By Cliff Rold

The Middleweight division can do better than Felix Sturm-Ronald Hearns.  It can probably do better than Sergio Martinez-Sergiy Dzinziruk.

How much better than the latter is up for debate.

As has been reported here at BoxingScene by Director of Operations Rick Reeno, HBO’s push to see Martinez (46-2-2, 25 KO) make his second defense of the lineal 160 lb. crown against the reigning WBO 154 lb. titlist (37-0, 22 KO) is about to bear fruit.

There are some grumblings against the fight.  They fall on deaf ears in this corner.  Dzinziruk is a quality challenge for Martinez.  Could it be argued that he is unproven a mere six pounds up the scale?

Sure.

But then, who is really proven at Middleweight right now? 

160 lbs. is not a bad division as 2011 kicks off.  By the end of the year, it could be one of boxing’s hot spots.  It’s just not there yet.  In the interim, and coming off of three straight against Paul Williams and/or Kelly Pavlik, Dzinziruk qualifying as the step down says a lot about how rugged the Martinez path has been.

Dzinziruk, rated #1 at Jr. Middleweight by BoxingScene, has held his belt since 2005, making six defenses, with wins over solid foes like Daniel Santos, Lukas Konecny (in a close one), and Joel Julio.  A difficult, 6’0 southpaw, the 34-year old Ukrainian-born stands a reasonable chance at the upset.

Are there better challengers to the real Middleweight throne?  WBO titlist Dimitry Pirog (17-0, 14 KO) can be an answer in the affirmative.  His rousing win over Daniel Jacobs last year put him at the center of a storm of buzz and his name was bandied about for this challenge.  IT can be taken as a compliment that he seems to be getting the ‘let’s let that one be worth a little more money’ treatment.

There’s certainly no reason not to let it wait just a bit.  Pirog is hardly a household name; the champion isn’t for that mater just yet either.  Martinez-Pirog could be special later in the year or early next.  So too could a challenge from Gennady Golovkin (20-0, 17 KO).

The former Olympian looks like he might, quietly, be the real future of the division.  A combination of speed and power with great fundamentals, Golovkin is a talent in search of real professional proof.  He holds a WBA belt while the so-called ‘Super’ WBA champ Sturm (34-2-1, 13 KO) looks elsewhere.

Sturm can also be seen as a serious option for Martinez and might be before the year is over.  While lacking in pop, Sturm has speed and a beautiful jab, a potentially potent combination against the sometimes unorthodox attacks of Martinez.  Sturm’s lack of profile outside Germany in recent years, and occasionally dull fights, could be a turnoff for some but it would be a good match.

If not Sturm, then a third match with Williams also looms and is a match the sports fans should demand.  Of the bunch, Martinez-Williams III stands out most because it is the only match that creates a sense of excitement at the mere thought.  

And that’s the real problem at Middleweight.  The biggest young threats (Pirog and Golovkin, and the unmentioned Matt Korbov to boot) need a little more seasoning, the next best fighter is wasting time with Ronald Hearns, and the champion’s to date defining rival is still waking up from the last time they locked horns.

It’s a division on the verge of popping off that just ain’t quite there yet…but it will arrive.  One suspects that when it gets there, it will have been worth this brief wait.

For now, Martinez-Dzinziruk should be enough to tide the world over.     

Cliff Rold is a member of the Ring Magazine Ratings Advisory Panel, the Yahoo Pound for Pound voting panel, and the Boxing Writers Association of America.  He can be reached at roldboxing@hotmail.com