Welter Wars: 30 Years of 147lb Super-Fights
This article was published on TheFightCity.com on July 29th, 2023: https://www.thefightcity.com/welter-wars-thirty-years-of-superfights-boxing/
As the hype dials up for the mouth-watering Spence vs. Crawford clash for undisputed welterweight supremacy, it’s impossible not to draw comparisons with classics of years past. The 147lb division has always been a hotbed of elite talent, with old-time legends like Ted “Kid” Lewis and Jack Britton, golden era greats like “Sugar” Ray Robinson and Kid Gavilan, and modern era kings Roberto Duran, “Sugar” Ray Leonard, and Tommy “The Hitman” Hearns all leaving their mark on the division’s storied history. The tradition has continued in more recent times, with many of boxing’s top pound-for-pound showdowns taking place at welterweight. Tracing the story of the division over the last 30 years, here’s some of the biggest superfights that paved the way to Spence-Crawford.
Fights that Never Were
An edited version of this article was originally published on TheFightCity.com on May 28th, 2019: https://www.thefightcity.com/boxing-heartache-fans/
Surveying the 2019 boxing landscape, there are some brilliant fights to be made: Spence vs. Crawford at welterweight; Lomachenko vs. Garcia at lightweight; a round robin between Wilder, Fury and Joshua at heavyweight; and a much-needed Canelo vs. Golovkin trilogy fight at middleweight, to name a few. Whether or not we will actually get to see any of these is another question entirely, of course. Unfortunately, one of the downsides to being a boxing fan is that we don’t always get to see the best fights get made.
With that being said, here’s five of the best fights that we didn’t get to see over the last 30 years, according to three categories: Fights that should have happened; rematches that should have happened; and fights that did happen, but at the wrong time. Read more
Matt O'Brien
Boxing Philosophy 