This era of Welterweights is/was trash

A mediocre division with very good marketing, that’s What It pretty much was.

Haymon and the other handlers of PBC were probably happier than everyone that Crawford was with Arum. With one guy head and shoulders above the rest, their WW scene would’ve been a lot less interesting.

 

It was never really hyped. It's been a mishmash of good fighters hovering around the top since around 2016. Never heard much praise for how good the WW division was in a LONG while.

 

What always bothered me about welterweight since PBC’s takeover, is the inbetween fights that these “Top” guy’s were taking to jump from title shot to title shot with each other. Very low level, complete nobodies.

Adrian Granados
Eric Bone
Ivan Redkach
Mike Dallas jnr
Abel Ramos
Sebastian Formella
Samuel Vargas
etc.

Prospects fight better competition.

 

There was a crossover with some of these fighting some excellent fighters from the previous era. Current WW division is not so good though, 1 elite, a few very good and not much else.

 

Agreed on this one tinman.

 

The over-marinating of this division and the waiting, waiting, waiting, on the top guys fighting each other (with a couple of exceptions) soured welterweight. Similar to heavyweight.

 

Crawford, Ennis, Stanionis 3 good fighters that's it. (Spence looked awful, is moving up and will be damaged goods now)

So probably one of the weakest divisions in boxing right now, when you compare it to the likes of Lightweight and Light Heavyweight which are stacked.

 

What a post

 

He's very good but not elite. He barely beat Shawn Porter. Kell Brook beat Porter more convincingly and also was winning their fight before his eye injury from the Golovkin fight happened again. Kell Brook I'd argue is better than Spence, difference is Spence got the hype and the opportunities Brook never got, so he had a better career.

 

So how is the current cruiserweight division better, again? Or the "best?"

You seem to want to compare the current welterweight division with a cruiserweight division that ceased to exist FIVE YEARS AGO.

Badou Jack is a cruiserweight champ, for god's sake. So is Chris Billiam Smith, and Lawrence Okolie, who he knocked off, wasn't exactly great himself.

The "great era" of cruiserweights you seem to want to compare this group of welters to lasted in terms of "months" ... like 24 months ... two years or so. That's not an era. The best of them left five years ago.

This welterweight "era" began in 2015 or so and is now petering out ... eight years down the road. Still, Bud Crawford hasn't left welterweight yet. He's the world champion. Spence hasn't left yet. Neither has Ennis. Neither has Thurman.

When they do leave, so be it. But the best of the cruisers left a half a decade ago.

By the end of this year, Usyk will be a heavyweight champion longer than he was a cruiserweight champion.

 

The Welterweight division hasn't been truly great since Leonard and Hearns were in the mix, if you want the truth.

 

Even that era had its mismatches, in all honesty.

But Al Haymon really loves his welterweights. He does hype them all up and tries to stockpile boxers in that general area. He wanted Floyd to move to welterweight. He's got a boner for welterweights about as badly as Sulaiman does for making more green belts.