EXACTLY, dear Watson! Floyd is historically much greater than Wlad because of what he did in lower weights but if he is a jr welter now, it is a different story Also, I'd say there have been more welterweights in the history who could beat Floyd than heavyweights who could be Wlad, though in this case the comparison is not quite fair because of the changes in size.
Not sure I agree with that - although, I'm sure if you broke it down there'd be a way longer list of fantastic welter's than heavy's.
I thought it was "Elementary my dear Watson"...but then again it was a long time ago. So as soon as a fighter moves up a weight class we forget all of his history and his track record resets? Is that what you're telling me. Based on that...even if Floyd destroys Cotto with ease, he shouldn't be ranked even in the top 10 P4P.
No, we don't forget them completely but we do take in account that they have happened in different weight division. Thus, if Floyd trashes Cotto easily, he can retain his status close to the top even if he changes division after that. However if he doesn't go on to defeat different opponents of different styles in that same division, he falls. He can't live on memories. If he comes back down to welter, he naturally ranks at least as high as now. And even if he loses here, it shouldn't drop him that much if he still is as good at welter as before