Top 10 Junior Middleweights: Sept – Nov 2006
#1 Shane Mosley
(43-4 39KOs)
Last fight: 6th round KO over Fernando Vargas
Shane looked spectacular in his last contest with Vargas. He looked like the Shane of old; fast combinations, accuracy and ring intelligence guiding him along to the destruction of a brief rivalry with Vargas. After back-to-back losses to Wright in 2004 and a stellar year of competition in 2005, its great to say that Shane is back on top at Junior middleweight.
#2 Cory Spinks
(35-3 11KOs)
IBF Junior middleweight champion
Last fight: Defeated Roman Karmazin
After his February 2005 loss to Brooklyn’s Zab Judah, Spinks looked pretty good against Karmazin. It was heart breaking to see his bout with Mayweather go to waste. Infact, Spinks is probably one of the few fighters in the world who could possibly give Floyd Mayweather Jr. great amounts of trouble. Not known particularly for his power, Spinks is slick southpaw who is very difficult to hit and deal with.
#3 Kassim Ouma
(25-2 15KOs)
Last fight: Thoroughly outclassed Sechew Powell.
What other Junior middleweight fighters do you know that can throw over a hundred punches a round? Ouma was aggressive and busy in his last fight against Powell. His destruction of Powell landed him a title shot in December against middleweight champion Jermaine Taylor.
#4 Oscar De La Hoya
(38-4 30KOs)
WBC Junior middleweight champion
Last fight: KO Ricardo Mayorga in 6 rounds.
After a twenty-month layoff he returned to take on Ricardo Mayorga in impressive fashion. True, once again, it was impressive fashion, but not against a very impressive opponent. Mayorga is a make or break fighter; losing to him can be hard on your career, but winning can be a highlighted name. De La Hoya specifically said that he doesn’t wish to fight for the remainder of 2006 and will return in May of 2007.
#5 Ike Quartey
(37-3-1 31KOs)
Last fight: Loss a decision to Vernon Forrest
Quartey deserved to win that fight. It’s ironic that although Vernon technically won the contest, Quartey is the one who got the notoriety and chance to fight Winky Wright come December.
#6 Roman Karmazin
(34-2-1 21KOs)
Last fight: Loss IBF title to Cory Spinks
In a division flooded with good competition, Karmazin’s loss to Spinks was detrimental, considering other impressive efforts by Ouma, Oscar, Shane and the rest of the gang. Did that last part rhyme? Karmazin faces hard punching Daniel Santos in an WBO title eliminator later this year.
#7 Vernon Forrest
(38-2 28KOs)
Last fight: Defeated Ike Quartey by a controversial decision.
Forrest didn’t look too good in last matchup. That may be a reason why he hasn’t received as much recognition for victory as Quartey did. In other words, more people recognized Quartey as the winner on oppose to Forrest’s victory. However, because of his activity Forrest deserves a ranking amongst the top ten.
#8 Sergei Dzindziruk
(32-0 21KOs)
WBO Junior middleweight champion
Last fight: Victory over Sebastian Andres Lujan
Despite thirty-two consecutive wins, no one really knows who Sergei is. Hopefully we’ll have an opportunity to see him on American television sometime soon.
#9 Jose Antonio Riveria
(38-4-1 24KOs)
WBA Junior middleweight champion
Last fight: Captured WBA title from Alejandro Garcia
Riveria defends his WBA championship against undefeated Travis Simms later this year. His last loss was to Luis Collazo for the WBA welterweight title. He’s a solid fighter who we look forward to seeing more of.
#10 Daniel Santos
(30-3-1 21KOs)
Last fight: Knocked out Will Evans in 1st round.
Still has yet to make a true name for himself. The two biggest names on his resume are Antonio Margarito (via 9th TKO) and Yori Boy Campas (via 11th TKO). He’s another name we wish to see more of. He faces Daniel Santos later this year.
