On the Move: SecondsOut World Rankings 10/16/11

By Derek Bonnett: In the last few weeks boxing fans have been left feeling as unsatisfied as an adolescent whose hands got stopped from roaming beyond the beltline. High-stakes matchups between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Victor Ortiz and Steve "USS" Cunningham and Yoan Pablo Hernandez ended prematurely just as things were about to get interesting. In the process, the titles changed hands without the definitive, controversy free manner which allows us to rest easy at night. Then came Chad Dawson’s world title try against Bernard "The Executioner" Hopkins. Boxing fans did not get the full return on this light heavyweight super fight, but we did get to see some other good division shaping action alongside this disappointment this week.

On Friday, October 14, at Estadio Luna Park, Buenos Aires, Distrito Federal, Argentina, Celestino Caballero outpointed Jonathon Victor Barros in a twelve round WBA featherweight world title bout. Caballero avenged his previous controversial defeat to Barros and became a two division champion. The Panamanian known as "Pelenchin" improved his record to 35-4 (23). Argentina’s Barros fell to 33-2-1 (18).

Caballero has slowly rebuilt himself after his embarrassing upset loss to Jason Litzau, but only re-enters the rankings at tenth among the featherweight elite at SecondsOut. Barros ducks out of the top ten for the time being.

On Saturday, October 15, at Centro Internacional de Convenciones, Chetumal, Quintana Roo, Mexico, Cuello D. Singwancha (Denver Cuello) stopped overmatched Carlos Perez in one round of a minimumweight bout. The contest ended after 1:37. Cuello earned his fourth win in 2011 and enhanced his ring credentials to 29-4-6 (19). Perez fell to 12-4-3 (8).

Cuello remained the number four 105 pounder at SecondsOut, but needs to face a more threatening opponent to catch up with Ivan Calderon, Kazuto Ioka, and Nkosinathi Joyi.

At Echo Arena, Liverpool, Merseyside, United Kingdom, Nathan Cleverly struggled to a majority decision over Tony Bellow in a twelve round WBO light heavyweight title bout. The judges scores were 117-112, 116-113, and 114-114. Cleverly managed his second title defense in moving his ledger to 23-0 (11). Bellow exceeded expectations and advanced his career in defeat. His dossier dropped to 16-1 (10).

Cleverly held down his number six ranking at light heavyweight. His opposition will need to improve if he is to advance further up the SecondsOut ladder.

At Staples Center, Los Angeles, California, United States, Bernard Hopkins surrendered to Chad Dawson after citing a shoulder injury in round two of a WBC light heavyweight title bout. A no-contest may have been the most satisfying result giving the circumstances, but Hopkins’ was unconvincing in his explanation of the injury. Since the bout a doctor has confirmed an injury to the shoulder and clavicle; however, you can take this validation as you will. Dawson regained a portion of the light heavyweight title and called out Jean Pascal for rematch. Pascal previously took Dawson’s unbeaten record. Hopkins did not speak of a rematch and Dawson claimed he didn’t want to waste anymore time chasing Hopkins after preparing himself for this long awaited challenged. Dawson’s record grew to 31-1 (18). Hopkins fell to 52-6-2 (32).

The top three at 175 are difficult to sort. However, Dawson claimed the number one position at SecondsOut and Hopkins fell to second. Pascal was pushed down to third.

Also on the card, Antonio Demarco exorcized a few demons by rallying to stop Jorge Linares in eleven rounds to claim the vacant WBC lightweight title. Demarco lost virtually every round prior to the stoppage, but he opened up nasty cuts over Linares eye and nose. Linares was forced to the ropes in the eleventh and was battered until his mask was a mask of blood and pain. Demarco claimed his first world championship and added the weightiest name to his resume. Demarco improved his ledger to 26-2-1 (19). Linares, who performed well in defeat, dropped to 31-2 (20).

Demarco moved from seventh to sixth at lightweight. Miguel Acosta is pushed down to seventh. Linares holds onto his number eight ranking.

Also on the card, Danny Garcia scored his biggest win to date with a split decision over Kendall Holt in a twelve round junior welterweight bout. Garcia prevailed by scores of 117-111 twice and one odd score of 113-115. Garcia increased his numbers to 22-0 (14) and added his second former world champion to his resume. Holt fell further into no-man’s land and now stands at 27-5 (15).

Garcia, who just entered the SecondsOut 140-pound rankings in the last couple of weeks, jumped from tenth to seventh at 140 pounds.

SecondsOut ranked fighters in action through Sunday, October 23:

On Friday, October 21:

At 11th Inf Reg, Bangkok, Thailand: Pongsaklek Wonjongkam versus Edgar Sosa in a twelve round WBC flyweight bout

On Saturday, October 22:

At Arena, Ludwigsburg, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany: Marco Huck versus Rogelio Omar Rossi in a twelve round WBO cruiserweight title bout; Kubrat Pulev versus Travis Walker in a twelve round heavyweight bout

At Arena Roberto Duran, Panama City, Panama: Miguel Acosta versus Richard Abril in a twelve round interim WBA lightweight title bout

At Madison Square Garden - WaMu Theater, New York, New York, United States: Nonito Donaire versus Omar Andres Narvaez in a twelve round WBC/WBO bantamweight title bout; Miguel Angel Garcia versus Juan Carlos Martinez in a ten round featherweight bout

To watch the entire Hopkins vs Dawson press conferenceClick Here

To check out Derek’s SecondsOut rankings Click here


For further boxing discussion, contact Derek "DBO" Bonnett on Facebook or at mabfan@comcast.net.