No one that is following the sport today will argue that the Welter weight division is not the hottest division in the sport. The welter weight division has guys like Shane Mosley, Floyd Mayweather Jr., Miguel Cotto, Joshua Clottey, Andre Berto, and even has the likes of Manny Pacquiao and Paul Williams who can also make the 147 pound limit. The welter weight division is on fire!! The biggest fights that can be made today include fighters from this hot division. Pacquiao/Cotto, Pacquiao/Mosley, Pacquiao/Mayweather, Cotto/Mayweather, Mayweather/Mosley and so on.
My question however is for how much longer will this division remain this hot? Mosley is 37 and may be out of the sport entirely with in 2-3 years, Mayweather Jr., well who really knows about him, Floyd’s latest injury may be a sign that he may do this for 2-3 more fights then hang them up for good, Clottey may be jumping to 154, Pacquiao may be better suited at 140 since after all he keeps wanting to fight at catch weights and seems to avoid making fights at 147, and as far as Paul Williams goes, the punisher though can still make 147 but 160 may be his perfect fit.
The way I see things is that I strongly feel that the best entertaining fights will start to take place between the Junior Middleweight and Middleweight divisions. If you look at the top 10 ratings at 154 and 160 you will see mostly rugged rough fighters up in the age category, but it’s the future that I am looking forward to. Below I name the top 12 young hungry fighters that will engage in some real wars and are all 26 years of age or younger. Here is my Dirty Dozen list.
1. James Kirkland 25-0 (pictured above)- Let this beast out of his cage and it’s pure raw hell.
2. Alfredo Angulo 15-1- Some have compared this animal to Antonio Margarito, saying that he like Margarito has a granite chin, and like Margarito hits as if he has concrete in his hands. Wow!!
3. Deandre Latimore 19-2- Just lost a close one to Cory Spinks, Spinks who by the way is a matchup nightmare for anyone, but this young bull showed alot.
4. Joe Greene 21-0- The Dean of Mean Greene, rough, rugged, and raw.
5. Vanes Martirosyan 24-0- Will fight tough man Andrey Tsurkan this weekend, don’t miss it.
6. Shawn Porter 9-0- Just now old enough to drink, but when this guy connects on you, you will feel like youv’e been drinking.
7. Erislandy Lara 6-0- Has the tools to become the left handed Sugar Ray Leonard, yeah, I said it!
8. Daniel Jacobs 16-0- Have seen alot of him in 2008, and we will continue to see this hard hitting menace. Why you ask? Because he has the best of both worlds, he is managed by Al Haymon and promoted by Golden Boy.
9. Peter Quillin 20-0- Don’t sleep on this bad boy. Kid Choclate back in the flesh.
10. Fernando Guerrero 14-0- Next to Lara, this phenom may be the most complete of the bunch, it also doesn’t hurt that when this young man fights he packs the house.
11. David Lemieux 16-0- This kid sure can hit!!! Don’t blink.
12. Matt Korobov 6-0- This animal hits with hammers in each hand.
Andy Lee, some will roast me for placing 6 fight fighters on the list over you, but truth is that these are just the guys that I am really feeling right now, I tell you what, fight and beat any young man on this list and you will replace him on this list.
Shawn Estrada, are you sure you can’t make 160?
