The Way I See It: 03.10.10 A Look At A Stacked 140 Pound Division

Posted by Joe Roche on 03.10.2010

From Paulie Malignaggi and Amir Khan to Devon Alexander and even Juan Urango, the light welterweight division may be the most stacked division in all of boxing. But how stacked is it? 411’s Joe Roche explains…

This past Saturday night I was fortunate enough to be ringside to see Devon Alexander (20-0, 13 KO's) retain his WBC junior welterweight title while also capturing the IBF junior welterweight crown from former champion Juan Urango (22-3-1, 17 KO's). It was a great fight for seven rounds that culminated in a scintillating eighth round that saw Alexander send the tough Urango to the mat twice before referee Benjy Esteves called a stop to the bout at 1:18 of the round. The stoppage was seen by some as a quick hook for a champion like Urango, but his trainer Pete Fernandez assured me that it was "a good stoppage" and the Urango team took their medicine like men. On this night Devon Alexander was the better man – and with the emergence of Alexander "The Great" one of the most interesting divisions in boxing just got a little more interesting.

The Way I See It: According to the Ring Magazine ratings Manny Pacquiao is the top junior welterweight in the world. This honor was bestowed upon Pacquiao after he decimated the previous 140 lb. king Ricky Hatton early last year in what may very well turn out to be the last image that we have of "The Hitman" as an active fighter. Pacquiao is 1-0, 1 KO as a junior welterweight and seeing as it came on the heels of his first foray into welterweight (December 2008 against Oscar De La Hoya) and led to another trip to welterweight (November 2009 against Miguel Cotto), and seeing as Pacquiao will face Joshua Clottey at welterweight this coming weekend it's safe to assume that we wouldn't be out of line to remove Pacquiao from the junior welterweight division altogether. So without Pacquiao out of the picture let's take a look at some of the top junior welterweights and discuss some of their upcoming options.



1. Timothy "Dessert Storm" Bradley (25-0, 11 KO's) [WBO junior welterweight champion]: Nobody would argue that Timothy Bradley is the cream of the 140 lbs. crop right? "Dessert Storm" is coming off a string of victories over Miguel Vazquez, Junior Witter, Edner Cherry, Kendall Holt and Lamont Peterson with an extra side of controversy involved in his NC with Nate Campbell. Taken as a whole his opposition has presented a record of 163-14-5 before jumping into the ring with Bradley and none of them was able to take away Bradley's undefeated record. It also bears mentioning that Bradley really showed something against Lamont Peterson who entered their bout also undefeated and looked incredibly over matched against the faster, stronger Bradley. Bradley finds himself in a weird spot because all of the top junior welterweights matched up against him would be a great fight but I'm not sure any of them want a piece right now. It seemed like Bradley was all set to face Amir Khan before Frank Warren was written out of the picture and Oscar De La Hoya came calling. I know that most people will want to see him fight Devon Alexander but I'm not sure that now is the best time to match those two up and much of the rest of the 140 pound division is already booked for the foreseeable future. If I was a gambling man (and I am) I'd say that Bradley waits for the winner of the March 27th Marcos Maidana – Victor Cayo bout and then winds up with the winner in a couple of months, though I am sure Gary Shaw will desperately try to get Bradley into the ring before too much longer. Also do not be surprised when Bradley's name starts turning up in Manny Pacquiao discussions after the Clottey fight.



2. Devon Alexander (20-0, 13 KO's) [IBF/WBC junior welterweight champion]: The dream match for me at this point is Alexander-Bradley as Devon showed me a lot on Saturday night to the point where I feel as though his speed, and his power matches him up on even terms with "Dessert Storm." Alexander had some questions around him heading into Saturday night, but he answered them in convincing fashion. His chin can't be questioned anymore after taking many punishing shots from Juan Urango who many people think of as the strongest guy in the division. His heart can't be questioned because he was challenged by Urango, didn't flinch and did what a champion is supposed to do – and his record can't be questioned because he now has convincing wins over Juan Urango, Junior Witter and DeMarcus Corley. Alexander's resume isn't as accomplished as Bradley's which is why he finds himself in second place but the gap between the two fighters isn't as much as you'd think. After his win on Saturday night Alexander was challenged by Zab Judah and I very much see that fight happening in St. Louis. The storyline basically writes itself with Alexander defending the honor of St. Louis against the fighter who beat Cory Spinks in his hometown in 2005, plus Judah still has enough name value to be considered a quality win for Alexander and help sell tickets.



3. Amir Khan (22-1, 16 KO's) [WBA light welterweight champion]: Of all the guys on this list Khan is the one I worry about the most. There is no doubt that his last win against Dmitry Salita was impressive as hell, and ever since being knocked out by Breidis Prescott he has been on a solid run of victories over Marco Antonio Barrera, Andriy Kotelnik and Salita. However, I'd wager that after seeing Alexander on Satuday night most people would have to agree that Alexander would be favored if the two were matched up in their next fight (unless Khan looks amazing against Paulie Malignaggi). It's also very difficult for me to feel comfortable with Khan just knowing how vulnerable his chin may be – and even though his speed makes up for what may be his inability to take a punch, that fear is still there and against the two names that I've already mentioned his chin would be called into question. Up next for Khan is a date with the "Magic Man" Paulie Malignaggi in a fight that should place the weight of the world on the shoulders of Khan. At this point Golden Boy Promotions has put a whole lot of eggs in the Amir Khan basket (to the tune of a reported 1 million guarantee for each fight), and if he comes out and loses to a very game, very fast, very good Paulie Malignaggi all of that hype and that whole investment goes down the toilet. None of the fighters on this list have that type of pressure on their shoulders and we'll learn a lot about Amir Khan on May 15th. If I had to hazard a guess as to who Khan fights after Paulie I'd say Juan Urango win or lose. If Khan wins then a fight with Urango gives him a chance to add another former world champion to his resume, and prove to people that he's not the weak chin that we all suspect. If he loses then it's a fight between two recently defeated former champions looking to get themselves back into the hunt – so yeah Juan Urango win or lose for Khan.

4. Paulie Malignaggi (27-3-1, 5 KO's) [WBO NABO light welterweight champion]: Allow me to begin this by saying that I may rate Paulie higher then others, but that's due in large part to the fact that I think his record is a bit misleading. If you look at what Paulie has done the "Magic Man" lost to Miguel Cotto in June 2006 at 140 pounds and Ricky Hatton in November 2008 at 140 pounds. Both of those fights were essentially Malignaggi losing to the top guy in the division, with his third loss coming to Juan Diaz in a fight that he should have won had it not been in Texas, and a loss that he avenged last December. Paulie has been in the ring with the best competition in this group of fighters and while his record in world title fights may not be as impressive as the other fighters here I still put a lot of weight in some of the challenges Malignaggi has gone through to get to this point. Paulie is a lightning quick fighter who has pillows for hands a fact that wasn't lost on Golden Boy when they were looking for a big money fight for Amir Khan, a fighter with a questionable chin. Paulie could prove to be the spoiler in that fight because he's crafty, and he showed against Juan Diaz that a motivated Paulie Malignaggi is a very dangerous fighter. The one thing I'd watch out for is the possibility that Paulie's next fight after his date with Khan might be against Ricky Hatton. I know it sounds bizarre and I know Hatton said this past week that he was likely done for good but Paulie is the perfect fighter for Hatton because there is no question that Paulie knocks him out, and I imagine Paulie would be willing to fight at a catch weight if Hatton fails to make weight because it'd be a good pay day for a fighter who otherwise has few options.



5. Juan Urango (22-3-1, 17 KO's): Controversial pick a bit because many people would put Marcos Maidana in this spot as a result of his recent string of victories and the fact that Urango has lost two of his last three fights. In my mind at 140 pounds I'd favor Urango every time over Maidana and I'd like to hear from those of you who wouldn't even in light of his recent performance. Urango has lost twice at 140 pounds, once to Ricky Hatton back in January 2007 when Hatton was the king of 140 pounds, and last weekend to Devon Alexander my #2 ranked junior welterweight currently. His third loss came at the hands of Andre Berto when Urango tried to move up in weight (bad idea) so that doesn't count as much for purposes of this ranking. Urango is still a very dangerous opponent for any of the names above him on this particular list – and I'd favor him over anyone who could throw at me below this list (keeping in mind that I am assuming for purposes of this list that Ricky Hatton has retired). Even though he couldn't stop Devon Alexander, Urango is still incredibly strong and he will give many fighters problems. I think Juan's biggest problem is that he's going to struggle with faster guys, and all four of the fighters on this list above him are faster then him. If a fight with Amir Khan doesn't happen I'd guess that Urango might hook up with Juan Diaz or perhaps Andriy Kotelnik for his bounce back fight.



The best part of the 140 lbs. division beyond the fact that it's incredibly deep with interesting fights capable of being made between any number of fighters – but because most of the top guys in the division are so young it's likely that most (or all) of them would be able to put on some additional muscle to fight at 147 pounds against the best fighters in the world. I expect to hear about Timothy Bradley being a potential opponent for both Mayweather (or Mosley) and Pacquiao after their respective bouts, and I wouldn't be surprised to hear Devon Alexander's name come up in some of those conversations as well. The junior welterweight division is also pretty solid in that many of the fighters at 147 pounds could drop down and fight at 140 relatively easy so you might see a situation where Golden Boy throws Saul Canelo and Amir Khan together in what would be a pretty interesting international bout.

So TWISI readers – what do you like about the junior welterweight division and how would you break things down?