5 greatest super middleweights of all time
David Benavidez and Caleb Plant are two of the best active 168-pounders, which makes their pay-per-view fight on Saturday in Las Vegas one of the best-possible matchups in the division.
They are the latest in a long line of elite super middleweights since the division went main stream in the mid-1980s, including current undisputed champion and pound-for-pounder Canelo Alvarez.
Here the best of the best at 168.
CANELO ALVAREZ
Record at 168: 7-0 (4 KOs)
Years at 168: 2018-present
Titles: Undisputed champion
Key victories: Callum Smith, Billy Joe Saunders, Caleb Plant
Background: Cases can be made for Carl Froch, Nigel Benn, Chris Eubank Jr. and Steven Collins at No. 5. However, Alvarez, the longtime pound-for-pounder, has done enough in the fights he’s had at super middleweight to warrant his inclusion on the list. He’s 7-0 at the weight if you count his 164.5-pound fight against Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. in 2017. And in a span of four of those fights between 2018 and 2021 he collected all four major belts to become undisputed champion. Titles don’t mean as much as they once did but “undisputed” is significant. And all three of his key victories – over Smith, Saunders and Plant – were decisive. He’s the man at 168.
JOE CALZAGHE
Record at 168: 33-0 (22 KOs)
Years at 168: 1993-2007
Titles: Undisputed champion
Key victories: Chris Eubank, Robin Reid, Richie Woodhall, Jeff Lacy, Mikkel Kessler
Background: Calzaghe is polarizing. Some think he was a great fighter — he’s in the International Boxing Hall of Fame – and some think he’s overrated. I rate him high. He was a quick, gifted athlete, polished boxer and hard puncher; he had no significant weaknesses. And he had a good resume. People make too much of his victory over the limited Jeff Lacy but he had 21 successful title defenses over more than a decade. That’s impressive. The main criticism I have of Calzaghe is that he stayed in the safe confines of the U.K. I wish he had fought in the States before taking on past-their-prime versions of Bernard Hopkins and Roy Jones Jr. Still, I think a lot of Calzaghe.
JAMES TONEY
Record at 168: 21-1-1 (18 KOs)
Years at 168: 1988-94
Titles: Undisputed champion
Key victories: Mike McCallum, Iran Barkley, Tim Littles, Charles Williams
Background: Toney was a boxing wizard, as we saw from middleweight all the way up to heavyweight. He was special at 168. Only Roy Jones Jr. was able to beat him in that division and the loser would argue that he was weight drained for that fight, after which he moved up to 175. He outpointed fellow Hall of Famer McCallum in the second of their three fights with him to win the IBF title and successfully defended four times – against Barkley, Tony Thornton, Littles and Williams – before falling to Jones. Some might say Toney didn’t have a large sample of 168-pound fights at the highest level but I’m comfortable having him on my list because of a strong slate of foes and his dominance.
ANDRE WARD
Record at 168: 20-0 (8 KOS)
Years at 168: 2004-2013
Titles: WBA, WBC
Key victories: Edison Miranda, Mikkel Kessler, Allan Green, Saki Bika, Arthur Abraham, Carl Froch, Chad Dawson, Edwin Rodriguez
Background: Ward was akin to an anaconda. He would wrap himself around his opponents, neutralize everything they tried to do and devour them en route to a wide decision or late knockout. The last American man to win an Olympic gold medal was a brilliant boxer, which is why he never lost a fight even though he faced a who’s who of top contenders. He burst onto the pro scene in the Super Six World Boxing Classic, in which as a young fighter he beat in succession Kessler, Green, Abraham and Froch to win the tournament. He then went on to become a champion at 175. He was special.
ROY JONES JR.
Record at 168: (13-0, 11 KOs)
Years at 168: 1990-96
Titles: IBF (1994-96)
Key victories: Sugar Boy Malinga, James Toney, Vinny Pazienza, Merqui Sosa, Eric Lucas
Background: Jones only had 13 fights at the weight but he might’ve been at his peek during that period. He won them all, 11 by knockout. He became the first to stop tough Malinga in his second fight at super middleweight, went down to 160 and stopped Thomas Tate to win the IBF middleweight title, and then moved back up and recorded his defining super middleweight victory, a clear decision over fellow Hall of Famer Toney to win the IBF belt in that division He scored knockouts in his five defenses before moving up to 175. The speed, the power, the ring generalship and the pizzaz were all there. He was basically untouchable at the weight.
