Sunday, March 28th 2009
by K.M. STANSEN

I’d figure by now, a lot of hardcore boxing enthusiasts are sick and tired of hearing ‘the best division in boxing’ mentioned every time the word “Welterweight” is brought up during various fight night broadcasts. While it is true that Welterweight was so stacked out with name draws just a blinking memory back, it’s now relatively dry outside of a few stars and somehow the boxing media has not caught on yet, at the expense of not promoting some ridiculously deep divisions that are loaded with talent as of 2009. In this article we’re going to take a detailed look at 2 loaded out divisions, then compare them with the active Welterweight division, which will show both how the boxing landscape has changed in the last two years and how much more under looked divisions are booming with class A talent, only needing the matches to be made.


First, the division directly south of the supposed best was ironically viewed as the best up until late 2005 and is heating up into a hot pool of talent that may end up rivaling where it was at it’s hottest in 04′ and 05′. As everyone knows, the big match between P4P #1 and cemented Hall of Fame fighter Manny Pacquaio and top 10 p4p and possible Hall of Fame 140 king pin Ricky Hatton is taking place in May. This is a fight that is getting everyone, hardcore and casual fan alike, hopped up on and anxious and the type of fight that boxing needs, two big name elite level fighters squaring off in the prize ring in an event that promises for fireworks. Aside from having two top 10 pound for pounders within itself, Light Welterweight also offers now an array of really good fighters to compliment it.

An eyebrow has to be raised when looking at a talent set like this:

Ricky Hatton
Manny Pacquiao
Zab Judah
Nate Campbell
Kendall Holt
Timothy Bradley
Ricardo Torres
Victor Ortiz
Junior Witter
Paul Malignaggi
Juan Urango
Mike Alvarado
Andriy Kotelnik

….That my fellow boxing fans is a ‘platinum’ division and to make matters even better, Juan Manuel Marquez, the current P4P #2 and Lineal Lightweight champion coming off of two explosive wins is moving into it to make it even richer than it already is. 140 is without a doubt a division that should get any boxing fan excited and the best part about it is a lot of these guys are set to fight each other, or have distinctive possibilities of so. I find it wonderful that it differs from the recent Welterweight division where a lot of the ‘dream matches’ didn’t happen to the disappointment of the boxing fan base.

The next division that may even end up being the best in boxing quite literally, Light Middleweight, has a talent set that will pleasantly surprise a fan that’s not given it a hard look:

Paul Williams
Vernon Forrest
Daniel Santos
Sergiy Dzinziruk
James Kirkland
Alfredo Angulo
Sergio Martinez
Joachim Alcine
Yuri Foreman
Deandre Latimore
Cory Spinks
Ricardo Mayorga

Again, quite a set and it has the possibilities for several of the top Welterweights, such as Cotto, Mosely and Clottey, to move up and compete in this as well. If that happens, it’d be the hottest division in boxing by leaps and bounds. The best part about 154 is that HBO has been putting on cards showing the new talent and the more exposure it gets, the more money it can generate and the best matches then have the opportunity to be made and let me tell you, look at that list of fighters, most of those fights would be barn burners.

Let’s now compare both of these smoking divisions with the supposed ‘best division in boxing’:

Miguel Cotto
Shane Mosely
Joshua Clottey
Andre Berto
Luis Collazo
Carlos Quintana
Isaac Hlatschwayo
Delvin Rodriguez?
Sebastian Lujan?
Jesus Soto Karass?

I rest my case that Welterweight is drying out fast and Max Kellerman needs a wake up call. The recent Margarito hand wrap scandal is truly unfortunate and removed one of the biggest names in it, stained the name and put the integrity of the fights that he competed in through the grinder. What’s left is Cotto and Mosely, whom have already fought, but a rematch would certainly be a fight that boxing fans want, good but not spectacular contenders in Berto and Clottey, the latter whom is set to fight Cotto respectively and an array of solid, but uninteresting fighters that are really no match for those operating on the elite level of our great sport… which leads me to believe that our beloved elite’s in Welterweight, may step up a division as the big fights are going to be there in the near future.

Be sure not to sleep on Super Middleweight, Cruiserweight or Bantamweight either boxing fans, these are all really hot with good fights on the horizon. The state of modern boxing tends get slapped as a mess, but if you look closely, it’s in a great state and we as fans and supporters need to keep our heads up, support fighters and tune in to help the matches that will keep this great sport healthy and developing.

Regards,

K.M. Stansen