The junior middleweight division is not a historically famous one. Rather, it has more been the spot of great welterweights on their rise up through further weight divisions or smallish middleweights who couldn’t compete with the bigger bangers at 160. However, that is thankfully no longer the case. And a crop of talented prospects and rising stars makes the future of the division very promising. Here’s a look at boxing’s super welterweight or junior middleweight weight class rankings.

Junior Middleweight Division Rankings Last Updated August, 2010

1. Paul Williams – The designated weight class for Paul Williams is still very much in the air. However, his last fight, abrupt as it was against Kermit Cintron, was at 154 lbs, which means he deserves to be ranked here. Whether he remains here or not of course depends on his potential future fights, including intriguing options such as a rematch against Sergio Martinez.
2. Sergiy Dzinziruk – Mostly anonymous to American fight fans, the undefeated WBO light middleweight champion does hold victories over Joel Julio and Daniel Santos. He has only fought once since the end of 2008, however after his USA debut, he will now be campaigning here, and hopefully will be in a worthy match against the other big players in the division shortly.
3. Miguel Cotto – Cotto is only one fight into his junior middleweight career, however, it was a great performance against an overmatched Yuri Foreman. Foreman though is no slouch, he was an undefeated titleholder with a dominant win over Daniel Santos to his credit. Therefore Cotto needs to be respected in this division, and he’ll surely be looking to capitalize with a big fight.
4. Alfredo Angulo – Angulo was one of the sport’s fast rising stars until Cintron derailed his climb. However he’s back on track now, and after dispatching of Joel Julio and crushing Joachim Alcine, he’s ready for a big time fight. Angulo has continued to get better, and surely he would relish another shot at Cintron and avenging his lone loss.
5. Kermit Cintron – The Martinez fight was one of the strangest occurrences in recent boxing history. Then he pulled off the upset over Angulo. Then it was the strange occurrence in the Williams fight. What can you possibly expect to get from Cintron at this point?
6. Yuri Foreman – Yuri Foreman showed a lot of fight in his match against Miguel Cotto, however Cotto was simply too good and too powerful for him. With his slick boxing skills, he can still still be a handful against many of the division’s top 10.
7. Daniel Santos – It’s hard to make sense of where Daniel Santos is in his career. His last fight was a clear loss to Foreman, but prior to that, had had been the victor in an upset of undefeated champion Joachim Alcine. Which Santos will show up, and when will we see it happen?
8. Vanes Martirosyan – The undefeated prospect known as the Nightmare has been making a name as of late. With a busy schedule he has been working his way up the rankings, although his performance against Kassim Ouma was certainly nothing to brag about. He handled then-undefeated Joe Greene with relative ease however, and is primed for another step up in class.
9. Sechew Powell – Powell has put together a few wins in a row, including a win in a rematch against Deandre Latimore. That was an IBF eliminator match, with the vacant title being up for grabs in the Spinks vs Bundrage bout. That means we just may see a rematch of the Powell-Bundrage famous double knockdown fight against K9, now with a title up for grabs.
10. Cornelius Bundrage - K9 backed up his bark with some bite against Cory Spinks, stopping the St. Louis slickster midway through their contest. It says more about how far Spinks has fallen than anything, but the bottom line is Bundrage put himself into position and did what he needed to do.

The rest of the pack: Joel Julio, Deandre Latimore, Erislandy Lara, Pawel Wolak, Joachim Alcine

* James Kirkland – Kirkland was rapidly rising through the ranks and was coming off a career best performance, a destruction of fellow slugger Joel Julio. However, he has since been arrested stemming from a gun charge, and is now in jail. Luckily, the judge seemed to have mercy on him, citing his potential to make a difference in the community. Instead of potentially a decade in prison, Kirkland could resume his career potentially by the end of 2010.

More Boxing Weight Class Rankings:

• 140-147 lbs – Boxing Welterweight Rankings
• 154-160 lbs – Boxing Middleweight Rankings

Written by: Jake Emen