Ranking Divisionales: Peso Súper Mediano

In his third title defense, England's DeGale and fellow world titleholder Badou Jack finally met in their much-anticipated unification fight on Jan. 14 in Brooklyn, New York. They put on a tremendous battle in which both men got knocked down -- Jack in the first round and DeGale in the 12th -- but it a was razor close fight all the way, and the judges' declared it a majority draw, allowing both to retain their titles. As appealing as a rematch would be it is unlikely because Jack is moving up in weight, leaving DeGale, who has had each of his title fights in North America, looking forward to finally returning home to make a defense but out until the summer because of injuries.
Next: TBA

2. Badou Jack (20-1-3)
Jack has come a long way since a shocking first-round knockout loss in a huge upset against Derek Edwards in 2014, winning his next four bouts in a row, including a decision against Anthony Dirrell to win a world title in April 2015 followed by a strong effort in a well-deserved split decision victory in his first defense against George Groves in September. In his second defense on April 30, Jack was given a draw in a hard-fought fight with former titlist Lucian Bute that Jack deserved to win. Despite the draw, Jack will move on to an excellent matchup -- a unification fight with James DeGale in the final of a four-man Showtime tournament. They met Jan. 14 and in a terrific potential fight of the year, they fought to a draw. Days later, Jack, as planned even before the bout, vacated his title and will move up to light heavyweight.
Next: TBA

3. Gilberto Ramirez (34-0)
Ramirez got his mandatory world title shot against Arthur Abraham in April 2016 on the Manny Pacquiao-Timothy Bradley Jr. III undercard. Ramirez dominated Abraham, winning 120-108 on all three scorecards to become the first Mexican fighter to win a super middleweight world title and only the second to win a world title above middleweight. A torn tendon in the middle finger of his right hand kept him out for the rest of 2016, but he will return for his first defense against Ukraine's Max Bursak (33-4-1) on a pay-per-view card Top Rank is putting on at the StubHub Center in Carson, California.
Next: April 22 vs. Bursak

4. Anthony Dirrell (30-1-1)
Since losing his world title to Badou Jack in his first defense in April 2015, Dirrell has fought only three times. He outpointed Marco Antonio Rubio and stopped Caleb Truax in the first round and then, after a nine-month layoff, returned Jan. 13 and destroyed Norbert Nemesapati in a one-sided fourth-round knockout win. Next up Dirrell will face England's Callum Smith (22-0) for the world title vacated by Jack in January.
Next: TBA vs. Smith

5. Andre Dirrell (25-2)
The 2004 U.S. Olympic bronze medalist dropped to 0-2 in world title bouts when he got knocked down twice in the second round and lost an otherwise competitive decision to England's James DeGale for a vacant belt in May 2015. In April 2016, Dirrell outpointed Australia's Blake Caparello in an awful fight in which Dirrell got knocked down in the second round but shook it off and cruised to a lopsided decision, 98-91 on all three scorecards. With DeGale sidelined by injuries, Dirrell will face Jose Uzcategui (26-1) for the interim belt on Showtime on the Gary Russell Jr.-Oscar Escandon undercard, with the winner having to face DeGale upon his return.
Next: May 20 vs. Uzcategui

6. George Groves (25-3)
Groves is 0-3 in world title fights with two knockout losses to British rival Carl Froch and a split decision to Badou Jack. But Groves has won four fights in a row since the loss to Jack, including a one-sided decision win -- 119-110, 119-109 and 119-109 -- against Germany's Eduard Gutknecht, a two-time world title challenger, on Nov. 18. The fight came with a cost: Gutknecht collapsed in his dressing room, had to undergo brain surgery and is in a coma. Groves will get a chance to fight for a vacant belt against Russia's Fedor Chudinov (14-1).
Next: TBA vs. Chudinov

7. Callum Smith (22-0)
Despite earning a mandatory world title shot in early 2016, England's Smith has won three fights in a row by knockout while staying busy awaiting the opportunity. Smith's world title shot was supposed to be next against the winner of the Jan. 14 world title unification bout between Badou Jack and James DeGale, but the fight was ruled a draw and Jack vacated the belt Smith was mandatory for. So Smith will instead face former titlist Anthony Dirrell (30-1-1) for the vacant title this spring.
Next: TBA vs. Dirrell

8. Arthur Abraham (45-5)
Abraham, who made 10 defenses when he owned a middleweight world title, came to Las Vegas to make the sixth defense of his second super middleweight title reign, against mandatory challenger Gilberto Ramirez in April 2016 and turned in a horrible performance in a shutout loss to give up his title with a whimper. He made his return July 16 and looked pretty good knocking out obscure Norwegian Tim-Robin Lihaug in the eighth round. He was due to face England's Martin Murray (33-4-1) in a rematch of a split decision in a 2015 title defense on Nov. 12 but suffered an elbow injury and withdrew. Now he is on target to face Germany's Robin Krasniqi (46-4) in an eliminator to become Ramirez's mandatory challenger.
Next: April 22 vs. Krasniqi

9. Tyron Zeuge (20-0-1)
Germany's Zeuge fought to a majority draw with titleholder Giovanni De Carolis in July 2016 but in the rematch in November, Zeuge scored a 12th-round knockout in an action-packed fight to win the belt. In his first defense, on March 25, Zeuge retained the title against Nigeria's Isaac Ekpo, the mandatory challenger, by fifth-round technical decision after suffering a bad cut on an accidental head butt.
Next: TBA

10. Jose Uzcategui (26-1)
Since losing a decision to Matt Korobov at middleweight in June 2014, Uzcategui, of Venezuela, has won four fights in a row at super middleweight, including a second-round knockout of then-undefeated Julius Jackson. He's the mandatory challenger for titlist James DeGale but with DeGale out with injuries, Uzcategui will face Andre Dirrell (25-2) for the interim belt.
Next: May 20 vs. Dirrell