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With the super middleweight division reaching it's all-time peak in the past few years, the middleweight division has been overlooked. Sergio Martinez is a clear top-3 pound for pound guy in the world right now, but is there any other division in the sport where the gap between "the man" and "the rest" is so large? 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 March 2012

1. Sergio Martinez - Martinez has been a clear class above the competition, beating Kelly Pavlik, notching his knockout of the year over Paul Williams in their rematch, taking care of the highly regarded Sergiy Dzinziruk and then dispatching of Darren Barker and Matthew Macklin with late round knockout victories. It will still remain difficult for him to land any of the fights he has been clamoring for - Julio Cesar Chavez Jr, or Floyd Mayweather or Manny Pacquiao at a catchweight.
2. 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. Now he jumps into the top 3 with his effort over Rubio. JCC Jr. is built like a light heavyweight, and that size and strength advantage serves him well, although his glaring defensive deficiencies are going to cost him if he ever fights one of the guys ranked ahead of him right now.
3. Daniel Geale - Geale stopped Roman Karmazin in the 12th round of their recent showdown for the right to face Sebastian 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. He's squeezing in some lackluster title defenses in front of the Australian faithful, but hopefully steps up the competition in the second half of 2012.
4. 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 which didn't happen, but he got a big fight anyway, with his title challenge against Maravilla. The tough Macklin gave Martinez some worries, but ultimately couldn't see the final bell, losing after 11 rounds. I'd still favor Macklin against the non-Martinez titleholders.
5. 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. Followed up with an unsatisfactory draw against Martin Murray. Sturm is slumping, but Sebastian Sylvester is on the docket, which means another title defense victory.
6. 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.
7. Gennady Golovkin - Golovkin holds the WBA strap and is sitting at 22-0 with 19 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.
8. 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.
9. 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. He was outclassed by Chavez Jr. though, and now will have to climb his way back into title contention and hope he undoes another hot prospect along the way.
10. Peter Quillin - The latest undefeated prospect to be garnering some buzz at 160 lbs. Hopefully he fares better than his predescors - Fernando Guerrero, David Lemieux, Daniel Jacobs, etc. Quillin is loaded with talent and athleticism though, and it will be very interesting to see him continue to step up in competition.

Other Names: Darren Barker, Sebastian Sylvester, Sebastian Zbik, Khoren Gevor, Martin Murray, Hassan N'Dam N'Jikam, 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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