Which Current Welterweight Goes Down as History’s Best, Mayweather or Pacquiao, or?
Published May 14 2010 by: Justin Landis | Follow us on Facebook & on Twitter
Welterweights in Boxing: A Division of Depth and Legends
The Welterweights are currently the cream of the boxing crop. Aside from the run of heavyweight title fights including either Mike Tyson or Evander Holyfield, it has been the welterweights that have dominated the pay per view numbers, with fights such as De La Hoya vs. Mayweather, De La Hoya vs. Trinidad and Mayweather vs. Mosley shattering Pay Per View records. This division is a division chock full of depth, marketable talent, rivalries, and an uncanny ability to generate revenue. With a division so deep in talent, it is always interesting to think about who will be remembered 20 or even 50 years from now as the fighter from this era who is the most talented and impacted the sport the most
Of course Sugar Ray Robinson, Sugar Ray Leonard, Jose Napoles, Tommy Hearns, Felix Trinidad, Henry Armstrong and others will be mentioned as some of the best and most remembered Welterweights of all time, but the question is, who will emerge from this great generation of Welterweights in the 2000’s as not only the most talented, but as the fighters with the greatest impact on the sport.
The seemingly unstoppable Manny Pacquiao with his blazing speed, awkward angles and power in both hands; the slick, quick and ridiculously talented Floyd Mayweather Jr. who talks a big game but sure as hell backs it up in the ring; the tremendous skill and Hall of Fame career of Shane Mosley; the always dangerous aggression of Miguel Cotto, the wily veterans like Luis Collazo and Carlos Quintana, and the powerful emergence of Andre Berto.
This is all part of the current cast of the Welterweight division and each match up creates a lot of buzz. It is this buzz and marketability that will be remembered the most about this division and two great Welterweight fighters come to mind when it comes to selling out arenas and backing up their revenue generating skills with unstoppable skills in the ring.
Biggest Impact on Boxing and the Welterweight Division
Despite the talent of fighters such as Mosley and Pacquiao, the fighters who will have the most long standing impact on the Welterweight division are two fighters with tremendous talent and possibly even more tremendous marketability: Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Oscar De La Hoya. This is for both the Hall of Fame careers they’ve developed in the ring as well as their popularity, which has transcended boxing and created tremendous streams of pay-per-view revenue, making them the biggest non-heavyweight attractions in the history of the sport.
De La Hoya has defeated 19 current or former World Champions won 10 world titles in six different weight classes and has generated over $696 million in Pay-Per-View income. For over a decade he was the poster boy of boxing and he has had an impact on the sport both as a fighter and a founding member of Golden Boy Promotions.
De La Hoya was such a popular figure in boxing and was able to lift the sport to new heights and bring a new level of appeal to boxing. He was not only very talented but very popular with the media and fans as well. He was one of the best-known and most well liked boxers in the history of the sport.
On the opposite end of the spectrum is Floyd Mayweather. Mayweather is currently one of the pound for pound best in the sport and has developed a solid 41-0 record and remains untouched and unhurt in the ring. He is also a boxing promoter's dream because everyone has an opinion on Floyd. You either love his swag, confidence and ego and want to watch him roll over the Welterweight division, or you view him as tremendously arrogant and want to see another fighter shut his big mouth.
Either way, you can’t deny his talent and his ability to win fights. It may not be in the most exciting fashion, but Floyd knows how to win and his ability to create such a distinct and controversial personality for himself outside of the ring, while reigning supreme as the best of the sport in the ring ,will make him a fighter who will be remembered for years. He's a fighter who brings both notoriety and revenue to the sport.
Biggest Talent
The recognition for greatest talent of this great Welterweight era goes to two fighters who dominant their opponents using far different styles but remain unmatched in the ring, even by a division as solid as the current Welterweight division. Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr.
Pacquiao has established himself as one of the pound for pound kings and the most dominant fighter in the world. Before you can even begin to figure Pacquiao out in the ring, he is already hitting you with powerful shots at speeds and angles that can’t possibly be predicted. He has humiliated Oscar De La Hoya, knocked Ricky Hatton out cold before viewers could even blink, broke Miguel Cotto down on all levels and thoroughly dominated Joshua Clottey. And all this has happened in the last two years. Nobody seems to have an answer for Manny, not even the best in the division.
Only Floyd Mayweather is as dominant as Pacquaio, but he establishes his dominance by breaking his opponents down mentally before the fight even starts and simply out-boxing them. In all of his 41 wins, his opponents seemed to be one step behind him at all times and simply unable to hit him let alone hurt him. He may not have the explosion and excitement level as Manny Pacquiao but he sure has the talent.
These three fighters will come out of this division as the most talented and most memorable: De La Hoya and Mayweather for their impact on the sport and marketability and Pacquaio and Mayweather for their raw talent, dominance and skill in the ring. Of course it goes without saying that the best way to get a more clear answer on their legacies is to finally see the highly anticipated Pacquiao vs. Mayweather battle in the ring.
DON’T CARE!!! AMERICANS ALWAYS WIN ON THIS KIND OF FIGHT BUT LET’S SEE WHO WIN INSIDE THE RING, NO MORE EXCUSES JUST FIGHT
FOR THE MOMENT THEY CAN TREAT FLOYD AS THE BEST BLACK AMERICAN BOXER OF THIS ERA THEY HAVE…NO PROBLEM WITH THAT….BUT WHEN FLOYD AND PACQUIAO MEETS IN THE RING THEY WILL FOR SURE CHANGE THEIR MIND…YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN…. SO BRING IT ON….! AND THE WORLD WANTS TO SEE…WHO’S THE BEST OF ALL TIME….
THAT YAHOO RANKING FOR P4P KING IS JUST BIASED AS EVER, ITS REALLY POINTLESS HOW ON EARTH??? VERY DISGUSTING..BUT ANYWAY PACMAN IS VERY HUMBLE, EVEN HE IS NOT ON THE LIST HE DOESNT EVEN CARE.. ITS JUST A LIST MADE BY THOSE ENVIOUS MINDS, YOU KNOW WHO EXACTLY THE “ONE”..AND ITS PACMAN ALL THE WAY! WHAT FOR?YAHOO IS AN AMERICAN OWNED COMPANY…SO GET GOOGLES, ITS MUCH EASY, USER FRIENDLY AND VERY INTELLIGENT SEARCHER.
I cant bellieve this, yahoo rankings make floyd gayweaather no. 1 than manny paquiao. I dont think beating a smaller fighter and a 40 yrs old fighter make floyd the no. 1…
I’t doesnt make sense at all…
Floyd will never fight Manny its clear ! He will be just like Roy Jones JR (BUT NOT AS GOOD) Thinking that his hand picked opponents will make him seem like the best ever ! PLEASE. Roy was probably the best I’ve seen as far as speed and dominance in the ring but it caught up to him the same way it will with Floyd . After the fight I seen with Mayweather vs Mosley – Manny will knock the pretty boy out ! If – I don’t think he will ! He ever fights him.
They can all have the rankings that they want and put lil Floyd as #1! The truth is Manny doesn’t give a Fu€k!! He never did!! He just wanna know when the fight is scheduled, and when the time has come he climbs up the ring…he kneels & prays first…before giving the other guy his worst nightmare! Pac is 1 freak of nature who doesn’t fight so he could land as #1 on anyone’s biased stats on the internet! Pac doesn’t even giv a $hit about what’s on the net! He would rather sing karaoke, play pool, darts & billiards, do commercials, play basketball, or just climb up the ring and beat the other guy into submission!! & To the people who r dyin to put lil Floyd on the #1 spot on some biased stats coz they saw him beat a 40yr old man in the ring, go Fu€k urself! Pacman is just watin 4 the lil Fu€k to man up & fight him toe-to-toe in d ring! Fu€k the stats! Just fight!
Jake, what’s up, man?
Pacquiao-Mayweather definitely makes my Top Ten list of things we’d like to see in sports, but won’t.
http://sportschump.net/2010/05/14/things-we-would-like-to-see-in-sports-part-1-pacquaio-mayweather-brett-favre-making-a-decision-tiger-woods-winning-a-major-cubs-in-the-world-series/3713/
To Rule your Division you have to and must BEAT every top fighter in that division.
Did Pacquiao do that—NO
Lets take a look–Welterweight division .WBC Champion is SHANE MOSLEY . Did Pacquiao beat SHANE MOSLEY —NO
Lets take a look—LIGHT WELTERWEIGHT — Timothy Bradley who is the WBO Champion did Pacquiao BEAT him — NO
Lets take a look — LIGHT WELTERWEIGHT — Devon Alexzander who is the WBC, IBF Champion did Pacquao beat any of them— NO.
PACQUIAO WOULD NOT FIGHT ANY ONE OF THEM , why you ask its because NONE OF THEM HAVE BEEN KNOCKOUT BEFORE , THEY ARE ALL UNDEFEATED .
Look who Pacquiao beat that have you all saying that he’s the BEST.
Oscar De La Hoya—-Beaten by mayweather in (2007/May/05)
1 year and 5 mths after pacquiao fights him (2008/Dec/06)
remember that you said when mayweather beat Oscar that Oscar De La Hoya was OLD and WASHED UP
But when pacquiao fights him he’s NOT.
Rickey Hatton—-Beaten and knockout by MAYWEATHER in (2007/Dec/08)
1 year and 5 mths after pacquiao fights him (2009/May/02)
remember once you get knockout for the first time you’re never the same . mayweather knockout hatton first , why pacquiao didn’t fight hatton when he was UNDEFEATED .
Miguel Cotto—-Beaten and knockout BADLY by Antonio Magarito in (2008/July/26)
1 year and 4 mths after pacquiao fights him (2009/Nov/14)
cotto was DAMAGE GOODS by the time pacquiao fights him
This is the three fighters that pacquiao faced to become the greatest
YOU should be ASHAME of yourself for lowering the BAR in order for pacquiao to be GREAT
Like (0)Share
lets take a look who mayweather fought after retirement;
marquez a 135lbs champion but he fought and beat him at walterweight (2 division higher) and worst he came in 2 lbs more than the contracted weight.
did pacquiao beat marquez? yes
a 38yr old mosley who did not trade punches with mayweather after round 2.
did pacquiao fight mosley? no why? mosley was scheduled to fight berto when the negotiation bet pacquiao and money may pulled off.
pacquiao was no1
mosley was no2
mayweather was no3
and who was no 4?
Clottey!!!
did pacquiao fight clottey? yes!
did he beat clottey? yes!
if you gonna ask me is mayweather affraid of Manny Pacquiao?
answer: absolutely!!!!!
pls dont forget that manny is even a legitimate welterweight but he keeps on destroying tough opponents.
correction:
dont forget that manny is NOT even a legitimate welterweight but he keeps on destroying class A opponents.
this is for jake emen, the writer of this article: your title and your article are lousy yet i am still compelled to comment.
if you want to talk about impact on the sport, how about this: looking at what’s happening to the sport, a lot of fans turned their eyes to UFC for good reason. it is more exciting. but when pacquiao soared to prominence, these same fans were drawn back to the sport. boxing was dying when pacquiao came and he brought life back to the sport. can you imagine a better impact than that?
as to popularity, floyd is barely known outside of the non-boxing crowd. most journalists around the world are in unison that pacquiao has transcended the sport, so why do you claim that it is floyd?