If Cotto beats Margarito, would you consider him THE welterweight champion?

He is the best welter no doubt about it in my eyes, but I dont thinkwe should hand him linear status just because the former linear champ has retired. Margo did lose to Williams lest we forget and Williams gas regained his belt. IF he beats Williams he is undisputed with or without belts.

beatin Margo is no formality for him, thats a 50 50 fight.

 

I was under the impression that some scrubs were actually going to fight for Floyd's vacated belts. Am I wrong?

 

Williams could/should fight a rubbermatch with Quitana.

The reality is that, at the moment, Cotto is the #1 contender. The #2 contender is Williams (who in his last fight beat Quitana, and who has beat Margo) or Mosley (who gave Cotto a very close fight). The #4 contender is Margarito.

Cotto's opposition is better than anyone's at 147. But he's still not the Champ, officially. A similar case is Wladimir Klitschko...his resume is 10 times better than most other heavyweights (and he has unified), but he is still not recognized as Champ by many.

Things can get complex when there is a vacant title.

 

**** the WBC belt. It is just as meaningless as the IBF, WBO or WBA belt.

I'm talking about the Lineal Title.

 

:!:

 

I agree.

 

IMO Cotto if he beats Marg should fight Williams only AFTER Williams fights the Rubbermatch with Q. That would honestly bring more clarity to the division. I don't like the idea of Cotto fighting Williams if Williams doesn't give Q the 3rd fight, but thats just me.

 

:thumbsup

 

It all comes down to who you think "The Man" is in the division. If you dig Cotto, then Williams et al have to beat him to claim being top dog. With So many titles floating around it makes things difficult to clear up from a business stand point.

 

Yeah, that would be perfect.

 

It's a noble idea, but the lineal title has its problems too. Boxing simply is too disorganized for any set of rules to apply uniformly in a way that makes sense.

Revisit the situation at 175 and its current lineal champion to see just one example of a fatal problem.

I agree you can make a strong case that Williams should be included in the mix, but the bottom line is that the champion should be The Man and The Man should be the champion, no matter how many or which belts he holds.

Whoever wins next month will boast a better resume than anyone else in the division, and thus clearly is the man and clearly is the champ.

To me.

 

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Even now that they hasn't fought yet (since PBF is officially gone) . . . I'm already considering him the WELTER Champ.

He already fought and defeated Zab; Mosley and Quintana.

And he's fighting the next highest rated fighter in the division.

 

can't argue with that.

cotto is maybe the highest profile (in legit boxing circle terms) fighter to deserve that crown.

 

Even if Cotto beats Margarito and is not considered the linear champ, does it really matter THAT much?

It's a nice title to have and all, but he'll be the clear leader of the pack at 147 regardless.

Just do the best work at the division and you'll get your credit.

Sammy Serrano was the linear champ @ 130, but you won't find anyone who won't rank Alexis Arguello higher than him all-time at the weight class.