By Yero Moody: The welterweight division is and has been, for quite some time now, the best weight class in all of boxing. No other weight division in boxing can boast of such stars within its ranks. From the pound for pound best fight fighter in the world, Floyd Mayweather, Jr to the future hall of famer and legend “Sugar” Shane Mosley its packed from top to bottom.
With so many great fighters there stands to be many more great fights. In February of this year Paul Williams will face Carlos Quintana and in a double-header in April Miguel Cotto will battle Alfonso Gomez and Kermit Cintron will seek revenge against Antonio Margarito in a rematch. These fights will set the landscape for even bigger fights to come this year. The winners of the April double header are set to face each other and most including myself are predicting a Miguel Cotto v. Antonio Margarito showdown. This could set up a huge fight between Williams and Cotto with the winner of that fight facing the winner of Oscar De La Hoya v. Floyd Mayweather, Jr scheduled for September of this year.
Floyd Mayweather is still regarded as the true undisputed champion of the welterweight division because of his victory over Carlos Baldomir in November 2006. At the time Carlos Baldomir had just beaten Zab Judah to gain the undisputed welterweight championship. When Mayweather faced Baldomir the only reason it wasn’t for all of the belts was because Baldomir didn’t pay some of the sanctioning fees for all of his belts and not because he was stripped of his belts or lost to anyone. This is an important fact that many naysayers and critics of Mayweather tend to ignore or may not know. I’m not suggesting that Baldomir was the best at welterweight I’m merely pointing out that he was regarded as the undisputed welterweight champion of the world when he lost to Mayweather.
So, how would the true champ of the division fare against the top contenders? Lets examine this fight by fight. I’m choosing who I believe are the top 5 fighters in the division starting with my number 1.
Mayweather v. Cotto: This is the match up that is the most eagerly anticipated and many feel will be Mayweather’s toughest test. This is yet another match up for Mayweather where he will absolutely be the smaller less powerful man. Cotto’s style is tailor made for Mayweather’s style. He is a come forward pressure fighter who breaks his opponents down with his tremendous power and well placed accurate punches. However, he gets hit way too often. This spells doom for any opponent of Mayweather. Mayweather is by far the most accurate scientific puncher in the sport right now and he will make Cotto pay severely. Cotto’s power will be offset by Mayweather’s quick jab and counterpunching. To give you a much clearer picture just remember how Mosley and Judah were able to land on Cotto but add superior defense and lightning quick accurate counter shots and you have Mayweather v. Cotto.
Mayweather will outbox Cotto for 12 straight rounds resulting in an easy UD or possible TKO.
Mayweather v. Williams: I have Williams at number two because of the serious problems he presents to any opponent he faces. He is extremely tall for a welter 6’2″ with an 82′ reach and he’s a southpaw. This is also the reason I predicted he would thoroughly outbox Margarrito. This is a match up nightmare for Mayweather who’s frame is really that of a junior welter (140lbs). However, Margarito was able to gain some momentum, albeit too late, in the fight when he finally figured out that to beat Williams you have to fight on the inside. Mayweather is way too small to sit back and land his jab. He has to to fight on the inside like he did against Jose Luis Castillo in their second fight and in his most recent fight against Ricky Hatton. Many people don’t recognize that Mayweather is a very good inside fighter. Mayweather would utilize his in fighting and ring experience to score an impressive UD.
Mayweather v. Mosley: Style wise Mosley has the perfect style to beat Mayweather. He has the speed, counter punching and ring experience that makes this a very intriguing fight. 3-4 years ago it would have been a toss up in my mind but time and one too many ring wars have caught up to Mosley. He is clearly not the same fighter he once was. Offensively he is still very sharp and fast. It is his defense that has lost its luster. I have never seen Mosley get hit so many times or his body off balance as much as I have in the past 3 years or so. I give Cotto credit for fighting a great fight but the old Mosley would have mopped the floor with him. Even now, Mosley fought a very competitve and close fight with Cotto which shows his greatness. Too many mistakes, a suffering defense and father time make Mosley a loser against Mayweather.
Mayweather by a clear UD.
Mayweather v. Margarito: Much like Cotto Margarito’s style is tailor made for Mayweather’s style. He is a come forward pressure fighter with excellent power. He is a true super welter(154lbs.) campaigning at welter due to his lack of success at super welter. Margarito is at crossroads in his career and he absolutely needs a big win. His last two big fights were very unimpressive considering all the hype he created surrounding himself. He was getting dominated by Clottey up until the fourth or fifth round when Clottey hurt his hand and lost his belt to the younger, less experienced Paul Williams. Many people felt like Margarito was so good that fighter’s like Mosley, De La Hoya and Mayweather were avoiding him thus he dubbed himself “the most feared man in boxing.” If Margarito loses to Cintron he will have a long road to come back from. If he wins he will probably face Cotto and should he beat Cotto he will get his wish, a fight with Mayweather. Margarito has the most porous defense in the division, poor balance and consistently throws wide looping punches. Mayweather would easily exploit his weaknesses in a one-sided drubbing.
Mayweather by TKO.
Mayweather v. Cintron: Cintron is a much improved boxer since his loss to Margarito. He has improved so much so that many people feel that he will upset Margarito’s chances for a showdown with Cotto. However, I’m not one of them. I believe Margarito will knock out Cintron again. Cintron is mentioned as a possible threat to Mayweather but upon careful analysis who really believes that? What has Cintron done that makes anyone have doubt about his chances against Mayweather? What does Cintron have over Mayweather besides size? Cintron is a good boxer but he lacks heart. To defeat the champ you must have heart in abundance.
Mayweather by KO.
I know that we’ll see some of these match ups in the near future but I look forward to all the fights in between. What a great year 2008 will be.
Side notes: Isn’t it funny how all the Mayweather detractors are saying that Mayweather was cherry picking by fighting an “old” De La Hoya yet say nothing about Cotto fighting Mosley who is older, smaller and has more losses than De La Hoya???
Thanks for reading my article.
Questions or comments: e-mail yero_m@yahoo.com