The Rings rankings are starting to make the WBA look logical.

How would you rank the Middleweights then?

Macklin would have been around the top 10 prior to his loss to Sturm. Whether you felt he won or not, he was competative. As was Murray in getting a draw. If your going to rank Sturm you should rank Macklin and Murray close by. Barker even in a loss still deserves to be up there for his performance agaisnt Martinez. Are you not someone who pushes fighters not to get punished for taking risks? Chavez Jnr has better wins than any of the guys below him. He is so high because its a weak division.

This is how I have it.

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2. Daniel Geale (IBF)
3. Julio Cesar Chavez Jnr (WBC)
4. Gennady Golovkin
5. Felix Sturm (WBA)

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8. Dimitry Pirog (WBO)
9. Hassan N’Dam N'Jikam
10. Peter Quillin

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Chavez above Sturm? Pirog above Lee? Golovkin top five?

What the **** is your ranking criteria - who has the nicest hair?

Ranking, in general, is complete ****. It's more about picking favourites, as clearly evidenced by the above and The Ring's rankings, than assessing records and performances.

Honestly, Golovkin and Pirog... what have they actually done? Macklin deserves a higher placing than Golovkin for, y'know, actually competing with the top guys (and arguably beating Sturm). Pirog has beaten Danny Jacobs and that is it. Call me back when he's beaten someone other than a green prospect.

****, Lee deserves a higher placing than that bunch.

 

Sturm was inactive for over a year. Since his return he has beaten Giovanni Lorenzo??? Ronald Hearns??? and scraped past Macklin and Murray. Chavez has good recent wins over Zbik and Rubio.

Brian Vera and Craig McEwan are the best wins for Andy Lee. Nothing to about. Pirogs wins over Jacobs and Martiroysion are better.

Its a difficult division to rank. Give it a go???

 

I will when I get through this article I'm writing. There are a couple of guys I'd need to watch more footage of.

I assess someone overall. Lorenzo and Hearns were weak, but scraping past Macklin is a good win because Macklin's a good fighter. He proved it again against Martinez. I didn't think Murray deserved a draw - I thought Sturm was unlucky there.

Vera (with a good win over Sergio Mora just over MW) is better than Jacobs - Jacobs was a prospect, completely unproven and hasn't done much of note since. Martiroysion is good, but not significantly better than McEwan, really.

Zbik ain't up to much and you could argue Chavez was lucky to get that decision. Rubio is a good win, but I don't think it trumps Sturm when you consider he barely got past Matt Vanda a little while ago.

It's a relatively messy division because the best don't fight each other, but putting guys like Golovkin into a top five is just mad.

 

Better?

Middleweight (160lbs)
World Champion: Sergio Martinez
2. Daniel Geale (IBF)
3. Felix Sturm (WBA)
4. Matthew Macklin
5. Julio Cesar Chavez Jnr (WBC)
6. Dimitry Pirog (WBO)
7. Andy Lee
8. Gennady Golovkin
9. Martin Murray
10. Hassan N’Dam N'Jikam
11. Peter Quillin
12. Sebastian Zbik
13. Marco Antonio Rubio
14. Darren Barker
15. Kerry Hope

 

It makes more sense to me, but do you not think Barker's a little low considering his good showing against Martinez?

I have a real problem with how Pirog and Golovkin are rated across the board, not just your ratings. They seem to get credit for what they might do rather than what they have done.

 

Barker ahead of Zbik.

To be honest i think your under rate Pirog and Golovkin to try and make a point about them being over rated.

 

I'm not sure I underrate them. I think Golovkin is particular is excellent, but he's not beaten someone to prove it as a pro. I can understand a top ten rating for Pirog can be argued, but I would find it hard to put him over a seasoned contender like Lee just because he beat a couple of good guys.

I do see your point though - the guys are all of a similar level and they aren't fighting each other. It makes it hard to rate them.

 

micheal rosenthal explains why the ring still rank proska and don't rank hope

 

Rob you can't say Sturm 'scraped past' Macklin and Murray and rank them based on how competitive they were with him.

Murray is nowhere near the top 20 IMO. Whilst **** in-between, Asikainen (past his best) and competitive with Sturm and Martinez is enough to give Macklin an argument for 6-8 IMO. Murray and Barker have done little else.

Golovkin has a few decent contender types on there. Simon went the distance with a lethargic Abraham, but was a recognisable enough fighter because of it and GG starched him inside a round, and he struggled (expectedly) against tricky veteran Ouma.

As it has been for the last few years, a talented division filled with potential with not enough fighting going on. Golovkin-HNDNJK should've happened a year ago at least. Chavez has at least got rid of Manfredo and beat a contender in Rubio.

I bought into the Lemiuex hype but he's going nowhere, despite early promise. Let's get more of these 'crunch' fights in the bag and give Sergio a serious and proven contender.

Real shame Pirog-Golovkin doesn't happen. Interesting fight between two guys not quite there yet.

 

Isn't it?