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A weekend of World Cup winners
From Worldcupofboxing.Com
In July of this year, Jermain Taylor (#2, v1800) quite unexpectedly won a split decision over Bernard Hopkins (#3, v1600), thus becoming the new "undisputed" middleweight champion of the world. Last Saturday they met again at the Mandalay Bay Resort in Las vegas, with not only Taylor's WBC/WBA/WBO titles at stake, but also the middleweight World Cup.
The opening rounds didn't see much action. As the fight progressed, Taylor looked slightly the better fighter. But, as was the case in their first encounter, Hopkins came more and more into the fight from round seven. In the eleventh both fighters upped the pace and landed their biggest shots. Taylor still managed to controll the fight and eventually won on all three scorecards (115-113).
Taylor, who already topped the 160lbs WCup standings going into last Saturday's bout, scores 1600 WCup points and finishes the series with a total of 3784 WCup points. This surely is enough to win both the middleweight World Cup and the World Cup All Weights. Second at middleweight is Arthur Abraham (2060 pts), who can't catch Taylor even if he defeats Kingsley Ikeke (#10, v600) in a fight for the vacant IBF crown this Saturday. Hopkins, a World Cup winner in 2003 and 2004, completes the top-3 with 1800 points.
Taylor also becomes the new number one in the middleweight total ranking, with 4984 points. He moves Ronald Winky right (3600 pts) to second spot. Hopkins remains third with 3300 points.
Thanks to his 3784 WCup points Jermain Taylor is also certain of finishing first in the World Cup All weights ranking; in other words, the Sydney Olympain has scored most World Cup points of all fighters in 2005. Lightweight Jose Luis Castillo is second with 3400 points, third is light heavyweight Antonio Tarver, who has collectd 3000 WCup points. Taking a look at the December fight schedule, it becomes clear nobody can get past Taylor.
The super bantamweight World Cup was decided as well on the LV card. IBF titlist Israel Vazquez (#7, v900), of Mexico, beat fellow countryman and WBC champ Oscar Larios (#2, v1800), as their unification match was stopped in the third round due to a wide cut over Larios' left eye. Vazquez had already knocked out his foe in the first round in 1997, Larios countered with an eleventh-round KO win in 2002, the same year he won the World Cup.
Not only does Israel Vazquez add the WBC belt to his IBF title, he also takes the 2005 edition of the 122lbs World Cup. The Mexican adds 1800 WCup points to the 360 he already had obtained earlier this year. 2160 WCup points are indeed enough to take World Cup victory at super bantamweight. Rikiya Fukuhara, who wasn't even ranked at the start of the series, is second with 1610 points. He's followed by Panam's Celestino caballero (1110 pts).
Looking forward to next year, Thanks to his win Vazquez ensures himself the number one spot in the 2006 super bantamweight starting ranking. With his 3060 total points he becomes the new TR leader, removing WBA titlehoulder Mahyar Monshipour (2672 pts) from first spot. Larios falls one notch to rank 3 with 1856 points.
On Monday a third fighter became certain of World Cup victory. Lorenzo Parra (#3, v1600) successfully defended his WBA flyweight title in Paris as he outpointed Sydney Olympian Brahim Asloum (#6, v1000) over twelve rounds. The scores were 119-108, 118-109 and 120-107.
Parra adds 1000 WCup points, improving his total to 2000 WCup points, which is enough for World Cup victory at flyweight. Jorge Arce, put back to second spot by Parra's win, has 1820 points, and although he still sees action on December 10, his opponent Adonis Rivas (#70, v70 at 118lbs) is too modest for Arce to catch Parra and take World Cup honours. Third in the ranking is IBF titlist Vic Darchinian with 1486 points.
Parra also becomes the new number one in the 112lbs TR with 3800 points. Arce now trails Parra by 980 points, followed by WBC champ Pongsaklek Wonjongkam (2810 pts). Even if Arce wins on Saturday, he can't catch Parra in the TR either, so this year's World Cup winner is at the same time sure of topping the 2006 flyweight starting ranking.
Finally, Ukrainian Sergei Dzindziruk (#20, v400) dethroned WBO super welterweight champ Daniel Santos (#4, v1400), as he won a twelve-round unanimous points decision over the Puertorican in Magdeburg, Germany on Saturday. All three judges scored the bout 115-112.
Dzindziruk climbs to third spot in the 154lbs WCup ranking, where he now has 1498 points. IBF titleholder Roman Karmazin still leads with 1880 points, followed by Ricardo Mayorga (1600 pts).
The new champion has collected just enough total points to reach the top-3 of the super welterweight total ranking. Indeed, he has now 1978 points, three more than Argentina's Sergio Martinez, who falls to fourth spot. Mayorga heads the affairs with 2400 points, followed by Roman Karmazin (2230 pts).
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