After watching this past weekends fights I came to the conclusion that the rest of the welterweight division is at least a notch or two under the current p4p king. Let's start with the Margartio vs. Cintron, great fight very entertaining, but it just proved to me that both of those fighters are way too easy to hit and lack the speed to keep up floyd. Cotto did what was expected of him, you could tell from the opening bell that he had no respect for gomez's punching power and/or overall skill, however like I previously stated the outcome was expected. Let's take a look into the future Cotto vs. Margarito, another exciting fight should be a war. I know cotto is the  favorite, but if margarito wins do u feel it would shake up the division? That would once again leaave floyd with no clear cut opponent. Just a side not I've witnessed the brilliance of Bhop live and I think he's going to hand calzaghe his. Thanks for the best boxing website on the planet -E major

Leon's Response: Not much to dispute here. Am I the only one wondering if that contender popularity will ever kick in and land these guys as the A side of any meaningful fight. As of now Wald and company are running a lamb farm with a conveyor belt that leads to the slaugherhouses known as HBO and Showtime. The closer we get to the fight the more I tend to find myself leaning towards Hopkins.

G- I have said in recent posts that Manny Steward is overrated. Some guy in a recent post also made my point which is this: 1. He is VERY knowledgeable, but that doesn’t mean he is a good trainer. There are MANY very smart sports writers- you don’t see them managing teams. 2. His fighters seem to gas every fight! I think he is too soft in that department. Case in point- Klitchko vs Brewster, Taylor vs Hopkins , wright, and Pavlic 1,  Andy Lee in his first fight on TV, and Cintron vs Margarito. 3. Without question he is a very bright guy, who knows the business, and knows styles, technique, etc, but he cannot translate that into training. Some guys just cant translate knowledge into performance, and he is one of them. I really do like the guy and think he is great for HBO- and he should stick to that! Cotto vs Margarito is a VERY interesting fight. I am a huge Cotto fan, but am worried about this fight more than I am with him vs Floyd! Any fighter who can take a good shot, throws a million punches, and continuously applies pressure is not someone you want to get in there with!! That is Pavlics recipe as well. You have to be in tremendous shape to fight guys like him. I think Cotto will be, and Cotto will simply have to box him and trade in spots because Margarito will try and bait him into exchanges as much as possible. Floyd vs Oscar is a joke- and something tells me that after he wins another boring decision, he will call out Hatton again. Should Cotto defeat Margarito- especially if it is convincing, I think Floyd ducks him with a Hatton fight or retires. I don’t think he wants a young Lion in his prime! He is praying Margarito beats him- trust me, because he knows if Cotto beats him that he almost has no choice but to fight him or quit. I wont pay for the Oscar fight, and if he decides to fight Hatton after, I will not watch that one as well. I hope that doesn’t happen!
Calzaghe by decision in an interesting matchup

Leon's Response: I believe Manny Steward ability to provide a fighter with the proper instruction in between rounds and make the necessary adjustments during a fight is impeccable, however being the best voice in the corner doesn't make you the best trainer. I know several guy who are better in the gym than Manny is. Either of the Mayweather's, Kevin Cunningham and John David Jackson just flow off the tongue. Cotto fans should in no way, shape or form be as concerned with Margarito as they would be for Mayweather. Mayweather-Hatton II will NEVER happen, it's not big enough and the Cotto fight would be much bigger providing PBF and Cotto both win their next fights.

I have the feeling that Goosen is trying to screw Quintana in his rematch with Paul Williams.  I've read that the WBO is not considering ordering a purse bid and that Goosen is trying to convince Quintana that allowing it would be a bad idea.  As it stands, Goosen is offering $400,000 to Carlos for the rematch, which Quintana thinks insufficient. Per WBO rules, Quintana would get 75% of any purse bid, meaning that as long as the purse bid was higher than $533,000, Quintana would actually make money (there is no reason to believe that it would be lower when the first fight had more than $1M available as a purse, with Paul Williams getting over $900,000 and Quintana getting roughly $160,000).  Now that you have the Advisory company, you should talk to Quintana and advise him, maybe even sign him as a client.  Tell him not to take the offer and allow the purse bid to continue.  I'm sure DiBella (his promoter) will bid more than that, and they could still make the Showtime date (as suming it doesn't belong to Goosen alone and they can't do a co-promotional event).  Peace, Nando

Leon's Response: I don't know what gives you that idea. I don't know what Goossen is offering to Quintana. I believe the Quintana people dropped the ball when they failed to secure another fight while Williams was out with the cut. I've never had the opportunity to kick it with Quintana, but if his people reached out to me, I'd  certainly be interested in helping him. What makes you sure DiBella would bid more than that? Has he ever won a purse-bid?

Greg, allow me to throw you a little assistance in explaining why Mayweather doesn't absolutely HAVE to fight Cotto now.  The Welterweight  division looks like a deep pyramid right now, graded as follows: A- Mayweather, B- Cotto, Margarito, Cintron (before Saturdays annihilation at Maragarito's hands), Mosely, Judah, Williams, Quintana, C- Berto, Collazo, etc. Most people say Cotto is elite, but let's face it, his big fights have all had a safe haven in them; easily beatable opponents.  Shane has been done for a couple years now, and if not for his dick punches, I think Zab stops him early. If Floyd took the Cotto fight right now,  there are those who would say he's ducking Maragrito and the rest of the  B-level fighters. If he fought Margarito, he'd be ducking Cotto and  Clottey, and so on.  He's damned if he does and damned if he doesn't.  It makes perfect sense for him to take an easy fight with Oscar for a record pay day and wait for the B-level fighters to stage their own PBF eliminator. The Bobfather is a stubborn old fuck and if he looked at what he stands to gain in this panning out (which it has already begun to do), he'd see that letting Cotto do what most people expect him to do, and clean out the B-level fighters, Cotto's, Mayweather's, and the Bobfather's paydays will be vastly greater than should Cotto walk the green mile to his ass whoopin from Floyd.  He should take this one to heart, too, because Cotto's inevitable destruction at Floyd's hands will bring  the Cotto gravy train to a slow creep, if not a complete and  screeching halt. But, who knows, maybe Bob knows this and his bitching about  Floyd running is only posturing for a future promotion. And maybe, just maybe, that's why he wants to keep Pavlik free from harm...he's the next in line to be Bob's number one earner. When the dust settles, I see Floyd fighting Cotto next year, probably somewhere near the annual Puerto Rican day parade. Tim-Long Beach, CA

Leon's Response: Was Joshua Clottey placed in section D) The avoided? Not sure Zab stops him early without the low blows, am sure Zab would have done better without a year off in between fights coming off the Mayweather loss which hurt his pockets big time after the Nevada State Athletic Commission took all the money he made. Losing to Floyd wouldn't be the end of Cotto's career. He'd still be able to make millions after losing and depending on what Floyd did afterwards and how Cotto loses, his future is as bright as anybody else in boxing.


The light heavies are almost up there with the welters. I will be watching fights at 147 and 175 all day and every day. Here are some points on the state of 147. It is hot right now with belts being fought for on a daily. I am a Molsey fan and I see him getting a shot at a title after he and Judah put on a good show. Mayweather is only now one part of the puzzle. Great fights are to be made with or without him and that is not a diss. You have a deep division so change is coming. as a fan I have now decided to just watch the fights and not worry about whose is a champ. The belts do not matter when worthy guys all fight each other for the sport like what is happening right now. Mosley/Judah, Margarito/Cotto are fan fights that are fun to watch belt or no belt. I am content as a fan.

Leon's Response: The welterweight champion is Mayweather, everybody else is basically battling it out for the right to fight the winner of his rematch with De La Hoya. 175 went from being razor thin to thicker than Jeff Wald's head in a very short time. The revival of Roy, and arrival Byrd and Calzaghe have suddenly made light heavyweight one of the hottest divisions in the sport, along with 147 and 135. Don't forget the lightweights. Nate Campbell, Joel Casamayor, Juan Diaz, Michael Katsidis, David Diaz, Manny Pacquiao and possibly Juan Manuel Marquez

M

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