10. Murray Sutherland
IBF super-middleweight champion 1984
Record: 63 fights, 48 wins, 14 defeats, 1 draw
Born in Edinburgh, Sutherland emigrated to Canada with his family, based himself in the States upon turning pro and went into the record books as the first-ever boxer to win world honours at 12 stones.
At light-heavyweight, Sutherland, who wore tartan shorts when he boxed, was beaten in world-title challenges by both Michael Spinks and Matthew Saad Muhammad.
He went 10 rounds with Thomas Hearns in 1983 and when the IBF introduced the super-middleweight division the following year, Sutherland was in position to box for the vacant belt.
He beat Ernie Singletary for the belt, but four months later, he lost the belt in his first defence to Ching-Pal Park.
He retired in 1986 after a loss to Lindell Holmes. Sutherland could punch, 40 of his 48 wins were inside-the-distance.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xxkn_RW3kMc
9. Glenn Catley
WBC super-middleweight champion 2000
Record: 36 fights, 29 wins, 7 defeats
Catley’s challenge for Richie Woodhall’s WBC super-middleweight belt in September 1998 ended in a controversial points defeat. Even Woodhall admitted Catley deserved the decision.
The Bristolian secured another world-title chance in dramatic style. He headed to Montreal to face Eric Lucas in an eliminator for the WBC title – and forced a last-round stoppage.
Markus Beyer had taken the title from Woodhall and Catley went to Frankfurt to challenge him in May, 2000.
After 11 rounds, the fight was level on the scorecards – and Catley smashed Beyer to the floor in the 12th with a right hand. Beyer got up, but had nothing left and it was stopped.
Catley’s reign was brief. Dingaan Thobela took the belt off him and after the South African vacated, Catley met Lucas for the title again. He was beaten in seven.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wRLxSM-hQpM
8. Robin Reid
WBC super-middleweight champion 1996-97
Record: 51 fights, 42 wins, 8 defeats, 1 draw
Reid, a bronze medallist at the Barcelona Olympics in 1992, won his world title in Italy, stopping WBC champion Vincenzo Nardiello in seven rounds.
‘The Grim Reaper’ made three successful defences, then lost the title to South Africa’s Sugar Boy Malinga.
Reid went on to give Joe Calzaghe one of his toughest fights in a challenge for his WBO belt, was then unlucky to drop a decision to IBF and WBA champion Sven Ottke and stopped by Jeff Lacy in another world-title bid.
7. Richie Woodhall
WBC super-middleweight champion 1998-99
Record: 29 fights, 26 wins, 3 defeats
Woodhall was a world-class amateur, winning bronze at the 1988 Olympics after losing to Roy Jones Jr, and as a pro, he had his best moments up at 12 stones.
Trained by his father, Len, Woodhall moved up after losing a challenge to Keith Holmes for the WBC middleweight title – and took the WBC title off Sugar Boy Malinga in May 1998.
After two successful defences, Woodhall lost the title to Markus Beyer and he retired after a defeat to good friend Joe Calzaghe in a WBO-title bid in December 2000.
6. James DeGale
IBF Super-middleweight champion 2015-2017
Fights 26 Wins 23 Lost 2 Draws 1
Until he ran into Caleb Truax earlier this month and was outpointed, DeGale was regarded as the world’s No 1 at 12 stones by most, including ‘Boxing News’ and ‘The Ring.’
DeGale blames the loss on rushing back from shoulder surgery – and he clearly wasn’t himself.
There were no signs of the southpaw slickness that took him to both Olympic gold and the IBF championship in the pros.
He outpointed Andre Dirrell for the vacant belt, defended against Lucian Bute and Rogelio Medina and then fought out a hard draw with WBC champion Badou Jack in a unification fight.
5. George Groves
WBA Super world super-middleweight champion 2017 –
Fights 30 Wins 27 Lost 3
At the fourth attempt, Groves became a world champion in May, 2017, taking the WBA Super world title off Fedor Chudinov with a sixth-round stoppage at Sheffield United’s Bramall Lane ground.
Groves, who had previously fallen short against Carl Froch (twice) and Badou Jack, then set his sights on the lucrative World Boxing Super Series.
Predictably, he stopped Jamie Cox in four rounds and his semi-final against Chris Eubank sr in Manchester on February 17 is the first biggest domestic fight of 2018.
4. Nigel Benn
WBC super-middleweight champion 1992-96
Record: 48 fights, 42 wins, 5 defeats, 1 draw
An electrifying slugger remembered as one of Britain’s most exciting post-War fighters, Benn went up to 12 stones after losing his WBO middleweight title to Chris Eubank in the fight-of-the-decade in 1990.
He won the WBC title in Italy with a four-round cuts win over Mauro Galvano in Italy, beat him again in a rematch, drew with Eubank and won his career-defining fight with power-puncher Gerald McClellan in February, 1995.
Benn was punched out of the ring in the opening round and went on to win a savage fight in 10 rounds. The American was left with permanent brain damage.
He lost the belt to South African Sugar Boy Malinga in March 1996 and retired after back-to-back losses to Steve Collins.
3. Chris Eubank Sr
WBO super-middleweight champion 1991-95
Record: 52 fights, 45 wins, 5 defeats, 2 draws
An outspoken showman, Chris Eubank called boxing a “mug’s game” – but he had more world-title fights than any other British fighter.
He engaged in 24 WBO world-title fights – and made 14 defences of the WBO super-middleweight title.
Eubank stepped up to 12 stones after an unconvincing points win over Michael Watson in a defence of his WBO middleweight title.
They met in a rematch for the WBO super-middleweight title in September, 1991 and going into the last, Eubank trailed in all three cards.
He got the KO he needed in the last – but there were terrible consequences with Watson left permanently disabled.
Eubank defended the belt 14 times. He was considered fortunate to escape with a draw following his rematch with Nigel Benn and followed that with arguably his best performance, a points win over 35-0 Graciano Rocchigiani in Germany.
The belt was lost to Steve Collins, who went on to win a rematch. Eubank retired after that but came back to lose WBO title fights to Joe Calzaghe and Thompson.
2. Carl Froch
WBC super-middleweight champion 2008-2010 and 2010-2011,IBF super-middleweight champion 2012-, WBA super-middleweight champion 2013-
Record: 35 fights, 33 wins, 2 defeats
The hard-to-his-core Midlander had to wait until past his 30th birthday to get a shot at world honours and when it came he grasped it, out toughing Canadian Jean Pascal for the vacant WBC super-middleweight title in Nottingham in December, 2008.
Froch then entered the “Super Six” tournament and after a dramatic, dying seconds stoppage win over Jermain Taylor, he was beaten by Mikkel Kessler, who was then forced to vacate with an eye injury.
The belt was regained with a clear-cut points win over Arthur Abraham and though Andre Ward outboxed Froch in the “Super Six” final, he responded with a five round thrashing of IBF champion Lucian Bute to become a three-time world champion.
Froch went on to avenge the loss to Kessler and finished his career with a pair of grudge fights against George Groves. What even Froch admitted was a premature stoppage to their first fight set up a rematch in front of 80,000 fans at Wembley Stadium – and Froch settled the argument with an eighth-round KO.
1. Joe Calzaghe
WBO super-middleweight champion 1997-2006, WBO and IBF super-middleweight champion 2006-2007, WBA, WBC and WBO super-middleweight champion 2007-2008, WBA and WBO super-middleweight champion 2008
Record: 46 fights, 46 wins
The Welsh southpaw went on to be a dominant WBO champion after winning the vacant title with a coming-of-age victory over Chris Eubank in October, 1997.
Eubank was having his 22nd world-title fight, Calzaghe his 23rd pro fight – and ringsiders wondered if the chance had come too soon for Calzaghe. Within 20 seconds, they had their answer. Calzaghe floored Eubank and went on to win on points.
Calzaghe got the worldwide recognition he craved by taking the IBF belt from Jeff Lacy in March, 2006. Lacy was being hailed as a 12 stone Mike Tyson – and Calzaghe pasted him. The punch stats showed Calzaghe hit the pre-fight betting favourite with 1,006 rat-a-tat punches in a thoroughly one-sided fight.
Calzaghe went on to hand Dane Mikkel Kessler his first defeat in another unification fight and up at light-heavyweight, he targeted the legends. He beat Bernard Hopkins and finally, Roy Jones Jr was outpointed at Madison Square Garden in November, 2008 for Calzaghe’s 46th and last win as a professional boxer.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s_Mobffky2w
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Top 10 Middleweights Of All Time