19.09.07 – By Derek Cowan: There was a time when the Heavyweight division reigned supreme in the great sport of Boxing. The early 1900’s saw the great Jack Johnson combine a large muscular build, with speed, skill, and near impenetrable defense. The 1930’s brought us the Brown Bomber, Joe Louis, an average sized heavy with cat like reflexes, and paralyzing power. The 1950’s was the era of a fire hydrant named Rocky Marciano.
A short, stocky man, with average boxing skill, yet he possessed a lion’s heart and lead in his fists. The 60’s and 70’s, possibly the greatest era as far as total volume of quality big men, presented Sonny Liston, Joe Frazier, George Foreman, Ken Norton, and of course, the Greatest of all time…..Muhammed Ali.
The 80’s began with the polished Larry Holmes, and ended with the emergence of possibly the most intimidating fighter to ever live, Iron Mike Tyson. Even the 90’s was blessed with the courage and heart of Evander Holyfield, and the combination of immense size and skill of Lennox Lewis. However, for what is now closing in on 10 years, the Heavyweight division has been lacking to say he least (apologies to Klitschko fans). No more do we long for the great heavyweight matches to entertain us, and so we look for something in our beloved sport to get excited about.
2007 has been a solid year for boxing with many quality fighters having been matched, and the true cream of this crop has been the welters. Currently it is the most talented division matching the most competitive fighters against one another. We have already seen Williams vs. Margarito, and are all looking forward to Mosley vs. Cotto, and of course Mayweather vs. Hatton. It is my hope that promoters and fighters will continue to do Boxing a favor by discovering who the best at this division really is. Until that happens, here are my rankings of this weight class.
1.) Paul Williams (33-0, 24 KO’s) – Immediately this ranking will rile up the Mayweather faithful. How can I rank Williams ahead of the pound for pound best fighter on the planet? It’s simple: Williams is just too big. I predict that a year or so from now, Williams may not even be in this conversation, but for now he is able to make the weight and therefore poses all the rest with huge problems. His size, reach, quickness, and raw talent are just too much. He most recently defeated Antonio Margarito, another big welter, and in that fight he answered two big questions. His chin weathered the storm against a heavy hitter, and he managed to show stamina and heart by winning the late rounds of that fight against an opponent that simply never stops fighting.
Early in the fight he showed his unbelievable quickness, strong jab, and skill. But more importantly, as the fight entered the championship rounds and Williams’ technique began to falter due to fatigue, he reached down and found something extra. That something extra is what translates immense talent with potential into championship caliber material. He would be a style nightmare for Mayweather, and I predict that Floyd will make a concerted effort to avoid a matchup.
2.) Floyd Mayweather Jr. (38-0, 24 KO’s) – He is simply the most gifted and polished fighter in the game. His speed is unbelievable, and his defense is the best as well. He only lacks power at this weight, but his skill alone will hide that mediocre characteristic against all others outside of Williams. I do believe Hatton will pose a problem for him in December due to style conflict, and the fact that I do not believe he will give Ricky the respect he deserves, but Mayweather should still win that fight as long as he doesn’t strain his groin doing the tango.
3.) Miguel Cotto (30-0 25 KO’s) – This guy has improved leaps and bounds since finally abandoning 140lbs. He was sapping his strength to make that weight, but since arriving at welter he has flourished. I believe he is in for a tough fight against Mosley, but his youth should be the difference. He hits to the body and head as hard as anyone in the division, and his patience and resilience is a huge plus. Some question his chin, having been hurt at light welter by the likes of Corley and Torres, but to his credit he got off the canvas and stopped both of them. We will see how he handles some of the bigger fighters at 147, but I think this guy will continue to improve.
4.) Shane Mosley (44-4, 37 KO’s) – Sugar Shane has bounced around from 147 to 154, but I think he is more suited for welter with his quickness and power. He is obviously the most battle tested in this group, but I fear that his age (36) will catch up to him sooner than later. But until then, Shane is capable of beating anyone at this weight and might have the best chance at beating Williams due to his combination of speed and pop. But that would need to happen quickly before father time comes calling, or Williams fully grows into the middle weight that we all know he is.
5.) Kermit Cintron (28-1, 26 KO’s) – It is possible that I am ranking this guy too low, or maybe too high, I’m not sure. There are still a lot of questions to be answered here. Is he truly over the beating he took from Margarito a couple of years back from a psychological standpoint? He sure looked like it after a devastating knockout against Walter Matthysse this summer, a guy who went the distance with Williams. His match against Joshua Clottey in December will give everyone quality insight to his comeback. Cintron is much like Williams in his size and reach, and possibly posses more power. He is not as quick as Williams, but the upside to Cintron in huge. If he truly has gotten over his humbling loss, the sky is the limit, but much like Williams he has the frame to fight at 154 or maybe even 160 so who knows how long he’ll remain in the discussion.
6.) Antonio Margarito (34-5, 24 KO’s) – Another big welter very capable of fighting above this weight class. He has the power, chin, and stamina, but his skill may be a tad behind. He has always had problems with speedy boxers (i.e. Santos and Williams), but he’ll fight at maximum output for 12 rounds and you might not be able to hurt him with a lead pipe. Regardless of why, he remains one of the most avoided fighters at this weight.
7.) Ricky Hatton (43-0, 31 KO’s) – Although Ricky is listed as a light welter weight, he may stay at welter after the Mayweather fight depending on how he performs. Personally I believe he belongs at 140. He is simply too short of height and reach to survive at this weight. In fact, I could only see him being a problem for two guys that I ranked ahead of him (Mayweather and Cotto). The others are simply too big. Hatton can carry this weight, but his speed, strength, and stamina suffer with the extra weight gain, and he can’t afford to train like a light welter against the bigger fighters.
8.) Joshua Clottey (32-2, 19 KO’s) – Clottey has only lost to Carlos Baldomir by disqualification in a fight he was leading on all cards, and most recently Margarito by a close decision. His best wins are against Richard Gutierrez, and an old Diego Corrales. He looks tough as nails and seems to always be in great physical shape as all his brethren from Ghana. His upcoming fight against Kermit Cintron will be huge test and answer a lot of questions for both guys, but Clottey is the type of fighter that is generally avoided due to his ability to play the spoiler.
9.) Demetrius Hopkins (27-0, 11 KO’s) – You can’t live on your name alone. Though he is new to 147, his height would suggest that he is able to fill out properly.He’ll need to due to his lack of power (11 KO’s in 27 wins). He is fundamentally sound but his competition level is suspect with his best wins coming against Steve Forbes, Jesse Feliciano, and Ernesto Zepeda (yikes). With a lot to prove he will have to soon venture up into the waters listed above, but the potential is there.
10.) Carlos Quintana (23-1, 18 KO’s) – After putting on a masterful performance against the up and coming Joel Julio last year, Quintana ran into the wall that is Miguel Cotto last December. Much like Cintron, we will have to see if there is any psychological damage to recover from since his devastating loss almost 10 months ago. He is a very slick boxer with power and when he is on is a difficult fight for anyone. We will soon see if he has the heart to bounce back and begin the climb into this mid portion of this list.
I’m sure there are many who will disagree with this top 10 as that is the nature of ranking lists of any type. Maybe some feel that previous champions like Zab Judah or even Luis Collazo deserve consideration, or that maybe a young fighter like Andre Berto is good enough to crack the list. Others may wonder why I even put Mayweather (listed as a junior middle) or Hatton (listed as a light welter) in the argument to begin with. Regardless of who we all may think is better than who, we can surely all agree on one issue. This weight class is loaded with talent.
In 2007 alone we have seen Williams and Margarito, and have scheduled bouts ahead with Cotto and Mosley on November 10th, Cintron and Clottey on December 1st, and Mayweather and Hatton on December 8th. That means that the top eight of this particular list have or will be fighting each other in one calendar year, and don’t forget that Quintana and Cotto went at it in December of 2006. That in itself has taken the sting out of the void that the Heavyweights have left…for me anyway!