16.04.08 – By Cesar Pancorvo: Alfonso Gomez is better than the average opponent that is usually elected for tune-up fights; he wasn’t ranked in the Top10 (Ring ratings), but was a relatively well-known fighter, because of “The Contender”, and had beaten Peter Manfredo Jr. and Arturo Gatti..
We have to remember that, in 2004 and 2005, the Light Welterweight division was seen as a great one –Tszyu, Mayweather, Gatti, Hatton, young Cotto– and some of that talent went up to 147 and mixed with the Welterweight talent that was already there –Margarito, contender since 2001, and Judah, who already was Undisputed Champ– and then some more ingredients were added to create a superb division: Mosley’s return to 147 after the Vargas fights and the appearance of contenders like: Paul Williams, Luis Collazo, Joshua Clottey, etc.
After a couple of years, the talent that stormed that division has exploded and the only men left are, basically, two…Floyd Mayweather and Miguel Cotto. Margarito and Quitana, after important losses, were able to return to the scene (the first one with last Saturday’s win over Cintron; the second one with his improbable win over Paul Williams). Cotto has already defeated Quitana and a win over Margarito is the only thing left. He is cleaning the division. After Margarito, the only men standing would be the Champion, Mayweather.
The difference between them is that Mayweather has already constructed his legacy and is, no doubt, a great fighter and possibly the best of his generation. He has already done a great job at 130, was a dominant Champion there, and has climbed up to 154. Cotto, by cleaning 147, is doing the right thing and creating his own legacy.
I think that Mayweather-Cotto will happen in 2009, we just have to wait. Maybe it has been already planned by Arum, Mayweather and Cotto, and they are just waiting to see if Cotto can become (even) more marketable and popular, to squeeze the most possible money of that fight. Mayweather is waiting for that to happen and, meanwhile, rematching De la Hoya for obvious reasons: if he is waiting for Cotto, he can try to use that time to benefit himself.
Let’s hope that:
1.Margarito is the last fighter that Cotto has to face before a Mayweather fight is agreed. The name of Ricardo Mayorga has been discussed for a potential bout with Cotto, later this year, and also Joshua Clottey, who is mandatory contender.
2.That Mayweather rematches De la Hoya, rests and then decides to fight Cotto instead of a rematch with Hatton (Hatton-Mayweather in Wembley is a big temptation that might be unavoidable) or a fight against anybody else.
What if Margarito defeats Cotto? The plan of the super fight between Mayweather and Cotto would be thrown to the trash bin, and maybe Floyd would choose to rematch Hatton or fight Sugar Shane Mosley.