Are we about to see a bunch of WWs jump up in weight?

In boxing there are cycles of strong divisions and weak divisions. A few years ago, welterweight was the glamour division with a lot of big stars competing there. Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather ran the show, any other fighter at welterweight had to fight them to be anybody in the division. Plenty of smaller fighters (Marquez, Ortiz, Guerrero, Bradley) actually moved out of divisions they were successful in, just to fight the big names. Remember that the 140 lb division had a ton of talent and that a lot of that talent ended up moving up for bigger money, rather than fighting among themselves. Miguel Cotto was the guy who set the trend by leaving WW after Manny beat him. Cotto went on to the 154 lb division and had a nice run before ultimately losing to Mayweather and Trout. Chasing the money, Cotto went up to middleweight to beat an old Sergio Martinez and get some of that star action. Now it appears the middleweight division is where the big names are swimming. Canelo is the biggest name of all and he moved up there to fight Cotto, and despite his catchweight games there's not much of a chance of him going back. Amir Khan, who never fought a top welterweight, just leapfrogged an entire division to take him on. And now Marquez is talking about moving up to fight Miguel Cotto, probably around the 150-155 lb range. I haven't even mentioned Golovkin who could probably do a good event with any known US fighter. Does this signal the end of the welterweight division as *THE* premier division in boxing? The biggest name at WW once Pacquiao retires will be Bradley, and he's not exactly a cash cow. I think that we are going to see guys like Thurman, Porter, Garcia, and eventually Spence Jr make the move up to the middleweight division where there are bigger names and bigger paydays, especially if Amir Khan and Juan Manuel Marquez make permanent moves there.

Comments (10)

bojangles1987

I'm genuinely worried now that Tim Bradley will be allowed to move up and fight Golovkin. That's what this Alvarez/Khan bullsh*t has opened up a real possibility of.

10y ago

G_G_G

Hell no son. We in the Saul Caweightlow Wackvarez era now son. This is the generation of fighters draining themselves and avoiding guys their own size. Welcome to the CantNelo We Like Future Generation XG =xtremely gey.

10y ago

Dr_Rumack

Manny, Bradley, and Danny are the only three welterweights with good resumes. And in truth, Danny and Tim's resumes were built at 140. Brook and Thurman are promising but have done very little. This year will hopefully see some sort of shake out. If Thurman is for real, then Brook-Thurman becomes a major fight. Will we see it is the question. I think Thurman would want it. I think Brook needs it. So there is a decent chance welterweight will have a new king in the near future. If Porter loses to Thurman he might just move up. But since he apparently wants away from Haymon, Porter-Bradley is something we could see in the near future too.

10y ago

jas

No Fighters go where the money is Welter is stacked

10y ago

STREET_CLEANER

Any fighter goes up or down in weight for a big payday

10y ago

soul_survivor

Welterweight is getting weaker by the day, the prime years of the division included Williams, Judah, Cotto, Margarito, Mosley, Floyd and a whole host of good challengers. Then Pacquiao arrived and beat up Cotto, Mosley, Clottey, Bradley and Margarito (at a weird catch weight but Marg was very much a welterweight career fighter). Floyd also got in on that Mosley action and had his run with Judah and Baldomir, between the two of them (Pacquiao at a higher standard) they cleared out the division. The next generation of welters really aren't worth much, apart from Bradley. Khan may be good or very good at the weight but we may never know and Brook/Porter/Thurman/Garcia are mostly untested. The division that will be glamour in the coming 12-18 months will be middleweight, with the likes of the Charlos, Andrade, Canelo all possibly moving up to fight as full fledged middles. The thing is that these guys must fight each other, like Pacquiao, Cotto, Marg, Mosley, Floyd did, to varying degrees. Obviously, we don't need more 5 year build ups.

10y ago

NUCLEAR

This is what i like about boxing.. everything is in constant change. Welterweight is declining.. Middle weight is rising. Meanwhile the heavyweight division is making a comeback.

10y ago

goodvibes

I hope so ! I'm excited for 154 and 160 right now. 147 still got its usual bangers but 54' and 60' are rockin right now. Even the popular guys at 140 went to 147 after Garcia left. I wouldn't be surprised if the loser of Herrera/Provodnikov 2 moved up to 47' too. I think Molina Jr. is gonna do the same. The more things change, the more they stay the same though.

10y ago

lopetego

It's definetly possible, after Pac retires Cotto and Canelo will be the only cash cows left, the top ww will definetly want those paydays They'll have to move up to challenge Cotto and Nelo at their respective custom made divisions of 155 and 157 respectively 155 and 157 will be new glamour divisions

10y ago

boliodogs

Welterweight is still a very talented weight class with good money to be made there. Boxers should only move up in weight if making weight weakens them. Moving up in weight when they are at a comfortable weight to chase money or glory is a good way to get their ass kicked by bigger stronger fighters. Khan will find that out in less than 3 months.

10y ago