By Derek Bonnett: It’s been a dangerous last couple of weeks for prospects. In recent weeks, the highly touted Amir Imam was shown to be anything but a “Young Master” as the grizzled Adrian Granados rose to stop him in eight round. Granados had previously lost to a handful of other prospects in and around his weight. However, it was Imam, the most heavily hyped of the lot, who fell. Imam’s careful matchmaking did not prepare him for Granados, who was brought up the hard way. The mistake was in overlooking the possibly that Granados, while losing, was also learning. Perhaps, Imam will be astute enough to follow Granados’ example. Just this weekend, the United Kingdom’s Luke Campbell fell to an unlikely opponent. Like Imam, Campbell was heavily favored to be a future world champion after winning gold in the 2012 Olympics. Campbell was on a steadily increasing path of opposition, but also found himself in deeper than anticipated with Yvan Mendy. Mendy previously could not get past journeyman Abdoulaye Soukouna in three attempts, losing twice and drawing once. His steps up in opposition also led to defeats at the hands of Viktor Postol and Edlis Tatli. However, those twelve round affairs against serious world class foes gave Mendy the edge he needed to slip past the well-regarded Campbell. What Imam and Campbell suffered is nothing new in the sport of boxing; however, the real scrutiny now begins. How each man responds to his first defeat will define the remainder of their respective careers.
SecondsOut fighters On the Move:
On Monday, December 7, at Hua Hin Centennial Club, Hua Hin, Thailand, Amnat Ruenroeng defeated Myung Ho Lee in a twelve round IBF flyweight title bout. Ruenroeng won by unanimous scores of 118-108 and 117-109 twice. Ruenroeng made the fifth defense of his title and ran his record to 17-0-0 (5). Lee fell to 19-5-1 (6).
Ruenroeng remained SecondsOut’s number three-rated flyweight in the world.
On Friday, December 11, at Coliseo Roberto Clemente, San Juan, Puerto Rico, Nonito Donaire won a unanimous decision over Cesar Juarez in a twelve round vacant WBO super bantamweight title bout. Juarez was dropped twice in round four. Donaire fought with a swollen left eye and cut right eye. Donaire injured his foot in the sixth round after slipping to the canvas. Donaire received scores of 117-109 and 116-110 to lift his ledger to 36-3-0 (23). Juarez fell to 17-4-0 (13).
Donaire fell from third to fourth with the victory. Juarez climbed from eighth to seventh with the strong showing.
On Saturday, December 12, at Auditorio Blackberry, Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico, Saul Juarez and Oswaldo Novoa fought to a first round technical draw in a minimumweight bout. The bout was called to a halt at the :42 mark. A clash of heads opened a cut on Novoa’s eyelid early in the first to end the contest. Juarez’ record moved to 22-4-1 (12). Novoa moved to 14-6-3 (9).
Juarez was dropped from the SecondsOut flyweight rankings to campaign as a minimumweight. Moruti Mthalane claimed the open number nine spot after breaking his inactivity this weekend. Juarez’ place among the minimumweights will be determined once he has a more definitive performance.
Also on this date, at Sport Palace, Kiev, Ukraine, Oleksandr Usyk stopped Pedro Rodriguez in seven rounds of a cruiserweight bout. Usyk dropped Rodriguez in the sixth before the bout ended at the 1:57 mark of round seven. Usyk improved his dossier to 9-0-0 (9). Rodriguez fell to 22-2-0 (19).
Usyk remained SecondsOut’s number ten rated cruiserweight in the world today.
At O2 Arena, Greenwich, London, United Kingdom, Anthony Joshua defeated Dillian Whyte by seventh round TKO in a heavyweight bout. Whyte hit the canvas in round seven. The end came at 1:27 of the round. Joshua advanced his record to 15-0-0 (15). Whyte fell to 16-1-0 (13).
Joshua remained SecondsOut’s number ten-rated heavyweight in the world.
Also on the card, Luke Campbell was upset by Yvan Mendy in a twelve round lightweight bout. Campbell was knocked down in round five. Mendy took home split scores of 115-112, 115-113, and 113-115. Mendy raised his record to 33-4-1 (16) with the late Upset of the Year candidate. Campbell fell to 12-1-0 (10).
Campbell was dropped from the SecondsOut lightweight rankings. The previously rated eight through ten contenders climbed one ranking. Edis Tatli climbed into the ten spot on the strength of his victory over Mendy earlier this year.
Also on the card, Chris Eubank Jr. forced Gary O’Sullivan into seventh round corner retirement in a middleweight bout. The official time of the stoppage was 3:00. Eubank lifted his record to 21-1-0 (16). O’ Sullivan fell to 22-2-0 (15).
Eubank remained SecondsOut’s number tenth rated middleweight in the world today.
At Convention Center, Tucson, Arizona, USA, Oscar Valdez defeated Ernie Sanchez in three rounds of a super featherweight bout. The end came at the :59 mark. Valdez moved his dossier to 18-0-0 (16). Sanchez crashed to 15-7-1 (6).
Valdez has been dropped from the SecondsOut featherweight rankings and will be considered a super featherweight. Evgeny Gradovich climbed from tenth to ninth. Eric Hunter stepped back into the ten spot.
Also on the card, Jose Benavidez defeated Sidney Siqueria by unanimous decision in a ten round junior middleweight bout. Benavidez won by scores of 100-90 twice and 99-91. Benavidez upped his numbers to 24-0-0 (16). Siqueria fell to 26-11-1 (17).
Benavidez remained SecondsOut’s number four rated 140-pounder in the world today. His weight will be monitored for a change in division.
SecondsOut ranked fighters in action through Sunday, December 20, 2015:
On Thursday, December 17:
At Arena Roberto Duran, Panama City, Panama, Luis Concepcion versus Hernan Marquez III in a twelve round interim WBA super flyweight title bout
On Friday, December 18:
At Palms Casino Resort, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA, Denis Shafikov versus Rances Barthelemy in a twelve round vacant IBF lightweight title bout
On Saturday, December 19:
At Manchester Arena, Manchester, Lancashire, United Kingdom, Andy Lee versus Billy Joe Saunders in a twelve round WBO middleweight title bout; Liam Smith versus “Jimmy” Kilrain Kelly in a twelve round WBO super welterweight title bout
At Turning Stone Resort & Casino, Verona, New York, USA, Bryant Jennings versus Luis Ortiz in a twelve round interim WBA heavyweight title bout; Nicholas Walters versus Jason Sosa in a ten round super featherweight bout; Yuniesky Gonzalez versus Vyacheslav Shabranskyy in a ten round light heavyweight bout
For a more in depth look at Derek Bonnett’s SecondsOut world rankings:
https://www.secondsout.com/rankstat/secondsout-rankings
