Joel B's Top 20 Fighters (Year End Special)

#20- Vitali Klitschko (JoelB's) - continues to rule his portion of the heavyweight title, defending it 3 times this year.

#19- Lucian Bute (waivers) - The IBF Super Middleweight Champion is undefeated and seems to have power as well as boxing skills.

#18- Kelly Pavlik (JoelB's) - The Middleweight Champion is 36-1, but that horribly one-sided loss to Bernard Hopkins still has me wondering about his chances against the best.

#17- Edwin Valero (waivers) - Venezuelan slugger has moved up to lightweight and remains undefeated, with 26 straight knockouts.

#16- Wladimir Klitschko (Andrew's) - Universally recognized as Heavyweight Champion after wins over Chris Byrd, Lamon Brewster and Ruslan Chagaev. Chin still questionable.

#15- Ivan Calderon (Mark's) - 108 pound phenom remains undefeated, but at 34 years old he's becoming more vulnerable.

#14- Vic Darchinyan (Mark's) - after losing in a bantamweight title fight, Darchinyan has returned to 115 lbs and is finding continued success.

#13- Sergio G. Martinez (waivers) - gave Paul Williams all he could handle in their December battle, has a good chance to win against anyone from 147-160.

#12- Chris John (Mark's) - still undefeated, with 43 wins. Needs a career-defining fight against someone like Israel Vazquez or Juan Manuel Lopez.

#11- Andre Ward (JoelM's) - the undefeated super middleweight champion established himself as one of the best in the sport by soundly defeating Mikkel Kessler.

#10- Arthur Abraham (BWhit's) - seems comfortable at Super Middleweight and just might win the Super Six Tournament. Still undefeated.

#9- Juan Manuel Marquez (JoelM's) - lost badly to Mayweather, but it may well have been a weight division issue. Still matches up well with anyone at lightweight or 140.

#8- Juan Manuel Lopez (JoelB's) - young Puerto Rican star is still undefeated but struggled against Rogers Mtagwa, temporarily slowing his meteoric rise.

#7- Miguel Cotto (waivers) - Cotto's face has been bloody lately, but give him credit for competing against the best in the sport (Mosley, Margarito, Clottey, Pacquiao).

#6- Shane Mosley (Andrew's) - Sugar Shane looked awesome against Margarito, but he hasn't been able to land a fight for a year. Finally is fighting Andre Berto in Jan.

#5- Paul Williams (BWhit's) - Struggled against Martinez, but still had a big win against Winky Wright. Williams' offense is constant and impressive.

#4- Bernard Hopkins (JoelM's) - The 44 yr old Hopkins is afraid of no man. His geezerfight with Roy Jones is now off, so I'd like to see him battle Chad Dawson.

#3- Chad Dawson (BWhit's) - The undefeated Light Heavyweight Champion has literally been cleaning out the division. Seems capable of outboxing everyone.

#2- Manny Pacquiao (JoelM's) - took out Ricky Hatton and Miguel Cotto this year and is making his case as the best in boxing. Speed, power and conditioning don't get any better.

#1- Floyd Mayweather (Andrew's) - beat Juan Manuel Marquez like he was a child. Floyd hasn't lost a step and if anything, he looked sharper in his last fight. Almost technically perfect.

Ready to Rumble adds 2 wins; Pavlik and Soto take care of business

Middleweight Champion Kelly Pavlik moved to 36-1 with a 5th round TKO over Miguel Espino. Pavlik and Espino traded bombs throughout the fight but it was Pavlik who did the damage, starting in the 4th when he scored 2 knockdowns. A final knockdown in round 5 ended matters. Joel's Ready to Rumble, who recently acquired Pavlik from waivers, moves to 7-1 with 5 KOs. Pavlik scored Option A: 2, Option B: 1.5 and Option C: 20

In another bout, Humberto Soto, also of Joel B's Ready to Rumble, won a unanimous decision over former lightweight champion Jesus Chavez. Soto scored one knockdown in the fight and earned Option A: 1, Option B: 1 and Option C: 16

Edwin Valero, one of the best waiver prospects in boxing, beat Hector Velazquez by 6th round TKO in defense of his WBC Lightweight Title. Valero is an impressive 26-0 with 26 KOs.

Sweet Chin Music picks up a W

WBC Bantamweight Champion Hozumi Hasegawa moved to 28-2 with a 4th round KO over challenger Alvaro Perez. Hasegawa dropped Perez in the 4th round for the count. Andrew's Sweet Chin Music picks up their 2nd win in only their 3rd fight of the league, moving to 2-0-1 with 1 KO. Hasegawa picks up Option A: 2, Option B: 1.5 and Option C: 18.

A Major Night for League Fighters

Vitali Klitschko successfully defended his WBC Heavyweight Title for the 3rd time with a dominant unanimous decision victory over Kevin "The Kingpin" Johnson. Klitschko was the aggressor at all times, landing straight punches to Johnson's head. Johnson showed a good jab and great defense but had little courage in an overly cautious performance. Klitschko missed hundreds of punches on the night but the occasional shots that got through were enough to prove his superiority. Klitschko moves to 39-2, while Johnson suffers his first loss, 22-1-1. Joel's Ready to Rumble picks up Option A: 1, Option B: 1 and Option C: 15.
All good things come to an end. In this case, the 16-month undefeated streak of BWhit's fighters finally ended as Juan Diaz lost a unanimous decision to Paulie Malignaggi, all 3 scores being 116-111. Malignaggi was credited with a knockdown of Diaz that was incorrectly ruled by the referee (Diaz was cuffed on the back of his head and knocked off balance). Nonetheless, Diaz was outclassed and moves to 35-3. BWhit's Death is Forming moves to 4-1.
BWhit sought to quickly move on from his first loss by sending Timothy Bradley into the ring against top undefeated contender Lamont Peterson. Bradley showed tremendous conditioning and skill over 12 rounds, clearly outlanding a game Peterson. Bradley's unanimous decision win moves him to 25-0 in his career. Peterson drops to 27-1. BWhit gets back to his winning ways and improves to 5-1 in the league.
Mark's undefeated streak remained intact as Vic Darchinyan bombed out Tomas Rojas in the 2nd round. A big left by Darchinyan halted the contest. Darchinyan earns Option A: 2, Option B: 3, and Option C: 18. Mark moves to the top of the league at 4-0.

STANDINGS:

1st...Mark---Sweet Scientist (4-0)

2nd...JoelB---Ready to Rumble (6-1)

3rd...BWhit---Death is Forming (5-1)

4th...Jay----Head Hunters (4-1)

5th...JoelM---Hurricane Candlebox (4-2)

6th...Andrew--Sweet Chin Music (1-0-1)

Andrew's squad does have some fights coming up, particularly Shane Mosley on Jan 30th.

Kevin Johnson challenges Vitali Klitschko

Tomorrow night in Switzerland, Vitali Klitschko defends his WBC Heavyweight Title for the 3rd time. Following dominant wins over Samuel Peter, Juan Carlos Gomez and Chris Arreola, Klitschko is the clear favorite to retain his title over a fighter who has no losses but also no quality wins. Kevin Johnson, for his part, is a talented boxer who stands 6'3" with a long reach. Johnson seems to believe that he can outbox Klitschko, presumably by decision, but how is that really possible? The only way it could happen is if Johnson prepares himself to be an extremely active fighter for 12 rounds. Klitschko's activity level has been unparalleled, and he'll be throwing straight shots at Johnson's head all night. I'll take Vitali to beat Johnson, but Johnson's skill level and size may enable him to last the distance.

Paul Williams escapes with a narrow win in a slugfest

At the end of the day, Death is Forming got the win, moving to 4-0, as Paul Williams defeated Sergio Martinez by majority decision in a non-title middleweight fight. The fight was surprisingly competitive, as Martinez seemed equal to the task of Williams' relentless style and volume punching. Martinez rocked Williams with power shots all night long, while Williams made his case with steady pressure and combinations. I scored the fight 116-115 for Williams, while the official judges had it 114-114, 115-113 Williams and 119-110 Williams (ridiculous). Williams' record moves to 38-1, and he earns Option A: 1, Option B: 1 and Option C: 15 for the league-leading BWhit.

Two Old Legends Fight Again

In Australia, 40-year-old Roy Jones battled the established veteran Danny Green in a Cruiserweight bout. After 2 minutes, Jones was helpless on the ropes, having already been on the canvas from a roundhouse right, TKO'd by an underdog opponent. It was a sad end (please let it be the end) to a great career, where a once-dominant fighter ruled the middleweight, super middleweight and light heavyweight weight classes for over 10 years. But as became evident in later years, Jones' ability to take a punch was strangely problematic. Something tells me that his brain was slightly damaged during one of his later fights, leaving him extremely vulnerable to any hard punch that really connected. Jones' record moves to 54-6 with 40 KOs. Unfortunately, the loss drops Hurricane CandleBox to 4-2.

In contrast, 44-year-old Bernard Hopkins continued his winning ways, outpointing journeyman Enrique Ornelas. Hopkins used his typical style of consistent defense and tactful offense to win a 12 round decision by wide margins. Hopkins moves to 50-5-1 and could be headed for a megafight with Chad Dawson. Hopkins remains a fantasy league free agent.

BWhit has Paul Williams fighting on Dec 5 against Sergio Martinez and JoelB takes Vitali Klitschko into the ring vs Kevin Johnson the following week.