Boxing: The Welterweight Division

When Floyd Mayweather retired from the sport of boxing, he left a huge hole which needed to be filled immediately. Not only was he The Ring Magazine and WBC Welterweight Champion of the World. He was also the #1 pound for pound fighter in the sport. Despite rumors that he was ducking fellow Welterweight Miguel Cotto and the fact that he had a highly lucrative fight planned in a rematch with Oscar De La Hoya, Mayweather left the sport and hasn’t looked back yet. Whether or not you believe that Mayweather will stay retired is irrelevant. The true fact of the matter is this. Mayweather is no longer the #1 pound for pound fighter in the world, he is no longer a champion, and he is (for the near future) no longer in the picture. Where does that leave the Welterweight Division? The division in which he left behind.

WBA Welterweight Champion Miguel Cotto will defend his championship against the hard-hitting relentless Antonio Margarito. This fight will not only be talked about as one of the most anticipated fights in recent memory, but it will for all intents and purposes decide who will now become the king of the Welterweight Division. But will this victory really give either man the type of stature they would have recieved in a fight with Mayweather? Will a victory at the expense of his opponent really catapult the winner into becoming a household name? I don’t think so.

Floyd Mayweather had reached that status by beating everyone that was put in front of him, but also because he was a loud mouthed, brash, in your face character that drew the attention of not only the boxing circle of fans, but also of the outside casual fans. Mayweather was a superstar with tremendous cross-over appeal. Neither Miguel Cotto nor Antonio Margarito has these traits. I do believe that the winner of this fight will become a household name, but its going to take a lot longer because of the way both these men approach the boxing game. They like to do their talking in the ring. That is a noble attitude and one that should be respected, but in this time of sound bites, flash, & the internet, that kind of approach is the wrong one to get noticed. To truly become a superstar, the winner of this fight will be forced to take the long road.

So how does one become a star without inciting a raucous crowd reaction with his words? Simple. Clean out their division. The winner of this fight will have earned a massive amount of respect within the boxing universe, but to truly break out, I believe the winner will have to defeat all of the top dogs in the Welterweight Division. That includes WBO Welterweight Champion Paul “The Punisher” Williams and the recently crowned WBC Welterweight Champion Andre Berto. Doing this is the only other logical way of becoming a star in not only the Welterweight division, but in the eyes of the outsiders looking in. Well there is one more way, but that way only applies to Miguel Cotto. It has been rumored that Oscar De La Hoya will fight Miguel Cotto for his final fight should Cotto defeat Margarito. De La Hoya is a mega-star that creates buzz and makes the guy he’s fighting a bigger star. A Cotto/ De La Hoya fight could be huge in the box office, in pay per view buys, and huge for Cotto’s stock. However, there have also been rumors that De La Hoya will fight the other Puerto Rican Star, Felix “Tito” Trinidad in a rematch of their “Fight of the Millennium” from way back in September of 1999. Until De La Hoya makes up his mind of what he wants to do, I cannot really count this as a positive for Miguel Cotto.

In closing, the sports best fighter has retired. Whether or not Floyd Mayweather stays retired will be determined probably later rather then sooner. Floyd will have to resist the allure of another mega-fight/mega-payday, which will most likely be a hard thing to do considering the guy’s nickname is “Money.” What happens in the Welterweight Division from here on out is up to the fighters. The division will have another king in just a few short weeks, but its up to that king to do the necessary things to prove that he deserves that title. Although, Floyd Mayweather was the top dog in the entire sport, he never actually proved he was the real king of the Welterweight Division. Whether its Cotto or Margarito, someone will have to emerge as the next great Welterweight. It’s time to stop focusing solely on the money and start making the fights that need to be made. It’s time to see a unified Welterweight Champion of the World. To be the best, you gotta beat the best. It’s time.