After Floyd Mayweather Jr (41-0, 25 KO?s) hunted down and defanged erstwhile number one welterweight ?Sugar? Shane Mosley (46-6, 39 KO?s) last May 1, 2010, the division?s big picture is slowly coming into focus. One by one, the big guns are falling by the wayside and soon enough we may have a clear, unquestionable welterweight champion.
The Tijuana Tornado, Mexican mauler Antonio Margarito (38-6, 27 KO?s) was eliminated contending for the division?s bragging rights by Mosley himself, but not before running through another big name welterweight in Miguel Cotto. He still has to reapply for a US boxing license after the California State Athletic Commission (CSAC) suspended him for the notorious hand wraps fiasco before the Mosley fight, but just had a successful tune-up at junior middleweight winning over nondescript opponent Roberto Garcia in Aguascalientes, Mexico.
Caguas, Puerto Rico bomber Miguel Cotto (34-2, 27 KO?s) actually resuscitated his career after his knockout loss at the now suspect-hands of Margarito with two consecutive wins but was derailed consequently by the weight-division gobbling Manny Pacquiao (51-3-2, 38 KO?s). He will be facing junior middleweight titlist Yuri Foreman on June 5, 2010 at the Yankee Stadium with Hall-of-Fame trainer Emmanuel Steward now in his corner.
Top-five ranking Joshua Clottey (35-4, 20 KO?s) suffered setbacks to top welterweights Margarito, Cotto and Pacquiao. Ghanaian Clottey has proven he has the physical tools to be a force at the weight, but in most observers? eyes what he lacks is the inner drive needed to excel in the sport. In his losses to Margarito and Cotto he was in position to actually pull out the win, looking very competitive winning rounds with his excellent shell defense and stinging punches but inexplicably clammed up down the stretch. Against Manny Pacquiao he connected effectively whenever he opened fire, but opted instead to put up his trademark passive defense for most of the night. At this point he will have to reinvent himself if he expects his name to figure in future welterweight discussions.
The last remaining wolves of the welterweight pack being given a fair chance by the boxing world of grabbing alpha-male status include 6′-1″ Paul ?The Punisher? Williams, platform diving-suspect Kermit Cintron and Haitian Andre Berto.
Both Williams and Cintron enjoy good reach and height for a welterweight, especially the former who boasts a heavyweight-territory 82″ wingspan.
Williams (39-1, 27 KO?s) also possesses prodigious workrate, world-class chin and the heart to make him a threat from 147 up to 160 lbs, but especially at the welterweight limit which he claims he can still make. He just came from a controversial majority decision win over now-middleweight champ Sergio Martinez and an even more controversial technical decision victory over Kermit Cintron. Most pundits felt Martinez did enough to pull off a decision against The Punisher. In his controversial loss to Williams, Cintron was declared unable to continue by the ringside physician after falling out of the ring in a fight he was actually winning and could have dominated were it not for the now-famous ?fall?. Paul has won his last two fights but looked worse than the records would indicate.
It is Kermit ?The Killer? Cintron (32-3-1, 28 KO?s) who has looked really good in his last fight, barring that freak fall which many of his detractors are saying was his own doing to get out of the fight with Williams. Highly illogical to say the least, as Kermit was landing his monstrous right hand a number of times and staggering The Punisher with it. To top it off, he was handling Paul?s offense very well. If there was anyone who appeared off his game, it was Williams who wasn?t throwing his usual volume of punches and was probably wary of Kermit?s big power. Cintron probably deserves a big fight now, contrary to his naysayers who point to his two losses at the questionable hands of Margarito and a majority draw with current middleweight champion Martinez as proof of him giving up quite easily in moments of adversity. His impressive win over Perro Angulo showed his ability to stick to a game plan and his maturity as a fighter, coupled with his considerable physical gifts make him at least even-money against the other welterweight contenders.
Andre Berto (26-0, 20 KO?s) seems to have the same ungodly mix of speed and power as the ferocious Pacquiao, but at this point he has only been tested against solid, not exceptional opposition. He won decisions against Juan Urango and Luis Collazo, and scored a rather impressive stoppage of Puerto Rican Carlos Quintana while suffering a torn bicep in his last fight. Were his fight with Shane Mosley not canceled who knows if he would have been the one to make Shane look as old as Floyd made him look. Pure speculation, but he probably thought about that possibility after seeing Floyd survive a scary second round then proceed to dominate a gassed-looking Mosley the whole night.
Talking about the top welterweights would not be complete without at least assessing their chances against the two titans currently lording it over the boxing world. Manny Pacquiao stands 5? 6??, certainly smallish for 147. Williams and Cintron would enjoy a huge edge in height and reach that may prove insurmountable even with Pacquiao?s fleet footspeed and dynamic attack. However, the Filipino has proved himself time and time again in seemingly grim situations and should never be underestimated against these two big welterweights. More interesting is a Pacquiao-Berto slugfest. Both possess excellent handspeed and crunching power with the Filipino firebomb having the edge in speed while Berto probably hitting a bit harder. This will be a very entertaining fight, with both trying to impose their will on the other.
Mayweather against either Berto or Cintron would be a good scrap, mainly because both contenders have sledgehammers for a right hand and they have the kind of speed that will make Floyd take notice. Mayweather will have to be the favorite against both, but unlike Mosley these two will keep the pace going and an upset is not that much of an impossibility. A Mayweather-Williams match-up would also be highly competitive given Williams? workrate, southpaw stance and freakish wingspan, but alas sharing an advisor in the very influential Al Haymon makes this potential fight a no-starter.
Of course, all these potential fights are dwarfed by the looming Pacquiao-Mayweather showdown. There is an ongoing gag order on both camps to ensure negotiations are done behind closed doors and avoid the ugly press battle waged the last time the fight was discussed. It would be an understatement to say the whole boxing world wishes them success and finally seals the deal to have these two pound-for-pound rivals finally settle in the ring the ultimate question of who is actually better.
