Monday brings in the new Bad Left Hook Weekly Boxing Ratings and here we list the changes from the last week.
Super Middleweight
Librado Andrade moves out of this week’s rankings from his sixth position in the last week. His loss to Aaron Pryor Jr. on Solo Boxeo Tecate left him out of the top rankings this week. The contenders to replace him in this category were many due to the vast talent available. The choices included, Kelly Pavlik, Aaron Pryor Jr., Edwin Rodriguez, George Groves, James DeGale, and Thomas Oosthuzien. Considering various reasons, the ultimate choice was Oosthuzien because the selectors felt that amongst all the contenders, he was the strongest fighter to win a fight.
Middleweight and Welterweight categories
Kelly Pavlik, ranked at number three is out of the rankings as he has officially moved to the super middleweight division. Daniel Geale moves to number six after his win over Sebastian Sylvester on Saturday. Sylvester who was at the eighth position was eliminated from the rankings this week. He has been replaced by Darren Barker ranked at number 10 in the ratings. Barker did not look good in his comeback game and with more than one round with opponent Domenico Spada; he appeared battling with ring rust. In the welterweight category, Jan Zaveck moved from the eighth position to the fifth position. Zaveck was underrated as a fighter and therefore selectors have moved him to a higher position. Shane Mosley with three consecutive bad fights has been sent to the sixth position from his number two position. The top five fighters in the 147 pounds are Manny Pacquiao, Victor Ortiz, Andre Berto, Kell Brook, and Jan Zaveck.
Super Bantamweight
Takalani Ndlovu was forced to fall out of his present ranking not because of his own shortcomings. The reason for this fall is Jorge Arce who has shown a strong comeback in his game. At thirty-one and fighting in the 122 pounds category, Arce’s win over his opponent Wilfredo Vazquez Jr. has moved him to the fifth position in the rankings this week. The top three fighters in the category are Japan’s Nishioka, Shimoda, and Lee.
Joey’s not playing does not affect team
Although Joey Votto was given a rest during the match on Monday, the Cincinnati team did not suffer in its defense. During the match at Minute Maid Park, home runs scored by starting pitcher Travis Wood and Votto’s replacement Ramon Hernandez led the team to a victory. Ramon Hernandez powered a 12-hit attack giving Reds a 6-1 win over the Astros. The team’s catcher Ryan Hanigan says that all players need to take some days off but the team batted well with some big innings helping the team cruise to a victory. Hanigan has three hit for his team, which has won five of the last six matches played improving its 19-16 score in the current season.
Win over Aneury Rodriguez
The Cincinnati team got a hold over the Astros starter Aneury Rodriguez, who held the Reds to one hit and no runs in five innings at a match played five days earlier. However, the Reds made a comeback and won the match 3-2 with three runs in the ninth inning. During the Monday night’s match, Rodriguez again went for five innings. However, the Reds hitters scored five runs off the pitcher and got eight hits playing the right-handed player. According to Reds second baseman Brandon Phillips, during their first game they had been unaware of what to expect from Rodriguez. However in the Monday night game, the Reds were aggressive knowing exactly what to expect from the pitcher.
Woods home run
There were not too many people who had foreseen Woods home run. However, his first big hit in the current season gave the Reds a 3-0 lead in the third innings. Adding two more in the fourth innings gave Reds a clear lead thereby eliminating any possibility of the Astros catching up. Woods pitched excellently during the match and in the 6 2/3 innings, Woods gave away no runs and six hits with one walk and six strikeouts. The player faced a little trouble in the fifth and the seventh innings. In the fifth innings, the Astros with runners on first and second base, Hernandez two-run home run put some pressure on Woods. However, the player struck out Michael Bourn and got J R Towles to line out at second base for the third out.