The Middleweight picture for 2013:
Geale(IBF) is set to fight Mundine April 30th. Sturm will fight Soliman Feb 2nd in order to become Geale's mandatory and get a rematch. Geale has mentioned both publicly on interviews and on his official twitter account that he wants to fight Golovkin in order to recover his WBA belt, so I feel that they are likely to fight at some point in 2013.
Meanwhile Golovkin will likely fight a stay busy on March 30th against Osumanu Adama. Pirog is rumored to fight March 2nd on HBO against an opponent yet to be determined. Golovkin's management have mentioned that Golovkin is expected to return on a June date against a high caliber opponent. I feel HBO might want to match him up with Pirog for that date and it is known that both fighters and their teams are open to fighting each other.
Martinez is expected to beat Murray on April 27th and take on Chavez Jr by late 2013 (possibly Nov.). I'm not so sure this fight will happen as Martinez seems undeterred in his request for Olympic drug testing. Nevertheless, it's probably his biggest money fight available so we'll have to see how that plays out.
I believe this is a possible tournament scenario that could realistically play out:
"Middleweight Tournament"
Round 1 (mid 2013)
Golovkin (IBF) v. Pirog
Geale(IBF) v. Sturm II (Geale must win)
Round 2 (mid-late 2013)
Golovkin(WBA)/Pirog v. Geale
Martinez(RING,WBC) v. Chavez Jr. II
Final Round (early 2014)
Martinez(RING,WBC)/Chavez Jr. v. Golovkin(WBA)/Pirog v. Geale(IBF)
What do you guys think? How do you think things will play out?
I have a feeling we'll have some interesting fights in the division this year; last year certainly didn't disappoint (at least the latter half).
Rubio is a tough contender. The guy hasn't been knocked down since 2004 and is a heavy puncher. He's also one of the largest active middleweights (6'1, 171 pounds) and was coming off a KO win over David Lemieux.
I scored that fight 116-112, I didn't think Chavez had much trouble with Rubio.
He did get KOed in 1 rd by Jantuah. That was a long time ago, but as you can see Lemieux is the only noteworthy name he's beaten since getting routed by Pavlik. A fringe contender by definition. Chavez looked alright, nothing more.
I'm guessing he has improved, but how much, hard to tell. Can't draw many conclusions from Lee, who's just not durable enough at the top level.
Didn't look much improved vs Rubio, it took Bute Jr Lee to show his tremendous growth.
Rubio is a tough contender. The guy hasn't been knocked down since 2004 and is a heavy puncher. He's also one of the largest active middleweights (6'1, 171 pounds) and was coming off a KO win over David Lemieux.
I scored that fight 116-112, I didn't think Chavez had much trouble with Rubio.
It's pretty evident to me that Chavez improved immensely with each fight--he also grew in confidence. I believe the Chavez that stopped Lee would have probably stopped Zbik with no problems at that point.
Didn't look much improved vs Rubio, it took Bute Jr Lee to show his tremendous growth.
How about Zbik, can he beat him legit next time?
It's pretty evident to me that Chavez improved immensely with each fight--he also grew in confidence. I believe the Chavez that stopped Lee would have probably stopped Zbik with no problems at that point.
Chavez Jr Destroys REALLY EASY ALL MIDDLEWEIGHTS except Martinez right now
Chavez vs Golovkin TKO Chavez Rd 7/8/9 A CLASSIC FIGHT
Chavez vs Pirog Chavez UD Booring Fight
Chavez vs Quillin Chavez KO Rd 4 REALLY EASY FIGHT
Chavez vs Geale Late TKO for Chavez Funny Fight
Chavez vs Sturm UD by Chavez zzzzzzzzz zzzzzzzzz
How about Zbik, can he beat him legit next time?