December is full of heavyweight boxing action, with the biggest fights on Saturday the 1st. One of those two, #9 Ruslan Chagaev vs. undefeated #30 Mike Perez, was cancelled days ago due to a Perez injury. The other, #5 Tyson Fury vs. #98 Kevin Johnson, is still on (as of this writing, hours before the fight!)
Fury (19-0-0) has faced decent competition in his career but Johnson (28-2-1) might be his toughest fight yet. Johnson has lost only to Vitali Klitschko (where he went the distance) and Tor Hamer (in a 3-round fight). Johnson showed great defensive ability against Klitschko though he attempted little if any offense in losing pretty much every round. Against Hamer in a recent Prizefighter tournament he had his normal slow start and lost on the cards.
Fury has moved up to #5 in our rankings behind convincing wins over fighters such as John McDermott, Dereck Chisora, and Martin Rogan. But in other bouts Fury looked vulnerable. Many felt he lost the first bout with McDermott before getting the stoppage in the rematch. The Chisora that he beat was overweight and seemed unmotivated. And he was rocked by Nicolai Firtha before coming back to stop the fight in the 5th round.
Johnson certainly could be the one to end Fury's undefeated record. But he also might come in like Chisora, since he's had just a few weeks to prepare for the fight.
December 2012 SportsRatings Heavyweight rankings unchanged near the top
| -3 Yr |
-1 Yr |
-6 mos |
Nov Rank |
Dec Rank |
Fighter |
Rating
|
Rated Record | November results • December schedule |
| 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | WLAD KLITSCHKO | 70.40 | 37-3-0 | UD 12 #48 MARIUSZ WACH |
| 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | VITALI KLITSCHKO | 48.26 | 27-2-0 | |
| 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | ALEX POVETKIN | 38.42 | 19-0-0 | |
| 58 | 13 | 6 | 4 | 4 | KUBRAT PULEV | 23.32 | 11-0-0 | |
| 79 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 5 | TYSON FURY | 23.23 | 9-0-0 | • 12/01 vs. #98 KEVIN JOHNSON |
| 39 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 6 | ROBERT HELENIUS | 22.93 | 10-0-0 | UD 10 #175 SHERMAN WILLIAMS |
| 61 | 19 | 22 | 7 | 7 | TOMASZ ADAMEK | 20.80 | 8-1-0 | • 12/22 vs. #79 STEVE CUNNINGHAM |
| 9 | 12 | 7 | 8 | 8 | CHRIS ARREOLA | 19.87 | 19-2-0 | |
| 5 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | RUSLAN CHAGAEV | 19.10 | 15-2-0 | |
| -- | 28 | 13 | 10 | 10 | DAVID PRICE | 18.88 | 6-0-0 | KO 2 #152 MATT SKELTON |
| 6 | 8 | 12 | 11 | 11 | DAVID HAYE | 18.31 | 6-1-0 | |
| 42 | 15 | 14 | 13 | 12 | EDMUND GERBER | 17.51 | 9-0-0 | UD 8 #168 DARNELL WILSON |
| 52 | 56 | 52 | 50 | 13 | JOHNATHON BANKS | 17.47 | 5-0-1 | KO 2 #12 SETH MITCHELL |
Despite wins from Wlad Klitschko, Robert Helenius, and David Price, there was no change in the top ten this month. Edmund Gerber's win over Darnell Wilson gained him a spot, but only because Johnathan Banks upset former #12 Seth Mitchell, propelling Banks from #50 to #13. Banks hadn't showed great promise in the past but after training with and sparring against the Klitschkos looks to have payed big dividends. Mitchell loses his first fight and falls to #32.
The only other development in the top 25 is the fall of Shane Cameron after his loss to Danny Green in a cruiserweight bout.
Many Top 30 fighters scheduled to fight in December
| -3 Yr |
-1 Yr |
-6 mos |
Nov Rank |
Dec Rank |
Fighter |
Rating
|
Rated Record | November results • December schedule |
| 90 | 29 | 31 | 20 | 20 | VYACH GLAZKOV | 15.50 | 5-0-0 | • 12/22 vs. #23 TOR HAMER |
| -- | 51 | 41 | 21 | 21 | ANDY RUIZ JR | 15.02 | 4-0-0 | • 12/07 vs. Elijah McCall |
| -- | -- | -- | 22 | 22 | OSCAR RIVAS | 14.36 | 1-0-0 | • 12/14 vs. tba |
| -- | 102 | 114 | 23 | 23 | TOR HAMER | 14.33 | 5-1-0 | • 12/22 vs. #20 VYACH GLAZKOV |
| -- | -- | 39 | 27 | 24 | KYOTARO FUJIMOTO | 13.51 | 3-0-0 | • 12/31 vs. #114 SOL HAUMONO |
| -- | -- | 50 | 28 | 25 | BRYANT JENNINGS | 13.46 | 3-0-0 | • 12/08 vs. #145 BOWIE TUPOU |
| -- | 24 | 26 | 25 | 26 | MICHAEL WALLISCH | 13.45 | 1-0-0 | last win -19 months. |
| -- | 27 | 27 | 26 | 27 | LUIZ ORTIZ | 13.41 | 6-0-0 | last win -15 months. |
| -- | 31 | 30 | 29 | 28 | VINCENT THOMPSON | 13.33 | 2-0-0 | • 12/06 vs. Geovanni Sarran |
| -- | 44 | 33 | 31 | 29 | KELVIN PRICE | 12.99 | 3-0-0 | • 12/15 vs. #107 DEONTAY WILDER |
Lots of fights in the top 100 this month, with nearly every fighter from #20 to #29 in action this month. The highlights:
- #7 Tomasz Ademek vs. #79 Steve Cunningham
- #20 Vyach Glazkov (13-0) against #23 Tor Hamer (19-1)
- #21 Andy Ruiz Jr taking on unranked Elijah McCall, Oliver's son
- #24 Kyotaro Fujimoto from Japan builds his career against Solomon Haumono, another ranked regional fighter
- #25 Bryant Jennings, an American hopeful, faces Bowie Tupou
- #29 Kelvin Price takes on Deontay Wilder in perhaps the most intriguing fight of the month
- #39 Lucas Browne (13-0) vs. #67 Richard Towers (14-0)
Adamek vs. Cunningham is a great matchup of former cruiserweights, and would jumpstart Cunningham's heavyweight campaign in a hurry. It's never wise to beat against Adamek, however, and he has much more experience at the higher division.
The Glazkov/Hamer winner will be knocking on the door of the top 10. Fujimoto and Jennings are both legitimate future title contenders largely due to their home countries: American heavies get lots of attention, while Fujimoto is already arguably Japan's greatest heavyweight boxer ever. A title fight there is conceivable as an optional defense for Klitschko if Fujimoto can build to at least 10-0 against decent but not threatening competition. It would be a huge deal in Japan, where they love their combat sports.
Elijah McCall already has a tie and a loss and doesn't look like his career will follow his father's arc. The Price/Wilder fight will tell us a lot about the loser but not much about the winner. Though Wilder has faced very poor competition he looks like the real deal, and should beat Price unless the poor competition has sapped Wilder's skills. Price is very tall and is the only one to beat Tor Hamer, so he isn't a pusher and is far better than anyone Wilder has faced. Browne and Towers are both undefeated so it makes for solid drama, with the winner likely in the top 25. Browne is 6' 4" 260, while Towers lives up to his name at 6'8" 240.
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