For fans of the 147 lb. division, here’s a roundup of the major welterweight bouts scheduled so far this year:
The biggest stars of the welterweight division have already announced their plans for the first half of 2012 with Manny Pacquiao (54-3-2, 38 KOs) taking on Timothy Bradley (28-0, 12 KOs) on June 9th and Floyd Mayweather (42-0, 26 KOs) moving up to junior middleweight to challenge for Miguel Cotto’s WBA title one month earlier, on May 5th.
The third and fourth ranked welters will also be tied up as Victor Ortiz (29-3-2, 22 KOs) and Andre Berto (28-1, 22 KOs) are signed to a rematch of their Fight of the Year 2011 bout. Berto is looking to avenge the loss as well as make a case for himself in the Pacquiao/Mayweather sweepstakes. Ortiz-Berto II will be held on June 23rd at either the MGM Grand in Las Vegas or the Staples Center in Los Angeles.
Devon Alexander (23-1, 13 KOs), with his one-sided decision victory over Marcos Maidana (31-3, 28 KOs) Saturday night, made a splash in his welterweight debut and will likely get one or two more high-profile bouts this year under the Golden Boy promotional banner.
Here’s the rest of the roundup:
March 2
Ed Paredes (29-3-1, 19 KOs) and Cosme Rivera (34-14-3, 24 KOs) will meet on Friday Night Fights in a small-stakes bout for a chance to stay relevant in an always-changing division. Both are fringe contenders, at best, but the bout, itself, should be a fairly entertaining encounter.
March 16
Kendall Holt (27-5, 15 KOs) and Tim Coleman (19-2-1, 5 KOs), two ranked junior welterweights, will be crossing over into welterweight territory together. Both are also coming off tough losses. Former world titlist, Holt, dropped a split decision to Danny Garcia in October of last year while Coleman, in August, was stopped in seven by Vernon Paris. For both fighters, this is a must-win contest.
March 17
Kell Brook (26-0, 18 KOs) is one of the sport’s brightest prospects and, perhaps, the best welterweight to come from the UK since Lloyd Honeyghan. He’ll be taking on another pretty solid British welterweight, Matthew Hatton (42-5-2, 16 KOs) in a significant developmental fight for the 25-year-old. If all goes according to plan, Brook will win and make the official move from the UK to the USA later this year.
Second generation fighter, Omar Chavez (27-1-1, 20 KOs) will fight for the first time since his points loss to Jorge Paez Jr. in December. Colombia’s Emillio Julio Julio (20-7-2, 13 KOs), who has lost to Hector David Saldivia and Sebastian Lujan, is a pretty decent comeback opponent, especially considering Chavez’s previous level of opposition
March 24
Former IBF welterweight titlist, Jan Zaveck (31-2, 18 KOs) will fight in Maribor, Slovenia against unknown and unproven Bethuel Uushona (25-1-1, 8 KOs) from Namibia. Zaveck was stopped in five rounds by Andre Berto in September of last year and is looking to get back in the title picture.
In Houston, former lightweight challenger, Jose Cotto (32-3-1, 24 KOs) will meet faded former lightweight champ, Jose Luis Castillo (63-11-1, 54 KOs) in a meaningless bout that falls under the “Why?” category of undercard filler below the Kirkland-Molina and Morales-Garcia co-main events.
April 29
The WBA welterweight title bout between titlist, Vyacheslav Senchenko (32-0, 21 Kos) and former junior welterweight champ, Paulie Malignaggi (30-4, 6 KOs) finally appears to be set to take place in Senchenko’s native Ukraine after some money issues were worked out. Malignaggi was looking for a 50-50 split in the purse rather than the 25% initially offered.
June 9th
On the Pacquiao-Bradley undercard, Mike Jones (26-0, 19 KOs) faces veteran former junior welterweight titlist, Randall Bailey (42-7, 36 KOs) for the vacant IBF welterweight title left behind by Andre Berto. A win for Jones will edge him closer to a big money bout with Manny Pacquiao at some point in 2012 or early 2013.
July 28
Former two-division world titlist and belt holder in three divisions, Robert Guerrero (29-1-1, 18 KOs) will make his welterweight debut against Turkey’s Selcuk Aydin (23-0, 17 KOs) in a bout for Aydin’s number one ranking in the WBC. Guerrero, who unsuccessfully campaigned for a shot at Floyd Mayweather Jr., will be looking to impress and earn his way to the type of big money bout that has eluded him thus far in his career. Aydin, who has been a WBC mandatory for about two years, is looking to finally get a crack at the world title.
