Welterweight Shambles Shows Boxing Still Has Deep-Rooted Issues To Fix
The welterweight division has a long and storied history filled with some of the finest fighters boxing has ever seen.
From Sugar Ray Robinson, Pernell Whitaker, and Roberto Duran to Floyd Mayweather Jr, Manny Pacquiao and Terence Crawford (and many, many more), the 147lb class has lived up to its status as one of boxing’s eight glamour divisions in each passing generation.
The most recent era belonged to Crawford, who carried the torch in style by becoming the first fighter of the four-belt era to become undisputed welterweight champion. With the Nebraskan having departed the division to pursue fresh challenges at 154lbs and final paydays before hanging up his gloves, a new era has begun.
Except this new era has got off to a rocky start. Crawford’s titles have been handed out and evenly distributed among four new champions, which should have created the exciting prospect of a four-way tussle to crown the next undisputed king.
Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis, who was promoted by the IBF from interim to full champion last November following Crawford’s refusal to fight him as his mandatory challenger, is widely regarded as the main man at 147.
Welterweight Division Grinds To Halt
After his first fight as champion – an emphatic, albeit rusty fifth-round stoppage of veteran David Avensyan in July after 12 months of inactivity – Boots and his team made it clear he only wanted unification fights to prove that he is, indeed, the division’s top dog.
Ennis should have three new title holders to choose from; the WBC acted the quickest in response to Crawford’s move to super-welterweight and promoted Mario Barrios, before the WBA followed suit to award Brian Norman Jr its title. The WBA then completed the set by elevating Eimantas Stanionis last month.
With all four champions active and available, it would surely just be a matter of negotiating the right deal and deciding the date, location, and all the other logistics that go into organizing a world title event to make the fights happen.
However, this exciting new era is threatening to grind to a halt before it’s even started. Eddie Hearn, Ennis’s promoter, revealed several offers were sent out to Norman, all increasing in value to eventually reach a reported $1.7 million. All were rejected.
Norman initially responded by claiming he had accepted the offer but it was Boots who backed out, preferring instead to postpone their fight until it’s for undisputed. The latest claims from Norman that he is ready to accept a deal for an additional $500,000 discredits his initial version of events and has led many to believe he doesn’t want the fight for fear of losing.
Boots Ready To Abandon Welterweight
Hearn responded by launching a tirade at Norman, accusing the WBO champion of “cloud chasing” and being scared of daring to be great.
Now that negotiations have collapsed (or at the very best stalled), Norman has moved on and booked his first title defense. Against Derrieck Cuevas. On an undercard. For much, much less money. Norman will likely deny it, but this has all the characteristics of a duck.
Hearn hasn’t had much joy with the other champions either, revealing Stanionis also turned down a career-high offer to fight Ennis, leaving the Matchroom Boxing boss so incensed he “almost threw up in my caviar”.
Ennis’ team has now suggested the Philadelphia fighter might give up on his goal of undisputed altogether and move to 154lbs sooner rather than later, denying fight fans the chance to see a new star emerge in one of the sport’s traditional divisions.
It could be argued that there is some logic to Norman and Stanionis deciding the time is not right to fight Ennis, with both preferring to take so-called easier fights for their first outings as world champions before sterner tests against Boots, or indeed, each other.
Old Problems Still Exist
However, elite-level boxing is generally dictated by two factors: belts and money, so when the opportunity is presented to fight for both and it’s refused, inevitably there will be frustration among fans.
To add even more frustration to the mix, the IBF has ordered Ennis to fight mandatory challenger Karen Chukhadzhian – a fight that holds zero appeal outside the Ukrainian’s camp due to the fact Boots already beat him by a shutout points win just last year. Hearn reacted by saying the IBF was “ruining boxing”.
Fighters avoiding each other, sanctioning bodies unnecessarily interfering, boxing fans left exasperated – it all feels far too familiar. Boxing feels like it’s entering a new golden age, with more big fights happening than any time in the past 20 years, thanks largely to the recent involvement of Turki Alalshikh and Riyadh Season.
However, the shambles currently engulfing the top end of the welterweight division shows that many of the problems that have plagued boxing are still very much prevalent.
