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With the super middleweight division heating up to extraordinarily high levels, the middleweight division has actually been overlooked as of late. But that's changing, with some fresh blood in the scene and a brand new middleweight champion in Sergio Martinez. Still, it's slim picking these days at 160 lbs once you get past the big names at the top. Check out the top 10 middleweight boxers in the world with our division rankings right here.

Middleweight Division Rankings Last Updated October 2011

1. Sergio Martinez - Martinez has been a clear class above the competition as of late, beating Kelly Pavlik, notching his knockout of the year over Paul Williams in their rematch, taking care of the highly regarded Sergiy Dzinziruk and now dispatching Darren Barker on a night when he didn't seem to have his best stuff. Maravilla has been Marvelous, but he needs another marquee fight to launch himself to superstardom.
2. Matthew Macklin -  Macklin was on an 11-0 streak and finally got his shot at the top against Felix Sturm. According to nearly everyone who watched, Mack the Knife pulled out a clear win, however he got the typical Germany jobbing. Sturm promised a rematch but now it looks like it won't come off, but Macklin is backed by DiBella now, and could end up facing Sergio Martinez or getting another HBO showcase.
3. Daniel Geale - Geale stopped Karmazin in the 12th round of their recent showdown for the right to face Sylvester, and was winning handily on the cards at the time of the stoppage. He then won a Split Decision over Sylvester to take home the IBF belt, and it likely should have been a wide unanimous nod. Either way, he's a titleholder and is coming off back-to-back nice wins. In a weak division, a short winning streak like that can take you right to the top of the rankings.
4. Felix Sturm – We got a glimpse of Sturm years ago when he was robbed in his fight against Oscar De La Hoya. Since then he’s toiled away in Europe, and has been the WBA champ since 2007. He's fought a who's who of guys you don't know in fights you haven't seen, and plans to continue plying his trade in the Euro-division. Until the Macklin fight, at least he had been winning outright, but the funky judging in that one lowers his status a bit.
5. Marco Antonio Rubio - Written off as nothing but the B-side standing in the way of David Lemieux's inevitable rise to championship status, Rubio weathered the storm, and then put on the pressure and turned things around. When he got Lemieux hurt, he didn't let up, and he closed the show. Now he'll face the winner of the Zbik-Chavez Jr. bout for the WBC title. Well, he's supposed to face Chavez, but good luck having Bob Arum let those two in the ring together.
6. Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. - Chavez finally cracked the top 10 after his title-winning effort over Sebastian Zbik. Say what you will, but it was the best performance of his career, and a notable win coming over a top 10 guy in the division, who also came to fight. He claims he'll fight anyone if the money is right, but I see little if any chance of a major showdown with any of the top dogs in this division soon.
7. Andy Lee - Lee avenged the lone loss of his career by doing what he should have done the first time he faced Bryan Vera, outboxing him and staying disciplined. Lee is wide open to be hit by incoming fire, but he can be entertaining, and amongst this current crop of middleweights, the only guy you could completely count him out against would be Martinez.
8. Gennady Golovkin - Golovkin holds the WBA strap and is sitting at 21-0 with 18 KOs. His only real worthwhile win though came just recently, as he knocked out Kassim Ouma in a title defense. Ouma, of course, was far from his best days however.
9. Dmitry Pirog - Pirog skyrocketed into the midst of the division's best with his crushing 5th round knockout over Daniel Jacobs. Pirog has an unusual style, solid defense and big power, with 15 knockout wins amongst his 19 victories. All of his momentum with that win has been wasted though, as he's fought just twice in small bouts and has failed to impress.
10. Darren Barker: Always be wary of raising your ranking of a fighter from a strong effort in a losing performance. Nonetheless, Barker showed a lot of ability and caused some issues for Martinez through the first half of their fight. At the least, he warrants another look, and with so many other UK and European middleweights in the mix right now, there are some high profile fights to make.

Other Names: Sebastian Sylvester, Sebastian Zbik, Winky Wright, Khoren Gevor, Roman Karmazin, David Lemieux, Daniel Jacobs, Fernando Guerrero, Anthony Mundine, Matt Korobov, Craig McEwan, Nobuhiro Ishida, Peter Manfredo Jr., Grzegorz Proksa

More Boxing Weight Class Rankings:

• 147-154 pounds – Boxing Junior Middleweight Rankings
• 160-168 pounds – Boxing Super Middleweight Rankings

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