The current state of the middleweight division is absolutely terrible. Besides one very good fighter in Janibek Alimkhanuly, the rest of the competition at the top is lacking. Even the biggest fight this year was Eubank vs Benn, which is a clear indicator of how putrid things are. However after today's fight between Eumir Marcial and Eddy Colmenares, which was an amazing fight. All of guys should check it out, it was a slugfest from beginning to end. For me, there is hope that this troubled period will end and we will enter a new, exciting phase for 160. There is a lot of undefeated prospects, which are coming up. There are: Yoenli Hernandez, Aaron McKenna, Etinosa Oliha, Vadim Tukov, Troy Isley, Eumir Marcial, Eric Priest, George Liddard and others. Like Denzel Bentley, Elijah Garcia, Vito Mielnicki, Marquis Taylor, Patrice Volny, who have have losses, but are still in their primes and very much capable to improve. The talent is there, just needs more push from promters and networks. The catalyst for how the division will improve, boils down to two things: PBC to lose it's belt holders and for a major fight to occur. Both will require one man for the job, and that is Janibek. If you guys remember, featherweight used to have the same problem when Gary Russell and Leo Santa Cruz were champions. Once they left, the division became great again. PBC doesn't have the desire to make their guys unify, except at welterweight. Once Janibek gets rid of Lara, it will be one down. Now will Adames fight him? Who knows, apparently he will vacate the title, which will leave the winner of Ramos-Mosley as the full titlist. As for what major fight could happen. My hope is for Crawford to move down (there are rumors) and challenge Alimkhanuly. Regardless of the result, this would be a huge event and would bring attention back to the division. Based on what I wrote. I do hope things get better. The 160 pounds deserves it. It is one of the glamour divisions. Original eight. It could produce big fights and great fighters. Certainly better than the likes of English Jr., and Conor Henn.
Sheeraz (I know he is 168 now) being regarded as the best in the division by some not long ago says a lot sadly about the current state of the MW division. Think about what the likes of GGG would have done to Sheeraz.
154 has a lot of good fighters, some will soon move up. Ennis is big even for 154, he'll eventually move up to 160. And there are some young talented up-and-comers at 160. Middleweight will be strong again in two or three years.
Ennis and Ortiz are big guys, we can expect them to be at 160 in not too distant future. So things should get interesting in the division. Right now though, the best case scenario would be for Bud to snatch Adames' belt to hold a showdown for all the marbles versus Janibek, though I'm not sure if Turki or anyone would pay for Crawford vs Adames.
Xander, Ortiz, Ennis, Murtazaliev, Fundora, they're all moving up Boots vs Janibek is filmstudy porn, I've always wanted to see that
Trolls on here always claim the HW division is weak. But this MW division is what you call weak (and welterweight) Look how strong heavyweight is compared to this.
Aaron Mckenna looked fantastic dominating Liam Smith in April but hasn't had a fight scheduled since. It seems he's being ducked. Or doesn't have a good promoter. He's the only threat to Janibek in this weak ass division Derek Pomerleau has looked powerful in the WBC tournament though too.
Well this thread aged like milk. And not even two ****ing months have passed. Crawford retired, Janibek is out of comission. The only hope for the division is for PBC's champions to lose their belts. Adames will fight Austin Williams next, apparently Lara will fight Tszyu in Australia. In case Janibek gets stripped. Denzel Bentley will fight Endry Saavedra for the WBO belt (Frank Warren fights for the WBO, what a surprise). Whereas Etinosa Oliha will fight Vincenzo Gualtieri for the IBF belt. If the champions are in the following order by next year (hypothetically, should these fights happen and they win): WBA - Tszyu. PBC affiliated, but he has more leverage and could fight outside Haymon's stable. WBC - Williams. Hearn fighter. Probably has the most options from the rest. WBO - Bentley. Warren fighter. He will probably face Top Rank fighters if he becomes champion. IBF - Oliha. Signed with AGON - German promotion company. His options are more out there. In any case. The proliferation of champions could be a good thing for the division.
Oh yeah, Middleweight is literally the worst it's ever been. It's almost unbelievable how historically incompetent it is. Janibek pisses golden victory every morning. Sheeraz has moved up. Crawford has retired. Eubank Jr lost to a Welterweight. Lara is older than Don King and Bob Arum. Jermall is living that Tank Davis lifestyle Adames is still unproven despite being 31. The rest are about as proven to be world class fighters as I am. And by the current rate of them stepping up in opposition, I could probably turn pro in 2 months and still catch up to them by the time 2028 rolls around. Only thing that could save it is the 154 guys like Ortiz, Murtazaliev, Fundora, Zayas and Ennis moving up. This is the same division that had Roy Jones, Bernard Hopkins, James Toney, Mike McCallum, Julian Jackson, Sumbu Kalambay, Michael Watson, Reggie Johnson, Chris Eubank, Nigel Benn, and Michael Nunn within a few years of each other in the late 80's-early 90's. Which Heavyweight fanboy prayed to some heathen God for the sacrifice of the Middleweights for a brief return of Heavyweight glory ?