Random thoughts on the WW division.

1. Floyd Mayweather vs. Manny Pacquiao: I'm convinced that some people have become delusional over this fight. (a) Pac has said he would take blood tests between rounds. (b) You can write a 10 page presidential speech on why Floyd isn't scared of Pac but facts are facts. Cut date here for testing, cut off date there for blood testing. Fuck it. Look, anyone telling me to find the link where Pac says he will take the tests between rounds can go to hell. I'm tired of this fight. Find it yourself. You should have no problem.

2. Manny Pacquiao vs. Marquez: (a) Yes, Pacquiao is my favorite fighter since Ray Leonard. No, he shouldn't fight Marquez. Pac is in his prime and he's in a no win situation here due to "Bob Arum." Bob has a great fighter and instead of challenging those who would make his fighter the underdog, he's decided to protect him. (b)How is Pac approaching this fight? He shook hands in the last one. What's his intensity level coming in? Is he fighting part time? Does he really believe he's a politician at the moment or a personality popular enough to win an election? Does he believe he's rock star as well? Listen, Pac destroys Marquez if he comes in at his best. If he puts this fight on his schedule along with a meeting at the White House, we may have trouble here.

3. Floyd Mayweather vs. Victor Ortiz: Is there an upset in the making here? The stage is definitely set for one. I'll go into those reasons later. Realistically, it's extremely difficult to upset MW on his worst day. He's an experienced and clever ring general complete with a dynamite left hook, an air tight defense and exceptional speed. Maybe they'll be no upset, however look at the plot here. (a) Freddie Roach may be correct in his assumption that MW is using Ortiz as a tune up for Pac. Dangerous move for the reason that Ortiz "Can" fight." (b) How many WWs has Mayweather fought in their primes? None. Oscar was on a down slope and fought him to a split decision. Mosley was shot. Marquez is not a WW. Mayweather never fought a prime Cotto or even a prime Margarito. Does Floyd win easily? Dunno. This may be the best fighter he's ever taken on in this division given the above circumstances. (c) Court cases: Have they sidetracked Mayweather? (d) Is Mayweather mentally stable enough to train for a fight these days? (e) Ortiz is a fast fighter. Mayweather has been faster than everyone he's ever fought. Don't kid yourself. MW may be a ring general, but like Pernell W, he needs speed to make everything else work. If he's slowed up, we may see a war here. (f) I think Ortiz can take a good punch. I have my complaints about Berto, however one thing he can do is punch. Couldn't punch hard enough to discourage Ortiz in any way.

(3) Tim Bradley: (Yeah, he's a Junior WW, but these days there's little difference.) I'm alone on this one. I think all fighters should avoid Bradley until he stops the head- butting. Whether it's intentional or not (and I think it is) is irrelevant. Until he learns how to stop being too reckless with his head, or until his camp discovers that rehearsing a head - butt to win a fight is a cowards way out, I wouldn't let my fighter come anywhere near him.

(4) Amir Khan: Very quickly, Amir is a good fighter, not a great one. I doubt he'll ever be able to challenge Mayweather or Pac at any time. (Pac is out of the question anyway where Amir's concerned.) Point is, he's not on their level of fighting. My call. Hope I'm wrong.

(5) Cotto vs. Margarito: Does anyone have the word on this fight? Last I heard, Antonio couldn't fight anymore due to the broken orbital bone and the detached retina his left eye suffered in the Pac fight. Why do I mention this fight? It's a rivalry. Boxing lives off of super fights and rivalries. These men hate each other. Today, that's enough to make me tune in no matter what happens.

(6) Andre Berto needs to learn how to fight. If not, he's another Jermaine Taylor waiting to happen. An in and out fight, along with movement, flowing combinations, clinching, controlling the pace of a fight with his jab, and an understanding of the basic fundamentals would make Berto a dangerous foe for anyone, including the two stars. If he doesn't blame himself and his camp for his last loss, he's finished. Listening to his recent interviews, it seems he's finished. However, it'll be exciting watching him get his ass kicked. He has an immense amount of heart.

(7) Devon Alexander isn't worth a shit. (another Junior Welterweight but as I noted before, with all the division jumping, there's no difference between WW and JWW.)

(8) There are a great deal of match ups that could have made the WW division the hottest division we've had since the 90s HW division. Matchups like, Khan vs. Marquez, Pacquiao vs. Mayweather, Ortiz vs. Berto II, etc. Bob Arum and Golden Boy are sinking this division like the Titanic. Mismatches everywhere and they don't seem to care.

(9) Don King has no more power. (a) If he did, he'd be hanging on Floyd like a cheap suit. Don is not exactly a shy type. If he makes an accomplishment, he wants the world to know ten times over and over again. He has Tavoris Cloud (Light Heavyweight) and we haven't heard from Cloud lately. Where there's Don, there's trouble. Cloud or no Cloud, Don's days as a major matchmaker are over. He has no power in the soap opera that is the welterweight division. (It's a boring soap too. If they're taking "All My Children" off the air, they need to take care of this shit too.)

(10) I never have a good time writing when I have to mention Mayweather. Don't like him. That said, somewhere down the line, Mayweather vs. Pac will happen. Ironically, I think MW is killing his chances by postponing the fight. As stated before, though he has loads of skill, brains and guts, I doubt he can win a fight where he's beat to the punch. There's a good chance Manny will be the faster fighter by the time they meet. (Note: Please comment on this observation as little as possible. Honestly, I have little interest in my own opinion on this fight, let alone yours. LOL. Gimme a break here. Comment on the other observations.)

sorry, you bring up Pac vs Floyd and I will comment.

We will eventually get the fight. And BOTH GUYS WILL BE ON THE DOWNSLIDE BY THEN. Floyd's legs weren't the same against Mosley as they were 3-4 years ago (to be expected as he isn't young anymore). And he got caught cleanly with a hard shot, which is rare. Pac is going to show wear and tear from fighting bigger guys.

As for Berto, he is finished. He has a team that didn't teach him the best fundamentals and he doesn't know how to fight. He will never learn as he is keeping his shitty team in place. Not only that, he pulled out the PED card recently. I hope he gets put face down Paul Williams style pretty darn soon.

Excellent post Frank!

1. I think the fight is closer than ever. Floyd fighting Ortiz is a very good sign in my book as well as he could be in prison very soon.

2. I think this is a mismatch and Pac should be targeting junior welters, welters, or smaller junior middles. However, I am always annoyed by the focal point of a career to be close losses and whining about them. I hope Pac shuts him up.

3. Most interesting point of the post. The upset is a distinct possibility. Rust, loss of speed and legs, and higher competition level are going against Floyd this time. Ortiz is a skilled, powerful southpaw who seems to have "fixed" his heart problem or really did need to move up. I still predict Floyd to dominate the 2nd half of the fight after the first half is competitive. The caveat is Ortiz WILL finish Floyd off if he gets in the same position as Shane. He is younger, just as good a boxer, and has much greater workrate than that Mosley.

4. I think Bradley should be left alone too. He headbutts and values himself too highly in negotiations.

5. I think Khan is legit and will be the next very good or even great welter.

6. I'm for this fight also. This fight will give some redemption either way and the first was a classic. I don't like Margarito getting more chances but such is life. I think Cotto-Cintron has many good angles and crowns a new champ so it is the only other fight I like for Cotto.

7. I'm glad you agree Berto has heart because people for get his positives sometimes. There is still time and he is right in the middle of a still very important division but he needs to learn and get his mind right.

8. Devon is in for a big test on the 25th and I hope he passes. Matthyse is a beast and I think he is better than Maidana.

9. Don't give up on welter yet. Pac and Floyd have a couple more years and plenty of talent is moving up.

The last 2 I don't care enough to comment about.

Bradley values himself too highly in negotiations!!!! Understatement my man. There needs to be a new term for him. He can't draw 2000 to watch him fight and fight fans aren't excited to watch him on tv.