BScene Ratings Update: Sturm, Juanma, Dirrell, More
Feb 11, 2013 • 2:46 AM ET
By Cliff Rold
Middleweight got some healthy shaking up in the back end of 2012. It got some more of it in the last week. Felix Sturm, the king of the close call in recent years, isn’t getting them all of a sudden. The first Randy Griffin fight, Matthew Macklin, and Martin Murray all saw him leave as a he entered: the WBA titlist.
Now, he’s dropped two straight and one wonders what options remain for the popular German draw. Last year, he dropped a close but clear decision to Daniel Geale in a unification bout. Now, fighting to get a mandatory rematch via the IBF, he’s dropped an ace to the unexpected Sam Soliman.
This scribe hasn’t seen the contest yet, and understands it may have been a debatable call, but for now the result remains.
The impact of that outcome is felt in this latest ratings update.
Super Middleweight: Andre Dirrell has returned to action but, given his inactivity and simple competition since a win over Arthur Abraham more than two years ago, he will stay unrated for now.
Middleweight: Sturm slips from the number three slot but remains ahead of Macklin and Murray. Soliman settles in at #4. The big question was who goes? Murray was one behind Marco Antonio Rubio but, of the two, Rubio merits remaining less in this moment. Murray is unbeaten since his draw with Sturm and had a chance to list above all in April.
Featherweight: Juan Manuel Lopez is back in the winner’s circle after a loss to Orlando Salido last year. His victory doesn’t move the meter and the ratings remain as they were.
The full results of note and impact on the ratings are a click away.
Cliff Rold is the Managing Editor of BoxingScene and a member of the Transnational Boxing Ratings Board, the Yahoo Pound for Pound voting panel, and the Boxing Writers Association of America. He can be reached at roldboxing@hotmail.com
