Welterweight Excitement on Promoter’s Wheel: Keith Thurman versus Shawn Porter, Marcos Maidana versus Broner, Floyd, Pacman, Luis Collazo and Much Much More!
By Robert Brizel, Head RCM Boxing Correspondent
As 2014 begins to shape up, and boxing fans want the best matchups. Boxing fan diehards, here’s the entire lowdown! The welterweight division currently exists in a sort of confusing hellish chaos. Mike Jones apparently does not want a comeback fight, having rejected a bout with Kell Brook last summer. Brook, having won the IBF welterweight eliminator over Vyacheslav Senchenko, is ready to leave the United Kingdom and spread his wings in a title bout. Brook would like to fight Shawn Porter, or the winner of the rumored Shawn Porter versus Keith Thurman bout. Canada’s Phil LoGreco lost to Porter by ten round decision at 150, but might return as a factor if comes back to 147 pounds where he belongs.
Porter having won the IBF World title by 12 round decision over Devon Alexander, might fight interim WBA champion Keith Thurman, coming off an impressive stoppage win over Jesus Soto Karass. Andre Berto could return to prominence if he fights a rematch with divisional gatekeeper Karass and wins, setting up a bout with Porter or Thurman.
Marcos Rene Maidana has delayed his April 2014 mandatory rematch with Adrien Broner, claiming he needs more time to rest and then prepare for Broner again. Maidana, who holds the WBA crown, might prefer to fight Juan Manuel Marquez fight. If that happens, and for example Marquez wins, Broner would get stuck with a forced fight against Marquez. Considering the Marquez destruction of Manny Pacquiao, Broner might be buying himself a second trip to hell by fighting Maidana against or worse Marquez later on. Broner is apparently hell bend on revenge against Maidana, who could considerably ruin Broner’s career for good if he knocks out Broner in the rematch. Considering Maidana’s punch count output against Broner, Broner could conceivably get knocked out in a rematch with Maidana, leaving open the possibility Broner’s rematch with Maidana could be one of boxing history’s biggest mistakes.
Timothy Bradley is heading towards his rematch with Manny Pacquiao on April 12, 2014, for the WBO world title. The winner of this bout is looking for a near future mega bout with Floyd Mayweather Jr. If Pacman wins, he might look for a redemption rematch with Marquez before going after Floyd. Pacman mentioned the possibility of fighting Floyd in a total charity bout for both men, which Floyd has dismissed as illogical given Pacquiao’s Filipino tax problems putting Pacman in a desperate fix for big cash as Floyd sees it. The bark od Mayweather versus Pacman still has the public bark, but no longer has the bite, as in fighting over steroids testing and guaranteed paydays left the bout in boxing limbo.
When the welterweight dust finally settles, perhaps a unified champion of all divisions will emerge. Floyd holds the WBC world welterweight title, and may have to forge on and fight Amir Khan to keep his world title active, and nobody in the boxing world actually believes Khan’s trainer Virgil Hunter can pull off the upset of the century with Khan’s unsturdy chin. Floyd has been cautious in recent bout appearances, the Joe Cortez refereed Victor Ortiz strange knockout bout aside. Floyd stepping up in division to fight an Erislandy Lara or Gennady Govovkin would be considerably more spectacular than fighting Khan, which Floyd simply has to know the general public isn’t buying powder puff opponents like Khan.
Meanwhile, the IBO world title is open, and Paulie Maliganggi versus Robert Guerrero or Brandon Rios or Randall Bailey could be of mild yet entertaining interest. Maligaggi, boxing’s magic man, is due for another step up bout, and these opponents are mentioned as the other meaty names of the division appear taken for the moment. Erik Morales is fighting Jorge Paez Jr. in a comeback bout. If Morales wins, Erik would be looking at a second comeback bout against a considerably more dangerous opponent if he still has one more mega bout left in the tank.
The winner of Luis Collazo versus Victor Ortiz at Barclays Center in Brooklyn next weekend could prove irresistible chow for Morales, if he really is serious about climbing back into the welterweight mix, or perhaps a Morales second comeback bout against USBA champion Ray Robinson of Philadelphia who fights next month at Dover Downs Casino in Delaware. NABA and IBF Inter-Continental champion Ionut Dan Ion of Canada is a fighter of rising ability who could also have an outside shot at a step up bout against a bigger name somewhere in the welterweight mix as well. Gabriel Tito Bracero, fresh from his recent decision win over Dmitriy Salita, might be better off at 147 pounds than fighting Danny Garcia at 140, where Tito could become a dangerous factor. It all depends.
Trying to define the fireworks in the welterweight division in 2014 is somewhat hard to predict. The reason why the welterweight division has to be given such considerable consideration in the worldwide fight game today is because what has been defined in this article is mega excitement. The Klitschko brothers may be popular heavyweight champions in Europe, but no heavyweight champion since Joe Louis, Rocky Marciano, Sonny Liston, Muhammad Ali, Larry Holmes and Iron Mike Tyson has generated the sort of fascination and excitement the previous generation of heavyweights did.
Precisely why Sugar Ray Leonard, Thomas Hearns, Roberto Duran, Marvelous Marvin Hagler, Hector Macho Camacho Sr. and Wilfredo Benitez generated the sort of excitement they did in the post Carlos Monzon era is because they were great fighters earning respect in their own way. Not since Jose ‘La Mantequilla’ Napoles has any welterweight earned the sort of consistent respect required to unify the welterweight division. Not since the late Salvador Sanchez in the featherweight division has open champion taken one title and defended it so well in the lower weight classes. The welterweight division promises to bring the fight game excitement and glory in 2014.
It would take the most educated boxing fan to understand the intricacies and complexities of the welterweight division, but one thing is for sure. The welterweight division gets high grades for being the most competitive division in professional boxing. A fighter who is moved well gets high marks, and a division which moves as spectacularly as the welterweight division will in 2014 really rocks and rolls!
English
No Comments Yet