Did You Hear The One About The Three Welterweights At Top Rank?

By Damien McKinley.

Right now in the Top Rank camp, the Welterweight scene is pretty bare. With two ageing legends and a thirty year old fighter who has recently arrived at the upper end of the food scale it seems that the only options are a rematch here, a rematch there, move up here and move down there.

Manny Pacquiao, Juan Manuel Marquez and Timothy Bradley have all faced off against one another, Manny and Juan doing so four times but yet we keep hearing these fighters being touted as potential next fights against one another. Marquez vs Manny V, Manny vs Bradley II and Bradley vs Marquez II.

Now although the hard hitting Siberian Ruslan Provodnikov has his name dragged into this trio, he is currently a “World Champion” in the weight division below them (Light Welterweight) so unless he is willing to vacate the first “World Title” he has ever won to move back up a division, what can Top Rank do to ensure boxing fans aren't subjected to the same fights over and over again?

Over at the other end of the spectrum at Oscar De La Hoya's Golden Boy Promotions there seems to be a healthy boom when it comes to this weight class. We have fighters such as Marcos Maidana, Keith Thurman, Adrien Broner, Amir Khan, Victor Ortiz, Robert Guerrero to name but a few. Plus link ups with the Kingpin Floyd Mayweather and current big named Light Welterweights (Danny Garcia, Lucas Mattysse etc) who are on the cusp of moving onto the Welterweight division so they are well set up in regards to delivering new and entertaining fights.

So what can be done to keep the hardcore supporters of boxing happy when it comes to Top Rank's trio of top Welterweights? Not a lot, by the looks of things.

With Manny Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez creeping ever closer to the ripe young age of forty and coming off the back of a not so spectacular win and a deserved loss, it seems that they will never stop fighting each other. Ever since their first battle back in 2004, each fight has been enshrouded in controversy. The first three regarding the scoring, the fourth with cries of Marquez's physic and what WOULD have happened had Marquez not knocked Pacquiao out in the tiny remaining seconds of the sixth round. The two fighters cannot be spoken about separately without mention of the other. If a fifth fight was close, would we need a sixth? If the sixth was close......seventh??

Pacquiao (or Bob Arum) made the move in need of new blood took on former Lightweight “Champion” Brandon Rios in one of the most one sided boxing lessons you are ever likely to see. But this decision came at an apparent loss with reportedly low PPV sales.

Manny Pacquiao and Timothy Bradley faced off against one another in the Summer of 2012 and like all his fights against Marquez, this fight wasn't any different when it came to claims of “foul play”. The majority of fight fans feel that Pacquiao was on the end of a harsh decision and that Bradley received a “gift”. But this “gift” was to come at a cost for both because not only did Manny receive a loss on his impressive CV, but Bradley received an undeserved backlash from fans and in turn almost seen his reputation flushed down the toilet. Bradley also went on to new blood in the form of Ruslan Provodnikov and it almost ended in disaster when Bradley was repeatedly caught clean and staggered around like a drunk for a large section of the fight. He would go on to bite down on his gumshield and drag his name from the dark place it was in to show the world that he had a heart of a lion and win the fight by unanimous decision. Provodnikov dropped to the weight division below after this battle.

The only fight that seemed as clear as night and day (Marquez may tell you different) was Bradley's points win over the legendary Mexican last year. This fight was seen by many as “Young vs Old”, “Speed vs Slow” etc. Bradley went into the fight as the underdog because of how Marquez handled Pacquiao in his fight prior. But after the fight, many seen the fight for what it was and feel that there is no need for this to be repeated, especially given the fact that Juan isn't getting any younger.

In recent weeks we have been hearing countless rumours regarding these three fighters' next outings and their names are constantly being paired. There is talk however of Robert Guerrero leaving the gloryland over at Golden Boy to join the swamp at Top Rank. But with the three top welters already at Top Rank earning “Superstar” status and fighting under the PPV model, would the public be willing to part with their hard earned cash to see fights such as Pacquiao vs Guerrero?

If Provodnikov enters this equation it certainly does not fix things because it would likely lead to rematches with each should he prove competitive against them. This however is in the circumstance that Ruslan decides to give up on the good work he has managed to achieve in his current weight division.

Money is the key and the more these fights are played out, the more fans are likely to turn their noses up at them and after what each fighter has given the fans over the years, this seems unfair. The big money fights are against the fighters currently lighting up the Welterweight scene over at Golden Boy and boxing politics has ensured that these never happen.

From the outside it seems the Welterweight scene at Top Rank is going through a crisis. With the three main fighters I have mentioned only really having each other to fight, Bob Arum has had to skim through the other divisions in hope of finding someone willing to put weight on and cash in on this. The desperation has travelled as far as current Super Featherweight “Champion” Mikey Garcia's doorstep, but surely this fight would be criticised to the outer reaches of mankind.

These three fighters have reached a point where their opponents are dissected down to a nub so if Marquez was to face Mike Alvardo (as rumoured) or Manny against Mikey Garcia (as mentioned) they surely would never be accepted by the majority of boxing fans. Provodikov may fill the large gap for a small amount of time but surely its time to focus on how this can be fixed to make sure it is no longer an issue. Golden Boy have managed it with a whole host of their fighters being in big events or potential ones.

Lets hope the Welterweight scene blossoms soon at Top Rank because the way it is going now, Timothy Bradley may end up having to fight himself when Manny and Juan retire.

http://v2journal.com/16/post/2014/01/did-you-hear-the-one-about-the-three-welterweights-at-top-rank.html

Brilliant piece of writing this is....who did it (looks from side to side in a shifty manner)

I think its a fair effort for remedial primary school kid, dee. Any idea who this Damian guy is, seems like a right t*sser? 

Haha yea to be honest I'm sure this "Dee" character who ever he is has been called worse than that. Not that I wud know lol

Who the hell is this "Damien McKinley" knob who writes this crap anyway?

Awwww Steffan me don't like you anymore

It would be nice though to hear your thoughts on the subject in question instead of stating the obvious that this Damien McKinley character is a knob

Nice piece, it should open up opportunities to promotors outside of the big 2. Could fast Eddie fashion kell brook a chance? Probably not, but top rank are going to be forced to look outside their stable at welter and lww.

Wonder if is the beginning of the turning of the tidecompletely with GBP starting to take over now.

As much as boxing needs one major council... it absolutely does not need one great promoter. Which happens to own the magazine that decides who the best fighters on the planet are... Going to have a lot of Mexican, Texican eliminators, and such

Nice work Reborn.

Having just one main promoter could either be disastrous for the sport, or absolutely great. On one hand we could have dud fight after dud fight knowing they have no competition to say anything back, however we could end up seeing all the great fights that are currently unavailable, depends on the agenda. GBP treated us to some great matches in 2013, I would love to believe if they did take over then they would be even better, but in reality they would milk it for as long as they could.