What do you guys think of this: WBO Champion: David Haye 1. Johnathon Banks 2. Gregory Drozd 3. Krzysztof Wlodarczyk 4. Enzo Maccarilnelli 5. Herbie Hide 6. Alexander Alekseev 7. BJ Flores 8. Johny Jensen 9. Giacobbe Fragomeni 10. Jean Marc Mormeck 11. Lawrence Tauasa 12. Rudolf Kraj 13. Rob Calloway 14.Ali Ismailov 15. Pedro Otas Assuming Haye vacates, it would be Banks vs the talented Gregory Drozd. Is now a good time for a Drozd/Wlodarczyk/Maccarinelli type of opponent (ie lower top 10)?
How the hell Banks got that #1 ranking is what surprises me. Anyway, don't know if Banks is ready for such a step up in Drozd, but since the is the number one ranked just go at it, can't pass an oportunity like that. The WBO would better order Haye to defend soon, otherwise he is just going to sit on the belt forever.
I think he 's a very good prospect, but his chin isn't all that good and he's hittable. I think he would have a rough time with Aaron Williams, but would KO Fields.
Fields has already been KO'd by Ola Afolabi in RD10. Afolabi will be fighting Francisco Palacios another unbeaten cruiser prospect on ESPN in June.
If he moves up to Heavy I assume he will have to vacate the WBA, WBO aswell he has already given up WBC. Arslan already has WBA regular belt so he will remain WBA belt holder and they will probably have Banks v Drozd for the vacant WBO belt.
WBC has Kraj v Fragomeni. Kraj should win that as Fragomeni is too slow and over the hill now. Unless it is in Italy and we will have another corrupt decision
Kraj is a solid boxer. Saw him do a number on Godfrey, though Godfrey never impressed me much. Banks is another story and imo has the tools to beat both Kraj and Fragomeni (one of which will be WBC champ soon)...ironically he will have far tougher competition if he opts for the WBO belt.
Drozd was clowning Arslan until he started eating body shots and his stamina failed him. He is a solid fighter as wins over Melkomian and Barrios show. Banks would probably have to travel for a Drozd fight, don't know if he's ready for Germany quite yet. If he fought Wlodarczyk in the States it would be a fight I would love to see.
Stoppage over Castillo (20-1-1): [yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o-zS8Wyuk0g&feature=related[/yt] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o-zS8Wyuk0g&feature=related
Banks needs to step it up... He had a great fight with Castillo.. After that, he hasn't had any meaningful fights... Mayfield was a decent fight but the Castillo fight did a lot for him... I would have liked for Johnathan to fight some more good fighters who are still dangerous... But he looks like he's gonna be alrite........
He just needs to get on a Showtime or HBO undercard. He's gunning for 20-0 in his next fight, hopefully that one will be nationally televised as well. From there he can look to capitalize on his WBO ranking.
He will have a lot on his plate with Drozd. The Russian is a capable operator who poses a threat to most of his rivals at cruiser weight. He made a stupid mistake against Arslan trying to duke it out with the durable champ from Germany when his emotions got the upper hand of his mind.Instead of sticking to a well thought game plan he played with Arslan's cards and ran out of gas after just 4 rounds. Damn! Arslan took more telling shots in a single round with Drozd than in 12 rounds with Ding. Banks ' chin will surely be tested in a match with Drozd.
