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25 December 2012 Tractorpull's Year End Top Ten Lightweights and Welters

Page history last edited by Archer844 11 years, 3 months ago

Posted by Tractorpull Magazine on December 25, 2012, 3:20 pm

TESS VALMORE

LIGHTWEIGHTS

1. KALEY CUCUO Had a great 2012 going undefeated is six fights and winning the title in the last PPV by knocking out Rachel Nichols. After years of fighting in the shadow of Jessica Biel, she finally became the top lightweight at Medallion, if not the favorite. if her success continues, she has a good chance of making the Hall Of Fame in the next two years. She now holds her fifth Unified Lightweight Title.

2. RACHEL NICHOLS. She lost her title in the last PPV and that was her only defeat. Her victims were Biel, Helfer and Palicki, all top ten fighters. This was a feel good year for her. After several years of being under-rated and ignored in title challenges, she finally got her chance and made good

3. TRICIA HELFER Also held a title this year. This tall 38 year old had wins over Stravhovski, Palicki, Cole and Decker. She has a win/loss ratio second only to Charlize Theron, however at 38, her chances of getting enough fights and maintaining that ratio to qualify for the Hall Of Fame is extremely questionable

4. YVONNE STRAHOVSKI. One of the reasons this ranking was delayed was the outcome of the Strahovski/ Winstead fight with the winner taking the fourth spot, Yvonne moves up in the rankings as a result of that fight and also due to the misfortunes of others. She had a 5-3 record including two wins over Theron and wins over Helfer and Garner. She, however, at this time can’t be alleged to be the next great blonde. The next great blonde won’t be behind 2-4 to a brunette.

5. MARY ELIZABETH WINSTEAD. Like Strahovski, Winstead combined a five fight win streak, coupled with faltering of a couple top ten lightweights, to move into the five spot. She resurrected her career in 2012, although the jury is still out about her being a constant member of the top ten

6. MARIA MENOUNOS. This 34 years old came out of nowhere to move.into the top ten in the last rankings. She moves up to six riding a four fight win streak including wins over Vandervoort, Strahovski and Brook. Can she stay in the top ten? I think it is extremely doubtful

7. ADRIANNE PALICKI . She had a fine first half of the year winning over Biel, Cole and Peregrym. The second half didn’t go as well as it included an upset at the hands of Mitra. After losing her last two, she finished 3-3 dropping three spots

8. JESSICA BIEL She is the most athletic lightweight, but she is remarkably inconsistent and so she was this year. She was 3-3, however two of her wins were over Beckinsale, a bantam and a aging Jennifer Garner. In her last fight, she was upset by Katrina Law, maybe not a major upset, but an upset never the less. Her year cost her four slots down to eight from four

9. MISSY PEREGRYM Missy was in a fight on the Fight Before Christmas card that determined if she would remain in the top ten. It appears that the wear and tear in fighting lightweights is having it’s toll on the former dominate bantam. Since turning lightweight, each year has brought less success. This year was essentially saved by her win over Larter. She finished a busy year with a 5-5 record. 2013 should determine is she can remain a top lightweight contender

10 ANNA TORV Suffered a upset loss to Valance but ended the year with a 4-1 record with wins over De La Garza and Lima. She is 34 years old. If she is going to make a move towards the high end of the rankings, this next year could be crucial

ON THE CUSP

JOANNE KELLY This rookie broke in this year with wins over Ruah, Peregrym and an aging Jeri Ryan, The down side of Kelly is she is 34. That is not a promising age for a newbie

DANIELA RUAH I admit I may be showing a little prejudice here because I like Ruah. She is being brought along slowly by her management. She is on a five fight win streak that includes a win over Yustman. I think she has top ten potential when she steps up in competition

BROOKLYN DECKER. Was 3-1 for the year. She lost to a top lightweight in Helfer, who took her out in less than two. Her first two wins of the year were against fighters who had a combined record of 3-14, and the last win was over a woman who was almost fifty. Never the less she has a outstanding two year win/loss record. Can she beat Ruah?

NOTES

The lightweight division has been Tractorpull’s favorite and my personal favorite since I was a little girl, but I can only be a little pessimistic about the “Tiffany Division” I grew up in the glory days of Theron, Cat Bell, Dunning, CZJ, Casta and Hurley. Charlize is nearing the end of her fantastic career as the greatest, the rest are basically gone. Where are the replacements? The managers are crazy over the small girls. They will sign any small girl who has her thumbs hooked in the side of the bikini bottoms. The rookies in the lightweights are to few and too old. The most recent to make a splash is 34. Chances are she won’t be around as long as Charlize. Some stables don’t have a lightweight. Others are loaded little girls like one stable that has fifteen members, but only two lightweights and no welter, There are only two stables who have a majority lightweights and only one of those has recently signed a young member. I fear that the lightweights will be going the way of the welters

We have noticed that Boxing World, a publication and it’s reporter for whom we have the upmost respect had Durance as it’s number 2 lightweight. I didn’t rank her. She only had one fight this year and that was against a third tier fighter. She didn’t get into our ranking because of a lack of activity and a lack of competition.

THE WELTERS

AMANDA RIGHETTI. No name personifies the welters as Righetti. Sure, she loses now and then. I never understood Sim’s comment that Theron wasn’t as dominate as some thought because she lost some fights. Who doesn’t? Look at the championships and tell me she didn’t dominate. Same with Righetti. She’s not the champ right now. She got upset by Patton, which she avenged and she was upset by Theron. Other than Theron, who you can discount, no welter has near the win/loss ratio of Righetti. Look at the challenges. How many challenge Righetti?

CASSIDY FREEMAN. This may be a surprise, but look at the record. She is 4-0-1. She beat Nolin, Bjorlin, Brook and Patton and drew with Heigl . who refused to to into extra rounds. She is on a six fight undefeated streak that included a win over Govich.
She deserves a title fight, but she may have to wait as I doubt Govich is going to be so generous.

BRIDGET REGAN. Ended the year at 3-2 after getting upset by Theron and in the last PPV, Moore. She didn’t fight a lot this year but she is still one of the few prime welters

MILANA GOVICH. She was undefeated for the year. She took the title from Theron as expected. She beat Landry and Loken neither of which won a fight this year. That’s a better record than most

The Rest- Pretty sad

CHARLIZE THERON. She didn’t have a great year but more about her under a separate post

NADIA BJORLIN. Losing record. The only fight she won was against Theron

KRISTANA LOKEN 0-2

REBECCA ROMJIN 1-2 She beat Landry, who didn’t beat anybody

STACEY KEIBLER 0-1

ALI LANDRY 0-3

MOON BLOODGOOD. Only one fight

GENA LEE NOLIN Even fouling couldn’t save her. Her record 2-3. She even lost to Cat Bell

LEELEE SOBIESKI. Had a great record, but how will she do when she starts fighting the top women?

There are some potential welters such as LAW, RUAH and DECKER who show some welter potential, but they have been fighting for the most part as lightweights

NOTES

This division has been in crisis for years and the situation has not gotten significantly better despite attempts the rejuvenate it. Tournaments have failed. Now we have the Theron Crusade, which is a feather in Theron’s cap for undertaking it, but in the long run it will have no effect on the division. One stable dominates this division as some stables don’t even have a welter on the staff. There are few welter parings that can generate the excitement of flyweight or bantam pairings. I can’t explain the fascination with the little girls, but it doesn’t spell well for the FCBA. I am just glad Smackey is not afraid of a six foot blonde.