By Brett Conway
He won a piece of the welterweight title when he beat Zab Judah. Then he won the welterweight title outright when he defeated “Ring” champion Carlos Baldomir – the man who trounced Judah. Then he defeated the semi-retired Oscar De La Hoya as a junior middleweight. Finally, he invited Ricky Hatton, the junior welterweight champion, up to welterweight for the first defense of his welterweight title. But for this welterweight champion who never defended his welterweight title against a welterweight, boxing’s deepest division, there will be no more welterweight glory – at least for now. Last weekend, Floyd Mayweather announced his retirement from boxing.
Although the world knows Mayweather has left the boxing scene, one group that still needs it confirmed is “Ring” magazine. Nigel Collins, “Ring”’s editor-in-chief explains the situation to Max Boxing.
“We have been told by Leonard Ellerbe that Mayweather will be vacating The Ring welterweight title, but we are waiting for written confirmation, which I expect in the very near future,” Collins says.
When Nigel Collins has that letter in hand and declares the “Ring” welterweight division vacant, I would suspect that, Mayweather’s exit from boxing has some major impact on the division he ruled. After all, he is the lineal welterweight champion, the man who beat the man. He is also the pound-for-pound king and has been undefeated since he won Olympic bronze in Atlanta in 1996. Given these credentials it’s surprising that Mayweather’s exit will probably have little negative effect on the welterweights. In fact, his departure might just be what the division needs to determine the 147-pound king. Unlike Mayweather who has been defending against everyone but a welterweight these days, the top-ten contenders have fought each other regularly. Without Mayweather, those that are left can continue sorting each other out in the ring but now with the added incentive of knowing they can win the welterweight title outright.
And for now, given he is ranked number one in “Ring” and in almost everyone else’s mind, Cotto is the one who can determine the next “Ring” welterweight title fight.
“As things stand right now, Miguel Cotto, The Ring’s number-one welterweight contender, will have to be involved in any fight to fill the probably vacancy,” Collins explains. “Cotto will have to fight and defeat either the number two- or number-three contender to claim The Ring belt.”
Even with that Cotto matchup somewhere down the road, us boxing fans shouldn’t despair that the welterweight championship picture is left to the whims of one fighter. If we go through the fortunes of those ranked in “Ring” magazine’s welterweight top-ten as of June 2, 2008 and start from the time Mayweather won his first welterweight title, we see that the welterweight championship picture is far from muddied.
On April 8, 2006, Floyd Mayweather won a piece of the welterweight title when he outpointed Zab Judah. Of course, at this time, Carlos Baldomir held the title since he had beaten Zab Judah months earlier. Judah still held a portion of the title because Baldomir couldn’t pay the sanctioning fees. Many say and still say Baldomir didn’t win the title but Judah lost it. But it was Baldomir who put in the preparation a title challenger should to win the title. He gets the credit. On November 4, 2006, Mayweather won the lineal and “Ring” titles when he outclassed Baldomir and shut him out over twelve rounds. Like Sugar Shane helping De La Hoya, Baldomir went on to help his better, being a sparring partner for Mayweather then ruling his fourth division.
With Mayweather at the top, other fighters decided to get in line. On December 2, 2006, Antonio Margarito, ranked number five in “Ring,” took on Joshua Clottey, ranked number seven, and won a unanimous decision. On the same card, Miguel Cotto, ranked number one in “Ring,” wore out Carlos Quintana, ranked number three (before his loss to Paul Williams last Saturday). Cotto knocked out his fellow Puerto Rican in five. A couple of months later, Shane Mosley dropped down from 154 pounds to take on Brooklyn’s Luis Collazo. The second ranked “Ring” fighter dominated the eighth ranked Collazo over twelve rounds in Vegas. Suddenly, Mosley, who had dominated at lightweight, welterweight, and super middleweight showed himself a real contender once again at 147.
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