By Paul Albano: It wasn’t a colossal deviation from the expected course of events, but Devon Alexander-Andriy Kotelnik’s main event Saturday night at the very least agitated things at junior welterweight, and revealed why it’s become the deepest and most intriguing division in boxing. Incidentally, and the Eastside writers have done a great job already addressing this, but I had it 115-113 Kotelnik – he landed more punches, more accurately, with more force behind them. That said, it was a very close fight – Alexander controlled pace and was way busier – and I thought half the rounds could have fairly been placed in either guy’s ledger. Plus it was Alexander, the champ and hometown guy, who entered the ring to pyrotechnics – and equitable or not the guy with the pyrotechnics only drops a decision if it’s beyond argument.
Moving forward though, there are in effect nine major players in the division, separable into two categories. Under the Upcoming/Just Got Here banner there are the pugies from Saturday, recognized division champ Tim Bradley; Amir Khan, the division’s biggest draw; the under appreciated Marcos Maidana; and former top prospect Victor Ortiz; – along with The Luminaries; long-reigning ex-140 champ Ricky Hatton; lightweight champ/future Hall of Famer Juan Manual Marquez; and ex-junior welter and welterweight champ Zab “Super” Judah. Quite a roster. And that’s not even counting Roberto Guerrero, who moved to 140 to outpoint Joel Casamayor two Saturdays ago, unbeaten welterweight contender Andre Berto (who’s kicked around the idea of jumping down), ex-titlist Juan Urango, Michael Katsidis (who could move up from 135 to fight Khan), and then there’s Paul Williams – who’s never fought at 140, but would probably claim to be able to if you asked.
In short, there’s talent. Elite talent. And diverse talent. There are pound-for-pound contenders on top, chasms of depth below; lions young and old and middle-aged-by-boxing-standards lurking about; there are brawlers, slicksters, southpaws, pressure fighters, counter-punchers; there are Americans, Brits, Mexicans, and even an Argentine tossed in for good measure; there are compelling storylines, custom printed-tee shirts, losses that need to be avenged, victories that need to be reaffirmed, fauxhawks (looking at you Victor Ortiz), and most important of all the potential for a fantastic string of fights.
(Or better yet, let’s hope we get some derivative of the tournament proposed earlier in the summer. Ideally, eight fighters, three rounds, single elimination, one unified champ. Well, unified for like a week until a belt gets stripped for some bogus reason. But what week that will be.
But here’s how I’d do it: First, the eight that make the cut are Alexander, Bradley, Kahn, Maidana, and Ortiz for sure. The last three slots would be offered to Judah, Marquez and Hatton – with Kotelnik next in line if/when Marquez decides he doesn’t want to commit himself to potentially three fights in a year, or if Hatton decides he’s done or can’t make weight. Either way, call it the five mentioned above, plus Judah (what else does he have to do?), Kotelnik, and what we’ll call Hatton/Marquez.
In a universe free from death, boxing promoters, and coffee shops with massive west-facing windows that trap afternoon heat like a greenhouse in hell, the seeding would be determined by live, random draw. Logistics figure to make this impossible (even in this parenthetical world) so why not start with some of the fights already proposed? Maybe Alexander-Bradley and Kahn-Marquez/Hatton in opposing brackets, slotting the winner of the former against, say, Judah-Maidana, and the latter against Kotelnik-Ortiz? Of course, Bradley and Alexander, the two highest regarded 140s, probably shouldn’t face each in the opening round, and maybe it could be done even simpler and less formally, like just pitting the winner of Alexander-Bradley against the winner of Khan-Ortiz or Khan-Maidana, with the guy left out serving as the first challenger for the newly crowned champ.)
In any case, what makes the division’s future so captivating is not only the immense talent, but the way each fighter is still vulnerable – bearing both an elite ability and a potentially tragic flaw. Alexander and Bradley bring transcendent hand speed, and both are extremely tough guys, but Bradley lacks top-level power, and Alexander, for all his discipline, is still prone to the occasional, but serious lapses in defense exposed by Kotelnik. Khan, Maidana, and Ortiz are all elite punchers capable of ending any fight at any moment (and fast in their own right), but each has already lost – Khan victimized by his fragile chin, Maidana because he didn’t have the skill-set to penetrate a top-level defense, and Ortiz’s because he couldn’t persevere in a fight he was winning. But each is still developing, and not the fighter they’ll be five years from now – for better or worse. In the meantime, let’s hope for a tournament, but be happy with the seemingly infinite permutations of awesome matchups – and if it happens – Alexander-Bradley would be a great place to start.