Boxing/MMA

UFC 100 Preview

When the UFC started, who would have thought it would reach #100? Not just because of the controversies, the John McCains, and the banishment from pay-per-view that almost killed the sport. I'm talking about the fact that the events used to be held once every three or four months. Even without any do-gooders trying to ban the sport, back then I wouldn't have expected UFC 100 until around 2025!

Everyone made weight for Saturday night's event, so here is a rundown of the action:

#12 Frank Mir (#5 HW) vs. #23 Brock Lesnar (#7 HW): The UFC heavyweight title fight is the headlining fight, a rematch of the earlier Mir win. But these fighters rank only fifth and seventh in the SportsRatings Heavyweight rankings by weight class. Still, the winner can lay claim to being possibly the 2nd best in the weight division, and maybe the best non-Affliction-affiliated heavy.

Personally I hope Mir wins the rematch, too. Having a pro wrestler as heavyweight champ blurs the line between WWE and UFC. And although steroids are clearly rampant throughout the UFC, it's nothing like it is in pro wrestling, and Lesnar is (in my opinion) such a poster boy for steroid use that I don't want to see him representing the premier spot on their ticket over the years. There's also the small fact that he didn't have to do much to get a shot at the title.

But he won. Clearly he's a talented wrestler, and has a killer punch if it connects—just ask Randy Couture. If he remains champion, one can only hope Fedor eventually makes it over to the UFC. Having Lesnar reign as champ brings back bad memories of Tony Mandarich, another monster-sized athlete who was unfairly dogged by steroid accusations. 

#2 Georges St. Pierre (#1 WW) vs. #11 Thiago Alves (#2 WW): This Welterweight fight should feature more technique than the headliner. These guys are the #1 and #2 Welterweights in the game today. Alves is on a seven match win streak, actually two fights longer than St. Pierre, who is up to #3 on the All-Time rankings. Both beat Matt Hughes and Josh Koscheck along the way.

This should be a classic striker vs. grappler match, with St. Pierre wanting to get the fight on the ground where he'll have a major advantage, and avoid getting clocked while on his feet which seems to be the only conceivable way he can lose a fight. Alves takedown defense will be critical and he needs to make sure he isn't so concerned about it that he doesn't use his opportunities, or defend against St. Pierre's strikes, too. And while St. Pierre isn't lost when on his feet, neither is Alves on the ground, so it will be interesting to see how these fighters have improved their lesser-known abilities for this match. Should be a good one, from the best two fighters of the evening.

#41 Jon Fitch (#6 WW) vs. #95 Paulo Thiago: Thiago is undefeated at 11-0, but his only real accomplishment is his defeat of #91 Josh Koscheck, during which he was in deep trouble before hitting Koscheck with a stunning combination that knocked him out cold. Fitch on the other hand has been fighting at the UFC level for years, and that experience should give him the edge. He also knows what not to do against Thiago: think you've got it won and get careless.

Despite the high-profile KO, Thiago is a more known for his submission work and has clearly got a strong chin, so Fitch will have his hands full. Though not ranked highly yet, Thiago is undefeated so it's hard to tell just how good he is. Fitch—whose only loss in the last seven years is to George St. Pierre—will provide another solid test to prove he's for real.

#16 Dan Henderson (#2 MW) vs. #78 Michael Bisping: Henderson and Bisping bring their "Ultimate Fighter" coaching battle to UFC 100. Henderson was #2 in the world in early 2000 and is approaching 40 years of age. How much longer will he stay among the elite? Bisping has been beaten only once in his career (by Rashad Evans) but his important wins are far fewer.

There's no reason Henderson can't win this fight. He has more power, and far more experience. But it's possible we could see the passing of the torch Saturday night.

#78 Yoshihiro Akiyama vs. #119 Alan Belcher: This isn't a great light heavyweight contest on paper, in terms of how (un)impressive the fighters' résumés are. Akiyama hasn't had a fight against a good opponent since his loss (ruled a NC) against Kazuo Misaki in late 2007. And the last good opponent he beat was Denis Kang two months before that.

So we have one fighter who beat Kang 20 months ago against another who beat Kang six months ago. Belcher is 5-3 in the last three years, while Akiyama is 6-0 with 2 no contests. Akiyama's poor recent opposition would come back to haunt him against anyone but Belcher, who only has UFC experience on his side as this is Akiyama's league debut.

#90 Mark Coleman vs. #223 Stephan Bonnar: Mark Coleman, one of UFC's all-time greats, returns to the Octagon again after his loss to Mauricio Rua in UFC 93. This time his competition isn't quite the same level, the stakes aren't as high, and he's not even on the main card. Most are pegging Coleman to lose, as he's pushing 45 these days, but Bonnar is no exceptional talent, and Coleman is still one of the best wrestlers in the game. He just has to be able to finish with something other than his now-illegal headbutts that served him so well in his heyday, and not run out of gas. Coleman's last hurrah, or final ignominious defeat in the Octagon?

Chambers vs. Dimitrenko Scoring/Results - Eddie defeats Sascha in majority decision

#7 "Fast" Eddie Chambers (34-1) takes on #9 Alexander "Sascha" Dimitrenko (29-0) today in Germany. Chambers gives up around 30 pounds and 6 inches of height, but is a skilled boxer and is in very good shape for the bout. Dimitrenko moves very well for a man his size and has decent skills himself. The winner will be in line to face Wladimir Klitschko for the WBO title. Dimitrenko is a solid favorite to win the fight.

Eddie Chambers has just entered the ring. Dimitrenko is being announced. Crowd in Germany is quite pro-Dimitrenko. Eddie is wearing a dark sweatsuit and looks fairly loose as the Star-spangled banner plays. Dimitrenko appears confident and looks imposing.

• Round One: Chambers using a lot of head movement to avoid Sascha's jabs...fighters feeling each other out with jabs; Chambers lunging in to deliver his. Chambers delivers a combo, Dimitrenko covers up against the ropes. Fight looks very different from Klitschko-Chagaev. Close round. Chambers 10-9.
• Round Two: Chambers pushing the action, forcing Dimi to clinch. Sascha's jab is working better, he's starting to throw it more forcefully. The hheight advantage is not nearly as apparent as in the Klit-Chag fight. Dimitrenko 10-9. Total: 19-19.
• Round Three: More tactical jabbing, clinching. Chambers is still the stalker in the fight. Dimitrenko connecting with jabs, a few rights. Long clinch with a minute left. Dimitrenko keeping Eddie at bay this round. Dimitrenko 10-9. Total 29-28.
• Round Four: Eddie still trying to be the agressor, Dimitrenko covering on his jabs. Chambers covers too with peekaboo style. Dimitrenko striking at end of round, Chambers answers. Good action, tough round to call, crowd felt Dimitrenko did well. 10-10. Total: Dimitrenko 39-38.
• Round Five: Eddie may be falling into habit of staying at Dimitrenko's jab range. When Chambers counters with anything Sascha is clinching. Low blow warning for Chambers, delay in action with one minute left. Dimitrenko starting to dance around, keeping guard lower, jabbing. Good exchanges with 20 seconds left. Both fighters claiming the round. Chambers 10-9. Total 48-48.
• Round Six: Chambers might not be active enough to win these rounds. For every three Dimitrenko jabs he counters, and Dimitrenko is keeping his distance. Chambers did have an excellent uppercut against the ropes. Dimitrenko 10-9, Total: 58-57.
• Round Seven:Dimitrenko is taking a standing eight count after a punch I didn't see. Maybe a body blow in a combination. He didn't go down but Chambers dominated the round and something is bothering Sascha. Chambers 10-8. Total 67-66 Chambers.
• Round Eight: The crowd is very quiet now as the complexion of the fight is changed. Dimitrenko is almost on the run, Chambers feels confident. Dimitrenko is fighting differently. Chambers backs him into the corner, Sascha's jabs not as snappy. Chambers wants to scrap, Dimitrenko has a few good counters. Chambers 10-9. Total 77-75 Chambers.
• Round Nine: Chambers smells a possible win but will the German judges give it to him? He may need another knockdown. He's stalking and pushing the action for sure, totally unlike the Povetkin fight. Dimitrenko is not giving up easily, still using his reach to score and keep Eddie at bay. He looks stronger this round, whatever was bothering him is doing so less now. He scores on a combo with 1 minute left. Dimitrenko 10-9, Total: 86-85 Chambers.
• Round Ten: Chambers' corner imploring him to finish strong, don't let Dimi steal rounds: "this is Germany." Eddie comes out pressing action again. Chambers not unloading much though. At halfway through the round he tagged Dimi and knocked him on his ass.No damage though, but a knockdown that might win him the fight. Dimitrenko trying to wrestle him in close as Chambers goes for the kill. Separated with 10 seconds left. Chambers 10-8. Total 96-93.
• Round Eleven: Less action in first minute of this round, but both fighters moving a lot. Dimitrenko trying to make a stand. A good showing the final two rounds might salvage a tie with the judges, a knockdown could still give him the win. Chambers need to win the last two rounds to seal the deal. Dimitrenko landed more shots near the end. Dimitrenko 10-9. Total 105-103 Chambers.
• Round Twelve: Both fighters need this round. Both look tired. Dimitrenko throws a wild hook, clinches Chambers who punches his way out. Chambers has him against the ropes and unloads. Chambers has guard down as they move to the center. Dimitrenko tries to salvage the round, raises his arms at the end in victory, as does Chambers. Chambers 10-9. Total 115-112 Chambers.

By rights Chambers should win the decision, but it's anyone's fight since it's in Germany. Chambers had two knockdowns, although neither was impressive or damaging. I don't know if the fight is being scored for mandatory 10-8 rounds for a knockdown, but if it is, it will be hard to justify a Dimitrenko win.

The judges: first judge calls a draw. Other two judges call it for Chambers. He has defeated Alexander Dimitrenko 116-111 117-109 113-113, handing him his first loss. I tried to score the bout conservatively with the German judges in mind, but in two of the three cases I was too conservative. The judge who saw a draw gave Dimitrenko every benefit of the doubt, and/or discounted the knockdowns completely.

An impressive win for Chambers, and a confounding loss for Dimitrenko, who was not able to use his size advantage nearly effectively as Wladimir Klitschko, and now has some questions about his chin as he was in trouble twice against the not-so-hard-hitting Chambers. But Chambers answered some questions about his stamina, coming in in the best shape of his career and performing accordingly.

Klitschko brothers are #1, #2 in July 2009 Boxing Top 100 Rankings

It's happened. Thanks to Wladimir Klitschko's dominant win over former #2 Ruslan Chagaev—and some small culling of the fights database that nudged brother Vitali ahead of Nicolay Valuev—the Klitschko brothers are, for the first time, #1 and #2 in the SportsRatings Heavyweight Boxing Top 100.

Champion Wladimir is well ahead of his brother in points, which is understandable since Vitali has just two wins in the last four and a half years. In fact Wladimir has moved up to #15 in the All-Time list, surpassing George Foreman among others. In fairness, Foreman is not well-served by the All-Time system, which uses peak rating; Foreman's second career stage added nothing to his ranking by that measure.

In any case, Wladimir is making a good case for being an all-time great and a future hall-of-famer, despite being considered "dull" and "robotic" by many, and likely even the lesser fighter of the two brothers. But regardless of how he gets them, he keeps winning, and his fights are increasingly one-sided, even over the best competition he has to face.

June Rank	Current Rank	Fighter	Rating	Rated Record	June Results
1	1	WLAD KLITSCHKO	64.62	31-3-0	W9 #2 RUSLAN CHAGAEV
3	2	VITALI KLITSCHKO	35.45	19-2-0
4	3	NICOLAY VALUEV	35.07	21-1-0
5	4	ALEX POVETKIN	31.94	12-0-0
2	5	RUSLAN CHAGAEV	29.72	11-1-0	L9 #1 WLAD KLITSCHKO
6	6	CHRIS ARREOLA	26.50	12-0-0
7	7	EDDIE CHAMBERS	24.90	12-1-0
8	8	DAVID TUA	20.27	24-3-1	inactive 22 months.
9	9	ALEX DIMITRENKO	19.92	12-0-0
11	10	OLEG PLATOV	18.92	6-0-0

Chagaev falls from #2 to #5 after the loss, the first of his professional career. Nicolay Valuev and Alexander Povetkin move up a notch each to #3 and #4. Valuev is still in a virtual dead heat with Vitali, and whoever fights and wins next will be the #2 fighter. Povetkin is due to fight Wladimir soon for the IBF belt in the mandatory title shot he won by beating Chris Byrd and Eddie Chambers a while back.

Speaking of Chambers, in a couple of days he fights #9 Alexander Dimitrenko in a WBO title eliminator which could put him in line to fight Wlad as well. A win would make him the #1 American prospect, which is now a tossup between he and #6 Chris Arreola. Dimitrenko is undefeated, and like Chambers is young, and like the Klitschkos is big. A win would put him just outside the top 5, too, and give him the title shot instead of Chambers.

In other movements this month, undefeated Denis Boytsov (25-0-0) jumps from #58 to #17 after beating previous #14 Taras Bidenko (now 26-3). Bidenko has lost only to Boytsov, #22 Vladimir Virchis, and #3 Valuev. Therefore he may bounce back strong, but he risks becoming something of a gatekeeper for better fighters. Boytsov is only 23 so the future for him looks bright, but like other current contenders Chambers and Chagaev he's not especially tall (6' 1") for the land of giants that is the heavyweight division today.

Wladimir Klitschko TKO 9 Ruslan Chagaev Live Round-by-Round scoring results

Live round-by-round scoring and summary of the heavyweight title fight between #1 Wladimir Klitschko and #2 Ruslan Chagaev.

Wladimir Klitschko
52-3, 46 KO
6' 7"
240 lbs
81" reach

Ruslan Chagaev
25-0-1, 17 KO
6' 1"
225 lbs.
74" reach

Klitschko ranked #1 by IBF, WBO, IBO, Ring, and SportsRatings
Chagaev ranked #1 by WBA (champion in recess), #4 IBO, #3 Ring, #2 SportsRatings

Fight time: 5:00pm eastern on ESPN Classic and espn360.com.

Odds: Klitschko is a nearly 6-1 favorite.

Here we go. Klitschko entering the ring, Chagaev already there. National anthems being played. Chagaev looks like he always does, same expression on his face at all times. Wladimir is sweating. The Ukrainian national anthem is cutting out, mic problems? Bad foreshadowing for Klitschko?

ESPN360 is cutting out, too, as usual. Restarted it in time for Buffer's signature and the introductions. Crowd is slightly for Klitschko, Chagaev has lots of support.

• Round One: Wlad keeping Chag at the end of his jab; Chag's guard is high, jabs hitting his gloves. Chagaev trying to get inside, working hard. Questionable how long he can expend this kind of energy, he needs to get something to work. Wlad connects with a good right, lots of jabs. Klitschko 10-9.
• Round Two: Wlad's jabs getting through Chagaev's guard. Ruslan unable to get past so far, staying in front of Klitschko, trying to go under to the body, rushing in at times. Knockdown by Klitschko in middle of round from a straight right to the chin, Chagaev not hurt but takes an 8 count. Round ends with little action. Klitschko 10-8; overall Klitschko 20-17.
• Round Three: Chagaev gets inside but misses his opportunity. Good left from Klit, good jabs still. Chagaev still standing in front of Klitschko. The height and reach difference are really causing problems for Chagaev, who is not getting shots in at all. Klitschko 10-9; total: Klitschko 30-26.
• Round Four: Chagaev not doing anything diferent in round four early on, just standing in front of Klitschko and taking his punishment. Chagaev tries a lunging hook that misses, the gets hit by a hard right hook. Some ineffective body shots; all his hits are just at the end of the punch and barely tag Klitschko. Wladimir rarely missing, in contrast. Can't be much fun in there for Ruslan Chagaev. More head movement late in the round from Chagaev. Klitschko 10-9; total: Klitschko 40-35.
• Round Five: Chagaev's lunges not working. Chagaev hit by hard right, now in corner, Klitscvhko stalking him. Chagaev moving to his left, toward the hard rights, not taking advantge of his southpaw stance. Klitschko has barely been touched all fight so far, with round 5 ending. Klitschko 10-9; overall Klitschko 50-44.
• Round Six: Wladimir Klitschko's defense has been supurb; whatever gets past his left is blocked with his right. Another jab snaps Chagaev's head back. Chagaev needs a lucky punch to get through. Chagaev gets inside and Klitschko clinches. This may have been Chagaev's best round, as he got hit the least and tried a few things. Still Klitschko's round 10-9; overall Klitschko 60-53.
• Round Seven: Chagaev's few hits have been to Wlad's ribcage. He doesn't look a lot more tired than he started out, so he's not fading, but just hasn't been successful offensively. Wlad delivers another right hand, but Chag doesn't look "ready to fall" at all. Chagaev backs Klitschko up to the ropes but doesn't get the punch he needs. End of the round, right after the bell Chagaev connects with his best shot of the night. Klitschko 10-9; overall 70-62.
• Round Eight: Chagaev's eye has been getting a cut for several rounds and it's starting to open a bit. Chagaev gets Klitschko off balance for a bit, but doesn't charge in, Wlad is loose and dancing. Chagaev gets in an odd, overhand jab, and is starting to use it a bit. Round 8: 10-10; overall 80-72.
• Round Nine: The announcers are talking KO, as the scorecards are academic at this point. But Chagaev doesn't look dead at all. He's got a fairly bad cut, but stammina wise he's not too bad off. But in the last half of this round his back is against the ropes. Klitschko not really going for the kill, still cautious.  Klitschko teeing off a bit now, but the round ends. Klitschko 10-9, overall 90-81.

The fight has been stopped by the ringside doctors due to Chagaev's cut over the left eye, the same eye that was cut so badly against Drummond. Chagaev looked fine after his corner patched him up, so it was probably premature, but they may have taken into account the one-sidedness of the battle. Wladimir Klitschko becomes the Ring Magazine champion, and retains the SportsRatings heavyweight top spot.

Klitschko-Chagaev for the Ring and SportsRatings Heavyweight Belt, but who is Linear champ?

The WBA has announced that it won't recognize the winner of today's Wladimir Klitschko-Ruslan Chagaev clash as its champion. Despite Chagaev's status with the WBA as "champion in recess" it appears that Nicolay Valuev will remain their champ.

Chagaev defeated Valuev two years ago and a rematch has been slated since. It hasn't happened due to Chagaev's health problems (achilles tendon, Hepatitis B) but came within a day of happening in late May. But doctors in Finland wouldn't certify Chagaev as posing no risk of transmitting Hepatitis B, so the fight was off. Meanwhile David Haye pulled out of his contest with Klitschko, and Chagaev became the replacement.

Still, the WBA won't recognize the winner. The interesting question is, what will they do if he wins? Probably keep his as Champion in Recess and have him fight Valuev, somewhere other than Finland. If he loses, Valuev may become their champ, or they still might fight.

The WBA is clearly the most convoluted of the alphabet belts at this time. Their rankings are mind-boggling, in some ways; first they have two champions. Then, Kali Meehan the top challenger? Evander Holyfield just outside the top ten? John Ruiz #3, after all these years?

Ring Magazine is going to recognize the champ, giving them their first champ in years. Klitschko is #1, Chagaev #3. Klitschko and Chagaev are #1 and #2 in the Sportsratings Heavyweight Top 100, and the winner will be #1 after today. I'm assuming that the IBF and WBO would recognize Chagaev as their champion if he wins, and the IBO formula would certainly move Chagaev up to #1 as well. But who is the linear champion?

Who is the linear (lineal) heavyweight champion?

It's always a tough question as to what to do when the lineage is broken, and furthermore, when a retired champ comes back. We've had both of those cases in the last five years.

First, Lennox Lewis, the undisputed lineal champion, retired. Lewis inherited the title from Rahman, who upset Lewis to get it. Before that, the line goes back in time: Briggs, Foreman, Moorer, Holyfield, Bowe, Holyfield, Douglas, Tyson, Spinks, Holmes, Ali, L. Spinks, Ali, Foreman, Frazier, Ali, Liston, Patterson, Johanssen, Patterson.

That entire line was unbroken, with the new fighter beating the previous champ. Rocky Marciano's retirement broke the lineage, like Lennox Lewis's retirement did. An agreement was formed as to who should fight for the title (Patterson and Moore) and the winner started the line again.

The same thing happened when Lewis retired. It was agreed, by most, that Vitali Klitschko, who narrowly lost to Lewis, and Corrie Sanders (who beat Wladimir Klitschko convincingly) would fight for the WBO crown and that this would re-establish the line. So far, nothing that hasn't happened before in boxing history.

But after Klitschko won and made a few defenses, he also retired. This was problematic for the lineage! A new champ—one who hadn't expressly "earned" the lineal title—was retiring. This was similar to Gerald Ford's presidency. Ford, never even elected Vice President, took over as President when Nixon resigned. There wasn't even agreement on who the two top fighters were to re-establish the line.

For some reason, the ex-champ's brother seemed a good replacement. So now it wasn't "the man who beat the man" but "the brother of the man who almost beat the man." Either his fight with undefeated Sam Peter, or his subsequent win over highly-ranked Chris Byrd, established him as the lineal champ.

But then there was another wrench thrown into the works. Vitali came out of retirement. This had happened many times before: John Sullivan was mostly retired when he fought and lost to James Corbett; James Jeffries passed the title to Jack Johnson; Joe Louis re-emerged and ultimately passed on the title to Marciano via Ezzard Charles and Jersey Joe Walcott; and Ali twice did the same, first losing to Joe Frazier, and then un-retiring to lose to Larry Holmes.

Each time, the budding "lineage" was replaced by "the real thing", i.e the concept of "the man who beat the man" became more important than whatever occurred in the previous few years with the interloping champ. So what does that say about today?

It says that, for consistency's sake, Vitali Klitschko is the true lineal heavyweight champion, not Wladimir. Complicating matters is that he will never fight his brother, so the only way for Wlad to claim that title is for Vitali to lose, and Wlad to beat that man.

So people talking about resolving the Ring situation in terms of the Lineal champion are mistaken. The Ring tends to honor the "man who beat the man" concept, but what they do when a fighter retires, and when a fighter retires and re-emerges, is different than what's been done historically to track the lineal championship.

Klitschko-Chagaev: Rare #1 vs. #2 on June 20th

It's official: #2 Ruslan Chagaev (who was denied the opportunity to fight Nicolay Valuev on June 1st) and #1 Wladimir Klitscho (who was scheduled to fight David Haye before Haye's injury) will fight in Germany on June 20th.

This will be an increasingly rare contest between fighters ranked #1 and #2 by SportsRatings. The last such bout was in November of 2001 when #2 Lennox Lewis faced #1 Hasim Rahman. Rahman was #1 after beating Lewis months earlier.

Prior to that, Lewis faced #1 Evander Holyfield twice in 1999; the first match was a draw, leading to another #1 vs. #2 showdown with Lewis triumphant.

Needless to say, the winner of the Klitschko-Chagaev match will be the SportsRatings heavyweight belt holder. Klitschko would only fall to #2 with a loss, while Chagaev would remain in the top 5.

This bout is, in our opinion, clearly superior to either the Chagaev-Valuev or the Klitschko-Haye contests, perhaps better than both combined. If everything goes right in the next few weeks and the bout actually happens, it will be a chance for both fighters to solidify their place in boxing history. Chagaev can answer a lot of recent doubts, while Wladimir would add an important victory, one that the Haye fight wouldn't really have supplied.

The bout will partially unify the WBA title with the others that Wladimir currently holds, with the caveat that Valuev still has claim to the WBA while Chagaev is "champion in recess." A Chagaev win would set up yet another Valuev bout in the future, but a Klitschko win might not have that result.

In any case, the bout will finally—after many years—supply Ring Magazine with a heavyweight champion. Wladimir Klitschko has long been their #1 heavyweight while the Ring "belt" has been vacant for years after Vitali Klitschko's retirement in November, 2005.

Wladimir Klitschko has been the SportsRatings belt holder since November, 2006.

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.

Chris Arreola vs. Jameel McCline, Tyson Fury vs. Matthew Ellis today

Two heavyweight bouts of interest on April 11th: Top-ten Chris Arreola takes on Jameel McCline tonight, while unranked but much-talked-about prospect Tyson Fury is scheduled to fight Matthew Ellis tonight in London today.

Arreola is ranked #6 by SportsRatings and has a record of 26-0-0; only one of those fights went the distance. His opponent, #125 Jameel McCline (32-9-3) is also known as a power puncher at 6' 6" and 271 pounds at weigh-in.

Arreola—often criticized over his weight issues—came in at 255, roughly the same as for his last two fights and 25 pounds heavier than he was two years ago. He weighed 240 in his DQ stoppage of #31 Chazz Witherspoon last summer. Arreola's power is not questioned; he likes to mix it up and calls himself a "banger" in the ring. But as he moves up and takes on better fighters, some question his dedication to becoming a champion if he can't control his weight. Others simply don't think he'll be in good enough shape to win a protracted battle that lasts to the late rounds.

McCline is expected to be a good test for Arreola but one that he should pass regardless. McCline has knockout punch capability but has a tendency to let fights get away with him. The obvious example is his match against Samuel Peter where he dominated the early rounds, flooring Peter three times but ultimately losing a unanimous decision. Arreola, too, was floored early in his last bout against Travis Walker before rebounding to stop Walker in round three, so expect the early rounds to be volatile.

Assuming Arreola survives the early rounds he should have little problem. His weight won't be an issue against McCline. He likes to slug it out and his defense is sometimes careless, so he could find himself on the canvas again. But McCline hasn't shown the ability to capitalize on early success, and hasn't defeated a top-ranked fighter in quite a while. Arreola is too far behind #5 Alex Povetkin to move up from beating McCline, but it should give him more experience against taller fighters and heavy punchers for his eventual inevitable collision with a Klitschko. A surprise loss would drop Arreola out of the top ten and propel McCline back into the top 25 where he hasn't resided for quite some time. It would also make Arreola rethink his commitment to the sport, hopefully in a positive way as Arreola is good for the heavyweight division—it needs fighters who go on the offensive.

Fury: All Hype or Heavyweight Hope?

Another much-watched fight takes place in London, where undefeated Tyson Fury (4-0-0 all KO) takes on journeyman Matthew Ellis (20-6-1) in his first bout against a fighter ranked by SportsRatings. Ellis is currently #366, so if Fury wins he will be "registered" into the system and probably rank just inside or just outside the top 100.

Fury's fights up to this point have shown his potential as well as some rough edges. Some think he could develop into a contender while others criticize him as an over-hyped non-prospect like Tye Fields. His height (somewhere between 6' 7" and 6' 9") invites comparisons to Fields as well as the Klitschkos, which is quite a range. Which will it be?

In terms of strengths, Fury has shown a good jab and uppercut, and moves his feet pretty well for such a big fighter. He's also got a decent chin, though it's hardly been tested. He claims never to have been knocked down in any fight in his life; at age 20, that doesn't say much, but he took up boxing at a very young age, which draws a big distinction between himself and someone like Fields.

He has weaknesses too, of course. He doesn't seem to hit particularly hard for a 250 pound fighter; his arms look somewhat skinny for a heavyweight. And he isn't really in perfect shape, either. Considering that he's very tall, only 20 years old and should have the highest metabolism of his life, his physique is a bit doughy. Not every tall athlete is Michael Phelps but most taller, skinnier fighters are fairly "cut" and Fury looks like he could be hitting both the weights and track a bit more.

Ellis' ring experience and quality will be a step up for Fury compared to his early foes, but Ellis is at a great disadvantage in the bout. There is a major size discrepancy, Ellis being slightly under 6' himself. He's been fighting some bouts at cruiserweight recently, too, losing to Tony Moran and Enzo Maccarinelli. In fact he's lost five of his last nine fights, all due to stoppage. Put this all together and he is unlikely to find success in London this evening.

The jury is still out on Fury, of course. He certainly doesn't appear to be clueless like Fields, but it's too early to foresee him developing into a Klitschko. More likely he could hope to duplicate the success of Alex Dimitrenko, another young, tall prospect now in the top ten with potential to go higher. Like Arreola, Fury is good for the heavyweight division. He gives people someone else to talk about, a new up-and-coming face. It's also refreshing to see a prospect who actually is young, rather than 29 years old like most of the "young" prospects in the division. Another thing that's great about Fury is that he's been extremely active, fighting every month since December and with another bout possibly later this month. Hmm, a very young heavyweight, fighting every month and winning by KO each time—maybe he's hoping to repeat the script of another fighter with the "Tyson" name?

Povetkin decisions Estrada; Pianeta, Sosnowski judged a draw

Alexander Povetkin (SportsRatings #5) won an easy decision over Jason Estrada (#44) in Germany on Saturday. Povetkin moves to 17-0 ahead of his (eventual) upcoming mandatory challenge to Wladimir Klitschko.

In an undercard bout, #20 Francesco Pianeta and #25 Albert Sosnowski fought to a draw.

While Povetkin will solidify his top 5 ranking in SportsRatings he didn't add much to his standing or give observers a reason that he might give Klitschko major trouble. Many expected that he would be able to be able to stop Estrada, and while he wasn't threatened he didn't necessarily impress as a top ten fighter considering the competition. To have a chance against Wladimir he will need to be in perfect shape and at the top of his game, neither of which he showed in this bout. But as an essential warm-up to the fight he's looking forward to it can be understood that he didn't bring 100% of his capabilities.

As for Pianeta and Sosnowski, they will remain in the lower portions of the top 25. The winner might have jumped into the top ten, but instead the only effect is that Pianeta's record is blemished with a draw. He is now 18-0-1 while Sosnowski goes to 44-2-1. As with many fights of this nature (and promotion), the judging will be called into question and a rematch may be ordered.