By Jaime Ortega The welterweight division is booming with talent and whomever comes up on top of the division will surely surpass any legend in the past 20 years. On one side you have three world champions from three different countries – Keith Thurman, Kell Brook and Manny Pacquiao; on the other side, the welterweight has veterans like Timothy Bradley, Lamont Peterson and Luis Collazo who seem to defy the odds and beat their opposition no matter the challenge.
The welterweight division has dangerous young experienced fighters like Diego Chaves, Shawn Porter, Jessie Vargas and Danny Garcia who’re always underestimated and know how to pull upsets. Finally they’re contenders like Errol Spence Jr., Jeff Horn, and Tewa Kiram who’re yet to shine in the welterweight division – not to mention, the possible incorporation of Terrence Crawford.
As I mentioned above, whomever comes victorious in the welterweight division should be ranked very high as an overall All-time legend considering the current competitive status. The Mayweather era was not as competitive and stylistically diverse as this new era. Expect at least three legends to come up from the welterweight division in the next eight years, with the addition of other emerging talents who’re already making noise like Kerman Lajarra, Roberto Arriaza, Zhankhoz Turarov and Taras Shelestyuk.
So who’re the best welterweights today?
1. Keith Thurman
He is now unifying champion of the WBA and WBC belt. He has taken a stride of difficult opposition without having tune-up fights and come out victorious. He fought and beat dangerous prospects like Orlando Lora, Jan Zaveck, Carlos Quintana and veteran Jesus Soto Karass. He also beat the veteran skilled Luis Collazo — who recently defeated prospect Sammy Vasquez Jr. — and made him quit. Most impressively he beat Diego Chaves, Shawn Porter, and Danny Garcia three of the most dangerous welters in the division – and he gave two of them, their first loss. Thurman at his age, has beaten harder opponents than Mayweather Jr., at his age – and in their prime.
2. Manny Pacquiao
He retired, only to come back and snatch the WBO belt. He beat Timothy Bradley on a one sided match, and he also beat Jessie Vargas, another underestimated boxer and toyed with him. Pacquiao’s resume is extremely dense, boxers like Brandom Rios, Joshua Clottey, Floyd Mayweather Jr., Juan Manuel Marquez, Miguel Cotto, Oscar De La Hoya, Margarito, etc. are all part of his great achievement as a boxer. He has experience and despite his age, he still remains an extremely difficult boxer to contain and control. He is a more complete boxer today, than he was six years ago – he still beats most top welters.
3. Kell Brook
Kell Brook’s resume lacks depth, but as of today he is the IBF champ. All champions deserve respect and praise. Brook, shocked the boxing world after he defeated, the then undefeated boxer Shawn Porter. Not long after, he received much criticism fighting against Kevin Bizier and Frankie Gavin. Yet, unprecedentedly and without warning he decided to take on middleweight champion Gennady “GGG” Golovkin – he showed a lot of courage and was able to clip GGG on multiple occasions showing he is no slug; he lost the fight, but in losing the fight he also earned the respect of the boxing world.
4. Timothy Bradley
Desert Storm, has fought a lot of world champions and is extremely underrated. He has taken hard challenges and defeated Brandon Rios, Ruslan Provodnikov, Manny Pacquiao, Juan Manuel Marquez, Diego Chaves, Devon Alexander, Lamont Peterson and Jessy Vargas. He lost twice to Pacquiao, who gave him his first and only losses, and tied with Chaves. His boxing resume exceeds everyone in the welterweight division outside of Pacquiao. He deserves respect and he still remains a tough challenger to any top welter – a boxer capable of brawling and boxing.
5. Danny Garcia
Garcia was unified champion at 140lbs and now former 147lbs WBC champion. He has shown he can use his style to beat everyone on his path. His resume comprises no other than Amir Khan, Erik Morales, Lamont Peterson, Robert Guerrero and Lucas Matthysse. As a boxer Garcia beat all the odds, and even though he was out-boxed by Thurman, it wasn’t necessarily via destruction. Garcia has a lot left in the tank, and if he switches his coach (Angel Garcia), he will be able to snatch another belt. He was a brilliant amateur, and as former young champion he will bounce back.
6. Jessie Vargas
He is by far the most disrespected boxer in the welterweight division. He is the current WBO champion and he is willing to fight everyone in his division. Under the direction of Dewey Cooper, Vargas has started to use his sense of distance and length with timing extremely effectively. He beat Saddam Ali, and despite losing some of the rounds Vargas was able to KO the undefeated prospect. Vargas almost destroyed Bradley in the controversial last seconds of the fight, but was unsuccessful. He has power and he has a great chin, so it makes it hard for anyone to head toe to toe with him. He is a former world champion and he continues to improve his boxing skills. His boxing ability is the most underrated with Diego Chaves.
7. Lamont Peterson
He beat top Olympian Cuban prospect Felix Diaz, and gave him his first loss. He just recently beat Thurman’s mandatory David Avanesyan via UD, and is once again on his way to fight for another tittle shot. Lamont Peterson has lost against to the likes of Garcia, Bradley and Matthysse. Yet a good day for Peterson means he has the experience and necessary cast to beat all the odds. If he fights Thurman he has a decent chance to take the WBA tittle, but all the odds are against him.
8. Shawn Porter
The Ohioan is a problem for any boxer in the welterweight division. No one has been able to knock him out as of today, and he remains a top contender. He beat the likes of Adrien Broner and Devon Alexander, and is about to face Andre Berto, in what should be a competitive clash. Few of the top welters wanted anything with Porter, because his high fight tempo is a threat for everyone to contain – he never runs out of gas. He is the new version of Marcos Maidana, and the biggest pressure fighter in the past 30 years.
9. Errol Spence Jr.
He is consider the new boogieman of the welterweight division. Spence is an Olympian who lost against a Russian and Kazakh boxer – his biggest problem was containing their jab. He hasn’t faced any elite boxers yet, but since he trained in the Mayweather Gym and sparred with Floyd Mayweather, his style and technique have drastically improved. He destroyed a much smaller Chris Algeri, and an old Bundu, and he is now finally ready for a title shot. His record is poor for now and he deserves in this rank what he achieved, but when he fights Brook we will surely find out if he is the next prodigy or just another hype job inflated by Mayweather himself. He must not refuse to take VADA testing because it will look fishy to many fans who question his power.
10. Tewa Kiram
Not known in the west, in Asia he is a beast. He hasn’t fought any American boxers, which puts a big question mark in his boxing ability; nevertheless, he has fought Russians, Kazaks, Puerto Ricans and Filipinos and those are never easy to beat. He is the mandatory of Keith Thurman, but it is more likely that Thurman will take on Lamont Peterson. His jab always lands, he has arguably the best jab in the welterweight division – he won’t be an easy fight for anyone, and much is expected of him in Asia. His body type is very unique and makes it hard for any boxer to go head to head with him. His large/bulky upper body naturally covers his chin and he has long arms. He needs to fight a big name soon, but don’t sleep on him.
11. Jeff Horn
Jeff Horn, the Australian boxer, is atypical in that he moves a lot for a non-American boxer, defends impressively well and is not flat footed. He clearly TKO’d high German prospect Rico Mueller and Ali Funeka which gave him a chance to be the next in-line to challenge the great Pacquiao; whether or not he will face Pacquiao after he fights Amir Khan, remains uncertain. He is also behind Errol Spence to contend the IBF title, so he might take that route. In my opinion, his boxing looks promising, has good power and timing. Don’t be surprised if he beats any top contender. He needs to take a on a big fight soon.
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