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 August, 2010

1. Sergio Martinez – The judges couldn’t take this one away from him, as he bested Kelly Pavlik and took his belts, surviving a knockdown in the process. Martinez seems to have decided to stay at 160 lbs, but with Pavlik probably moving up in weight, the big fight that makes sense is another rematch, this one against Paul Williams.
2. Paul Williams – Williams more than showed he could hang at middleweight when he dominated Winky Wright. The fact that he and Martinez fought such a great bout, and Martinez just beat the recognized champion, it adds further credibility to his middleweight tenor.
3. 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.
4. Kelly Pavlik – Inactivity and a weak slate of opponents could be blamed for Pavlik’s loss to Martinez. Or perhaps it was lingering side effects from the Hopkins fight, possible outside of the ring distractions, or merely the case of going up against a superior fighter. Now it seems likely Pavlik jumps up in weight, but until he does, he remains ranked here.
5. Dmitry Pirog – Pirog skyrockets up 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 14 knockout wins amongst his 17 victories. He’s now the WBO titleholder, and can look for another big time fight soon.
6. Sebastian Sylvester – Since losing the first fight of his career, Sylvester is 33-2, with the last loss coming several years ago in a title bid against Felix Sturm. He escaped his fight against Roman Karmazin with a draw, and most feel he was fortunate to receive that.
7. Roman Karmazin – Karmazin has a few fights at 160 lbs now, and in his title shot against Sylvester, seemed to have done enough to win the bout. That’s not the way it went, but it means he could be getting another title shot soon, either in a rematch against Sylvester, or potentially a match against Sturm.
8. Fernando Guerrero - Fernando Guerrero and Daniel Jacobs were both plastered all over our televisions, hyped as the future of the middleweight division. With Jacobs having been knocked out and needing to rebuild, Guerrero moves up the ranks a bit. He is now 19-0 with 15 wins coming by knockout. His biggest win is over Ishe Smith, but the competition will surely be getting stiffer before long. All of the talent in the world is certainly there, but a bit more fine-tuning still needs to be done.
9. Anthony Mundine – He’s been undefeated for the past 5 years since losing to Mikkel Kessler. He’s been hopping around between junior middleweight and super middleweight, but it’s at middleweight where he can be more effective, and where he’s been spending a bit more of his time.
10. Sebastian Zbik - The undefeated German fighter is the interim WBC title holder. He has a record of 29-0 with 10 wins coming by way of knockout, with few if any fights against noteworthy opposition.

Other Names: Winky Wright, Khoren Gevor, Giovanni Lorenzo, Daniel Geale, Matthew Macklin, Daniel Jacobs

More Boxing Weight Class Rankings:

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

Written by: Jake Emen