherrington (UNR)
Next Fight: 5/31/2014- vs. #2 Felix Sturm
Soliman cheated with a stimulant, won by ridiculous robbery before being stripped of the victory, and now he gets what I would argue is an undeserved chance at a do-over.
9) Sergio Mora (16-45-45)
Last Fight: 11/16/2013- KO5 Milton Nunez (UNR)
Next Fight: 5/31/2014- vs. Samuel Rogers (UNR)
I missed the memo about the date for Mora-Rogers.  I originally read that it was going to be on Arreola-Stiverne II in LA, but at some point it was moved to HBO2’s May 31 card in Vegas.
10) Osumanu Adama (14-14-14)
Last Fight: 2/1/2014- L (TKO7) vs. #1 Gennady Golovkin
Next Fight: Unknown
Not the most pleasant entry into the rankings we’ve ever seen, but his resume stacks up pretty well as long as he’s active and on weight.
11) Marco Antonio Rubio (14-171)
Last Fight: 4/5/2014- KO10* Domenico Spada (UNR)
Next Fight:Unknown
Rubio likely will rather embarrassingly take on the still-existing Ricardo Mayorga in late July.  Anytime the early fight hype involves talk of extensive medical tests to ensure fighter safety, you know the fight shouldn’t be happening.
12) Jarrod Fletcher (4-14)
Last Fight: 2/1/2014- W* (UD12) vs. #12 Max Bursak
Next Fight: Unknown
Fletcher was among the candidates for a fight with Chudinov on June 1, but the Russian opted for Patrick Nielsen, instead.
13) Max Bursak (4-171)
Last Fight: 2/1/2014- L* (UD12) vs. Jarrod Fletcher (UNR)
Next Fight: 6/21/2014- vs. #5 Martin Murray
Bursak will get a big opportunity before Jarrod Fletcher, who outpointed him in a moderately controversial decision in February, as he has been tapped by Martin Murray for a June 21 fight in Monte Carlo.
14) Grzegorz Proksa (4-160)
Last Fight: 6/28/2013- L (UD10) vs. Sergio Mora (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
15) Caleb Truax (4-33)
Last Fight: 1/3/2014- Draw (UD10) vs. Ossie Duran (UNR) (at SMW)
Next Fight: Unknown
Truax’s status as a promising prospect has been derailed somewhat by the very tough Ossie Duran.
16) Curtis Stevens (4-40)
Last Fight: 4/4/2014- TKO10* Tureano Johnson (UNR) (at SMW)
Next Fight: Unknown
Stevens’ haplessness for all but the last few seconds of his prematurely-stopped bout with Tureano Johnson has got to raise questions about his ability to rise any higher than he finds himself now.  Johnson has respectfully pushed for a rematch.
17) Andrey Meryasev (4-26)
Last Fight: 4/26/2014- UD10 Carlos Baldomir (UNR) (at SMW)
Next Fight: Unknown
Meryasev dominated in pedestrian fashion against the now-retired Baldomir.
18) Daniel Jacobs (4-37)
Last Fight: 3/15/2014- TKO1 Milton Nunez (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
Easy work for Jacobs against Nunez.  He’s looking for a title fight- probably against Quillin- at the earliest opportunity.
19) Dmitry Chudinov (4-6)
Last Fight: 12/21/2013- TKO6 Juan Camilo Novoa (UNR)
Next Fight: 6/1/2014- vs. Patrick Nielsen (UNR)
Chudinov will fight promising Danish prospect Patrick Nielsen in a very interesting clash on June 1 in Moscow.
20) Akio Shibata (4-4)
Last Fight: 3/1/2014- UD12 Daisuke Nakagawa (UNR)
Next Fight: 7/5/2014- vs. Hikaru Nishida (UNR)
Shibata takes on his second consecutive domestic gatekeeper in Hikaru Nishida in early July in Tokyo.

 

The Week Ahead:  
Saturday
Karim Achour vs. Davy Armand; Niort, France; TV Unknown
Achour holds the French national title, and is a gatekeeper who finds himself at the pinnacle of his career to this point, having defended that title 3 times now, including a career-best win over countryman Julien Marie Sainte in November.  Armand is a mid-level journeyman looking to follow in Achour’s footsteps and take his career to the next level.

 

Chris Eubank, Jr. vs. Robert Swierzbinski; Liverpool, England; BoxNation
Eubank, Jr. is England’s answer to Adrien Broner.  He is, at least to my tastes, utterly insufferable, and doesn’t like to overly exert himself in the ring from what I’ve seen.  Still, he’s got undeniable talent, and has inherited a popular name. Swierzbinski is a Polish journeyman and/or fringe prospect whose only two losses came against recognizable names in David Lemieux and Maciej Sulecki.  He’s coming off an upset win over an undefeated prospect, and although Eubank is at a manifestly higher level than that guy, you never know what could happen if the Brit overlooks his opponent.   

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Middleweight: 2014, Apr 28- May 4

Posted in Middleweight, Rankings with tags , , , , , , , on October 3, 2014 by danboxing
Unbeaten Russian Arif Magomedov got an excellent win in Moscow on Friday against another theretofore reasonably impressive young undefeated prospect in Alex Theran of Colombia.  I couldn’t find a video, but Magomedov dropped Theran in rounds one and three, and the Colombian wanted no more from that point, quitting on his stool after that round.  Magomedov still lacks a win over a proven top 50 fighter, but he has established himself to be something close to the fringe contender level even without that level of win.

 

#17 Andrey Meryasev and #5 Martin Murray were both in action this week at 168, and their fights have been given full treatment at that weight.  Murray was slated for removal this week due to his not having fought at 160 since a year ago, but he got in just under the wire by scheduling a fight with Max Bursak for Monte Carlo in June.  Assuming the fight goes forward and he makes 160 for that fight, his ranking is safe for now.

 

No changes.

 

Dan’s Top 20 (Weeks in Current Position-Weeks in Top 10 if applicable-Weeks in Top 20)
Champ: Sergio Martinez (211-211-211)
Last Fight: 4/27/2013- UD12* #9 Martin Murray (Robbery- draw at best)
Next Fight: 6/7/2014- vs. # 8 JMW Miguel Cotto
If there was any lingering doubt, Martinez-Cotto is now on for June 7 at Madison Square Garden.
1) Gennady Golovkin (20-87-150)
Last Fight: 2/1/2014- TKO7 Osumanu Adama (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
A fight between Golovkin and Julio Cesar Chavez appears to be nearly done for July 19 at 168.
2) Felix Sturm (20-554-554)
Last Fight: 12/7/2013- TKO2 #3 Darren Barker
Next Fight: 5/31/2014- vs. #8 Sam Soliman (UNR)
Soliman has obfuscated his clear banned stimulant violation to the point that he has perhaps most people thinking he was totally clean.  He wasn’t.  And he didn’t win that fight even if he had been.  Sturm got screwed all the way around, and now he’s forced to rematch the Australian, who deserves the opportunity much less than would Macklin, Murray, or Geale.  But that’s what we’ve got.  May 31 in Krefeld.
3) Daniel Geale (10-254-254)
Last Fight: 2/19/2014- RTD6 Garth Wood (UNR)
Next Fight: 5/24/2014- vs. #6 Matthew Macklin
Geale is apparently set to fight Macklin in an intriguing fight on May 24 in the US, on HBO.
4) Peter Quillin (2-80-101)
Last Fight: 4/19/2014- UD12 Lukas Konecny (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
Quillin is cobbling together a resume full of unimpressive narrow wins over fringe contenders, mostly, and despite his high ranking, he’ll need to take on at least another N’Dam-level challenge to gain full respect from more discerning observers.
5) Martin Murray (2-126-126)
Last Fight: 4/23/2014- RTD6 Ishmael Tetteh (UNR) at SMW
Next Fight: 6/21/2014- vs. #13 Max Bursak
Murray hasn’t looked at all special since nearly and probably deservedly knocking off the Champ last April, but he’ll need to be in some kind of form in June if he hopes to handle the always tough Max Bursak.
6) Matthew Macklin (2-149-240)
Last Fight: 12/7/2013- UD10 Lamar Russ (UNR)
Next Fight: 5/24/2014- vs. #3 Daniel Geale
See Geale’s notes, above.
7) Hassan N’Dam N’Jikam (15-20-20)
Last Fight: 4/16/2014- UD10 Fulgencio Zuniga (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
N’Dam says he wants Rosado next, and then Golovkin.
8) Sam Soliman (15-20-20)
Last Fight: 12/11/2013- TKO9 Les Sherrington (UNR)
Next Fight: 5/31/2014- vs. #2 Felix Sturm
Soliman cheated with a stimulant, won by ridiculous robbery before being stripped of the victory, and now he gets what I would argue is an undeserved chance at a do-over.
9) Sergio Mora (15-44-44)
Last Fight: 11/16/2013- KO5 Milton Nunez (UNR)
Next Fight: 5/10/2014- vs. Samuel Rogers (UNR)
Mora will be back on the L.A. undercard of Stiverne-Arreola II against prospect Samuel Rogers who, in addition to being a natural junior middleweight and much less accomplished, is coming off his first career loss.
10) Osumanu Adama (13-13-13)
Last Fight: 2/1/2014- L (TKO7) vs. #1 Gennady Golovkin
Next Fight: Unknown
Not the most pleasant entry into the rankings we’ve ever seen, but his resume stacks up pretty well as long as he’s active and on weight.
11) Marco Antonio Rubio (13-170)
Last Fight: 4/5/2014- KO10* Domenico Spada (UNR)
Next Fight:Unknown
Rubio likely will rather embarrassingly take on the still-existing Ricardo Mayorga in late July.  Anytime the early fight hype involves talk of extensive medical tests to ensure fighter safety, you know the fight shouldn’t be happening.
12) Jarrod Fletcher (3-13)
Last Fight: 2/1/2014- W* (UD12) vs. #12 Max Bursak
Next Fight: Unknown
Fletcher was among the candidates for a fight with Chudinov on June 1, but the Russian opted for Patrick Nielsen, instead.
13) Max Bursak (3-170)
Last Fight: 2/1/2014- L* (UD12) vs. Jarrod Fletcher (UNR)
Next Fight: 6/21/2014- vs. #5 Martin Murray
Bursak will get a big opportunity before Jarrod Fletcher, who outpointed him in a moderately controversial decision in February, as he has been tapped by Martin Murray for a June 21 fight in Monte Carlo.
14) Grzegorz Proksa (3-159)
Last Fight: 6/28/2013- L (UD10) vs. Sergio Mora (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
15) Caleb Truax (3-32)
Last Fight: 1/3/2014- Draw (UD10) vs. Ossie Duran (UNR) (at SMW)
Next Fight: Unknown
Truax’s status as a promising prospect has been derailed somewhat by the very tough Ossie Duran.
16) Curtis Stevens (3-39)
Last Fight: 4/4/2014- TKO10* Tureano Johnson (UNR) (at SMW)
Next Fight: Unknown
Stevens’ haplessness for all but the last few seconds of his prematurely-stopped bout with Tureano Johnson has got to raise questions about his ability to rise any higher than he finds himself now.  Johnson has respectfully pushed for a rematch.
17) Andrey Meryasev (3-25)
Last Fight: 4/26/2014- UD10 Carlos Baldomir (UNR) (at SMW)
Next Fight: Unknown
Meryasev dominated in pedestrian fashion against the now-retired Baldomir.
18) Daniel Jacobs (3-36)
Last Fight: 3/15/2014- TKO1 Milton Nunez (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
Easy work for Jacobs against Nunez.  He’s looking for a title fight- probably against Quillin- at the earliest opportunity.
19) Dmitry Chudinov (3-5)
Last Fight: 12/21/2013- TKO6 Juan Camilo Novoa (UNR)
Next Fight: 6/1/2014- vs. Patrick Nielsen (UNR)
Chudinov will fight promising Danish prospect Patrick Nielsen in a very interesting clash on June 1 in Moscow.
20) Akio Shibata (3-3)
Last Fight: 3/1/2014- UD12 Daisuke Nakagawa (UNR)
Next Fight: 7/5/2014- vs. Hikaru Nishida (UNR)
Shibata takes on his second consecutive domestic gatekeeper in Hikaru Nishida in early July in Tokyo.

 

The Week Ahead:  No significant action at 160 on the schedule this week.

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Middleweight: 2014, Apr 21-27

Posted in Middleweight, Rankings with tags , , , , , , , on September 28, 2014 by danboxing
#7 Hassan N’Dam was in action this week, but it turned out to be a super middleweight fight, and so I’ve discussed it there as fully as possible.

 

ESPN’s Boxcino Middleweight tournament featured its first major upset on Friday, as the tournament’s favorite (and only top 50 fighter) Vitaliy Kopylenko was shockingly upended by Willie Monroe, Jr., winning only one round on my card and on two of the three official judges’ (John McKaie had it just one round closer).  Monroe- who frankly didn’t deserve the opportunity after benefitting from a robbery against Donatas Bondas in the previous round- took advantage of said opportunity.  He was very slick, and controlled the distance and pace to such an extent that he made Kopylenko look like his sparring partner.  Kopylenko fought Monroe’s fight the entire way, failing to step in, failing to go to the body, and failing to commit to his punches.  

 

Brandon Adams had a similarly effective performance against Ray Gatica in the other fight, though neither guy was ranked in the top 50 going in.  Gatica gave a better effort than did Kopylenko, and won the first round behind effective subtle pressure, but he was unable to ramp that pressure up as Adams adjusted to it, and his hands were way too slow to match his opponent’s athleticism.  Adams reminded me, personally, of the effective version of Shawn Porter.

 

In the week’s biggest fight in the division, #6 Peter Quillin somehow impressed the hell out of the cheerleaders at Showtime, as well as awful judges Milos Rados, Bill Lerch, and Michael Pernick (120-108, 119-109 x2, respectively), but to me he did just enough to win.  Whether it’s against N’Dam, Rosado, or Konecny (as was the case this time), the dude is allergic to truly impressing, despite plenty of apparent talent.  Late in fights, he seems to either gas out or coast.  In this case, it appeared to be a bit of the latter.  After building up a 59-55 advantage on my card after 6, he spent the last half of the fight running and jabbing defensively, which allowed me to give him just 2 of the last 6- one by a mere hair’s breadth.  I had it for Quillin in the end, 115-113, and although I think a reasonable judge could have scored it a draw, I think I can comfortably join the general consensus to the effect that Quillin did indeed win the fight.  That being said, the idea that he won 11 or 12 rounds is simply preposterous.  Despite the underwhelming effort, however, and despite the sour taste I’m left with due to the biased scorecards being shoved in my face, I can’t be too down on Quillin in this instance.  Frankly, given his monumental struggles with N’Dam and Rosado and the fact that Konecny was underrated due to a robbery loss against Baysangurov, I actually thought it was a 50-50 fight going in, give or take.  So even a close win for the American is worthwhile.

 

In an off-TV stay-busy fight in Orlando, Florida, unbeaten Russian prospect Matt Korobov stopped his low-level Puerto Rican journeyman opponent Emil Gonzalez after the 6th round of a scheduled 8.

 

Quillin’s win, regardless of how he looked, came against a high-quality fighter, and when combined with the fact that one of Macklin’s better wins just became more than 5 years old last month, it allows him to slip past Macklin in the rankings.  Ditto with Martin Murray, who put his entire resume into question with a debateable points win against journeyman Khomitsky recently.  He hits the wall with Geale.  Despite Geale’s last fight at that kind of level being a close loss to Barker, he still has a much deeper overall resume than Quillin.  It’s a little bit of a judgment call, but I’m going to say that Geale is still the more proven guy at the moment.  Konecny remains unranked due to his having no significant wins at 160.  As for Monroe, he’s now beaten a guy that I considered a top 50 fighter, and is thus qualified for rankings consideration.  That being said, I think he falls just outside my top 50, considering the generous judging he needed to get by Bondas recently.

 

Dan’s Top 20 (Weeks in Current Position-Weeks in Top 10 if applicable-Weeks in Top 20)
Champ: Sergio Martinez (210-210-210)
Last Fight: 4/27/2013- UD12* #9 Martin Murray (Robbery- draw at best)
Next Fight: 6/7/2014- vs. # 8 JMW Miguel Cotto
If there was any lingering doubt, Martinez-Cotto is now on for June 7 at Madison Square Garden.
1) Gennady Golovkin (19-86-149)
Last Fight: 2/1/2014- TKO7 Osumanu Adama (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
A fight between Golovkin and Julio Cesar Chavez appears to be nearly done for July 19 at 168.
2) Felix Sturm (19-553-553)
Last Fight: 12/7/2013- TKO2 #3 Darren Barker
Next Fight: 5/31/2014- vs. #8 Sam Soliman (UNR)
Soliman has obfuscated his clear banned stimulant violation to the point that he has perhaps most people thinking he was totally clean.  He wasn’t.  And he didn’t win that fight even if he had been.  Sturm got screwed all the way around, and now he’s forced to rematch the Australian, who deserves the opportunity much less than would Macklin, Murray, or Geale.  But that’s what we’ve got.  May 31 in Krefeld.
3) Daniel Geale (9-253-253)
Last Fight: 2/19/2014- RTD6 Garth Wood (UNR)
Next Fight: 5/24/2014- vs. #6 Matthew Macklin
Geale is apparently set to fight Macklin in an intriguing fight on May 24 in the US, on HBO.
4) Peter Quillin (1-79-100)
Last Fight: 4/19/2014- UD12 Lukas Konecny (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
Quillin is cobbling together a resume full of unimpressive narrow wins over fringe contenders, mostly, and despite his high ranking, he’ll need to take on at least another N’Dam-level challenge to gain full respect from more discerning observers.
5) Martin Murray (1-125-125)
Last Fight: 12/14/2013- W* (PTS8) vs. Sergey Khomitsky (UNR) (at SMW)
Next Fight: 4/23/2014- vs. Ishmail Tetteh (UNR)
Murray will look to shake off some rust in Kempton Park, South Africa on April 23, fighting very low-level Ghanaian journeyman Ishmail Tetteh.  Murray will most likely be removed next week, unless he comes within 2 pounds of making 160, since his April 27 fight in 2013 was his last at, or really near, the 160 pound limit.
6) Matthew Macklin (1-148-239)
Last Fight: 12/7/2013- UD10 Lamar Russ (UNR)
Next Fight: 5/24/2014- vs. #3 Daniel Geale
See Geale’s notes, above.
7) Hassan N’Dam N’Jikam (14-19-19)
Last Fight: 4/16/2014- UD10 Fulgencio Zuniga (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
N’Dam says he wants Rosado next, and then Golovkin.
8) Sam Soliman (14-19-19)
Last Fight: 12/11/2013- TKO9 Les Sherrington (UNR)
Next Fight: 5/31/2014- vs. #2 Felix Sturm
Soliman cheated with a stimulant, won by ridiculous robbery before being stripped of the victory, and now he gets what I would argue is an undeserved chance at a do-over.
9) Sergio Mora (14-43-43)
Last Fight: 11/16/2013- KO5 Milton Nunez (UNR)
Next Fight: 5/10/2014- vs. Samuel Rogers (UNR)
Mora will be back on the L.A. undercard of Stiverne-Arreola II against prospect Samuel Rogers who, in addition to being a natural junior middleweight and much less accomplished, is coming off his first career loss.
10) Osumanu Adama (12-12-12)
Last Fight: 2/1/2014- L (TKO7) vs. #1 Gennady Golovkin
Next Fight: Unknown
Not the most pleasant entry into the rankings we’ve ever seen, but his resume stacks up pretty well as long as he’s active and on weight.
11) Marco Antonio Rubio (12-169)
Last Fight: 4/5/2014- KO10* Domenico Spada (UNR)
Next Fight:Unknown
Rubio finished a rigged fight against Domenico Spada in style, but he was losing the fight at the time, and may have lost it entirely if Jon Schorle hadn’t yelled “break” every time his opponent landed a punch or got close to Rubio.
12) Jarrod Fletcher (2-12)
Last Fight: 2/1/2014- W* (UD12) vs. #12 Max Bursak
Next Fight: Unknown
Fletcher was among the candidates for a fight with Chudinov on June 1, but the Russian opted for Patrick Nielsen, instead.
13) Max Bursak (2-169)
Last Fight: 2/1/2014- L* (UD12) vs. Jarrod Fletcher (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
He didn’t get robbed, and it’s hard to feel sorry for him considering how dirty he fought, but I did think Bursak deserved better than a loss against Fletcher.
14) Grzegorz Proksa (2-158)
Last Fight: 6/28/2013- L (UD10) vs. Sergio Mora (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
15) Caleb Truax (2-31)
Last Fight: 1/3/2014- Draw (UD10) vs. Ossie Duran (UNR) (at SMW)
Next Fight: Unknown
Truax’s status as a promising prospect has been derailed somewhat by the very tough Ossie Duran.
16) Curtis Stevens (2-38)
Last Fight: 4/4/2014- TKO10* Tureano Johnson (UNR) (at SMW)
Next Fight: Unknown
Stevens’ haplessness for all but the last few seconds of his prematurely-stopped bout with Tureano Johnson has got to raise questions about his ability to rise any higher than he finds himself now.  Johnson has respectfully pushed for a rematch.
17) Andrey Meryasev (2-24)
Last Fight: 11/4/2013- UD10 Sergio Sanders (UNR)
Next Fight: 4/26/2014- vs. Carlos Baldomir (UNR)
Meryasev is back in action on April 26- on apparently just over 2 weeks’ notice- against faded veteran Carlos Baldomir in Mexico.  That fight will be at 168.
18) Daniel Jacobs (2-35)
Last Fight: 3/15/2014- TKO1 Milton Nunez (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
Easy work for Jacobs against Nunez.  He’s looking for a title fight- probably against Quillin- at the earliest opportunity.
19) Dmitry Chudinov (2-4)
Last Fight: 12/21/2013- TKO6 Juan Camilo Novoa (UNR)
Next Fight: 6/1/2014- vs. Patrick Nielsen (UNR)
Chudinov will fight promising Danish prospect Patrick Nielsen in a very interesting clash on June 1 in Moscow.
20) Akio Shibata (2-2)
Last Fight: 3/1/2014- UD12 Daisuke Nakagawa (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
Shibata’s loss to Murata- an Olympic champion with no pro track record- was a significant setback, but he showed that he’s still viable internationally by beating domestic gatekeeper Daisuke Nakagawa.

 

The Week Ahead:   
Friday
Arif Magomedov vs. Alex Theran; Moscow, Russia; TV Unknown
Magomedov is an undefeated Russian, who broke into the top 50 with a sensational performance in his last fight.  Theran is at the same level as his previous opponent in terms of what he’s proven, but Theran- a Colombian- adds spice to the matchup by entering as an undefeated young prospect, himself.  I haven’t seen either guy in the ring yet, but you’d think Magomedov will have at least the home field advantage.  Both guys appear to have decent power, though neither is a Golovkin-type puncher.

 

#17 Andrey Meryasev and #5 Martin Murray are also in action this week, but they are at 168, and their fights will be discussed exclusively there unless their rankings here are affected.

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Middleweight: 2014, Apr 14-20

Posted in Middleweight, Rankings with tags , , , , , , , on September 23, 2014 by danboxing
#16 Super Middleweight and long-time middleweight fringe contender Andy Lee turned in a pathetic excuse for a performance on the Skoglund-D’Agata undercard in Esbjerg, Denmark on Saturday against French light middleweight journeyman and occasional gatekeeper Frank Haroche Horta.  The smaller Horta bullied Lee around the ring for most of the fight.  When on the inside, his uppercuts in particular were really effective.  Lee, while he clearly won 3 of the first 4 rounds, just didn’t work hardly at all in the last half of the fight, and his defense was atrocious…almost non-existent.  The fight was pretty easy to score, and should pretty clearly have stood at 77-75 for Haroche Horta.  Lee, to put it simply, lost the fight.  It’s the latest and most stark examples of a theme in Lee’s career.  Actual middleweight fights are like kryptonite to him.  When he strays over the weight by even a fraction of a pound, he does fine, even against reasonably decent opposition.  But whether against Chavez or Vera or now against Haroche Horta, he always falls flat when he makes 160.

 

The same night in London, undefeated prospect Chris Eubank, Jr. came in more than 4 pounds heavy, and more than 8 pounds heavier than his opponent, journeyman Sandor Micsko.  It wasn’t much of a fight.  Despite clearly winning a very uneventful first round, Eubank had put in frightfully little work by the time he finally exploded on his overmatched and chinny opponent and knocked him out in the 2nd.  As if he were trying to be a larger British Adrien Broner, he did more talking and posing than he did fighting.  But at least he got the job done.

 

#12 Anthony Mundine lost badly at 154 to Joshua Clottey.  I will discuss that fight in detail at that weight, but the loss does affect Mundine’s standing here, as well.  His only middleweight win at above the gatekeeper level will become over 5 years old next month, so there’s very little left to arrest his nosedive, and at least at this weight class, he’s been zapped all the way down to the gatekeeper level.  Haroche Horta has a bit too checkered a resume to allow his debut here.  Therefore, the vacancy created by Mundine’s ouster is filled by Akio Shibata, who returns to the rankings for the first time since December 9.  Shibata’s status was damaged by his loss to Murata in Murata’s pro debut last year, but he bounced back to prove that it said more about Murata being good than his being bad when he outpointed gatekeeper Daisuke Nakagawa in March.

 

Dan’s Top 20 (Weeks in Current Position-Weeks in Top 10 if applicable-Weeks in Top 20)
Champ: Sergio Martinez (209-209-209)
Last Fight: 4/27/2013- UD12* #9 Martin Murray (Robbery- draw at best)
Next Fight: 6/7/2014- vs. # 8 JMW Miguel Cotto
If there was any lingering doubt, Martinez-Cotto is now on for June 7 at Madison Square Garden.
1) Gennady Golovkin (18-85-148)
Last Fight: 2/1/2014- TKO7 Osumanu Adama (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
A fight between Golovkin and Julio Cesar Chavez appears to be nearly done for July 19 at 168.
2) Felix Sturm (18-552-552)
Last Fight: 12/7/2013- TKO2 #3 Darren Barker
Next Fight: 5/31/2014- vs. #8 Sam Soliman (UNR)
Soliman has obfuscated his clear banned stimulant violation to the point that he has perhaps most people thinking he was totally clean.  He wasn’t.  And he didn’t win that fight even if he had been.  Sturm got screwed all the way around, and now he’s forced to rematch the Australian, who deserves the opportunity much less than would Macklin, Murray, or Geale.  But that’s what we’ve got.  May 31 in Krefeld.
3) Daniel Geale (8-252-252)
Last Fight: 2/19/2014- RTD6 Garth Wood (UNR)
Next Fight: 5/24/2014- vs. #5 Matthew Macklin
Geale is apparently set to fight Macklin in an intriguing fight on May 24 in the US, on HBO.
4) Martin Murray (8-124-124)
Last Fight: 12/14/2013- W* (PTS8) vs. Sergey Khomitsky (UNR) (at SMW)
Next Fight: 4/23/2014- vs. Ishmail Tetteh (UNR)
Murray will look to shake off some rust in Kempton Park, South Africa on April 23, fighting very low-level Ghanaian journeyman Ishmail Tetteh.
5) Matthew Macklin (13-147-238)
Last Fight: 12/7/2013- UD10 Lamar Russ (UNR)
Next Fight: 5/24/2014- vs. #3 Daniel Geale
See Geale’s notes, above.
6) Peter Quillin (13-78-99)
Last Fight: 10/26/2013- TKO10 Gabriel Rosado (UNR)
Next Fight: 4/19/2014- vs. Lukas Konecny (UNR)
Quillin will fight former 154-pound fringe contender Lukas Konecny, who will be making his first appearance in a meaningful fight at 160 on the Hopkins-Shumenov undercard on April 19 in D.C.
7) Hassan N’Dam N’Jikam (13-18-18)
Last Fight: 2/15/2014- TKO4 Ricardo Ramallo (UNR)
Next Fight: 4/16/2014- vs. Fulgencio Zuniga (UNR)
N’Dam has an opponent for this week, and it’s Colombian journeyman Fulgencio Zuniga.
8) Sam Soliman (13-18-18)
Last Fight: 12/11/2013- TKO9 Les Sherrington (UNR)
Next Fight: 5/31/2014- vs. #2 Felix Sturm
Soliman cheated with a stimulant, won by ridiculous robbery before being stripped of the victory, and now he gets what I would argue is an undeserved chance at a do-over.
9) Sergio Mora (13-42-42)
Last Fight: 11/16/2013- KO5 Milton Nunez (UNR)
Next Fight: 5/10/2014- vs. Samuel Rogers (UNR)
Mora will be back on the L.A. undercard of Stiverne-Arreola II against prospect Samuel Rogers who, in addition to being a natural junior middleweight and much less accomplished, is coming off his first career loss.
10) Osumanu Adama (11-11-11)
Last Fight: 2/1/2014- L (TKO7) vs. #1 Gennady Golovkin
Next Fight: Unknown
Not the most pleasant entry into the rankings we’ve ever seen, but his resume stacks up pretty well as long as he’s active and on weight.
11) Marco Antonio Rubio (11-168)
Last Fight: 4/5/2014- KO10* Domenico Spada (UNR)
Next Fight:Unknown
Rubio finished a rigged fight against Domenico Spada in style, but he was losing the fight at the time, and may have lost it entirely if Jon Schorle hadn’t yelled “break” every time his opponent landed a punch or got close to Rubio.
12) Jarrod Fletcher (1-11)
Last Fight: 2/1/2014- W* (UD12) vs. #12 Max Bursak
Next Fight: Unknown
Fletcher is said to be among those being considered for a June 1 fight with Dmitry Chudinov in Russia.
13) Max Bursak (1-168)
Last Fight: 2/1/2014- L* (UD12) vs. Jarrod Fletcher (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
He didn’t get robbed, and it’s hard to feel sorry for him considering how dirty he fought, but I did think Bursak deserved better than a loss against Fletcher.
14) Grzegorz Proksa (1-157)
Last Fight: 6/28/2013- L (UD10) vs. Sergio Mora (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
I can’t find any information on why, but Proksa’s scheduled fight with Matthew Hall this weekend has disappeared from the schedule.
15) Caleb Truax (1-30)
Last Fight: 1/3/2014- Draw (UD10) vs. Ossie Duran (UNR) (at SMW)
Next Fight: Unknown
Truax’s status as a promising prospect has been derailed somewhat by the very tough Ossie Duran.
16) Curtis Stevens (1-37)
Last Fight: 4/4/2014- TKO10* Tureano Johnson (UNR) (at SMW)
Next Fight: Unknown
Stevens’ haplessness for all but the last few seconds of his prematurely-stopped bout with Tureano Johnson has got to raise questions about his ability to rise any higher than he finds himself now.  Johnson has respectfully pushed for a rematch.
17) Andrey Meryasev (1-23)
Last Fight: 11/4/2013- UD10 Sergio Sanders (UNR)
Next Fight: 4/26/2014- vs. Carlos Baldomir (UNR)
Meryasev is back in action on April 26- on apparently just over 2 weeks’ notice- against faded veteran Carlos Baldomir in Mexico.
18) Daniel Jacobs (1-34)
Last Fight: 3/15/2014- TKO1 Milton Nunez (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
Easy work for Jacobs against Nunez.  He’s looking for a title fight- probably against Quillin- at the earliest opportunity.
19) Dmitry Chudinov (1-3)
Last Fight: 12/21/2013- TKO6 Juan Camilo Novoa (UNR)
Next Fight: 6/1/2014- vs. Unknown Opponent
Chudinov will return on June 1, and Jarrod Fletcher and Patrick Nielsen- both excellent options- are being considered for the fight.
20) Akio Shibata (1-1)
Last Fight: 3/1/2014- UD12 Daisuke Nakagawa (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
Shibata’s loss to Murata- an Olympic champion with no pro track record- was a significant setback, but he showed that he’s still viable internationally by beating domestic gatekeeper Daisuke Nakagawa.

 

The Week Ahead: 
Wednesday
#7 Hassan N’Dam N’Jikam vs. Fulgencio Zuniga; Santa Monica, California; Off TV
This is a pretty solid fight on a pretty solid card, but it sadly won’t be on TV.  N’Dam, from France by way of Cameroon, is the big favorite, obviously, and one of the better pure boxers in the sport.  Zuniga is a fairly competent journeyman from Colombia who typically fights at 168 or 175.

 

Friday
ESPN Boxcino Tournament Semi-Finals; Verona, New York; ESPN2
The first semi-final features two guys still looking to prove themselves.  Undefeated Brandon Adams got a nice-looking win against veteran journeyman Daniel Edouard in the first round, but Edouard was a mere shadow of his former self, and was never that great to begin with.  Gatica destroyed an untested undefeated fighter in Ghana’s Sena Agbeko, giving some support to the idea that he is a serious force- an idea which had its roots in his punishing near-victory over battle-tested fringe prospect Fernando Guerrero.  Gatica gets the edge in experience, but Adams did look more than a little talented last time out.  I see it as an interesting fight that’s tough to call.

 

In the second fight, Ukrainian tournament favorite Vitaliy Kopylenko gets what should be an easy path to the finals against Willie Monroe, Jr.  Kopylenko destroyed borderline top-50 fringe prospect Ceresso Fort to begin his tourney campaign, while the light-hitting Monroe was clearly beaten, yet was given a win over rugged journeyman Donatas Bondas.

 

Saturday
#6 Peter Quillin vs. Lukas Konecny; Washington, D.C.; Showtime (US)
I hope Quillin isn’t taking this fight for granted as much as most in the media seem to be.  Konecny was an underrated guy at 154, and was a big enough, strong enough guy at that weight to suggest he might have the strength and power necessary to threaten Quillin, who has given plenty of reason to doubt his chin and his conditioning when it comes to rough physical fights.  Obviously I agree that Quillin should be the favorite, but Konecny is every inch an underrated live dog in this one.

 

Matt Korobov vs. Emil Gonzalez; Orlando, Florida; Off TV
Korobov is a Russian undefeated prospect whose career has essentially plateaued after he appeared to be the next big thing back around 2009.  Korobov did how some signs of life in destroying the extremely competent Ossie Duran nearly a year ago, but he’s actually been stepping down his competition in each fight since.  That trend continues this week, as Emil Gonzalez is a very nondescript Puerto Rican journeyman who is coming off a points loss to Derek Ennis, and has lost to some lesser guys earlier in his career, as well.  It’s a stay-busy fight and not expected to make the UniMas broadcast of the card.

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Middleweight: 2014, Mar 24-30

Posted in Middleweight, Rankings with tags , , , , , , , on August 7, 2014 by danboxing
Nothing big going on at 160 last week.

 

Dan’s Top 20 (Weeks in Current Position-Weeks in Top 10 if applicable-Weeks in Top 20)
Champ: Sergio Martinez (206-206-206)
Last Fight: 4/27/2013- UD12* #9 Martin Murray (Robbery- draw at best)
Next Fight: 6/7/2014- vs. # 8 JMW Miguel Cotto
If there was any lingering doubt, Martinez-Cotto is now on for June 7 at Madison Square Garden.
1) Gennady Golovkin (15-82-145)
Last Fight: 2/1/2014- TKO7 Osumanu Adama (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
Golovkin was well on his way to signing for a fight with Andy Lee on April 26, but that fight and the date are off to allow GGG to mourn his father’s death.  Now it looks like a Chavez fight might be in the offing for July 12.
2) Felix Sturm (15-549-549)
Last Fight: 12/7/2013- TKO2 #3 Darren Barker
Next Fight: 5/31/2014- vs. Unknown Opponent
Soliman is the #1 contender for Sturm’s alphabet title, and Murray, Macklin, and Geale are all trying to get rematches with him, as well.  There is a lot of buzz about a May 31 fight.  Abraham was rumored, but he’s since gone elsewhere.
3) Daniel Geale (5-249-249)
Last Fight: 2/19/2014- RTD6 Garth Wood (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
Geale cut through Wood like an unsympathetic buzzsaw, and is hoping for a fight with Golovkin, who would also fit that description well.
4) Martin Murray (5-121-121)
Last Fight: 12/14/2013- W* (PTS8) vs. Sergey Khomitsky (UNR) (at SMW)
Next Fight: 4/23/2014- vs. Ishmail Tetteh (UNR)
Murray will look to shake off some rust in Kempton Park, South Africa on April 23, fighting very low-level Ghanaian journeyman Ishmail Tetteh.
5) Matthew Macklin (10-144-235)
Last Fight: 12/7/2013- UD10 Lamar Russ (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
After a legitimate but very unspectacular win over only moderately proven prospect Lamar Russ, Macklin has joined the chorus of quality middleweights looking for a rematch with Sturm.  He’s also pushing for a fight with Andy Lee (possibly on April 26) and has expressed interest in Quillin.
6) Peter Quillin (10-75-96)
Last Fight: 10/26/2013- TKO10 Gabriel Rosado (UNR)
Next Fight: 4/19/2014- vs. Lukas Konecny (UNR)
Quillin will fight former 154-pound fringe contender Lukas Konecny, who will be making his first appearance in a meaningful fight at 160 on the Hopkins-Shumenov undercard on April 19 in D.C.
7) Hassan N’Dam N’Jikam (10-15-15)
Last Fight: 2/15/2014- TKO4 Ricardo Ramallo (UNR)
Next Fight: 4/16/2014- vs. Unknown Opponent
N’Dam will fight in Santa Monica, California on April 16.
8) Sam Soliman (10-15-15)
Last Fight: 12/11/2013- TKO9 Les Sherrington (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
Soliman has been re-installed as the #1 contender to Sturm’s alphabet strap, and will likely get another shot soon.
9) Sergio Mora (10-39-39)
Last Fight: 11/16/2013- KO5 Milton Nunez (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
Mora is reportedly in the mix for a fight with Quillin.
10) Osumanu Adama (8-8-8)
Last Fight: 2/1/2014- L (TKO7) vs. #1 Gennady Golovkin
Next Fight: Unknown
Not the most pleasant entry into the rankings we’ve ever seen, but his resume stacks up pretty well as long as he’s active and on weight.
11) Marco Antonio Rubio (8-165)
Last Fight: 7/27/2013- KO2 Dionisio Miranda (UNR)
Next Fight: 4/5/2014- vs. Domenico Spada (UNR)
Rubio-Spada is now set for April 5 in Mexico.  It’s for an interim title, if such trifles mean anything to you.
12) Anthony Mundine (8-165)
Last Fight: 1/29/2014- UD10 Gunnar Jackson (UNR)
Next Fight: 4/2/2014- vs. Joshua Clottey (UNR) (at JMW)
Mundine confirms that he will be fighting, of all people, the long-forgotten Joshua Clottey on April 2, and then perhaps Erislandy Lara in July if that works out for him.
13) Jarrod Fletcher (8-8)
Last Fight: 2/1/2014- W* (UD12) vs. #12 Max Bursak
Next Fight: Unknown
Fletcher is said to have received 7 serious fight offers after he was given the nod against Bursak.  The team behind Dmitry Chudinov, who presumably made one of those offers, says a fight is being discussed, possibly for March or April.  There is also some talk of a domestic showdown with Geale.
14) Max Bursak (8-165)
Last Fight: 2/1/2014- L* (UD12) vs. Jarrod Fletcher (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
He didn’t get robbed, and it’s hard to feel sorry for him considering how dirty he fought, but I did think Bursak deserved better than a loss against Fletcher.
15) Bryan Vera (8-75)
Last Fight: 3/1/2014- L (UD10) vs. Julio Cesar Chavez (UNR) (at SMW)
Next Fight: Unknown
Vera will be removed next week if he doesn’t schedule a fight at 160, since he’s been occupied at 168 and even 175 for the past year.
16) Grzegorz Proksa (8-154)
Last Fight: 6/28/2013- L (UD10) vs. Sergio Mora (UNR)
Next Fight: 4/19/2014- vs. Matthew Hall (UNR)
Proksa will fight British journeyman Matthew Hall on April 19.
17) Caleb Truax (8-27)
Last Fight: 1/3/2014- Draw (UD10) vs. Ossie Duran (UNR) (at SMW)
Next Fight: Unknown
Truax’s status as a promising prospect has been derailed somewhat by the very tough Ossie Duran.
18) Curtis Stevens (8-34)
Last Fight: 1/24/2014- TKO1 Patrick Majewski (UNR) (at SMW)
Next Fight: 4/4/2014- vs. Tureano Johnson (UNR)
Stevens will continue to stay active following his brutal loss to Golovkin, taking on undefeated prospect Tureano Johnson of the Bahamas April 4 on NBC Sports.
19) Andrey Meryasev (8-20)
Last Fight: 11/4/2013- UD10 Sergio Sanders (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
I’ve still yet to see Meryasev in action, but his win over Sanders at this point in his career proves that he’s a real prospect.
20) Daniel Jacobs (8-31)
Last Fight: 3/15/2014- TKO1 Milton Nunez (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
Easy work for Jacobs against Nunez.  He’s looking for a title fight- probably against Quillin- at the earliest opportunity.

 

The Week Ahead: A second straight week of no action at 160.

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Middleweight: 2014, Mar 17-23

Posted in Middleweight, Rankings with tags , , , , , , , on August 5, 2014 by danboxing
#20 Daniel Jacobs bombed out Colombian journeyman Milton Nunez with three knockdowns in less than a round.  There’s nothing really to be learned from this particular outing, except that Jacobs has some power and Nunez has no chin.  Well, that and the fact that Jacobs is better than Deandre Latimore was a few years ago, when Nunez almost upset him.  No changes.

 

Dan’s Top 20 (Weeks in Current Position-Weeks in Top 10 if applicable-Weeks in Top 20)
Champ: Sergio Martinez (205-205-205)
Last Fight: 4/27/2013- UD12* #9 Martin Murray (Robbery- draw at best)
Next Fight: 6/7/2014- vs. # 8 JMW Miguel Cotto
If there was any lingering doubt, Martinez-Cotto is now on for June 7 at Madison Square Garden.
1) Gennady Golovkin (14-81-144)
Last Fight: 2/1/2014- TKO7 Osumanu Adama (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
Golovkin was well on his way to signing for a fight with Andy Lee on April 26, but that fight and the date are off to allow GGG to mourn his father’s death.  Now it looks like a Chavez fight might be in the offing for July 12.
2) Felix Sturm (14-548-548)
Last Fight: 12/7/2013- TKO2 #3 Darren Barker
Next Fight: Unknown
Soliman is the #1 contender for Sturm’s alphabet title, and Murray, Macklin, and Geale are all trying to get rematches with him, as well.  There is also talk of an Arthur Abraham fight on May 31.
3) Daniel Geale (4-248-248)
Last Fight: 2/19/2014- RTD6 Garth Wood (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
Geale cut through Wood like an unsympathetic buzzsaw, and is hoping for a fight with Golovkin, who would also fit that description well.
4) Martin Murray (4-120-120)
Last Fight: 12/14/2013- W* (PTS8) vs. Sergey Khomitsky (UNR) (at SMW)
Next Fight: 4/12/2014- vs. Unknown Opponent
Murray has a “warm-up” fight scheduled for Germany in April, before he goes on a 9-month, 3 fight stretch in Monte Carlo, which is expected to culminate in a Golovkin showdown in February 2015.
5) Matthew Macklin (9-143-234)
Last Fight: 12/7/2013- UD10 Lamar Russ (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
After a legitimate but very unspectacular win over only moderately proven prospect Lamar Russ, Macklin has joined the chorus of quality middleweights looking for a rematch with Sturm.  He’s also pushing for a fight with Andy Lee (possibly on April 26) and has expressed interest in Quillin.
6) Peter Quillin (9-74-95)
Last Fight: 10/26/2013- TKO10 Gabriel Rosado (UNR)
Next Fight: 4/19/2014- vs. Lukas Konecny (UNR)
Quillin will fight former 154-pound fringe contender Lukas Konecny, who will be making his first appearance in a meaningful fight at 160 on the Hopkins-Shumenov undercard on April 19 in D.C.
7) Hassan N’Dam N’Jikam (9-14-14)
Last Fight: 2/15/2014- TKO4 Ricardo Ramallo (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
N’Dam totally dominated journeyman Ramallo.  Here’s hoping he gets another worthwhile fight at something near championship-level soon.
8) Sam Soliman (9-14-14)
Last Fight: 12/11/2013- TKO9 Les Sherrington (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
Soliman has been re-installed as the #1 contender to Sturm’s alphabet strap, and will likely get another shot soon.
9) Sergio Mora (9-38-38)
Last Fight: 11/16/2013- KO5 Milton Nunez (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
Mora is reportedly in the mix for a fight with Quillin.
10) Osumanu Adama (7-7-7)
Last Fight: 2/1/2014- L (TKO7) vs. #1 Gennady Golovkin
Next Fight: Unknown
Not the most pleasant entry into the rankings we’ve ever seen, but his resume stacks up pretty well as long as he’s active and on weight.
11) Marco Antonio Rubio (7-164)
Last Fight: 7/27/2013- KO2 Dionisio Miranda (UNR)
Next Fight: 4/5/2014- vs. Domenico Spada (UNR)
Rubio-Spada is now set for April 5 in Mexico.  It’s for an interim title, if such trifles mean anything to you.
12) Anthony Mundine (7-164)
Last Fight: 1/29/2014- UD10 Gunnar Jackson (UNR)
Next Fight: 4/2/2014- vs. Joshua Clottey (UNR) (at JMW)
Mundine confirms that he will be fighting, of all people, the long-forgotten Joshua Clottey on April 2, and then perhaps Erislandy Lara in July if that works out for him.
13) Jarrod Fletcher (7-7)
Last Fight: 2/1/2014- W* (UD12) vs. #12 Max Bursak
Next Fight: Unknown
Fletcher is said to have received 7 serious fight offers after he was given the nod against Bursak.  The team behind Dmitry Chudinov, who presumably made one of those offers, says a fight is being discussed, possibly for March or April.  There is also some talk of a domestic showdown with Geale.
14) Max Bursak (7-164)
Last Fight: 2/1/2014- L* (UD12) vs. Jarrod Fletcher (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
He didn’t get robbed, and it’s hard to feel sorry for him considering how dirty he fought, but I did think Bursak deserved better than a loss against Fletcher.
15) Bryan Vera (7-74)
Last Fight: 3/1/2014- L (UD10) vs. Julio Cesar Chavez (UNR) (at SMW)
Next Fight: Unknown
Vera’s loss to Chavez at a heavier weight has no effect on his ranking here.  He will need to schedule a fight at 160 by March 29 to avoid removal here, though.
16) Grzegorz Proksa (7-153)
Last Fight: 6/28/2013- L (UD10) vs. Sergio Mora (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
Proksa is likely to fight again on April 19 according to Polish news reports.
17) Caleb Truax (7-26)
Last Fight: 1/3/2014- Draw (UD10) vs. Ossie Duran (UNR) (at SMW)
Next Fight: Unknown
Truax’s status as a promising prospect has been derailed somewhat by the very tough Ossie Duran.
18) Curtis Stevens (7-33)
Last Fight: 1/24/2014- TKO1 Patrick Majewski (UNR) (at SMW)
Next Fight: 4/4/2014- vs. Tureano Johnson (UNR)
Stevens will continue to stay active following his brutal loss to Golovkin, taking on undefeated prospect Tureano Johnson of the Bahamas April 4 on NBC Sports.
19) Andrey Meryasev (7-19)
Last Fight: 11/4/2013- UD10 Sergio Sanders (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
I’ve still yet to see Meryasev in action, but his win over Sanders at this point in his career proves that he’s a real prospect.
20) Daniel Jacobs (7-30)
Last Fight: 3/15/2014- TKO1 Milton Nunez (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
Easy work for Jacobs against Nunez.  He’s looking for a title fight- probably against Quillin- at the earliest opportunity.

 

The Week Ahead: No action to report this week.

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Middleweight: 2014, Jan 13-19

Posted in Middleweight, Rankings with tags , , , , , , , on April 13, 2014 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: Sergio Martinez (196-196-196)
Last Fight: 4/27/2013- UD12* #9 Martin Murray (Robbery- draw at best)
Next Fight: 6/7/2014- vs. # 8 JMW Miguel Cotto
According to fighthype.com, citing anonymous sources close to Cotto, there is now no doubt that Cotto-Martinez will happen on June 7 in New York. 
1) Gennady Golovkin (5-72-135)
Last Fight: 11/2/2013- RTD8 #15 Curtis Stevens
Next Fight: 2/1/2014- vs. Osumanu Adama (UNR)
Golovkin returns February 1 in Monte Carlo.  Originally it looked like Murray was the opponent, but he will instead fight former borderline top 10 contender Osumanu Adama, who was removed from a #13 berth in September for failing to make 160 for 18 months.
2) Felix Sturm (5-539-539)
Last Fight: 12/7/2013- TKO2 #3 Darren Barker
Next Fight: Unknown
Soliman is the #1 contender for Sturm’s alphabet title, and Murray, Macklin, and Geale are both trying to get rematches with him, as well.
3) Martin Murray (5-111-111)
Last Fight: 12/14/2013- W* (PTS8) vs. Sergey Khomitsky (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
Murray withdrew from a scheduled February 1 fight with Jarrod Fletcher.  Reports are that he did so because of an offer to fight Felix Sturm in a rematch, but there is no word on the details of that fight, if true.
4) Darren Barker (6-22-118)
Last Fight: 12/7/2013- L (TKO2) vs. #4 Felix Sturm
Next Fight: Unknown
Barker will likely need another hip operation, but says he doesn’t know if he will retire or attempt a comeback from the chronic injury.
5) Daniel Geale (22-239-239)
Last Fight: 8/17/2013- L (SD12) vs. #15 Darren Barker
Next Fight: 2/19/2014- vs. Garth Wood (UNR)
Geale will face gatekeeper Garth Wood- his former sparring partner- on February 19 in Sydney.
6) Matthew Macklin (22-134-225)
Last Fight: 12/7/2013- UD10 Lamar Russ (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
After a legitimate but very unspectacular win over only moderately proven prospect Lamar Russ, Macklin has joined the chorus of quality middleweights looking for a rematch with Sturm.  He’s also pushing for a fight with Andy Lee.
7) Peter Quillin (38-65-86)
Last Fight: 10/26/2013- TKO10 Gabriel Rosado (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
Golovkin’s team has called out Quillin, but that fight is likely impossible for the time being due to the HBO-Showtime allegiances of the two.
8) Hassan N’Dam N’Jikam (5-5-5)
Last Fight: 12/14/2013- UD10 Anthony Fitzgerald (UNR)
Next Fight: 2/15/2014- vs. Unknown Opponent
After Andy Lee turned down a proposed fight for March 1, N’Dam will be back on February 15 in Ireland against an opponent yet to be named.
9) Sam Soliman (5-5-5)
Last Fight: 12/11/2013- TKO9 Les Sherrington (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
Soliman has been re-installed as the #1 contender to Sturm’s alphabet strap, and will likely get another shot soon.
10) Sergio Mora (5-29-29)
Last Fight: 11/16/2013- KO5 Milton Nunez (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
Mora had hoped to fight Golovkin on February 1, but says he was never offered the fight.
11) Marco Antonio Rubio (5-155)
Last Fight: 7/27/2013- KO2 Dionisio Miranda (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
It’s not signed yet, but it looks likely that Rubio will fight Domenico Spada in March.
12) Anthony Mundine (5-155)
Last Fight: 11/27/2013- TKO7 #4 WW Shane Mosley (at JMW)
Next Fight: 1/29/2014- vs. Carson Jones (at JMW?)
Mundine will be fighting gatekeeper Carson Jones on January 29 in Brisbane.  Jones is a welterweight who sometimes fights at 154, so I’m just assuming the fight will happen at the latter weight.
13) Max Bursak (5-155)
Last Fight: 12/14/2013- UD8 Gari Abajian (UNR)
Next Fight: 2/1/2013- vs. Jarrod Fletcher (UNR)
Bursak has replaced Martin Murray against Aussie prospect Jarrod Fletcher on February 1.  He’ll be in the rare position of a favored fighter in a fairly high-profile fight becoming a short-notice opponent.
14) Bryan Vera (2-65)
Last Fight: 9/28/2013- L* (UD10) vs. Julio Cesar Chavez, Jr. (UNR) (at LHW)
Next Fight: 3/1/2014- vs. Julio Cesar Chavez (UNR)
Vera-Chavez II now looks likely for March 1 in either Vegas or Texas, after a proposed February date was abandoned over concerns related to Olympic conflicts.
15) Grzegorz Proksa (2-144)
Last Fight: 6/28/2013- L (UD10) vs. Sergio Mora (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
Proksa had another hand operation in August, but thinks he’ll be ready to go for a proposed February fight in Poland with undefeated prospect Maciej Suleckim.
16) Caleb Truax (2-17)
Last Fight: 1/3/2014- Draw (UD10) vs. Ossie Duran (UNR) (at SMW)
Next Fight: Unknown
Truax’s status as a promising prospect has been derailed somewhat by the very tough Ossie Duran.
17) Curtis Stevens (5-24)
Last Fight: 11/2/2013- L (RTD8) vs. #2 Gennady Golovkin
Next Fight: 1/24/2014- vs. Patrick Majewski (UNR)
Stevens will make a surprisingly quick return from a grueling battle with Golovkin.  His January 24 opponent will be one-loss Polish fringe prospect Patrick Majewski.
18) Andrey Meryasev (5-10)
Last Fight: 11/4/2013- UD10 Sergio Sanders (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
I’ve still yet to see Meryasev in action, but his win over Sanders at this point in his career proves that he’s a real prospect.
19) Danny Jacobs (5-21)
Last Fight: 8/19/2013- TKO3 Giovanni Lorenzo (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
20) Dmitry Chudinov (5-21)
Last Fight: 12/21/2013- TKO6 Juan Camilo Novoa (UNR)
Next Fight: Unknown
Chudinov is said to be in discussions to fight Ricardo Mayorga (who’s still fighting, apparently…) in April.  He’s also been made the mandatory for Martin Murray’s interim alphabet belt.

 

The Week Ahead: Another slow one.

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