My Boxing Rankings: Middleweights

[jnewt]

Middleweight

1. Jermall Charlo
   • This was a tough decision. GGG is very often overlooked now because of his “loss” to Canelo, which puts him behind Charlo in most rankings. He very well may still be better than him, though we’ll never know for certain since a fight between the two will most likely never happen at this point. Even so, I’ll give Charlo the edge because of GGG’s age.
2. Gennady Golovkin
   • See Charlo.
3. Demetrius Andrade
   • Andrade has been criticized for years for not facing top talent. And the critics aren’t wrong: The only two names of really any note he’s beaten are Maciej Sulecki and Liam Williams. To further illustrate his lack of big fights, note that his last fight was against Jason Quigley (who he knocked out in less than two rounds) at the Southern New Hampshire University Arena. Can you imagine a world title fight for a glamor division at being held on the campus of a pretty much unknown college north of Massachusetts? Despite this, though, Andrade does hold a belt, has beaten everyone willing to fight him, and has other fighters unwilling to fight him. That counts for something. (Note: Andrade has moved up to 168 and was supposed to fight Zach Parker before he got injured, however, I kept him in my 160 rankings since he has yet to fight at 168 and because I think he’s a better fit at 160 anyways.)
4. Jaime Munguia
   • Munguia has been super impressive throughout his career, and has a handful of impressive names on his resume. But he still hasn’t won a world title. As soon as he does, he jumps Andrade.
5. Erislandy Lara
   • Everytime I see Lara fight, I forget that he still hasn’t retired. It seems like he’s been fighting forever, yet he’s still knocking people out. Ask Spike O’Sullivan. He’s still a threat to anyone in the division, but it’s hard to imagine he dethrones GGG or Charlo for another belt.
6. Chris Eubank Jr.
   • Eubank has fought a number of great fighters, and beaten them all except for James DeGale and Billy Joe Saunders. He has yet to win a belt at 160, though. I’d love to see him fight one of these top 5.
7. Maciej Sulecki
   • Sulecki is a good fighter. Not elite. But good. On the one hand his only losses have come against Boo Boo Andrade and Danny Jacobs. On the other hand, he hasn’t even fought anyone else of much note. It’s tough to leave out a guy who’s dominated as much as Sulecki, but also tough to put a guy up high that’s only fought tomato cans.
8. Carlos Adames
   • Adames is a good fighter, but he’s still young and inexperienced - he’s only fought above 154 twice now. I’ll need to see more out of him before he can move up from the 8 spot.
9. Janibek Alimkhanuly
   • Alimkhanuly is early in his career, so there’s not a ton to say about him except that he was made Demetrius Andrade’s mandatory before he decided to move up in weight. He’s highly regarded but is also still a relative unknown.
10. Michael Zerafa
    • Zerafa has had a good career, though he lacks a big name on his resume, hence his low-ranking.