Many boxing fans will always say how boxing was so much better many years ago and the current eras are weak in comparison. In recent history, I believe we witnessed one of and arguably the strongest era ever in the welterweight division. Below are some of the names that were active around welterweight a few years ago. This is a list of the quality fighters that were around and I am sure I missed out a load of other top fighters. Mayweather Pacquiao De la Hoya Canelo Cotto Margarito Mosley Williams Marquez Bradley Khan Brook Maidana Matthysse Garcia Alexander Ortiz Berto Hatton Witter Tszyu Malignaggi Broner Castillo Collazo Clottey Peterson Judah
The problem is that bygone eras funneled people into specific divisions, which made classes deeper and competitive fights more regular. If 140 and 154 had never been added, many of these names would have overlapped for longer periods of time and you would have gotten more clarity overall. Instead, we get a lot of layovers and exaggerated credentials. So it's not that the highlighted era was poor, it's that the sport has too many side streets. It's why so many divisions are labeled "weak" nowadays.
