Mayweather vs. The Welterweight Division

By Daniel Poland: Everybody in boxing is now talking about the possible ring return of Floyd Mayweather Jr., who hasn’t fought since his 10th round knockout of Ricky Hatton in December 2007. It has taken a year without Mayweather for the rumors to start, and I personally believe the sport of boxing needs Mayweather at this point. The talk is Mayweather is lining up a mega fight with the current Pound for Pound king Manny Pacquiao. That is if Pacquiao can get past his next opponent Ricky Hatton in May, which a lot of boxing experts are predicting he should do.

There are many people who are dreaming of a Mayweather-Pacquiao fight, while others that believe this would do nothing for Mayweather’s legacy. They feel that Mayweather should instead fight the main men at the top of the Welterweight division to prove he is the best, fighters like Antonio Margarito, Paul Williams and Miguel Cotto. These are the ones Mayweather should be chasing for mega fights, yet none of these men would bring the money in that Pacquiao would.

But what if Mayweather did come out of retirement and face all the top fighters at welterweight? How would he fair and would he keep his undefeated record? Additionally, if he beat all the main welterweights, would he be regarded as one of the greatest fighters of all time?

Below I’ve included a list of what I feel is the best welterweights and the ones that Mayweather needs to fight.

Vs Andre Berto

Berto has killer speed and power in both hands, which could trouble Mayweather especially if he lays on the ropes for long amount of time. But Mayweather is so smart, he would know that Berto would be at his strongest keeping him at the ropes, so I expect Mayweather would keep the fight in the center of the ring and he wouldn’t stay in front of Berto long enough for him to get off his combinations. Mayweather would stick and move, pick his shots well and take a unanimous decision.

Vs Shane Mosley

This fight should of already happened by now. There was times when Mayweather was calling out Mosley, times when Mosley was calling out Mayweather, but unfortunately a fight was never signed. I think a bout between them now would turn out exactly how it would of turned out years ago. They have equal speed but Mosley has the edge in power so you would already assume that Mosley would be favorite to win.

However, I believe the key to this fight is Mayweather’s defensive skills. Mosley would struggle to break through the defense of Mayweather, and he would get sloppy and miss wild shots that Mayweather would counter with ease. The first 5-6 rounds would be close and Mayweather would struggle at times, but down the stretch Mayweather’s outstanding defensive would have him take the late rounds and win on a close decision.

Vs Joshua Clottey

I believe Clottey would cause Mayweather all sorts of problems. He has just a good of defense, good speed, good power and picks his shots well. This would be a chess match and in the early rounds, Clottey’s strength would be too much for Mayweather to handle, yet I think Mayweather can adapt to any style. After Clottey gets the better of the early rounds, he would have problems as Mayweather would move more and more, picking his shots well and clottey would struggle to land clean. Clottey has a tendency to hit low at times or use his head, so I believe that Clottey might possibly be DQ’d out of frustration with Mayweather’s boxing ability. I see Mayweather getting the better of the late rounds and ultimately winning a unanimous decision.

Vs Miguel Cotto

Before Cotto was handed a major blow by Antonio Margarito, everyone was talking about a Mayweather-Cotto fight. People were saying Cotto was the man that would get to Mayweather, he would be to strong just as quick and can go to the body great and that would wear Mayweather down. For me, this is an easy fight for Mayweather. I’m sorry, Cotto fans, but he’s a boxer but Mayweather is boxer, too. Cotto would be fighting the wrong fight trying to outbox Mayweather.

Mayweather is a superior boxer, and he is just too smart for Cotto,. He’s too fast and his defensive skills would play a major role. I believe Mayweather would be cautious at first, but somewhere in the middle rounds 8th or 9th, after taking too many clean shots, I believe that it would be a repeat of the Hatton fight. Cotto would walk into shots and be knocked out.

Vs Paul Williams

Paul Williams would probably cause the most problems for Mayweather out of all the welterweights in the division. Williams’ is tall, has a reach like a heavyweight and throws over 100 punches a round. How would Mayweather defend against that? Well, I believe Mayweather should follow Carlos Quintana’s lead and throw punches over the jab of Williams, and let’s be honest, Mayweather has superior speed to Quintana. Many say Williams had an off night the night he lost to Quintana because he knocked out Quintana in the 1st round in the rematch. But I just think he was outclassed and Quintana had the off night in the rematch. I see Williams throwing 100 punches per round like he normally does and probably getting the best of the early exchanges, but again, Mayweather would adapt and begin getting the late rounds in and would grind out a close decision win.

Vs Antonio Margarito

This is now the fight a lot of boxing fans want to see, especially after Margarito’s amazing knockout victory over Cotto. Now Margarito is the man to take the ‘0’ off Mayweather’s perfect record, and he has all the tools to beat Mayweather. He’s aggressive, strong and we all know he can take a punches, plus, like Williams, often times throws over 100 punches a round. Now I say to people who believe Margarito would beat Mayweather, go and watch the first six rounds of the Cotto-Margarito fight, but picture it for 12 rounds, and you have the Mayweather-Margarito fight. Mayweather would do what Cotto was doing, but wouldn’t get tired and wouldn’t let Margarito pound on him in the corner.
Mayweather would move and move, never staying in one place where Margarito would get the better off him. Yes, Margarito may have his moments where the fans think he is doing real damage, but Mayweather would probably just be letting Margarito open up. This would be a boxing exhibition by Mayweather. He would never hurt Margarito, but would simply outclass him and take a easy unanimous decision.

Vs Manny Pacquiao
Now let’s say this fight does happen at the end of this year. Would Mayweather be the bookies favorite after having nearly two years out of the ring? I think he would be. Pacquiao would be moving back up to welterweight for this fight. He wouldn’t be fighting a slow, weight drained Oscar De la Hoya who didn’t throw effective punchers. He would be facing a live welterweight who is equal in speed. So how good would Pacquiao be? He definitely does have the style to upset Mayweather, but as I keep saying, what makes Mayweather so great is his ability to adapt to any style. Mayweather is the smartest fighter Pacquiao would ever faced. Pacquiao struggled with a master boxer in Juan Manuel Marquez, so I don’t see in any way how Pacquiao could ever beat Mayweather. He’s bigger and matches his hand speed. It’s a fight I want to see and I fight I predict that Mayweather would be able to stop Manny late on in the fight with clean effective punches.

All in all, I believe today that Mayweather is the greatest welterweight in the world, and I think he would defeat all the top fighters in the division. It’s all about if Mayweather wants to take the challenge to prove it. I believe he should so he would get the respect he truly deserves.

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