By Cesar Pancorvo: -Weeks ago, Witter-Hatton was, without a doubt, the most important fight in the 140 division, not only because they are the most accomplished light welterweights but also because of their rivalry; but now, after Witter’s loss, another fight is deserves to be considered more important..
Hatton-Malignaggi would not only confront the two best fighters of that weight class, but also two personalities and styles, because –in many aspects– Hatton and Malignaggi are like fire and water. With Witter’s unexpected loss, The Ring has placed Malignaggi as the #1 contender at 140. The division isn’t so rich, and if the Champion, Hatton, fights him and beats him, we could start talking about Hatton as one of the remarkable champions at 140 and an adequate successor of Kostya Tszyu. Hatton has been Light Welterweight Champion since 2005 and has defended the title against Carlos Maussa –who had beaten Vivian Harris–, Juan Urango and Jose Luis Castillo –who was ranked as the 140 #1 contender.
Luckily, Hatton-Malignaggi seems very probable (at least more probable than Hatton-Witter, when that fight had more significance) and they are already preparing it for late 2008, if Hatton beats Lazcano and Malignaggi wins his rematch against Lovemore N’Dou.
Recently, Hatton said that he would like to challenge Mayweather, again, after taking care of Malignaggi, and that the bout against Lazcano might be his last in England.
That’s a bit contradictory, though, because a rematch against Mayweather, in early 2009, would probably happen in England –or at least it should happen in England, at 140 and with Hatton’s belt at stake.
-It is evident that Cotto has, at the moment, a better resume than Floyd Mayweather at 147. There is no doubt. If he beats Margarito, this difference will increase. To be fair, Mayweather has a decent resume at 147: he beat Sharmba Mitchell as a tuneup (months later, Sharmba was ranked in the Top10 by The Ring, before being defeated by Paul Williams), Zab Judah (Top3 at the moment and former Undisputed Champion), Carlos Baldomir (who had a great year in 2006, a couple of important wins and was Lineal Champion) and Ricky Hatton (many don’t want to recognize it, but Hatton defeated a welterweight belt holder, in a close fight). Not bad.
However, that list of wins is clearly inferior to Cotto’s: Gomez, Urkal, Quintana, Judah and Mosley. Cotto’s resume, at 147, is better than Mayweather, but other factors should also be understood to make a better judgement:
a) Some of Cotto’s opponents were past their prime: Urkal and Mosley were/are old, and Judah was affected by the 2006 inactivity. Others didn’t reach top level until later, like Quintana, or were unranked, like Gomez.
b) Mayweather has been almost a spectator of this great welterweight period –it’s a shame and his fault–, but we must remember that he has been fighting at elite level since 1998 and has conquered belts in 5 weight classes. After his job at 130, 135, 140, 147 and 154, asking him to come and beat all the welterweights was, maybe, too much.