By Scott Gilfoid: The Ring has reportedly stripped super middleweight Andre Ward (27-0, 14 KOs) of his Ring Champion belt due to him not having defended his title against a top #5 contender in the last two years.
Ward hasn’t fought since he beat Edwin Rodriguez in November of 2013. Ward has been out of the ring due to injuries and promotional issues. Ward’s last fight against a top guy before that was against Chad Dawson in September 2012.
What’s interesting is that The Ring not only removed Ward from the being The Ring Champion, but they also dropped him from the top 10. This leaves the following fighters as The Ring’s top 10 guys in the super middleweight division:
1. Carl Froch
2. Arthur Abraham
3. George Groves
4. James DeGale
5. Robert Stieglitz
6. Anthony Dirrell
7. Gilberto Ramirez
8. Andre Dirrell
9. Julio Cesar Chavez Jr
10. Felix Sturm
I don’t agree with that ranking at all. I see the top 10 fighters in the super middleweight division being as follows:
1. Andre Dirrell
2. Anthony Dirrell
3. Carl Froch
4. Julio Cesar Chavez Jr
5. Arthur Abraham
6. James DeGale
7. Sakio Bika
8. Robert Stieglitz
9. Gilberto Ramirez
10. Felix Sturm
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jPW5OW5jJ54
I don’t rate George Groves as being a top 10 super middleweight, even though the World Boxing Council has Groves ranked #1 by their sanctioning body. I think that’s a ridiculous ranking given Groves’ two knockout defeats to Froch and his poor showings against Christopher Rebrasse and Denis Douglin. That’s why I don’t agree with The Ring having Groves at No.3. I also don’t rate Arthur Abraham as being No.2.
Abraham was schooled by Andre Dirrell, Carl Froch and Andre Ward in the Super Six tournament, and ever since then, Abraham has fought less than the best opposition.
Soon to be 35, I don’t see Abraham as having improved since the Super Six tournament. He’s older, slower and he throws fewer punches. For that reason, I see Abraham as being rated no higher than #5.
I can’t rate Froch at No.1, because I had him losing to Andre Dirrell in the Super Six tournament, and I believe that Dirrell has dramatically improved since then. The Dirrell that fought Froch in 2009 in a much different fighter than the Dirrell of 2015. The current Dirrell is a better fighter with better power, and he’s sitting down on his punches a lot more than he did back then. As such, I see Dirrell as being a much better fighter than Froch is now, and I see him easily beating Froch if a rematch between them took place.
I don’t rate James DeGale to higher than the Dirrell brothers. DeGale is too slow, too flat-footed and too much of a slapper for me to rank him above the Dirrell brothers, Froch, Chavez Jr or Abraham. For that reason, I see DeGale at No.5. I do believe that DeGale is better than Groves right now, but that’s not saying much. I think Groves has been badly exposed by Froch, and I don’t see him going anywhere in the future after he faces Anthony Dirrell and likely gets knocked out.
I rate Sakio Bika over Robert Stieglitz, because I see Stieglitz as little more than a former paper title holder. Stieglitz never fought anyone that I call a good fighter and he lost to Abraham when he finally did.
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