SportsRatings: Boxing/MMA

Valuev-Chagaev Cancellation Leaves Top Ten Undisturbed

Yesterday's scheduled WBA title fight between #2 Ruslan Chagaev and #3 Nicolay Valuev was expected to shake up the SportsRatings Top 100, leaving one man or the other in position to take over the #1 slot if Wladimir Klitschko loses to David Haye next month.

Instead, the bout's cancellation leaves the top 10 largely unchanged from two months ago. Only two fighters in the top ten fought, and #5 Alex Povetkin's win over Jason Estrada more than kept him ahead of #6 Chris Arreola, who KO'ed Jameel McCline, but left him a fair margin away from #4 Vitali Klitschko.

Martin Rogan had a great chance to break into the top ten but lost to Sam Sexton and fell to #40, while Sexton bolted from #58 to #14. Instead, Oleg Platov moves into the top ten for the first time in his career, slipping past the semi-retired Joe Mesi. Mesi's rating is much lower than it was 19 months ago—the last time he fought—but his ranking has been high since the Klitschkos (among others) keep defeating everyone who moves into the top ten.

April Rank	Current Rank	Fighter	Rating	Rated Record	Recent Results (April-May)
1	1	WLAD KLITSCHKO	59.84	36-3-0
2	2	RUSLAN CHAGAEV	44.08	11-0-0
3	3	NICOLAY VALUEV	37.26	22-1-0
4	4	VITALI KLITSCHKO	37.26	22-2-0
5	5	ALEX POVETKIN	33.27	12-0-0	W10 #43 JASON ESTRADA
6	6	CHRIS ARREOLA	26.89	12-0-0	W4 #123 JAMEEL MCCLINE
7	7	EDDIE CHAMBERS	25.59	13-1-0
8	8	DAVID TUA	22.12	28-3-1	inactive 21 months.
9	9	ALEX DIMITRENKO	20.56	14-0-0
11	10	OLEG PLATOV	19.47	6-0-0

Other moves in the top 25 include Kevin Johnson breaking into the top 20 after his win over Devin Vargas, and Francesco Pianeta's draw with Albert Sosnowki causing the former to slip from #20 to #21 and the latter to move up from #25 to #24.

A large number of fighters debut in the April-May period, with six newly-registered fighters joining the Top 100. These are all fighters who had not defeated a registered fighter before, and were previously unranked at any position. Many of these are interesting cases:

• Harvey Jolly, a cruiserweight with a 9-10 record, upset #57 Evans Quinn and debuts at #44
• Robert Helenius is a 6-0 prospect who defeated two name fighters in May, beating #313 Ozcan Cetinkaya and #192 Scott Gammer to debut at #76
• At #87 is Jameson Bostic, who defeated #246 Daniel Tai. Bostic is 16-3 but has won 14 straight, mostly at light heavyweight before recently moving up to cruiserweight. His last two wins, however, are over true heavyweights.
• Lateef Kayode is a curious case; he enters the rankings after beating previously unranked Marcus Dickerson. Dickerson (4-1-1) beat #270 Jay Horton before falling victim in the first round to Kayode (6-0-0) and missing his own chance to be ranked in the monthly top 100. He is currently #157.
• Andrae Carthron (2-1-1) slips in at #96; he beat Horton after Dickerson did, hence receiving fewer points.
• Lee Swaby (24-23-2) is ahead of two fighters for unorthodox reasons. He beat #274 Paul Butlin to claim the #92 slot, just ahead of Carthron who beat a slightly better opponent, #270 Horton; however as noted above, Horton was no longer at #270 after losing to Dickerson and therefore worth few points. The real conondrum is that Swaby is ahead of Tyson Fury, who is registered now at #102 after beating Mathew Ellis in April. Swaby lost to Fury when neither fighter was tracked so the bout is not used. Since Butlin ranks higher (and is worth more points as an opponent) than Ellis, Swaby's initial ranking is higher than Fury's. Even though Fury dominated Swaby over four rounds in March, that fight is not part of the calculation. Given Fury's once-a-month schedule (and Swaby's mixed record), it's likely that this misranking with be quickly rectified.
  

Three other fighters rejoin the Top 100. Manuel Charr of Lebanon is undefeated at 11-0, and is coming off a big win over previously undefeated Gbenga Oloukun, formerly #37. Charr entered the top 100 in 2005 only to drift out due to a weak schedule that was equivalent to inactivity. He now has three wins over registered heavyweights and is at his highest ranking at #48.

Davarryl Williamson has been in and out of the top 100 over the last seven years, nearly reaching the top ten at one time. He's back at #60 after beating previous #99 Carl Davis. Finally, Dominick Guinn, who like Williamson was a fringe contender in 2003, is on his best winning streak since that time, recently besting previous #134 Johnnie White to rejoin the top 100 at #83. Thought White was 21-0-0 before the bout, he had only a couple of wins over recognized competition before Guinn scored a first-round TKO over him.

Rogan upset by Sexton; Johnson pummels Vargas

There were two signifcant heavyweight bouts on Friday featuring three undefeated boxers and another with just one loss. In the end, there was only one undefeated fighter left of the three, Kevin "Kingpin" Johnson, who scored a 6th round stoppage over Devin Vargas. Fan favorite and previously unbeaten Martin Rogan was controversially toppled by Sam Sexton, a fellow "Prizefighter" tournament winner, for the Commonwealth title.

Rogan defeated by eye injury, referee, and himself, as well as Sexton

Rogan went into the fight 12-0 and ranked #11 with a top ten rating on the line, while Sexton was 11-1 and #57. But it was Sexton who controlled the early action, battering Rogan in the 2nd round and winning the 3rd and 4th, getting well ahead on points as the fight progressed.

Rogan battled back in the fifth and by the 6th round was connecting more often including a knock down that was ruled a stumble, but his left eye was becoming very swollen and the referee called to have it checked in the seventh round.

By the middle of the eighth Rogan had Sexton in trouble and out on his feet, and one punch would have ended it. But he declined to make the killing blow, instead turning to the referee to ask him to intervene; the referee (Dave Parris) declined. Rogan resumed fighting but Sexton didn't return Rogan's sportsmanship, instead using stalling tactics to stay alive: he turned his back to Rogan, who was warned for hitting on the back of the head; moments later he spit out his mouthpiece, which gave him more time to recover. Ultimately Sexton held on just long enough for Rogan's eye to be examined again, at which time the fight was stopped, and Sexton declared the winner.

Hopefully the performance of the referee will be looked into, but regardless the damage is done to Rogan's career and he really has only himself to blame for being too nice a guy to finish off his opponent.

After slow start, Johnson dominates Vargas

In the other fight, this one in the United States, two undefeated American heavies squared off: #24 Kevin Johnson (21-0-1) and #71 Devin Vargas (17-0). Both fighters looked less than in perfect shape. Though he wasn't of Sam Peter proportions, Johnson carried a lot of weight (both muscle and fat) and Vargas' physique wasn't "cut" by any means. Vargas wore American flag trunks while Johnson sported mismatched shoes, one black and one white.

The early rounds went to Vargas mainly for his frenetic work-rate, though Johnson wasn't hurt as Vargas mainly hit arms and gloves rather than Johnson's head or body. Still, it was impressive activity for a heavyweight, and Johnson rarely countered successfully through the early part of the third round, when Vargas scored with several good shots.

But late in the third the tide turned as the Kingpin connected with a solid punch that led to a flurry with Vargas trapped on the ropes and the night's first knock down. Vargas was up quickly and survived the rest of the round, but thereafter was having ear problems, saying he couldn't hear in his right ear (likely from a blown eardrum).

The fourth round was mostly even. Vargas' workrate slowed considerably but he picked it up as the round went on, while Johnson seemed tired from throwing so many punches at the end of the third. Still, Johnson was starting to take charge, and at the beginning of the fifth he connected with a huge left hook, and later in the round he again caught Vargas on the ropes and knocked him down. This time Vargas barely beat the count. He managed to trade effectively with Johnson for the remaning moments of the round.

Before the sixth Vargas' corner asked him if he wanted to continue; he complained again about his ear. He answered the bell but Johnson knew he was in full control, starting the round slow and lowering his hands to taunt his opponent. Once again Johnson trapped Vargas on the ropes, connecting solidly. Vargas lost his mouthpiece, and when the action resumed Johnson was striking with regularity; Vargas' corner threw in the towel at 2:23 of the 6th round. It was the first time Vargas had been stopped in his career (over 300 amateur fights) as well as his first pro loss.

Though Johnson will move into the SportsRatings top 20 for the victory, it can mainly be attributed to Vargas' lack of power and weaker chin. The "Kingpin" is undefeated and fought well but didn't give any indication that he might be able to beat the division's best, i.e. the Klitschkos, and the likes of Chagaev and Povetkin could probably beat him. So while he may eventually reach the top 10, the top 5 is going to be difficult with his measured style.

Johnson does have a chance to become first among American heavyweights, but even that's a bit of a tall order. Chris Arreola has the power and chin Vargas doesn't, and Eddie Chambers has accuracy and defense that Vargas lacked. So while he would have a chance against either fighter, his low workrate will always leave him open to being outpointed.