The welterweight division still boasts boxing’s two best fighters in Manny Pacquiao and Floyd
Mayweather as well as a pretty serviceable, if slightly unproven, Andre Berto as a third wheel. But below them, other than a 39-year old Shane Mosley, already sporting a one-sided loss to Mayweather and scheduled to face Pacquiao on May 7th, the division is almost completely frozen with little cause for optimism on the horizon.
Back in 2006, the welterweight division, one of boxing’s historical glamor divisions, was stacked and primed to be on its way to a golden era.
Zab Judah had just lost to the Cinderalla story of Carlos Baldomir, but remained the most talented 147 pounder. Antonio Margarito, Paul Williams, and Joshua Clottey were starting to emerge as legitimate threats. Floyd Mayweather had just moved up from 140 lbs. with Miguel Cotto officially joining the division several months later. Even Shane Mosley, who had been campaigning at 154, eventually re-enlisted for a taste of the action. The division also boasted talents like Luis Collazo, Carlos Quintana, and Kermit Cintron.
The possibilities seemed endless and the fans, rightfully, expected an era of classic welterweight wars.
Now, four years later, one can’t help but look back at the Class of 2006 as one of the sport’s most frustrating recent failures. Some quality bouts were made and some legitimate encounters served to hold the public’s interest, but with the surplus of talent available, it just wasn’t enough.
Boxing politics blocked some of the best bouts from being made while the shadow of plaster-laced hand wraps cast a doubt on a few of the big bouts that did take place.
And then, of course, a certain Filipino sensation moved into the neighborhood, knocked off a couple of the big names and parlayed that success into a business stranglehold on the welterweight division.
Now, a look up and down the 147 lb. class will reveal a division absolutely drained of top talent with not much to look forward to at all.
