Just three short years ago, all of boxing's big fights and biggest names were congregated in the Welterweight division. This was a time when any combination of the division's top fighters would create a must-see fight. Even the guys who weren't on top were looking good too. It was the money division. Flash forward to current day and now we see an abandoned wasteland in what was once boxing's best division .
Not too long ago, the division featured names like Miguel Cotto, Antonio Margarito, Paul Williams, Kermit Cintron, Shane Mosley, Joshua Clottey, Luis Collazo, Zab Judah and Andre Berto. The spectre of the then-retired Floyd Mayweather Jr. also hovered over the division, as well as possible cameo appearance from Ricky Hatton or Oscar De La Hoya.
To their credit, all of the top fighters did end up matching up with each other during this short time period, producing great fights such as Cotto-Margarito, Cotto-Judah, Margarito-Williams, Margarito-Mosley and Berto-Collazo. With every passing round, however, that short-lived golden age lost more and more of its luster until finally, it was gone.
Almost every fighter, with the exception of Berto, has moved up or down in weight. Fighters like Mosley may be facing retirement, whereas others, like Judah and Clottey, have put on a string of poor performances that have made them afterthoughts. While ignorant analysts are still talking about great fights that can happen at 147, they clearly are oblivious to the divisions current predicament.
The only fight that remains at the weight class is the proposed mega-fight between Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao, a fight that is looking more like mythology than reality at this point. While it is common for every weight class to go into such a depression, it's shocking that such a time has come so soon in a division that was praised for its depth of talent.
Maybe the current class of Junior Welterweights can make the climb seven pounds north and reignite the fire of the now barren division. A fight between the division's two best fighters, Devon Alexander and Timothy Bradley, is just as likely to happen at Welterweight if the two continue to find difficulties securing a fight in the near future.
However you want to look at it, the division is in stasis now and we can only hope that some other weight class can pick up the slack while we wait for boxing's best division to get back on its feet.