November Boxing Updates

November was a pretty dry month. There was some good fights, but not a lot. I am anxiously awaiting December when I will graduate and free up some more time to watch more fights. And January will see the return of Friday Night Fights on ESPN, so I am almost back in the groove. Anyway, at Heavyweight, Ezzard Charles comntinued to climb, passing Muhammad Ali into third All-Time for Heavys and fourth All-Time Pound for Pound. Henry Akinwande did lose, as I suspected, allowing David Tua to enter the current rankings. Tua, from Apia, Western Samoa, is making a comeback of sorts, fighting mostly pugs and lookingto get a title shot. But, he has certainly beaten a lot of them. In the current Lb. 4 Lb. ratings, Wladimir Klitschko's defeat of Calvin Brock in a pretty decent fight allowed him to move into 9th on the list. His entry, along with Manny Pacquiao's entry at 6 following his defeat of Erik Morales in their rubber match, unseated Pongsaklek Wonjongkam and Shane Mosley. Beyond that, there were not a whole lot of important moves. Kelly Pavlik moved up to Super Middle and beat Lenord Pierre, entering at 5th in the ranks. He took the place of Mario Veit, who fell out after losing to Denis Inkin. Pavlik leaving middleweight allowed Arthur Abraham to move in at 5th. At welter, Pittsburgh's Paul Spadafora came off a 16 month layoff serving time for shooting his fiancee in the abdomen and won, entering the ratings at 3. Floyd Mayweather's defeat of Carlos Baldomir allowed him to move up a spot in the All-Time ratings. At Lt. Welter, Yodsanan Sor Nanthachai moved down to light and into 3rd place, allowing Junior Witter to return to the ratings. Kevin Kelley moved down to Super Feather with a loss, but his past exploits allowed him to move into 5th in the All-Time ratings, unseating Flash Elorde. Orlando Salido bumped Scott Harrison from the feather ratings, but this may be short-lived as he tested positive for steroids following his fight, with the result underr appeal. At Bantam, Irene Pacheco moved into 5th with a win over Leon Moore. Roberto Vasquez moved up two divisions to enter 5th in both the current and All-Time ranks at Super Fly. His move allowed Jose Antonio Aguirre ot enter the current ratings at Lt. Fly and Brian Viloria to return to the All-Time ratings. At Fly, Vic Darchinyan moved up a spot to 4th All-Time with his defeat of Glenn Donaire. Erik Ramirez moved down to Minimum and moved into 3rd in the current ratings.

What to Watch For:
December 2 Winky Wright vs. Ike Quartey (Middle #1 and Lb. 4 Lb. #6 vs. Unranked (Lt. Middle #10)) HBO
December 9 Jermain Taylor vs. Kassim Ouma (Middle #2 vs. Unranked (Lt. Middle #7)) HBO
December 2 Miguel Angel Cotto vs. Carlos Quintana (Lt. Welter #3 vs. Unranked (Welter #16)) Showtime
December 2 Javier Castillejo vs. Mariano Natalio Carrera (Middle #3 vs. Unranked)
December 14 Oscar Larios vs. Unknown (Feather #3 vs. Unranked)
December 9 Fernando Montiel vs. Z Gorres (Bantam #4 vs. Unranked)
December 18 Joan Guzman vs. Antonio Davis (Super Feather #5 vs. Unranked)
December 2 Roberto Vasquez vs. Takefumi Sakata (Super Fly #5 vs. Unranked)
December 1 Omar Soto vs. Ruben Lopez (Minimum #3 vs. Unranked)

Also, just as a personal note, my favorite fighter (probably) Emanuel Augustus has been added to the Jermain Taylor card. If his fight is televised, it would be worth watching. I have seen him fight in person once and on tv several times. His record is not great, but he has lost to a bunch of studs. And, he is sort of a clown prince of boxing, often fighting in a "drunken master" style, which looks a little goofy, but it's different and good. Check it out if you can.