After all these years and all these tests, Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao still sit atop the welterweight division, reigning as kings of the 147 lb. hill despite several waves of fresh, strong talent flooding the division. It?s hard to say that this is bad for boxing because Floyd and Manny have proven themselves as the ultimate draws, but it does make one wonder what will become of the welterweight glamour division once the two cash cows hang up their gloves.
Below Mayweather and Pacquiao, there are a lot of solid fighters, tons of competitive parity, some interesting prospects, and a few smaller fighters looking to make the jump up in weight. However, nobody really stands out as the heir apparent to the king(s).
Back a few years ago, the super middleweight division was in a similar state?lots of solid fighters and interesting possibilities, but nobody really knocking anyone?s socks off.
The Super Six World Boxing Classic tournament put together six of the division?s very best and provided fans with two years of intriguing match-ups before dark horse Andre Ward emerged as the new undisputed king of the 168 lb. class.
The possibility of being able to do the same at welterweight is there and boxing would be crazy not to at least try and explore ways to make it happen.
In a perfect world without boxing politics, we?d see Pacquiao and Timothy Bradley stand beside fellow entrants Keith Thurman, Amir Khan, Shawn Porter, and Kell Brook in a tournament guaranteed to deliver nothing but quality contests. And what about Mayweather? Well, being realistic, even in this ?perfect world? scenario, means we?d have to acknowledge the fact that Mayweather would probably have no reason to want to participate at this stage of his career and really wouldn?t need to.
Al Haymon?s Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) has the roster to make this kind of tournament all on its own with Thurman, Porter, and Khan competing alongside Danny Garcia, Robert Guerrero, Andre Berto, Paulie Malignaggi, Devon Alexander, or Errol Spence Jr.
But, although the talent is there for the PBC to do this all on its own, the star power isn?t. It would be in its best interest to reach across the aisle and try to broker some sort of cross-platform deal with Top Rank and HBO for the inclusion of Pacquiao and Bradley or maybe even Brandon Rios.
For Top Rank, a cross-platform Super Six gives their guys a chance to shine against the rest of the pack at welter and more importantly?especially for Pacquiao?it opens up a whole new set of possible foes for them. Surely, a deal could be brokered where HBO could host at least a handful of the tournament bouts as well, allowing guys like Thurman and Khan to once again appear on HBO.
The possibilities for this are, really, endless. Pacquiao could earn a return to the welterweight throne or maybe pass the torch to one of the division?s young lions. Maybe like in the original Super Six, a new star will emerge, battle-hardened from two years of rough, high-end competitive bouts. It?s really a win-win for all involved.
Maybe this welterweight Super Six talk is little more than well-intentioned fantasy play on a slow news day. But stranger alliances have been made and tougher deals have been hammered out. Something like this would work to everyone?s benefit, so it?s at least worth exploring by those concerned over what a boxing world without Manny and Floyd may look like.
