by James Slater, photo by Peter Mark Heintzelman – If yesterday afternoon, you’d asked the average fight fan who the best 147 pound fighter in the world was, chances are the name Miguel Cotto would have been widely heard. For with Floyd Mayweather retired (for now at least) Cotto seemed the obvious choice for the fighter to take over at the top of all things welterweight.
But then, once again redefining himself as a truly frightening force at welterweight with his one round destruction of Carlos Quintana last night, Paul Williams must now be looked at as the serious contender for today’s very best welterweight – as many believed he was a few months back. Making it seem more than clear that his previous points loss to Quintana was nothing but a blip on the way towards greatness, “The Punisher” is now back in the position he was in after he’d beaten the Mexican tough guy that is Antonio Margarito. Quite simply, “The Punisher” is back!
So it basically comes down to either Cotto or Williams when deciding who the world’s best welterweight is right now. Who do you like? Cotto is unbeaten, holds the WBA belt and has excellent wins over Zab Judah, Shane Mosley and Quintana. While Williams, who holds the WBO strap, has avenged his only loss with a ruthless ability and has equally good wins over Margarito and Quintana. So who is the better fighter?
It must be remembered that while Cotto is getting a lot of credit (and rightfully so) for taking on Margarito in July, Williams has already beaten “Tony,” the fighter who arguably will be the best welterweight Cotto has ever faced. And Cotto’s 5th round retirement win over Quintana – Cotto being the only other man to have beaten the 31-year-old southpaw – has now been eclipsed by Williams’ awesome one round display. Had Williams done what he is capable of back in February, instead of losing a close decision to the Puerto Rican, it is likely people would still be talking about “The Punisher” as the absolute monster of the 147 pound division today.
Should he be being referred to as such now anyway, though? Sure, his points loss cannot be erased, but hasn’t the 6’1″ southpaw done the next best thing by utterly destroying the capable Quintana? And don’t forget, Williams’ loss to Quintana was a pretty close decision. Had the 26-year-old been as focused as he should’ve been back in February it’s totally possible he would not have lost. In any case, Williams is back where he was and he’s making fans who said he was overrated eat their words.
Does this make him a better fighter than Cotto though? Both are great fighters and are more than capable of looking after the welterweight division in Floyd Mayweather’s absence. Only a showdown between the Puerto Rican star and the American sensation will tell us once and for all who the best welterweight in today’s division is. In the meantime, Cotto has Margarito to take care of in July.
Should Margarito cause the upset and beat Cotto, the choice of who the best on the planet at 147 pounds is will then be between two different two fighters – Margarito and Williams. But then again, hasn’t Williams already beaten Margarito? He sure has. And if Cotto cannot, then what? You get the picture.
The best weight class in boxing today is once again looking as though it’s number one operator just might be a freakishly tall southpaw who currently holds the WBO title!