1. Mosley 2. Margarito 3. Cotto 4. Clottey 5. Cintron For all the talk of the welterweight division being so "deep," there's not much left of it. In light of Cotto's recent performances, Margarito's probable descent as an elite fighter now that he won't have his loaded gloves, and William's move to middleweight, Mosley has managed to separate himself quite a bit in my opinion. Mosley should definitely get to fight the winner of Pacquiao/Cotto or PBF/JMM. If the winner isn't willing to fight Mosley, the two fights (Pacquiao/Cotto and PBF/JMM) may as well not happen. What's the point? Sure they will be interesting fights but the winners will not have proved anything as far as the welterweight division is concerned. That's what bothers me about Pacquiao/Cotto and PBF/JMM. There's no point of reference to say what it means for the winner of either fight. It will be amazing if JMM or Pacquiao win, since they're moving up in weight. But what does it mean if PBF wins? Or Cotto for that matter? What does it mean for the welterweight division? And in my opinion, if Pacquiao or JMM loses, depending on how they lose, it shouldn't affect their P4P standings very much. Especially in the case of JMM who's never fought above 135 and has had only one fight there. The worst case scenario for boxing is if Pacquiao and PBF both win. It'll mean another meaningless fight, and another opportunity for PBF to duck opponents in his own division as he would presumably take on Pacquiao after that, if anyone. The best case scenario is for Pacquiao and JMM to both win. That would establish them both, although not officially, as worthy threats to Mosley's supremacy at 147. If JMM and Pacquiao both win, here is who I would have as the top 5 welterweights: 1. Mosley 2. Margarito 3. Pacquiao 4. Cotto 5. Clottey Cotto remains in the top five since he'll still have had a win over both Mosley and Clottey. Margarito will remain at second based on his win (however tainted) over Cotto although I expect him to struggle if not lose his next major fight. Pacquiao will have earned a true ranking at 147 since he'll have beaten Cotto. But JMM, although he will have shocked the world, will not have beaten or even faced a top welterweight and so he can't be ranked in the top five. He'll be knocking on the door. But my guess is he'll probably opt to fight Pacquiao a third time should he win, probably at a weight somewhere below 147. And PBF, should he never fight again, can only legitimately be noted as a one time top junior-lightweight and lightweight.
1. Mosley 2. Cotto 3. Margirito 4. Mayweather 5. Pacqiauo 6. Clottey 7. Cintron 8. Berto 9. Lujan T. Brook I admire the amount of effort you've gone to to have a dig at Floyd there, btw. Although to say a Floyd-Pac fight is the worst thing that could possibly happen for boxing is borderline retarded.
I didn't say it's the worst thing that could possibly happen for boxing. At least that's not what I meant. I meant it's the worst thing that could possibly happen as far as clearing the smog as to who the best welterweight in the world is. Also, I didn't take a dig at Floyd. All I've done is pointed out that he's not truly in the welterweight mix, and as long as he faces opponents like Pacquiao and JMM, he'll continue not to be. And if he doesn't have opponents like Pacquiao or JMM, we've already seen what he'll do: retire. And so I don't see how in the world you can rank him as the fourth best welterweight in the world when he hasn't fought anyone in the division in years, and the best guy he fought there was Baldomir. By the way, what case can be made, given the information currently at hand, for ranking Cotto ahead of Margarito?
I think Margarito could probably be left out of the rankings for now. He didn't look like a top five fighter against Mosley, and how much of that was Mosley, and how much was from not having any added help in his gloves, or the possible wear and tear of his style and tough fights against Cotto, Williams, et al. can't really be determined now...and how much he has left after those fights and the Mosley beating then on top of them...and all that only matters if he even gets his license back after a year. It's very hard to rank Pacquiao and Mayweather, as well. Mosley's first. I think Cotto and Clottey are basically around the same level...and frankly, I had Clottey winning, so my personal ranking would probably put Clottey a, Cotto b.
Hand wraps, the dominant manner of his defeat & simple timing since Tony lost his last fight. Plus Margirito also lost to Williams and Santos while Cotto has the win over Mosley. I think Cotto is definitely number two.
The Santos loss is debatable, and at 154, and with the Williams fight, I don't know that a close decision loss to a guy now favored by many to beat the middleweight champion is exactly a stain on his resume. You believe Cotto does better against Williams?
Probably not, but the main issue is the handwraps and the timing. Margirito just had his shot at Mosley who is now the champ and was dominated. Cotto is rightfully next in line, No2.
Clottey would beat Pacquioa up baaaaaaaaaad. Stylistically, I'm not sure how the rest would go, I think Cotto would get him eventually, Mosely, I'm not sure about, he can be a bit hot and cold and he is aging,.. Fraud would do what Fraud does, pot, sprint, backtwist, elbow, his way to a depressing decision. As for Margarito, the treacherous disgrace should be erased from everybodies memories no matter what he does, and Paul Williams should stay in the range of 160 - 175, where he belongs.
1. Mosley 2. Cotto 3. Clottey 4. Margarito 5. Mayweather... Mayweather hasn't had a fight at 147 since Hatton....Pacquiao only fight was vs. a DEAD DLH... Mosley lose a close one 2 Cotto...then destroyed Margarito....Cotto was pounded by Margarito w/ or w/out illegal cast fist..but then rebound nicely vs. a tough fight against Clottey..... Clottey had close close fights vs. Cotto/Margarito...
:bears::bears: First of all I'd like to commend you on an excellent thread. Good job. Anyway here's my list which I feel is only a top 4 because nobody else deserves to be mentioned in the same breath as these guys at welter. Mosley Cotto Clottey Margarito There's one thing you could say about the top 4 guys on my list and that is they've shown their willingness to fight anyone at any time without making ridiculous stipulations or excuses. That had a big say in them making it into my top 4 and it is clearly what seperates them from the other pretenders. The reason Margarito gets put beneath Cotto and Clottey IMO is his suspension. He shouldn't be allowed the credit of getting to sit on his ranking due to a shameful temporary ban. Honestly I'd like to take him out of the top 4; but then what do I do? Promote undeservers like Manny, JMM, Floyd, Berto or Cintron? Fuck that.
