Welcome back fight fans to another video here on The Fight Game!
The Welterweight division is the original birth place of the Pound for Pound ranking
system.
Sugar Ray Robinson's success triggered the discussion of ranking
the greatness of boxers regardless of their weight - and although Robinson is widely regarded
as the greatest boxer of all time, there's been many fighters that came after
him who electrify the world in more ways than one.
For those that don't know, the Welterweight Division is the Division of 147 pounds.
It's been home to the likes of Floyd Mayweather, Sugar Ray Leonard, Thomas Hearns and Henry
Armstrong.
The current Welterweight division in Boxing is stacked, we've already seen some great
fights in the division and there's even better ones yet to be made.
Like all divisions in Boxing, each fighter brings something distinctive
to the scene, power, speed, skill and entertainment.
Some fighters have an obsession with opulence, others fight for their country,
some aim to be the best and others simply love what they do.
The undefeated and the well-travelled, the Welterweight division has it all.
Welcome to this video here on The Fight Game, where we take a look at some of the Welterweight
division's greatest Boxers, and question who's the best of them all.
Before we continue, a quick shoutout to all of you guys showing great support on the channel.
Your support is greatly recognized and appreciated.
We begin with Errol Spence Junior.
[MUSIC PLAYING] [TITLE: ERROL SPENCE JR]
The New-York born American boxer signed with PBC is tipped by many to not only be the best
in the division, but to be right at the top of the mythical pound-for-pound leaderboard.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
Spence is undefeated with 26 victories.
He's a very calm and collected boxer, rarely will you see Errol Spence show emotion in
the midst of battle.
His frigid attitude however is in no way kindred to his fighting
style.
He's a southpaw and his style includes his upper-body rotated forward and left hand high
protecting his face.
Spence is not one for boxing on the back foot, he'd rather stand his ground and roll with
the punches.
As long as Errol Spence is in the center of the ring, he will dominate.
Max Kellerman: Spence not only has the physical gifts to overwhelm the speed and punching
power, the mental toughness to navigate choppy waters, but the southpaw skills and discipline
to match.
You wouldn't want to fight Errol Spence with a full stomach, because Spence is an excellently
proficient body-puncher.
Spence is a very smart boxer, he uses his body-weight
to lean on and push his opponents, and this often leaves openings to capitalize on.
Spence attacks the head primarily in middle-distance, but when he gets in close that's when
he unloads the bodyshots.
If the head is not available to be hit, he goes for the body until an opening presents
itself again.
Spence is the only unified boxer on our list, holding both
the WBC and IBF world titles.
He's also the youngest boxer on our list at 30 years old.
Spence has fought in 3 countries, the USA, Canada and the United Kingdom.
When Spence ventured into hostile territory in the UK to face Kell
Brook, he left Brook with a broken eye socket.
He came back to America and won the vacant IBF strap against Mikey Garcia, and has more
recently won against Shawn Porter, dropping him in the 11th round.
Spence is one of the best, and his future in the sport is exciting to speculate on.
Next up we have to quickly mention Shawn Porter.
Porter has 3 losses on his record, but if we want to see the best fight the best we
have to normalize losses in Boxing.
Fans don't care about records, they care about great fights,
and the sooner we stop judging fighters based on how many losses they have, the sooner we
get to see the best version of Boxing.
Porter has 30 victories, some of those include wins over Adrien Broner, Danny Garcia and
Andre Berto.
His style is very aggressive, almost like an American footballer.
He's always pushing the action and giving the fans excitement.
His skill shouldn't be overshadowed either, in the Spence fight he showed a great ability
to switch the positions when he got backed up
to the ropes.
Many fans believe the Spence fight was very close, and perhaps Porter should've got the
decision.
A rematch with Spence is something the world would love to see, that
fight was great.
However any matchup with Shawn Porter is sure to be thrilling as he's always gunning for
the knockout.
Alongside Porter, we've got Keith Thurman.
Thurman is one of the hardest punchers we have in the 147-pound division.
He recently took his first loss against Manny Pacquiao, but that fight was very close.
Thurman has wins over Shawn Porter and Danny Garcia.
However Thurman hasn't fought more than twice in one year since 2013.
The low activity may result in some less impressive performances, however
ring-rust or no ring-rust Thurman is a dangerous threat to anyone in the welterweight division.
Speaking of threats, how can we not talk about Danny Garcia.
Garcia has a record of 36 wins and 2 losses.
He has beaten the likes of Amir Khan and Erik Morales with his monster left
hook.
Many fans like to call it the no-look left-hook.
He might not be the very best, but his fights are always worth a watch.
While we're on the topic of fighters worth the watch, we have to talk about Manny Pacquiao.
[TITLE: MANNY PACQUIAO]
The Timeless Marvel from the Philippines is one of boxing's greatest mysteries.
He's the oldest of them all, but he's also the wisest and most experienced.
Known for his warrior heart, all-or-nothing fighting style and gracious
loyalty to his people, Pacquiao has a following that dwarfs every other fighter in the sport.
Pacquiao's world records have been extensively covered on this channel already, what's understood
doesn't need to be explained.
And although he's 41 years old and well past his prime, the fact that he holds a world
title after beating Keith Thurman is the 8th wonder of
this world.
You might think that Spence and Crawford would easily beat Pacquiao with their youth and
athleticism, but one might argue that Pacquiao's Speed and Footwork would give Spence
major problems, who likes to fight in close and plant his feet.
Crawford on the other hand, who is very good at keeping his opponents
at bay, would stylistically have an edge over Pacquiao.
To ask for Manny Pacquiao to go and become an undisputed welterweight champion would
sound like a step too far, what do you think, can Pacquiao present a challenge to
Spence or Crawford?
In my opinion Pacquiao has nothing left to prove, after 71 bouts he's already stamped
his name in the history books, and while yes Pacquiao is winning a race against
age, sooner or later age will catch up.
I just hope that when it does catch up, he'll be happily retired.
But for now at least, he's an active boxer, and a fight involving Manny Pacquiao is a
fight the world of boxing will watch.
A matchup with Shawn Porter would likely be the most exciting of them all, Porter's fighting
style along with Pacquiao's would make for a very entertaining fight.
People thought he wouldn't win against Thurman, but here we are, talking about Pacquiao as
he holds the WBA world title.
It's not too uncommon for experience to triumph youth.
Alike an old saying, we must fear an old man in a sport where men stall young.
Pacquiao has defied the world of boxing many times before, is it really that unlikely that
he'd do it one more time?
Last, but certainly not least, we have Terence Crawford.
Crawford is signed with epic promotional powerhouse Top Rank.
Some fans agree that Crawford is the absolute best.
The undefeated American boxer has 36 victories to his name.
Crawford is what we like to call a switch-hitter, he
can switch seamlessly from southpaw to orthodox in tangent to positions and openings from
his opponents.
Watch here how on the back foot he switches southpaw to land a lead right
uppercut to knock Gamboa down.
Crawford is the WBO welterweight champion.
Ever since signing with Top Rank in 2011 he's won all his fights
in a very convincing fashion.
He doesn't just win, he wins decisively.
Crawford is also one for great bodyshots.
Crawford is the only person on this list who's a former undisputed
champion.
He held all 4 major world titles in the light-welterweight division of 140 pounds, and quickly after
that he moved up to the welterweight division and now has a record
of 4 straight knockout wins at this weight.
Crawford may be the most complete boxer we have, he can slug it out and box meticulously.
Spence versus Crawford is commonly referred to as
the absolute best fight at welterweight, and would likely throne the King of the Welterweight
Division.
So, what do you guys think.
Who's your pick for the best boxer in the welterweight division.
Is it Spence, who's a profound power-puncher with youth on his side.
Or is it Pacquiao, who might one last time defy the whole world to
become an undisputed welterweight champion.
Or Crawford, who's excellent skills seems to always get him that knockout victory.
Or is there a chance it's none of those guys, and perhaps
someone else we're overlooking.
Let us know in the comment section below.
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like as it helps us grow the channel, we'll see you in the next video here on The Fight
Game.