SUPER MIDDLEWEIGHTS
1. Arthur Abraham
2. Saul "Canelo" Alvarez
3. Librado Andrade
4. In Chul Baek
5. Nigel Benn
6. Markus Beyer
7. Charles Brewer
8. Lucian Bute
9. Joe Calzaghe
10. Steve Collins
11. James DeGale
12. Andre Dirrell
13. Antwun Echols
14. Chris Eubank
15. Carl Froch
16. Bruno Girard
17. George Groves
18. Thomas Hearns
19. Lindell Holmes
20. Badou Jack
21. Roy Jones Jr
22. Mikkel Kessler
23. Jeff Lacy
24. Mads Larsen
25. Ray Leonard (Sugar)
26. Frankie Liles
27. Steve Little
28. Tim Littles
29. Eric Lucas
30. Thulani Malinga
31. Byron Mitchell
32. Michael Nunn
33. Sven Ottke
34. Chong Pal Park
35. Vinny Pazienza
36. Peter Quillan
37. Robin Reid
38. Graciano Rocchigiani
39. Dana Rosenblatt
40. Omar Sheika
41. Callum Smith
42. Merqui Sosa
43. Robert Stieglitz
44. Thomas Tate
45. Tony Thornton
46. Christophe Tiozzo
47. James Toney
48. Syd Vanderpool
49. Mario Veit
50 Andre Ward
51. Richie Woodhall
THE SUPER MIDDLEWEIGHTS: Here are the 51 fighters who will most likely make up the Super Middleweight divisional card set. The fighters whose names appear in "red" are boxers who had fewer than 5 significant bouts in the Super Middleweight division. In the cases of Leonard and Hearns, the two men fought only 3 significant bouts in the division. At this point it becomes a matter of looking at previous Leonard and Hearns cards and determine if there is enough difference to warrant a separate card for the SMW division.
Why include Saul "Canelo" Alvarez? Alvarez is a special case due to the fact that his prime is likely over. That doesn't mean Alvarez can no longer fight, but it does mean that his skills will more than likely begin to decay. How soon and what skills might diminish first, who knows. At this point, Alvarez has fought 9 significant bouts as a super middleweight. The "average" number of significant bouts fought by all 51 super middleweights is 11. Close enough!
SPEAKING OF CANELO ALVAREZ: I constantly hear or read about Alvarez being a "sure Boxing Hall of Fame fighter" and that he should be included in any discussion concerning on the all-time best . . . what? Super Middleweight or Middleweight or Super Welterweight? Breaking down Canelo's record, I believe Alvarez, at this point in his career, was at his best as a Super Welterweight. Is Saul "Canelo" Alvarez a great fighter? I don't think so. I believe he's a very good fighter and, though it isn't his fault, had he fought better competition in their primes, Canelo might have earned the "great" appellation. But as impressive as Alvarez' record look on paper, it really isn't. Want proof? Read my argument in an upcoming article "How Good is Canelo Alvarez, Really?" Let's see if I can convince you as to my stance.