by Dafs117 Vastly becoming the division to watch, the 140 pounders are competing with the talent rich welterweights up north, putting on explosive fights and competitive battles throughout the year. The division is pretty deep, and we have 3 new alphabet titleholders this year to turn the division upside down, with the average age of the current four titlists at a toddler age of 25.
2009 has been a magnificent year for British boxing, with three recognized belt holders and many up and coming prospects making the step from domestic to the European scene.
British boxing froze midway through 2008 and somebody came along to press the F5 button that all stream-watchers have pressed countless times during the past 12 months. It gave British boxing, and the live stream, a refresh. We had a makeover, a transformation and many passing of torches.
Joe Calzaghe retired, and opened the door to Carl Froch. The first major passing of the torch in British boxing over the course of the year. Froch won the WBC Super Middleweight title in a scrap against Jean Pascal, before travelling to the States to stop Jermain Taylor late, and defending his title for the second time in the Super 6 Boxing Classic tournament, against Andre Dirrell, winning via close split decision.
Ricky Hatton’s retirement is inevitable. He might come back to be stopped by either Marquez or Cotto in a one sided affair, but he will leave a fan-base behind. Ricky Hatton passed his smouldering flame to King Amir Khan, who went 3-0 with wins over a one-eyed Marco Antonio Barrera, former paper champion Andreas Kotelnik and previously unbeaten Dimitry Salita.
At a time boxing needed something to lift its spirits, it got nothing but disappointment in Palm Springs Saturday night where two championship fights ended in unsatisfying controversies.
Devon Alexander captured the WBC super lightweight championship when Junior Witter of England failed to answer the bell for the ninth round. Witter quit on his stool despite trailing but just a couple of points on the scorecards. He later said he injured his elbow in the fourth round and it got progressively worse as the fight went on.
"I wasn't able to box the way I wanted to," Witter (37-3, 22 KOs) said. "We just decided it was time to let this one go. It's not that I wanted to quit. I wanted to win. I still had a chance to win the fight. I just wasn't able to."
Alexander, 22, didn't argue. The St. Louis native captured his first world title. "I trained hard every day, and I stayed dedicated," Alexander (19-0, 12 KOs) said. "Now I have the green belt. God is good."
In the main event, Timothy Bradley retained the WBO junior welterweight title when his fight with Nate Campbell was stopped after three rounds because of a cut over Campbell's left eye.
Bradley, fighting in his hometown, was declared the winner, but Campbell felt the cut was caused by a head butt and the bout should have been ruled a no contest. "I'm not mad at Timmy, but this is wrong," said Campbell, the former lightweight champion.
Replays clearly showed a clash of heads as the two exchanged punches. Campbell instantly retreated into a corner, pawed his eye and complained about the head butt to referee Dave Mendoza. But Bradley followed in pursuit unleashing a barrage of punches as Campbell covered up on the ropes.
When the round ended and Campbell, 37, went to his corner his eye was covered in blood and he complained he couldn't see. "I have spots in my eye," he told a ring side physician, who stopped the bout.
Campbell (33-6-1, 25 KOs) was angry Mendoza didn't rule the cut was caused by the butt. But Mendoza said the last thing he saw before blood was a punch. "They both were head-butting each other when they were fighting," Mendoza said. "I had to go by the last thing I saw which was a punch."
Bradley (25-0, 12 KOs) didn't apologize. "It didn't matter he was going to get beat anyway," Bradley said. "As the rounds went on he was getting older and older."
Campbell and Bradley had dedicated the bout to the memories of Arturo Gatti and Vernon Forrest, former champions who died in the month of July.
Now that the dust has settled and both fighters have had some time to think, it's time to seriously think about the future.
For Pacquiao, the decision is easy- Floyd Mayweather.
Should "Mainstream Money" beat Juan Manuel Marquez in July, the logical battle would be between Manny and Floyd in a war for "Pound-for-Pound" supremacy. But if business issues can't be sorted out, Pacquiao's back-up plans would be a move up to Welter against Miguel Cotto or Shane Mosley or a "stay busy" fight at Jr. Welter against guys like Nate Campbell, Joan Guzman or Timothy Bradley. It's doubtful, though, that Manny will be taking any fights from now on with less than 8-digit paydays.
For Hatton, retirement would be the best and most logical choice, but we all know that fighters don't often make the soundest of judgements when it comes to their futures. So, a good choice would be one last mega-fight in front of his Manchester fans- the long-awaited battle between Hatton and Junior Witter.
Hatton/Witter would be huge business in the UK and certainly an HBO-worthy show in the States. The long-standing animosity between the two would charge this event and make it a real spectacle. Plus, frankly, Witter is not a huge banger nor an aggressive warrior. Hatton just may be damaged goods at this point and he wouldn't do too well against a young, hard-charging contender. Witter is a foe he can beat and make one last big payday doing so.
Both Manny and Ricky, though, have to be patient and see whether Mayweather beats Marquez for Pacquiao and whether Witter can capture the vacant WBC 140 lb. strap against Devon Alexander for Ricky...
(Updated Throughout the Day)
