By Cliff Rold

New York and Las Vegas have been referred to as cities that never sleep.  In Boxing, there is a corollary.

Welterweight is the division that never sucks.

In the wake of Andre Berto-Luis Collazo, an early candidate for Fight of the Year, and Shane Mosley-Antonio Margarito, an early candidate for Upset and Comeback of 2009, the wait for the next chapter at 147 lbs. begins in earnest. 

It also allows the mind to wander.

Every division whether we count to seventeen or a magic eight has its down time.  Heavyweight has it more often than it doesn’t and is having some of it right now.  Bantamweight arguably hasn’t seen its two best fighters square off in close to thirty years.  Light Heavyweight?  Middleweight?  Think back ten years for the first and fifteen for the second.

Be careful not to be lost in the fog.

Perhaps it’s something in the water bottles, but Welterweight doesn’t have the same problem, at least not in this lifetime.  The consensus in 2009 seems to be Welterweight is the best division in Boxing.  It’s funny to say so because such is almost always the case. 

It’s come to be predictable.

Oh, sure, Welterweight has its off years and bad fights but the pool is rarely still.  Five years ago fans got the first battle between Cory Spinks and Zab Judah, a sort of prelude to the current run the division is on, but with little else remembered.  The year before, the division saw a sort of unification tournament hot off the shocking turn of events which bore witness to Vernon Forrest toppling Shane Mosley.

Go back a few more years, to 1999, and it’s Oscar De La Hoya, Ike Quartey, Felix Trinidad and Pernell Whitaker…a few years more and it’s Buddy McGirt, Simon Brown, Marlon Starling.  Some of them were good, some great; it was never dull.

Most divisions could never have survived the losses Welterweight did when Sugar Ray Leonard, Tommy Hearns, Roberto Duran and Wilfred Benitez all moved up and out.  As evidence, recent vintage provides us a fearsome Featherweight foursome replaced by, well, not much yet.  Welterweight reloaded with Donald Curry.

Before Leonard, there was Carlos Palomino, Pipino Cuevas, and a big ticket era in Los Angeles to replace the silky smooth greatness of Jose Napoles.  The pages of history turn back, slowly of course because there’s so much on every page, (gotta stop at Griffith-Rodriguez…Basilio-DeMarco…the Kid) and there it is.

Down time.

World War II.

From 1941-46, Freddie Cochrane defended the World title only once, spending two years abroad as an Allied soldier and then spending time away from Ray Robinson. 

Ooops. 

The focus on titles in Boxing can be so strong that Cochrane’s muffled reign could almost allow one to forget Robinson turning pro in 1940 and ripping through the top ten at Welterweight. 

Experienced veterans like Fritzie Zivic and Henry Armstrong couldn’t stop Robinson. 

Hitler couldn’t stop the Welterweights.

Neither could World War I with an epic rivalry between Ted “Kid” Lewis and Jack Britton for those locked down on the U.S. home front to follow.  It takes that long, until the years before Lewis and Britton, and after a Barbados Demon, to finally hit a comparatively sustained lull in the action.

The Welterweight ranks have probably produced more of the 100 best fighters of all-time than any other.  Whether it’s the hardcore fans or the ‘serious’ historians (i.e. hardcore fans with notes), it’s this sort of seamless transition of time and quality which makes Welterweight a centerpiece of any discussions about all-time greats. 

In a somewhat slow week, these are the sort of thoughts which can come to mind. 

This is a sport which lends itself to cynicism.  Sinister shadows never seem far from the forefront and even Mosley-Margarito has seen the overcast of dark clouds with its hand wrap controversy.

Still, the 20,000 plus who turned up last weekend were a display of the lasting durability of Boxing’s middle weight (if not Middleweight) class.  When all else fails, and sometimes it does, fight fans can trust in Welterweight to be thriving or heading there any second.

Did someone say Mosley-Mayweather? 

Here it comes again.

Beyond 47

Fans can also anticipate this Friday night.  Already expertly previewed by Jake Donovan ( https://www.boxingscene.com/index.php?m=show&id=18110 ), the clash for the vacant IBF Jr. Welterweight belt gives the sport its third straight week of all top-ten action.  Whether Herman Ngoudjo and Juan Urango can supply the same thrills seen the last two weeks remains to be seen.

The hits keep coming eight days later at 112, 140 and 115 in a pair of excellent overseas matches between WBO Flyweight king Omar Narvaez and American Rayonta Whitfield, WBA titlist Andreas Kotelnik vs. Rene Maidana, and the long awaited domestic showdown between unified Jr. Bantamweight king Vic Darchinyan and Jorge Arce.  In fact, check the schedule and what can be found is nothing but top-ten action at least once a week from 115 to 160 lbs.  It won’t be until the first weekend in March that things actually slow down only to begin another run on March 14 with Chad Dawson-Antonio Tarver II.

This is a blessing of a start to 2009.

The Weekly Ledger

But wait, there’s more and while he changed the nature of his legacy last week, there’s still plenty to ponder in last week’s career analysis of Shane Mosley:

Cliff’s Notes…

With a temporary suspension already in place from the California State Athletic Commission for him and his trainer, the speculation about Margarito attempting to load gloves last week is mounting.  This corner reserves judgment for now but will have thoughts when final verdict is rendered...Vitali Klitschko-Juan Carlos Gomez is a real fight…Wladimir Klitschko-David Haye may or may not be but it’s a hell of an event…And finally, this went largely missed last week but congratulations to Mosley for being what looks like the oldest man ever to hold a serious version of the World Welterweight crown.  If anyone knows of someone older than 37, hit me with the news.

Cliff Rold is a member of the Ring Magazine Ratings Advisory Panel and the Boxing Writers Association of America.  He can be reached at roldboxing@hotmail.com