Top Ten: Super Middleweight
Steve Farhood rates the leading fighters in the relatively short history of a division turned bigtime mainly to European boxers
A question that has puzzled philosophers dating back to Socrates, Confucius, Aristotle, and Don King: How can a division that has flaunted world titlists such as Sugar Ray Leonard, Thomas Hearns, Roy Jones, Iran Barkley and James Toney be dominated by fighters from the UK and the rest of Europe?
The super middleweight class is 23 years old, and there have been 41 different champions, of which only 13 have been American.
The heart and soul of the super middleweights have been the fighters who committed to the division, made or at least solidified their reputations at 12st, and scored their most significant triumphs at the weight. For multi-division titlists like Leonard and Hearns, super middleweight was a mere pit stop. But Joe Calzaghe, Chris Eubank, Nigel Benn and Steve Collins turned a division into a prime battlefield.
On 3 November in Cardiff, Calzaghe will clash with fellow unbeaten Mikkel Kessler in a unification bout featuring titlists with a combined record of 82-0. The outcome will impact the pound-for-pound rankings, the super middleweight rankings and the all-time division rankings.
At a press conference announcing the fight, I asked both titlists to identify the best super middleweight of all. Calzaghe said he was number one, with Roy Jones second. Kessler said he was number one, but acknowledged that he'd have to beat Calzaghe to prove it.
Here, then, from a writer on the wrong side of the pond (Farhood is American), are the Top 10 super middleweights in division history.
1 ROY JONES
Jones occupies the highest perch for three reasons: 1) He won his share of the title by masterfully outboxing James Toney, who at the time was ranked second, pound for pound; 2) He made five defences, all by stoppage, and never lost at the weight; 3) He won the title at age 25 and vacated at 28, or to put it more simply, he reigned when Roy Jones was Roy Jones, a breathtaking, unique, overwhelming talent.
Toney aside, Jones's opposition at super middleweight wasn't memorable; his victims were Bryant Brannon, Vinny Pazienza, Antoine Byrd, Tony Thornton and Eric Lucas. Nonetheless, his performances were special. Against Paz, he won a round without absorbing a single blow.
A bout vs fellow titlist Nigel Benn would've been intriguing, but at that point in Jones's career, he wasn't going to lose to Benn or anybody else.
2 JOE CALZAGHE
A 10-year title run and 20 successful defences is the stuff of legends, and the Welsh southpaw is still rolling. Should he convincingly defeat Kessler, I'll place him above Jones.
To place the numbers in perspective, consider that among today's titlists, Calzaghe's reign is seven years longer than that of the runners-up, lightweight Juan Diaz and strawweight Yutaka niida.
Calzaghe has been uneven. He's suffered several injuries, struggled through mediocre performances, and bested forgettable challengers, including Will McIntyre, Rick Thornberry and Tocker Pudwill. Moreover, 18 of his 20 defences have come in the UK. But the positives are sparkling: He won his first title by dethroning an itimidating presence and established titlist in Chris Eubank, rose from a devastating knockdown to stop Byron Mitchell, and schooled Jeff Lacy, who was 21-0 and labeled a mini-Tyson.
At this point, Calzaghe is defined by his dominance over Lacy, who is dismissed as having been overrated only because of the thoroughness of Calzaghe's victory. If the left-hander defeats Kessler, we'll have to reconsider his credentials for the second time in 20 months.
3 NIGEL BENN
With "The Dark Destroyer", there was balance: A former belt-holder at middleweight, Benn followed nine successful defences at 12st with losses in three consecutive title bouts. Title fight wins over Mauro Galvano (twice), Lou Gent and danny Perez don't score a lot of points, but his rematch defence against arch-rival Eubank (D 12), fought before 42,000 fans at Old Trafford, was the division's most significant bout to that point, and his tragic off-the-floor stoppage of fearsome puncher Gerald McClellan was as savage a bout as any in the '90s.
The majority of observers thought Benn nicked Eubank in their 1993 unification showdown. In fact, a point deduction for punching low cost Benn the verdict.
4 CHRIS EUBANK
Sadly, what McClellan was to Benn, Michael Watson was to Eubank. In one of the best fights of the decade (and one of the most dramatic turnarounds in history), Eubank won a vacant title by rising from the first knockdown of his career and immediately dropping Watson. He finished his rival early in the next round, and Watson, severly injured, never fought again.
Eubank mad 14 successful defences. Like most long-reigning titlists, his resume includes some forgettable challenges (Mauricio Costa, John Jarvis, Sam Storey), but his draw with Benn and his points win in Germany over former and future titlist Graciano Rocchigiani, who was 35-0 at the time, elevate him over almost all other super middles.
It was before Calzaghe's title-fight win over Eubank that the division developed its reputation as a British stronghold. And even though they fought each other only once at the weight, Eubank and Benn are responsible.
5 JAMES TONEY
It can be argued that at his best, Toney was a better fighter than both Benn and Eubank, but his stay at super middle was relatively short, and his horrendous points loss to Jones deserves penalty.
What to make of Toney's title-winning stoppage of Iran Barkley? "The Blade" had twice beaten Hearns, but had also suffered a first-round KO at the hands of Benn. That aside, Toney, who always struggled to make 12st, defended against Tim Littles, who was 24-0, and comprehensively defeated Prince Charles Williams, who had reigned with distinction at light-heavyweight.
Suffice to say that when we consider Toney's career in its entirety, only a small portion of the focus is applied to his days in this division.
