Who Can Defrost the Frozen Welterweight Division?

[edsel77x]

by Paul Magno

 

The welterweight division still boasts boxing’s two best fighters in Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather as well as a pretty serviceable, if slightly unproven, Andre Berto as a third wheel. But below them, other than a 39-year old Shane Mosley, already sporting a one-sided loss to Mayweather and scheduled to face Pacquiao on May 7th, the division is almost completely frozen with little cause for optimism on the horizon.

 

Back in 2006, the welterweight division, one of boxing’s historical glamor divisions, was stacked and primed to be on its way to a golden era.

 

Zab Judah had just lost to the Cinderalla story of Carlos Baldomir, but remained the most talented 147 pounder. Antonio Margarito, Paul Williams, and Joshua Clottey were starting to emerge as legitimate threats. Floyd Mayweather had just moved up from 140 lbs. with Miguel Cotto officially joining the division several months later. Even Shane Mosley, who had been campaigning at 154, eventually re-enlisted for a taste of the action. The division also boasted talents like Luis Collazo, Carlos Quintana, and Kermit Cintron.

 

The possibilities seemed endless and the fans, rightfully, expected an era of classic welterweight wars.

 

Now, four years later, one can’t help but look back at the Class of 2006 as one of the sport’s most frustrating recent failures. Some quality bouts were made and some legitimate encounters served to hold the public’s interest, but with the surplus of talent available, it just wasn’t enough.

 

Boxing politics blocked some of the best bouts from being made while the shadow of plaster-laced hand wraps cast a doubt on a few of the big bouts that did take place.

 

And then, of course, a certain Filipino sensation moved into the neighborhood, knocked off a couple of the big names and parlayed that success into a business stranglehold on the welterweight division.

 

Now, a look up and down the 147 lb. class will reveal a division absolutely drained of top talent with not much to look forward to at all.

 

Andre Berto is firmly in place to be the next generation’s top welter, but with Manny Pacquiao playing Big Top exhibitions around the losers’ bracket and Floyd Mayweather sparring with security guards and baby’s mamas, there’s not much of a chance of either graciously offering to pass the torch. Aside from the big two, Cotto and Margarito are now at 154 with Judah back down to 140 and Clottey floating in limbo.

 

So, what we have is a talented fighter in his physical prime with, essentially, nobody to fight and no way to affirm or deny his status as heir apparent to the 147 lb. throne.

 

Below Berto, the closest the division has to blue chippers are a pair of talented, but totally unproven, prospects: Philadelphia’s Mike Jones and the UK’s Kell Brook.

 

Jones, at 27, is hardly a young prospect who can afford to learn on the job. Most recently, Jones struggled to a controversial majority decision win over second-tier challenger, Jesus Soto Karass and is scheduled to fight a rematch of that bout in February. While Jones is currently the top American welterweight prospect, his performances have been unspectacular and uneven since moving up in class from the club circuit.

 

The 24-year old Brook is more physically gifted than Jones and certainly appears to have the talent to compete at the top, but has yet to fight anyone even remotely close to world class level. At this point and until he steps up in class, there are more questions than answers when it comes to Kell Brook.

 

Stepping away from Jones and Brook, the division is basically divided into two categories: Second-tier, marginally talented foreign-based fringe contenders and veteran 140 lb. re-treads moving up to exploit a weak welterweight class.

 

The former group boasts names such as Jan Zaveck, Viacheslav Senchenko, Selcuk Aydin, Rafal Jackiewicz, Delvin Rodriguez, and Matthew Hatton. There are some competitive bouts to be made from these names, but none will produce much interest outside of they’re respective countries and, obviously, the possibility of producing an era-defining blockbuster from that group is slim.

 

Among the former jr. welterweight players to move up, the names are more recognizable, but not any more likely to make an impact. Paulie Malignaggi, Randall Bailey, Junior Witter, and Souleymane M’baye are all former titlists at 140, but unlikely to make any real headlines at 147.

 

Outsiders like Soto Karass, Sebastian Lujan, Said Ouali, and Alfonso Gomez can provide some filler material, but none are exactly prime time players either.

 

Really, there isn’t much difference in quality from the #4 ranked welterweight right down to the #20 slot. This kind of parity is usually good for the overall health of a division, but when it comes down to one of boxing’s glamor divisions in an era without a dominant heavyweight class, this is only bad news for the sport.

 

WBA jr. welterweight champ, Amir Khan, will likely outgrow 140 before he runs out of opponents and offers some optimism for the future, but only if Pacquiao or Mayweather are there to meet him. Otherwise, Khan will be in the same boat as Berto and of anyone else who can’t make a deal with Top Rank for a Pacquiao fight or convince Mayweather to make another cash grab.

 

Saul Alvarez is another much-hyped prospect who, despite recent fights at the 154 limit, insists that he will come down to conquer 147. “El Canelo” is a solid prospect with a strong fan base, but at 20 years of age, nothing is for sure.

 

In a lot of ways, the situation at 147 right now can be seen as a microcosm for everything wrong with the 2010 version of professional boxing.

 

Bogged down in politics and greed, the narrative of the sport has been frozen and the inmates are now running the asylum with little regard for anything more than stroking their own massive egos.

 

But the saving grace of boxing is that it only takes one guy, one professional with true respect for the sport, to turn things around. The questions are: Who? and How long will we have to wait?

 

http://theboxingtribune.com/2010/12/who-can-defrost-the-frozen-welterweight-division/

[Johnny Walker]

Several years back I felt that Oscar was causing a traffic jam with every viable welterweight looking to put off good work in favor of being asked to the dance, today you have two big names avoiding each other and essentially causing that same traffic jam. Periodically somebody tosses Andre Berto 's name around as if he is on some sort of short list to get today's golden ticket but I believe in truth Mayweather and Pacquiao will be aimed only at a certain type of foe.

 

What might be a smart route for these young lions to go would be to work towards their own legacies if they can get their management teams to see eye to eye. I don't know how big of a deal that would be but to my way of thinking if you can get six major contenders and champions to agree to a super six in one division you should be able to get two champions together for unification in another. Given his invisibility, IBF champ Jan Zaveck needs to move to the forefront. Given his oft advertised state of worth and the fact he is viewed as this semi-ready young stud (odd for a champion to be considered that way, and it has been over two years), Andre Berto, WBC champ, should also look to draw the type of attention needed to legitimize his reputation as a true welterweight player rather than a green fallback foe for one of the bigger names. Zaveck and Berto should meet and create their own little buzz. It would do much on several levels, not to mention put the winner on the radar as a viable option for a mega payday. It would also be fun for the fans.

[Skav]

It doesn't matter about the WW division because other divisions always take over with talent and the attention of the boxing public shift their focus.

 

I think it's irrelevant.

[gavpowell]

I thinik that's quite a shallow approach though - all this talent lying around in the division with fighters never quite managing to test themselves against each other, that's a terrible waste - you can't just dismiss it and go "eh, there''ll be other boxing, doesn't matter"

[Wheelchair]

Who Can Defrost the Frozen Welterweight Division?

 

Dunno. Is there a fighter out there by the name of DeIcer?

[grapevine241]

its disappointing that the division with the biggest stars in the sport is also the most reluctant to make the important fights.

[WelshDevilRob]

I like the BoxingTribune - great bunch of guys. You may also see one or two of my articles on that site. grin//

[edsel77x]

I like the BoxingTribune - great bunch of guys. You may also see one or two of my articles on that site. grin//

 

Will keep a an eye out for it Rob. bud//

[Johnny Walker]

How does one become a feature contributor?

[duwdu]

Good article on a good subject, written by a good professional, IMO, and it has helped in my own education to boot, so not much I can add. Thanks for propagating this.

 

P34c3

[WelshDevilRob]

How does one become a feature contributor?

 

We have our own news site and you are more than welcome to participate, Johnny.

 

Just let me, Budweiser or Wheelchair know and we can give you access to the writers staffroom.

 

I know Paul Magno at BoxingTribune and if you'd like to write for them then the 1st step is to join the forum he runs http://thebtbc.com/index.php

I'm sure he'll be happy to hear from you and is a nice guy.

[iamasadlittleboy]

oooh thats who the btbc is, I have them on my twitter....

[Skav]

I thinik that's quite a shallow approach though - all this talent lying around in the division with fighters never quite managing to test themselves against each other, that's a terrible waste - you can't just dismiss it and go "eh, there''ll be other boxing, doesn't matter"

 

But fighters not testing themselves happens in every weight division.

 

There is nothing the fans can do, if they won't do it then they won't and that's why it's hard being a fan.

[Donkeywater]

The Welterweight divison has definitely gone stale, no doubt about that.

 

A clash between the divisions (and the sports) top two fighters looks further away than it's ever been.

 

Many people are not sold on Berto although personally, I think he's for real. I like Johnny Walker's idea of a dust up with Zaveck. Any unification can only be a good thing.

 

I've seen Senchenco and to me, he looks average at best. Mike Jones doesn't do anything for me either. I don't see either of these two lighting up the division. Maybe the heavily hyped Alvarez can; he's definitely a talent but has done most of his work up at 154'.

 

Kell Brook has looked a million dollars but the author speaks the truth when he says the kid has yet to fight anybody remotely near world class.

 

It's true, the divison definitely lacks a spark at the moment... But this will change. The Welterweight category is traditionally amongst boxing strongest and it'll soon catch fire again.