Why is the featherweight division not that popular at the moment?

[Feroz]

Super featherweight lacks fighters but is rather quite popular in comparison, Navarrete said so in an interview that he is now struggling to make weight and that he is pursuing his career not for legacy but rather to provide for himself.

That the bigger paychecks are by fighting Shakur Stevenson and Oscar Valdez which once that is done, he will likely retire.

But that is all the noteworthy fighter's super featherweight provides excluding the dark horse that is Robson Conceicao, all the match ups that could be done at 126:

Mark Magasyo vs Mauricio Lara
Emanuel Navarrete vs Robeisy Ramirez
Josh Warrington vs Luis Alberto Lopez
Rey Vargas vs Gary Russell Jr
Brandon Figueroa vs Josh Warrington
Isaac Dogboe vs Michael Conlan
Abraham Nova vs Luis Alberto Lopez
Leo Santa Cruz vs Kiko Martinez
Mauricio Lara vs Robeisy Ramirez
Mark Magsayo vs Isaac Dogboe
Isaac Dogboe vs Abraham Nova
Leo Santa Cruz vs Josh Warrington
Brandon Figueroa vs Leo Santa Cruz
Kid Galahad vs Isaac Dogboe
Jose Warrington vs Rey Vargas

Imagine if Murodjon Akhmadaliev, Stephen Fulton and Luis Nery joined in the Mix.

Would also be pretty cool if Naoya Inoue joined but he is two weight classes below.

[SilverMiles]

Super featherweight lacks fighters but is rather quite popular in comparison, Navarrete said so in an interview that he is now struggling to make weight and that he is pursuing his career not for legacy but rather to provide for himself.

That the bigger paychecks are by fighting Shakur Stevenson and Oscar Valdez which once that is done, he will likely retire.

But that is all the noteworthy fighter's super featherweight provides excluding the dark horse that is Robson Conceicao, all the match ups that could be done at 126:

Mark Magasyo vs Mauricio Lara
Emanuel Navarrete vs Robeisy Ramirez
Josh Warrington vs Luis Alberto Lopez
Rey Vargas vs Gary Russell Jr
Brandon Figueroa vs Josh Warrington
Isaac Dogboe vs Michael Conlan
Abraham Nova vs Luis Alberto Lopez
Leo Santa Cruz vs Kiko Martinez
Mauricio Lara vs Robeisy Ramirez
Mark Magsayo vs Isaac Dogboe
Isaac Dogboe vs Abraham Nova
Leo Santa Cruz vs Josh Warrington
Brandon Figueroa vs Leo Santa Cruz
Kid Galahad vs Isaac Dogboe
Jose Warrington vs Rey Vargas

Imagine if Murodjon Akhmadaliev, Stephen Fulton and Luis Nery joined in the Mix.

Would also be pretty cool if Naoya Inoue joined but he is two weight classes below.

Does anyone really consider Super Featherweight a popular division, it's been a pretty desolate division since 2005.

[Feroz]

Does anyone really consider Super Featherweight a popular division, it's been a pretty desolate division since 2005.

Apparently to Navarrete at least, the much bigger paychecks are by fighting Shakur Stevenson or Oscar Valdez in a Mexican standoff but besides them there really isn't many fighters that garner attention from viewers.

Because of Shakur at least the super featherweight division is quite more popular because he beaten two champions inside a year.

[Hustle]

Super featherweight lacks fighters but is rather quite popular in comparison, Navarrete said so in an interview that he is now struggling to make weight and that he is pursuing his career not for legacy but rather to provide for himself.

That the bigger paychecks are by fighting Shakur Stevenson and Oscar Valdez which once that is done, he will likely retire.

But that is all the noteworthy fighter's super featherweight provides excluding the dark horse that is Robson Conceicao, all the match ups that could be done at 126:

Mark Magasyo vs Mauricio Lara
Emanuel Navarrete vs Robeisy Ramirez
Josh Warrington vs Luis Alberto Lopez
Rey Vargas vs Gary Russell Jr
Brandon Figueroa vs Josh Warrington
Isaac Dogboe vs Michael Conlan
Abraham Nova vs Luis Alberto Lopez
Leo Santa Cruz vs Kiko Martinez
Mauricio Lara vs Robeisy Ramirez
Mark Magsayo vs Isaac Dogboe
Isaac Dogboe vs Abraham Nova
Leo Santa Cruz vs Josh Warrington
Brandon Figueroa vs Leo Santa Cruz
Kid Galahad vs Isaac Dogboe
Jose Warrington vs Rey Vargas

Imagine if Murodjon Akhmadaliev, Stephen Fulton and Luis Nery joined in the Mix.

Would also be pretty cool if Naoya Inoue joined but he is two weight classes below.

No marquee names at 126. A bunch of solid fighters. But no big names.

[Feroz]

No marquee names at 126. A bunch of solid fighters. But no big names.

Navarrete is the closest thing there is to a big name at 126 considering how much attention he gets compared to the rest, as a fight agaisnt unraked fighter gets as much views as Vargas vs Magsayo and Wood vs Conlan but is still nowhere near as much as let's say Loma or Inoue.

But now it seems he will likely move up to Super featherweight.


At least the Division is stacked and will likely get even Moreso in the coming years.
Boxrec Rankings Featherweight (Sept-2022).JPG

[Hustle]

Navarrete is the closest thing there is to a big name at 126 considering how much attention he gets compared to the rest, as a fight agaisnt unraked fighter gets as much views as Vargas vs Magsayo and Wood vs Conlan but is still nowhere near as much as let's say Loma or Inoue.

But now it seems he will likely move up to Super featherweight.


At least the Division is stacked and will likely get even Moreso in the coming years.
Boxrec Rankings Featherweight (Sept-2022).JPG

True.

I wouldnt be suprised if 1 year from now we're talking about how hot 126 is.

[Feroz]

True.

I wouldnt be suprised if 1 year from now we're talking about how hot 126 is.

I agree, the fighters are quite active since they are severely underpaid similarly to the flyweight division.

There have already been many title fights, and some being planned within a year.

Russell vs Magsayo- January
Conlan vs Wood- March
Warrington vs Martinez- March
Abraham Nova vs Robeisy Ramirez-June
Magsayo vs Vargas- July
Wood vs Lara- September
Warrington vs Luis Alberto Lopez- November
Leo Santa Cruz vs Vargas- November

however, since Navarrete has been highly unactive there has been a lack of attention since he is the most popular figure.