With the recent elevation of Sergio Martinez to WBC emeritus Champion, that allowed unknown Sebastian Zbik to become the third German holder of the middleweight division.
With no great rivalries out there, I aim to analyse the four champions and which fighters could potentially dethrone them and show how at world level, the Middleweight division is declining for the time being.
WBC: Sebastian Zbik 30-0 10 KO's
Zbik was promoted to the full title after being interim champion, something he won in 2009.
His unblemished record on paper is impressive, but if we look at the opponents he has fought, it looks a little inconspicuous. His best three wins were against Domenico Spada (twice) via UD and a 4th Round TKO over Ruben Varon. His first fight with Spada was close before being a little bit more decisive the second time round.
Universum are his promoters and they are notorious for giving their champions easy defences and protecting their record. Zbik must now face Julio Cesar Chavez Jr in his first fight as full champion. Zbik and Universum are between a rock and a hard place because they can’t go back on the WBC’s generosity and fight an over matched fighter instead of facing Chavez Jr.
Prediction for future: I suspect his 0 will go very soon as I see Chavez Jr having all the tools to beat him. He may take a voluntary defence as Chavez Jr is fighting soon but then a big money fight in the States may come calling for the Chavez defence.
WBA: Felix Sturm 34-2 14 KO’s
Without going into too much fuss about the politics of the WBA, Sturm will be my main focus as I see him as the true WBA champion.
He is in his second reign as Champion for the WBA, previously being a WBO champion (lost to De La Hoya) and WBA title holder before losing in his first defence to Javier Castillejo. His record is also padded, with his best wins against Ruben Varon, Sebastian Slyvester and Giovanni Lorenzo. He does have that loss to De La Hoya as well.
He recently split from Universum after a lengthy court case and decided to go his own way, with help from Arena Box. His first fight was against Lorenzo, easily winning and his second defence is against Ronald Hearns, son of the great Tommy Hearns.
Prediction for future: I think he is perhaps the most talented of the German World Champions and if he gets past Hearns he may fancy a shot at the undisputed title with the WBC and IBF straps being held in Germany.
IBF: Sebastian Slyvester 34-3-1 16 KO’s
Slyvester won the IBF title after edging out Giovanni Lorenzo in 2009.
Slyvester is, for me the weakest of the German champions. His defences have been scatty to say the least. In his first defence he fought Billy Lyell and TKO’d him before facing Roman Karmazin and drawing a fight I personally thought he lost. His next defence against Mahir Oral was comfortable. His record is padded. His best wins coming over Lorenzo, Amin Asikainen and Castillejo. However his two most notable losses are from Asikainen and Sturm.
Sauerland promote him and whilst they are more likely to take risks, I personally think they are also very soft. Slyvester was supposed to face Medhi Bouala (who?) in his fourth defence but withdrew ill. Daniel Geale is his mandatory.
Prediction for future: Slyvester’s days as champion are numbered. There are fighters out there that can beat him easily. Sturm and Zbik may fancy a shot at him and with Geale as a mandatory; I can’t see his reign as champion lasting much longer.
WBO: Dimitry Pirog 17-0 14 KO’s
Pirog won the the title with an amazing 5th round TKO over highly rated Daniel Jacobs.
He hasn’t fought since that win but he looked very impressive in doing so. I was instantly a fan. A hurtful puncher with good reach and good skills. The Americans took to him immediately and I believe once Martinez moves on, he is the future of the division. His record has no other notable names.
His promoters obviously knew when to pull the trigger with Pirog and I have to compliment them on doing so. I don’t know much about Artie Pellulo but he seems to know what he is doing with his fighters.
Prediction for future: There are a lot of tough fights out there, but I can see Pirog seeing off most challengers. If the Germans will allow him, I can see him getting a unification fight, or even a shot at Martinez. However, I can also see him being avoided like the plague.
Challengers: Whilst we don’t have the best crop holding the four belts at the moment, I believe things could be looking up in this division despite its current lack of quality. Martinez is without doubt the number one guy out there and challengers to his lineal title are going to be far and few between.
Matthew Macklin and Darren Barker lead the current British interest. Despite calls for them to fight, Barker looks like to have been avoided by Macklin again. Though Macklin’s alternative of a comebacking Ronald ‘Winky’ Wright is not a bad alternative. Also, Irelands Andy Lee has been touted as a potential world champion for some time now and may well get his shot in the future.
Australians Daniel Geale and Garth Wood have burst onto the scene as well and could both challenge and win titles in the near future.
Gennady Glovkin (regular) and Hassam N’Dam N’Jikam (interim) are holders of minor WBA belts and seem to be on a collision course of their own so that could be a very tasty match up to look out for.
The North American interest seems to be waning sadly after great champions such as Sugar Ray Robinson, Marvin Hagler, Sugar Ray Leonard, Tommy Hearns, Roy Jones Jr, Bernard Hopkins and Oscar De La Hoya. Peter Manfredo and Daniel Jacobs are perhaps the best of the USA and the exciting David Lemieux is one of the leading lights in an ever improving Canadian fight scene.
For the time being however, we may have to deal with duff Middleweight fights at World Level but once these contenders start fighting each other and perhaps end the German dominance, we may see some gloss return to this historic division.
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