Boxing's Top Five Super Middleweights

While the retirement of longtime super middleweight kingpin Joe Calzaghe left a vacuum, it is a vacuum that has a long line of good fighters clamoring to fill it. The 168 lbs division is hot with talent right now, many of whom are participating in Showtime's Super Six Tournament. While attention in the Western Hemisphere might be firmly rooted on Mayweather, Marquez, and Pacquiao, in Europe it is firmly focused on the likes of Mikkel Kessler, Carl Froch, and Arthur Abraham.

1. Mikkel Kessler (42-1 32 KOs)
30 years old, 6'1" with 73" reach
Denmark
Current WBC Champion
Kessler is a big, strong guy with an all-around sound technique and no major flaws. Kessler is probably the hardest puncher in the division, and stands as its most established champion. He has cleaned out a host of the division's fringe contenders, and his only loss was to Joe Calzaghe in a bout where he gave a good account of himself against a vastly more experienced fighter. Kessler is scheduled to fight the undefeated Andre Ward in November.

2. Carl Froch (25-0 20 KOs)
32 years old, 6'1" with 74" reach
United Kingdom
Current WBC Champion
Froch has a win over faded former champ and Calzaghe rival Robin Reid, as well as over another Super Six contestant in Jermain Taylor. Taylor was winning that bout, but Froch came in from behind to pull out a knockout win. He is a hard-punching super middleweight in British tradition. He is slow, but strong, tough, and packs power in both hands, and isn't afraid to use it. Froch is set to fight Andre Dirrel in October.

3. Lucian Bute (24-0 19 KOs)
29 years old, 6'1" with 70" reach
Romanian living in Canada
Current IBF Champion
Bute is a solid southpaw sharpshooter of a boxer, with good power and hand speed. Questions remain over his performance against Librado Andrade. The fact is that he was outboxing Andrade, including a knockdown in the 10th, when he went for the knockout in the 12th and got flattened for his trouble. Bute got to his feet and survived the round to win the bout. Although he was hurt, the point is that he was winning a clean victory and did manage to hang to finish. That is at least as legitimate as Carl Froch's results-changing knockout. Bute has also beaten tough Saiko Bika and former champ William Joppy. He is the only major super middleweight not involved in the Super Six tournament. Bute has a rematch with Librado Andrade in November, which I think he will win handily.

4. Andre Ward (20-0 13 KOs)
25 years old, 6'1" with 73" reach
United States
Ward won gold at the 2004 Olympics as a light heavyweight, and cemented his status as a top super middleweight with a decisive points win over the Colombian thug, Edison Miranda. He stands as one of the new lions in the super middleweight jungle, and fights with quick, hard-hitting hands from a southpaw stance. As previously noted, Ward will be mixing it up with Kessler in November.

5. Arthur Abraham (30-0 24 KOs)
29 years old, 5'10" with 72" reach
Armenian living in Germany
Former Middleweight Champion
Arthur Abraham's heart is beyond doubt. He hung on and scored a points win over Edison Miranda after his jaw was sickeningly broken in a foul. While he is not the hardest puncher, the most rugged character, the most skilled technician, or the flashiest speedster in the division, Abraham is a solid well-rounded boxer puncher who is likely the second or a close third best in all categories. That ability to go anywhere and adjust to anything, coupled with proven heart, ring smarts, and will-to-win make him very dangerous indeed. He enters the 168 lbs rankings at a high mark on the basis of his sterling reign as the IBF 160 lbs champion, and his demolition of Miranda at super middleweight in June 2008.

The Bottom 5: Librado Andrade, Jermain Taylor, Andre Dirrell, Saiko Bika, Robert Steiglitz.

Sources: boxrec.com; live fight footage; re-plays on ESPN and YouTube.