By Sizzle JKD: Here’s the bottom line: the middleweight division is the best division in boxing and Gennady Golovkin is primed to take over the division by 2016.

Why is the 160-pound division the best in boxing? Let’s start with Golovkin.

At 31-0 with 28 KO’s, Golovkin is arguably the most feared fighter in the sport. He has defeated his last 18 opponents by knockout, and his resume isn’t too shabby either. He has an impressive win against Marco Antonio Rubio, who knocked out another feared fighter in the division, David Lemieux, a few years ago.

He made easy work of Daniel Geale, who is currently Ring Magazine’s fourth ranked middleweight and currently holds two insignificant belts – the IBF Pan Pacific and WBO Asia Pacific Middleweight titles.

Perhaps what goes unnoticed about GGG’s accomplishments is that he defeated four world-class middleweights during his amateur years – Andy Lee, Lucian Bute, Matt Korobov, and Andre Dirrell.

(Photo credit: Will Hart/HBO) I expect Triple G to take care of business this Saturday against Martin Murray and defend his WBA Middleweight Title by stoppage, thereby paving the way for him to eventually clean out the division.

But will he?

Standing in his way are a multitude of solid fighters at 160 – Lemieux, Peter Quillin, Andy Lee, Hassan N’Dam, Daniel Jacobs, Billy Joe Saunders, Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. and let’s not forget the 5’7” Cotto, who is currently the lineal and WBC champion of the division. Moreover, household names at junior middleweight such as Canelo Alvarez, Erislandy Lara, Demetrius “Boo Boo” Andrade, and Austin Trout could easily make the jump to 160 in the near future and make things even more interesting in the division.

With a solid mix of must-see-TV power punchers (GGG, Lemieux, Lee), boxer-punchers (Quillin, Alvarez, Cotto, Chavez Jr.), and slick boxers (Andrade, N’Dam, Lara), the division is ripe with talent.

Because of the potential for numerous can’t-miss fights, we can conceivably witness the next group of boxing rivalries to equal the great boxing rivalries of the ‘70s, ‘80s and ‘00s. This can lead to title unification bouts between some of the division’s strongest fighters.

In April, Lee is set to defend his WBO strap against the very formidable Kid Chocolate Quillin, who is arguably the most underrated and least talked about boxer in the division. Quillin, who says he is planning to take back what’s rightfully his, should take care of business and soundly defeat Lee.

The exciting knockout artist Lemieux, meanwhile, will be looking to gain the IBF belt by taking on N’Dam, who probably has the best and stiffest jab in the division. This will be a challenge like no other for Lemieux because of N’Dam’s excellent skills as a boxer and will forge a true test on Lemieux’s ability to be able to adjust his game against skilled opponents. N’Dam notably has never been knocked out in his career and his lone loss came against Quillin, who took the WBO belt from him a couple years ago and is the same WBO belt Quillin is now trying to re-possess from Lee.

Then there’s Cotto, who is the lineal champ by virtue of his dominant win over the over-the-hill Sergio Martinez. Some say Cotto doesn’t belong in this division and that his victory over Martinez is tainted because Martinez’ knees were already shot when he fought Cotto. However, you still cannot downplay the victory as Cotto was the much smaller man and thoroughly dominated the long-time middleweight kingpin. Only time will tell if Cotto will test his mettle by taking on legitimate middleweights and actually defends his belt at a true 160-pound level.

Two wild cards in the division are Chavez Jr. and Alvarez. We haven’t heard much noise from Chavez since his disappointing loss to Martinez in 2012 but make no mistake about it, he is still a threat. Alvarez, who walks around at 170 lbs, is a bonafide middleweight and will one day make his move up to 160. Golden Boy promoter Oscar De La Hoya believes Alvarez still has a lot of unfinished business at 154, and while this is true, the prize fight future and money making opportunities for Alvarez lies at 160.

There is a lot of optimism for the division’s prospects to flourish in the next couple of years, as potential rivalries and great fights are seemingly right around the corner. We can eventually see Golovkin, Lemieux, Quillin, and Alvarez all take turns beating each other up in the quest for middleweight greatness and become the new quartet to rival the Sugar Ray Leonard-Tommy Hearns-Marvin Hagler-Roberto Duran foursome that gave us so many memorable battles in the ‘80s.

There is even talk that the WBC, WBA, and IBF may eventually implement championship tournaments in every division, similar to the Super Six Tournament a few years ago that determined the ultimate super middleweight champion in Andre Ward. The three sanctioning bodies will be hosting a summit meeting on February 27 to discuss the prospects of making the tournament a reality.

By the time Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao retire, don’t think for one second that the excitement in the sport of boxing will vanish. The enthusiasm for the sport will remain long after Pacquiao and Mayweather are gone, and it may just start with the middleweight division.