147 is a WEAK division

Beat you to it.

I know this won't be a very popular opinion, but when have I ever let that stop me from posting something.

The Welterweight Division is on the verge of being in shambles, and it will completely fall apart the moment Mayweather and Pacquiao finally retire, and that moment is drawing near. Soon it will be at hand and what will we be left with........Let's take a look shall we?

The Post Pacweather Era will look something like this.

Kell Brook-Probably the best in the division after the two current top dogs, but where will he go beyond getting his Khan match that he so desires and an eventual clash with fellow alpha welter Thurman. What exciting matches involving Special K can be made that will draw real interest from the audience?

Keith Thurman-Incredibly skilled counter puncher whose power while decent, like most has seemingly faded now that he's stepped up his opposition, he's very good and a hell of an all around talent...but that chin (and body) of his worries me, he's been stunned by Chaves, Diaz, Soto-Karass, Guerrero and now of all people Collazo, this doesn't bode well for his future against even bigger punchers like Brook or even Porter.

Terence Crawford-I really like Crawford he's a good guy and awesome for Boxing in Omaha the crowds are amazing there...now what happens when he leaves Omaha....crickets. The Gamboa match was thrilling..because Gamboa fought like an idiot and went all out. The rest of his matches are enough to put someone to sleep. Beltran was a snoozefest, Sanabria was mindnumbing, Klimov make me want to hang myself, Burns was dull and Dulorme aside from the great finish was Boxing's version of Nyquil. He may end up dominating the division for the foreseeable future which will make people not want to see it very much. Pernell Whitaker was an all time great defensive fighter no doubt, but no one wanted to watch him either.

Amir Khan-Is one somewhat decent to average puncher away from being shot right back down the rankings by brutal KO, most likely at the hands of Kell Brook next year, Khan is vastly overrated and not even fun to watch anymore, and hopefully him getting beaten up by a feather fist like Algieri will wake some people up to his obvious limitations, he's not likeable enough to market to most fans outside of England either.

Errol Spence Jr.-Far too soon to declare him the second coming of Mayweather, who has he beaten of any note? Phil Lo Greco, Samuel Vargas and Emmanuel Lartey..So What. Lo Greco was a decent scalp but he'd only fought once in the last year and a half and was brought in as a last minute replacement. Spence has got the skills, but his chin hasn't been tested nor has he been in with anyone who could truly test him. And one other thing his personality is dreadfully dull, so I don't think he has much of a chance at crossover Mayweather like ****talking success.

Sadam Ali-He's average at best and will most likely falter the moment he steps up, Abregu is shopworn and had been largely inactive for the year before and was dropped in his previous match, and add to that he was dropped by Tim Bradley...so that Ali KO seems a hell of a lot less impressive, but Abregu exposed Dulorme...who as it turns out, kind of sucks anyway. Ali looked average against Santana and didn't have the power to stop him and Karim Mayfield stopped him. He looked bad against Jeremy Bryan and finally dropped him in the last round which evened the fight up, and that was after Amir Imam stopped in 2. He style is dull and won't win fans over.

Amir Imam-Very talented as well and will surely make his way north soon, but he may be packing glass, he was put down by Maldonado Jr., but he came back with a KO victory over him and his highlight reel KO of Fernando Angulo was damn good even though Angulo is a little shopworn at this point, but beating two okay guys doesn't mean he'll set the world on fire at LWW or WW. The guys he's beaten recently don't even come close to preparing him for a Matthysse or Provodnikov. Much less big punchers at Welterweight.

Konstantin Ponomarev-Very skilled kid who's very feather fisted as much as I want to believe he can be a big star my heart tells me he's going to be steamrolled by a big puncher. His style is okay but a little repetitive but he may get a small following by girls for his boyish good looks.

Dmitry Mikhaylenko-Face first come forward pressure fighter whose matches tend to turn into endless loop of the same motions over and over and over and over again, mostly due to his lack of power, I like him a little but he's a brutal KO waiting to happen.

Sammy Vasquez-The Who Can Mexican put on a great match this year against Wale Omotoso it was a real barn burner, both of them were stunning each left and right, and there was plenty of blood, but the fact that he was in a brutal life and death slugfest with Omotoso who's okay is all you need to know about his ceiling.

Jessie Vargas-A limited feather fisted fighter who struggled against Allahkverdiev, Omotoso, Lopez looked average against DeMarco, and lost IMO to Novikov, his big Welterweight debut he was thoroughly schooled by Bradley. He's not exciting and his matches are instantly forgettable, no one cares about Jessie Vargas.

Danny Garcia-Cherry Garcia himself has made his way to Welterweight with a bang with a BS stoppage of Malignaggi in a completely underwhelming performance, he already should have lost to Herrera and Peterson struggled with a shot Judah and lucked out Matthysse had one eye. His move to WW will be the beginning of his end, his punch resistance looked shaky against Peterson and his power has obviously been vastly overrated, he won't make it far.

Shawn Porter-I'm a big fan of Shawn's I enjoy watching his matches, that being said Brook schooled him and Diaz made him look very average, his win over Paulie was a result of Paulie's awkward stance playing right into his hands, and the win over Devon is good, but Devon isn't that great, even though that's his nickname. Shawn will certainly make for some entertaining matches but he's limited.

Adrien Broner-The Problem is a very simple riddle to solve since he's already lost to Maidana and Porter....and Quintero...and De Leon...and Malignaggi...and almost to Taylor. He's a buffoon with too many flaws to count and lacks the motivation and dedication to even attempt to solve the many Problems the Problem possesses. Put a fork in him...he's done.

Chris Algieri-I'm a big fan and supporter of Algieri's and think he has the potential to upset many apple carts, however I don't see him being able to beat a Brook very easily and would probably struggle with quite a few of the bigger punchers in the division, but his fan friendly new style will make for some fun matches.

Jose Benavidez Jr.-Really talented but should already have one loss by schooling from the Maestro Herrera and didn't look great against Jorge Paez Jr., I was hoping for the best with Jose but he's starting to feel like a hypejob.

Rances Barthelemy-Imagine Erislandy Lara meets Guillermo Rigondeaux only far more dull that's Rancid for you in a nutshell, not fan friendly in the least.

Viktor Postol-The Light Welterweight version of Wladimir Klitschko only not as exciting and no power, and he most likely won't get past Matthysse. Not one to get our hopes up about, that being said he's an incredibly skilled jabbing machine.

Eduard Troyanovsky-He's very heavy handed and is capable of delivering a few highlight reel KO's but his lack of skill will be his downfall the moment he gets in the ring with someone who can take is power, he's far from hard to outbox.



Now onto the Fading Current Stars.

Tim Bradley-His chin and his skills seem to erode a little more with every passing match, his days are numbered as a top fighter.

Juan Manuel Marquez-He's as close to retired as you can get, and he may want to consider it before making a return to the ring or he may end up like Sergio Martinez.

Brandon Rios-Could be in a few more good wars, but how much more damage can he take before its irreparable?

Robert Guerrero-Huge fan of the Ghost but he ain't too hot lately especially get dropped by Aaron Martinez of all people and he's seemingly unwilling to go back to pure boxing and his blood and guts act is too dangerous at this weight class for him. So its almost over for him.

Marcos Maidana-Does he even care anymore? Not sure. Even if he does he's very limited, great againt average gatekeepers not so great against top guys.

Mike Alvarado-Its Over, he needs to retire and seek some help before he winds up yet another tragic story in the annals of boxing history.

Diego Chaves-Hasn't had one really good win of real significance, perpetual gatekeeper status.

Devon Alexander-Gatekeeper as well, may trouble a few propects here and there.

Andre Berto-What's left of his career that's already in shambles as it is will be polished off by Mayweather.

The Also Rans-Frankie Gavin, JoJo Dan, Kevin Bizier, Ray Robinson, Roberto Garcia, Luis Carlos Abregu, Victor Ortiz, Josesito Lopez, Luis Collazo are all on the verge of being completely irrelevant.


See the hottest Division in the sport isn't looking too hot anymore, sure there'll be some decent exciting matchups here and there but there's not a hell of a lot to get excited about. Maybe I'm being a little too grim but I don't think so.

 

I can also name 20 Flyweights and Cruiserweights off the top of my head but most normal people can't.

 

:goodAll depends what side of the bed I wake up on.