Will 2014 Finally Bring About Middleweight Unification?

The middleweight division could be the best weight class in the sport today, featuring a talented cast of characters from nearly every continent on the globe but will the titles ever be unified?

Just who is top man at 160 pounds? That’s impossible to determine until the major players face each other, as the super middleweights did in the “Super Six” tourney of 2009-2011 that proved Andre Ward to be the king at 168.

If a similar scenario were to occur at middleweight, which six fighters would make the grade for a tournament?

The first two entrants are easy – Sergio Martinez and Gennady Golovkin; after that, it gets hard to fill the remaining four slots as the competition is fierce.

After some deliberation, Peter Quillin, Dmitry Pirog and Felix Sturm gain spots three, four and five and that leaves the hardest decision of all, number six.

Martin Murray, Sam Soliman, Daniel Geale, Marco Antonio Rubio, Darren Barker and Matthew Macklin all deserve consideration but given his strong performances against Martinez and Sturm, Murray gets the nod.

Soliman, Geale and Rubio are on the stand-by list

If we go with the hypothetical pairings Martinez vs. Sturm, Golovkin vs. Murray, Quillin vs. Pirog, the first round of the tournament should be interesting.

Martinez and Sturm are both a few years past their best but Sturm doesn’t have either the high work rate or crippling one-punch power to break the dominance that the quick and elusive Martinez brings to the table: Martinez tires late but still wins by UD.

Murray is a very solid contender but has the misfortune of going up against a prime Golovkin, who can both punch with power and accuracy. Murray presses Golovkin early and has some success but once “GGG” gets a read on the Englishman’s timing, he starts to dominate and forces a 10th round compassionate referee stoppage.

Quillin and Pirog have the most entertaining contest of he opening round with the fast-handed Quillin enjoying an early advantage over the Russian, who takes the first half of the contest to shake off the ring rust. Once that happens, the shifty Pirog finds his rhythm and counters a tiring Quillin mercilessly, sweeping the second half of the fight, knocking down the New Yorker in the final round to win a close decision.

The second round of the tourney begins with a rematch between Martinez and Murray, who met originally in 2012 and this time the awkward Argentine doesn’t pull out the close-call victory as Murray grinds down the aging boxer, who just barely manages to survive the final round, exhausted and nearly out of his feet. Murray pulls off the shocking upset.

Golovkin is up next, this time against Quillin, who surprises the Kazakh puncher by going all out in the early rounds in attempt to knock out the notorious slow starter. The crowd is stunned as Golovkin hits the canvas in the second but the third is a torrid toe to toe slugfest as Golovkin turns the tables on “Kid Chocolate”, who is floored late in the round and doesn’t get up.

The last contest of the tournament’s second round features Pirog against Sturm. Sturm turns back the clock to control the pace of the early rounds and is surprisingly accurate with the jab and right hand but the Cologne resident is outworked by Pirog, who wrests control from Sturm down the stretch after slowing down the older man with a sustained body attack, winning a split decision.

The third round of the tournament kicks off with Golovkin vs. Sturm and this time Felix can’t find his rhythm, spending almost all the rounds on the defensive. Golovkin uses a pinpoint jab and just enough right hands to keep his adversary covering up behind a high guard. Only when Golovkin takes off the sixth and seventh rounds does Sturm goes on the offensive but he can never catch “GGG” with anything flush. Golovkin resumes his dominance in the eighth and by the tenth Sturm’s corner throws in the towel.

Quillin and Murray are up next, with the British fighter favored to beat the American, who hasn’t scored a win yet in the tournament. But Quillin has faced the toughest matchmaking of any of the participants thus far and is just too quick for Murray, who seems flat-footed against his more mobile foe. Quillin won’t stand and fight, rather nipping in and out, and Murray resorts to flat out chasing his antagonist but cannot cut off the ring as Quillin wins a wide points verdict.

Martinez and Pirog engage in the final bout of the tournament’s third round and despite being favored to win, Pirog can’t solve the southpaw riddle of Martinez, who baffles the Russian with footwork and feints. Martinez attacks every time he draws Pirog off balance, dancing just out of range from the return fire. Pirog seems to crack the code in the fifth when he hurts Martinez with a left hand to the ribs but when he comes in for the kill is knocked cold with a perfect Martinez left counter that Pirog never saw coming.

The fourth round of the tournament features only the top four boxers so Sturm, at 0-3, is out while Quillin, 1-2, wins the tie-breaker with Murray, 1-2, due to defeating him in the previous round.

However, Quillin pulls out of the tournament after suffering a shoulder injury in training and is replaced by Daniel Geale, who will now face Martinez, 2-1.

Golovkin is the leader at 3-0 and is due to face Pirog, 2-1, but the Russian has withdrawn, citing leg injures suffered from his KO loss to Martinez. Sam Soliman wins the coin toss with Marco Antonio Rubio to replace Pirog.

Geale tries to make the most of his unexpected appearance in the tournament but has been out of the ring for quite some time and is punished for every mistake by Martinez, who is in fine form throughout the first half of the fight. Geale’s efforts pay off when Martinez slows in the seventh after injuring his left hand, but by the ninth, the South American is controlling the fight with just the jab and fine footwork. Geale has a good twelfth round as Martinez takes no chances, but it is too little, too late as the Argentine wins a wide decision.

Soliman starts his fight with Golovkin by refusing to engage the tournament leader, keeping distance over the first three rounds and ducking away any time Golovkin gets near. By the fourth, the crowd is openly booing and Golovkin is clearly frustrated. Looking to end the misery, the former Olympic Gold medallist starts to load up on every punch.

Soliman uses the opportunity to suddenly come alive, launching ripostes to the head of the surprised Golovkin. The late replacement steals a few rounds with stinging right hands that effectively nullify Golovkin’s jab. Golovkin regains control in the ninth by targeting Soliman’s body for the remainder of the bout but has to settle for an unsatisfying points win.

The tournament final between Golovkin and Martinez is hotly anticipated and lives up to it’s billing. Martinez comes out of the gate full of fire, fiercely attacking Golovkin over the first half of the round before dancing away the remainder. This approach continues, throwing Golovkin off his normal patterns and allowing Martinez to conserve energy. Golovkin breaks the fight open in the fifth when he downs Martinez with a snapping left hook to the body, right hook to the head combination.

Martinez beats the count but is nearly legless and down again from Golovkin’s followup assault, saved only by the bell to end the round. Martinez dances away from Golovkin in the sixth but strikes back in the seventh when Golovkin misses a right hand and eats a perfect left counter. Golovkin is frozen in his tracks and goes down after catching a right in the solar plexus.

“GGG” beats the count but is badly hurt for the first time in his career. Ironically, his success becomes his undoing as his never having to clinch or run his way out of trouble now translates into a lethal lack of experience. Martinez goes all out with both hands, battering Golovkin on the ropes, forcing a referee stoppage in the final seconds of the seventh.

Martinez wins the middleweight tournament with the upset of the year and retires afterward.

Hopefully, we’ll get to see a real unification round robin at 160 pounds in 2014.