10 Fights Boxing Needs Besides Floyd Mayweather vs. Manny Pacquiao
Boxing fans continue to be teased by the possibility that Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao’s camps can come to terms on possibly the most lucrative fight in history. Negotiations for the fight have twice stalled and it does not seem like any deal is likely to take place in the immediate future.
Pacquiao is scheduled to fight Antonio Margarito in November and for the time being “money” Mayweather is enjoying another supposed retirement, leaving the boxing community wondering if its two biggest stars will ever make the fight a reality.
While the failure to make a Pacquiao vs. Mayweather fight may seem like another nail in the coffin for the sport. Boxing insiders and true fans know there are numerous bouts that are nearly as intriguing and possibly more exciting.
On a side note, I decided not to include Antonio Margarito to this list. The speculations surrounding him should be enough to keep any fighter or promoter from making a deal with him ever again.
Here is a list of ten bouts that could and should take place between 140 and 154 pounds.
10. Amir Khan Vs. Ricky Hatton
1 of 10
Hatton may be in the twilight of a great professional career but if there is a fight that could still muster up some intrigue, this is it. Hatton is the biggest star in the U.K. and a fight with a fellow European star would guarantee a huge pay day for both fighters.
There are better fighters at junior welterweight but none that would bring in the crowd or excitement that these two could generate.
Khan recently began training with Freddy Roach and even sparred with pound 4 pound king Manny Pacquiao. He has victories over Marco Antonio Barrera and Paulie Malignaggi, with the latter coming via 11th round TKO in his last outing.
Hatton has not fought since being steamrolled by Pacquiao in May 2009.
The fight would be a clash of styles with Hatton looking to bully Khan around the ring and maul him inside. Khan would look to stand on his toes and outbox Hatton.
The bottom line is this would more than likely turn into a brawl between two fighters with questionable chins.
9. Kermit Cintron Vs. Paul Williams
2 of 10
In their first matchup it was a back and forth fight for three and a half rounds. In the fourth round Williams and Cintron got tangled up and Cintron tumbled through the ropes and onto the floor. Two of the three judges had Williams ahead at the time and he was awarded a split technical decision.
They are two of the best young fighters out there and both pack a heavy punch. A win for either fighter in a rematch would help possibly setup a fight with middleweight champ Sergio Martinez or possibly put either man in position to fight Manny Pacquiao or Floyd Mayweather.
The leather was flying the first time around and both fighters were caught with big punches early. Cintron has appealed the judges' ruling and there is no reason why a rematch should not be made immediately.
8. Miguel Cotto Vs. Shane Mosley
3 of 10
Their first fight was three years ago, a toe-to-toe war that Cotto won. Many observers believed Mosley won the fight but a rematch was never made.
At age 39, Mosley isn’t getting any younger but he remains one of the best fighters around. Cotto too has lost a step but currently holds a junior middleweight crown.
The only question lingering is how each fighter’s chin would hold up now? Mosley has never been knocked out in his career and has only been down once in sixty fights. However, he was hit with a lot of flush shots in his last fight with Floyd Mayweather and another beating like that my drive him into retirement.
Cotto on the other hand has been knocked out in two of his last five fights. He rebounded nicely in his last outing, a ninth round TKO of Junior Middleweight champion Yuri Foreman.
They are both still two of the top ten welterweights in the world and a sequel would go a long way towards enhancing each man’s legacy.
7. Miguel Cotto Vs. Kermit Cintron
4 of 10
Cotto and Cintron were once two bright young stars with unblemished records and limitless futures. Then both men ran into the “Tijuana Tornado,” Antonino Margarito. Margarito twice knocked out Cintron and in one of the most brutal fights in recent history, he beat Miguel Cotto into submission.
Cotto is Puerto Rico’s biggest star since Felix “Tito” Trinidad. Cotto has won over many fans with his iron will and willingness to fight anyone. He is a straight forward fighter who is willing to take a punch or two to land one on his opponent.
Cintron has one of the best left hooks in the division. He has been in big fights with Margarito twice, Sergio Martinez and Paul Williams. Cintron does not have as large of a following as his fellow Puerto Rican star but he is just as talented and an even more devastating puncher. Twenty eight of Cintron's thirty two victories have come by knockout.
If this fight were to take place, there may not be a better time than the second Saturday in June (The annual Puerto Rican day parade in New York) and there may not be a better place than Madison Square Garden.
6. Timothy Bradley Vs. Juan Manuel Marquez
5 of 10
Timothy Bradley might be the best junior welterweight out there but has not gotten the public acclaim he deserves. Similarly Juan Manuel Marquez is the best lightweight in the world and is often overlooked. A fight between the two would feature two of the best fighters in the game not named Pacquiao or Mayweather.
Marquez posses a great defensive style and next to Floyd Mayweather he is the best counter puncher in boxing. At heart, Marquez is a warrior and will often abandon his defensive prowess in favor of a good brawl. He twice pushed Manny Pacquiao and is a three division champion.
Bradley is a superb light welterweight champion with the build and muscle mass of a middleweight. Bradley is undefeated in twenty seven contests and holds victories over Kendall Holt, Junior Witter and Nate Campbell.
A Bradley and Marquez bout would go a long way towards determining the best junior welterweight in boxing. Bradley is an excellent boxer puncher whose speed and power could give the crafty Marquez fits. However Bradley has tired late in fights and that would give Marquez the opening he needs to push for a late knockout.
A fight between the two would be action packed and could happen if they both get past their next opponents.
5. Andre Berto Vs. Shane Mosley
6 of 10
This fight was originally scheduled to take place in January but Berto was forced to pull out because of personal reasons. Berto is one of the few guys in the division with faster hands than Mosley. Both guys love an action packed fight and to stand in the middle of the ring and bang.
Mosley has never been known for his defense and chooses to instead stand behind a granite chin. He has only been dropped once in his career and has thirty nine knockouts in fifty three fights. He is not as fast as he once was but was quick enough to twice catch Floyd Mayweather in their fight and nearly knock him out. Before his fight with Mayweather he became the first fighter to ever knockout Antonio Margarito. Mosley would give Berto all he could handle.
Berto is no slouch either. In his last title defense, he knocked out Carlos Quintana in the eighth round. The win gave Berto his twentieth knockout in twenty six fights. His combination of superior hand speed and power might be enough to get him by any welterweight today.
Rarely are either of these two in a boring fight and they both push for the knockout when possible. The fight might come down to who gets hit first and whose chin holds up better.
4. Sergio Martinez Vs. Paul Williams
7 of 10
They gave us the best fight of 2009 and there is no conceivable reason they shouldn’t give the fight world an encore. Both men went down in the 1st round but managed to get up and dish out more punishment to the other. By the 12th round they were spent but traded blows until the final bell. Williams was awarded a majority decision but nothing was really settled between the two.
Next to Williams, Martinez is probably the most avoided fighter in the sport. After losing to Williams and unable to find a formidable foe at welterweight, Martinez went up to middleweight and challenged champion Kelly Pavlik. He was knocked down early but managed to dominate the rest of the fight, bloodying Pavlik and taking his middleweight crown. Rather than try and regain his crown, Pavlik opted to move up to super middleweight.
The only logical fight for either man is another fight with each other. Williams has tried his best to talk Mayweather and Pacquiao into separate fights with him but nothing ever materialized. The next biggest pay day would be to go back to middleweight and fight Martinez. Neither man is given the respect or adulation that they deserve but a fight with each other regardless of the outcome would boost both their popularities in the sport.
3. Manny Pacquiao Vs. Andre Berto
8 of 10
Can you say non-stop action. Boxing desperately needs to clean up the mess left by Mayweather and Pacquiao and a Berto fight would do wonders.
Berto is a speedster who is willing to trade punches with anyone. A fight with Pacquiao would be the most fruitful of his young career. Pacquiao’s most exciting fight at welterweight came against Miguel Cotto. The reason the fight was so exciting was the fact that both fighters were more concerned with landing punches than trying to avoid them(watch round 4 if you need to freshen up your memory.)
Berto has been rocked by big punches before but so has Pacquiao and in Berto he would be facing the fastest hands in the division. A fight with Berto might give us an idea of how Pacquiao might deal with comparable speed and power.
Let’s also look at this from the other side of things. Andre Berto is the future of the division and his time to take over the top spot could be now. Fighters are often criticized for taking fights with big names after their best days are far behind them. A fight with Pacquiao would legitimize Berto’s claim as the best welterweight in the world. Win or lose, if the fight is competitive we might hear more fans clamoring for a Berto vs. Mayweather fight.
2. Floyd Mayweather Vs. Paul Williams
9 of 10
The closest we have to a modern day Hearns vs. Leonard remake. Paul Williams is no Hearns and Mayweather is great but Leonard was better. Nonetheless they are the two of the most skilled guys in boxing.
Similar to Hearns, Williams is avoided by almost everyone. His height and constant barrage of punches make him an unfavorable matchup for any opponent. He has power in both hands and is able to throw punches at angles that other fighters can’t see coming. His only professional loss was a fluke to Carlos Quintana. A loss he avenged with a brutal 2nd round knockout in the rematch.
Mayweather most closely resembles Leonard because of his flashy style and the fact that he is the biggest star of his era. He mixes accurate, well-timed punches to keep the opposition at bay. His lightning quick hands and impenetrable defense have given everyone of his forty one opponents fits. Mayweather rarely is hit with a power punch and is able to adjust to almost every situation on the fly. He is arguably the most intelligent boxer to ever step in the ring.
Should they meet it would present huge challenges for both fighters.
Mayweather would be giving up six inches in height and be fighting a man who could comfortably fight at middleweight. His classic shell defense would be put to the test by a man whose length would allow him to punch threw it. Williams averages over a hundred punches thrown per round and could use the high volume of punches to wear Mayweather down.
Paul Williams would be given the unenviable task of trying to catch and hit Mayweather. Many boxers who throw a lot of punches have seen their output lessened when fighting Mayweather. He is so quick and deceptive that just finding a target is exhausting. Williams would have to be disciplined enough to not chase Mayweather but rather cut the ring off and corner him. If Williams were unable to do that he would likely get picked apart by Mayweather’s “pot shot” technique.
It’s a fight that almost certainly will not take place. If it could be made it would pit two of the best active fighters at the top of their game.
1. Juan Manuel Marquez Vs. Manny Pacquiao
10 of 10
Twenty four rounds later and the public still demands more. Pacquiao and Marquez has twice given the boxing public fights it will not ever forget. In the first fight, Marquez went down three times in the very first round. He somehow managed to pick himself up and earn a draw.
Their second showdown was more exciting than the first and went back and forth for twelve rounds and Pacquiao escaped with a narrow split decision. Marquez has done everything he could to convince Pac-Man to give him a rematch, including following him up in weight. For whatever reason Pacquiao does not seem willing to appease Marquez with a third fight. "I don't think so. This business is over," Pacquiao said at the press conference following their second meeting.
As boxing promoters look to put together big and exciting fights, they may not want to overlook this one. Marquez gave Pacquiao his last competitive fight over two years ago and is still capable of not only challenging but beating him. Maybe that is the reason Pacquiao has elected to not step back in the ring with him. The boxing public deserves this fight and it is still one of the top money fights out there as well.
Assuming both guys win their next fight, nothing figures to get in the way of a possible third clash. Oh… I forgot about that Mayweather guy.
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