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The super middleweight division is a classic European battleground. Or at least it was. Now, of course, American Andre Ward took home the Super Six Tournament championship, and the top two 168 pound fighters on the planet are based out of Oakland and Montreal. The rest of the best though still largely hail from Europe. You can also view our entire Super Six Standings & Results homepage to see how all of the action played out over the past two years, but right here is where you'll find the current top 10 in boxing's super middleweight division.

Super middleweight rankings last updated March 2012

1. Andre Ward – Not only did Ward defeat Kessler, Abraham and Froch (and Bika and Green) but he dominated every one of them, and he used a deep bag of tools to get the job done in different ways as necessary. Ward is the clear top dog in the division right now, and one of the must make fights of 2012 will be Ward vs. Bute.
2. Lucian Bute –  Bute has been on a tear since he hushed his critics with a crushing stoppage win over Librado Andrade in the fourth round. Since then, Super Six or not, he's proven himself to be a top guy in the division. With Ward's injury and some negotiating tactics, a fight between those two has been pushed back, but now we'll see Bute in against Carl Froch in what should be a very intriguing battle that reveals a lot about both men.
3. Mikkel Kessler – Kessler revived his status in the division with his effort against Carl Froch, but since then, he has been sidelined with injuries. After twice having a date set for a fight against Robert Stieglitz, he's back on the shelf once again. At this point one has to wonder whether he'll be back at full strength again.
4. Carl Froch – His fantastic Super Six run comes with a disappointing close, as he not only lost to, but got dominated by, Andre Ward. Froch has an excellent resume over the past few years though, and is clearly still one of the top dogs in the division. Next up is a big fight against Lucian Bute, and win or lose, Froch still has a lot of opportunities, such as a rematch against Mikkel Kessler, and intriguing U.K. fights against the likes of Nathan Cleverly or George Groves.
5. Glen Johnson - Age? Weight? Losses? Nothing stops Glen Johnson from showing up and giving an all-out effort. He needs to get back in the W column though against a top-tier guy before the odometer finally does get too high.
6. Robert Stieglitz - He's the WBO titleholder with four successful defenses, but he hasn't fought a real, world class, opponent since losing by TKO to Andrade in 2008. At least that's what the critics would say. But he has more quality wins in recent memory than say, Edison Miranda, Allan Green, Sakio Bika, or Jermain Taylor. In 2012, he may get his chance against Mikkel Kessler.
7. George Groves - By defeating his rival James DeGale, and following that up with another victory on the domestic scene against Paul Smith, Groves is showing that he's legit and he's ready for the big time. It's time now to jump onto the world stage, and he's in the running for a date against Stieglitz.
8. Edwin Rodriguez - La Bomba scored the biggest win of his still young career as he handled fellow prospect-contender Don George with relative ease in their HBO-televised clash. With that W under his belt, and some backing from HBO, we'll be seeing a great deal of Rodriguez in the near future.
9. Adonis Stevenson - Stevenson is working with Emanuel Steward now, and that looks to be paying off, as he thrashed respected (and avoided) contender Jesus Gonzales in their recent showdown. He's won four in a row since a surprising stoppage loss.
10. Andre Dirrell – Dirrell has finally got back into the ring once since the Super Six Arthur Abraham fiasco. He looked strong there, against a woefully overmatched guy. What's Dirrell's next move, and how soon will we see him in there with a high level opponent?

More Names:

Sakio Bika, Don George, Brian Magee, Cornelius White, Anthony Dirrell, Kelly Pavlik, James DeGale, Thomas Oosthuizen, Arthur Abraham, Librado Andrade, Dmitri Sartison, Jesus Gonzales, Jean Paul Mendy, Allan Green

More Boxing Weight Class Rankings:

• 154-160 pounds – Boxing Middleweight Rankings
• 168-175 pounds – Boxing Light Heavyweight Rankings

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