On the Move: SecondsOut World Rankings 3/13/11

By Derek Bonnett: As "March Madness" unfolds in the world of American college basketball, the spirit of the upset looms greatly for many lower seeded teams. However, this week, the sport of boxing experienced something more like "March Maintenance", as SecondsOut’s most elite fighters kept the balance of their divisions in check by and large with steady action across the weight classes.

On Friday, March 11, at Urania Hall in Olsztyn, Poland, Mateusz Masternak, 23, scored a fifth round stoppage of Ali Ismailov to remain unbeaten in the cruiserweight ranks. Masternak raised his record to 22-0 (16). Ismailov fell to 18-5-1 (13).

Masternak passes over the less active Ola Afolabi to take the ninth ranking at SecondsOut. Afolabi stays aboard at tenth.

On Saturday, March 12, at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA, Miguel Cotto stopped Ricardo Mayorga in the 12th round for his first WBA junior middleweight title defense. Cotto enhanced his numbers to 36-2 (29) while Mayorga dipped to 29-8-1 (23).

Cotto remains the number three man among SecondsOut’s top junior middleweights and now eyes a shot at redemption with a possible rematch with Antonio Magarito on the table for this summer.

Also on the card, Miguel Vazquez outpointed Leonardo Zappavigna in a twelve round IBF lightweight title bout. Vazquez notched the second defense of the title he won in August 2010 and improved his record to 28-3 (12). So far, only Saul Alvarez (twice) and Timothy Bradley have been able to defeat Vazquez in his professional campaign. Zappavigna lost his unbeaten record and dipped to 25-1 (17).

Vazquez has been on an impressive four fight run and is perhaps the most overlooked man at 135 right now. Vazquez jumped from eighth to sixth this week. Zappavigna falls out of the top ten for the time being. Replacing him is Jorge Linares at tenth.

Also on the card, Yuri Foreman was upset by Pawel Wolak in a ten round junior middleweight bout. After absorbing a steady beating, Foreman’s corner retired in six rounds. Wolak secured his most significant win as a professional and improved his record to 29-1 (19). Foreman dropped to 28-2 (8).

Foreman exits SecondsOut’s top ten for now, falling from eighth. Cornelius Bundrage re-enters the rankings at tenth after briefly exiting. Wolak is on the cusp of entering the top ten.

Also on Saturday, March 12, at Foxwoods Resort Casino, Mashantucket, Connecticut, USA, Sergio Martinez demolished Serhiy Dzinziruk in eight rounds of a middleweight title bout. Martinez dropped Dzinziruk five time en route to the TKO victory and improved his record to 47-2-2 (26). Dzinziruk lost his unbeaten record and dropped to 37-1 (23).

Dzinziruk remains the number one man at 154, but on unsteady ground. With both Dzinziruk and Williams suffering humiliating defeats to Martinez at middleweight, the junior middleweight picture is without a clear number one. Miguel Cotto’s win over the insignificant Mayorga is not enough for him to assert himself over these two fighters either. The rankings hold for the time being at 154. Martinez, of course, remains the man to beat at 160 pounds and not looks toward a bout with Manny Pacquiao for P4P supremacy.

Also on Saturday, March 12, at Braehead Arena in Glasgow, Scotland, Ricky Burns defeated Joseph Laryea in seven rounds of a WBO super featherweight title bout. Laryea cited a hand injury for his corner’s submission. Burns improved his dossier to 31-2 (8) and notched his second title defense. Laryea fell to 14-5 (11).

Burns holds down the number two spot in the 130 pound division at SecondsOut.

Also on Saturday, March 12, at Polideportivo La Colonia, Junin, Mendoza, Argentina, Jonathon Victor Barros scored his most significant win to date with a twelve round decision over Miguel Roman to defend his WBA regular featherweight title for the first time. Barros elevated his ledger to 32-1-1 (18). Roman dropped to 33-8 (25).

Barros earned his keep and remains among the SecondsOut featherweight elite at tenth.

Also on the card, Oscar Ibarra defeated Ariel Humberto Alassia by fourth round TKO in a 115 pound bout. Ibarra moved his record to 26-4 (17). Alassia dipped to 12-6-1 (4).

Ibarra remains the number ten super flyweight at SecondsOut.

SecondsOut ranked fighters in action through Sunday, March 20 :

On Saturday, March 19:
At Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada: Lucian Bute versus Brian Magee in a twelve round IBF super middleweight title bout. Also on the card, Vanes Martirosyan versus Bladimir Hernandez in a ten round junior middleweight bout.

At Lanxess-Arena in Cologne, Germany: Vitali Klitschko versus Odlanier Solis in a 12 round WBC heavyweight title bout. Also on the card, Ola Afolabi versus Lubos Suda in a 12 round cruiserweight bout.

At City West Hotel in Dublin Ireland: Guillermo Rigondeaux versus Willie Casey in a twelve round interim WBA super bantamweight bout.
In Puebla, Puebla, Mexico: Roman Gonzalez versus Manuel Vargas in a 12 round WBA junior flyweight title bout.

At Cebu City Waterfront Hotel in Cebu, Philippines: Milan Melindo versus Rosendo Vega in a ten round flyweight bout.

To check out Derek’s SecondsOut rankings Click here

Contact Derek Bonnett on Facebook or at mabfan@comcast.net for further boxing discussion

March 13, 2011