With the nominal departure of Floyd Mayweather, Jr., does the welterweight divison still have its stranglehold on the title of deepest and best in the sport? I will maintain that with the retirement of the sport's best pound-for-pound fighter and the expected influx of almost all the top junior lightweights to the lightweight division, that 135 will soon be able to trump the admittedly impressive roster of 147, at least in certain measures. Let's take a look at how things will look in the latter half of this year assuming everything goes to plan--that includes Mayweather not returning: 147- Andre Berto Kermit Cintron Joshua Clottey Luis Collazo Miguel Cotto Zab Judah Antonio Margarito Shane Mosley Carlos Quintana Paul Williams 135- Nate Campbell Joel Casamayor Jose Armando Santa Cruz David Diaz Juan Diaz Julio Diaz Joan Guzman Michael Katsidis Amir Khan Juan Manuel Marquez Manny Pacquiao Anthony Peterson While I admit that certain fighters at lightweight are not world beaters, e.g., Julio Diaz, David Diaz, and even Jose Armando Santa Cruz (despite his robbery against the seemingly revitalized Casamayor), I do not think that all of the lower part of the welterweight top ten is stellar either, e.g., Luis Collazo, Kermit Cintron. Overall, I believe that with Mayweather gone, the top talent at 135, even if we have to wait and see exactly how they will adjust, is better than at 147. Pacquiao is the best fighter in the world to many; Marquez is thought to have beaten him twice by about as many; Casamayor is a cagy veteran with great skill; Campbell has resurrected his career and took it to Juan Diaz, who himself should still be highly regarded; finally, Guzman is beloved by many who maintain that he would be one of the top pound-for-pound fighters on the planet if he was not ducked so heavily. While Cotto, Mosley, Williams, and Margarito is impressive, I don't believe the 147 roster stacks up against that above list assuming that the men moving up maintain most of their ability. I also feel that the prospects are a little better at 135 than 147 with Peterson and Khan against Berto, though one could make a case that Victor Ortiz will probably end up at 147 soon enough. Let me know what you all think.
Campbell, Casamayor, D. Diaz, and JMMarquez have seen better days. What I love about the 147 lb. division is the youth of most of the fighters. All the guys you mentioned with the exception of Mosley could keep on fighting for the next 5-10 years.
There are a lot of good divisions in the lower weight classes, too. The 122 lb division is especially heavy right now. There's a lot more to it than the greats Izzy and Rafa.
147- Andre Berto; This content is protected Kermit Cintron; This content is protected Joshua Clottey; This content is protected Luis Collazo; This content is protected Miguel Cotto; This content is protected Zab Judah; This content is protected Antonio Margarito; This content is protected Shane Mosley; This content is protected Carlos Quintana; This content is protected Paul Williams; This content is protected 135- Nate Campbell; This content is protected Joel Casamayor; This content is protected Jose Armando Santa Cruz; This content is protected David Diaz; This content is protected Juan Diaz; This content is protected Julio Diaz; This content is protected Joan Guzman; This content is protected Michael Katsidis; This content is protected Amir Khan; This content is protected Juan Manuel Marquez; This content is protected Manny Pacquiao; This content is protected Anthony Peterson; This content is protected This content is protected
Both divisions are clearly the best in boxing right now and we're about to see huge fights from both.. Before Mayweather retired, the division was moving without him and three talented fighters have moved up to 135 to make it all the more interesting.. It's very close, but I'd have to say the lightweight division right now.. While Cotto & Margo are considered the best in the WW division right now, it's pretty damn uncertain who the best is in the lightweight division, which we will find out soon..
how about the 115 division? montiel mijares munoz castillo donaire(coming up) darchinyan kirilov arce gorres navarro martinez banal vasquez
115 is looking great to be honest. 147 was looking very impressive for a while. A certain fighter had to stink it all up didn't he?
