With today being a holiday, I thought I’d drop some knowledge on all you boxing fans in putting together my accurate top 10 light welterweights in the sport. I’ve checked out the top 10 from Ring Magazine and ESPN and I was disappointed and the names and the rankings for fighters.
Terence Crawford takes my No.1 spot for the 140lb division right now, but that’s only because all the top fighters in the division moved up in weight to 147.
Crawford is more of a welterweight right now than a light welterweight. He rehydrated to 157lbs for his last fight against Viktor Postol. If that’s not a sign of someone that needs to move up to 147, then I don’t know what is. I don’t know how Crawford is able to take off that much weight to get down to 140. Crawford needs to make the move up to welterweight if his promoter Bob Arum can match him against guys like Errol Spence Jr., Keith Thurman, Adrien Broner, Manny Pacquiao and Danny Garcia. If not, then perhaps Crawford should stay at 140 and finish out his career in this weight class if he can continue to make weight.
I think you’ll agree that my list makes the most sense, because it has all the top guys where they should be. I’m afraid I had to leave off many of the names that fans are accustomed to reading about. I didn’t see them as talented enough.
1.Terence Crawford – Based off his win over Viktor Postol earlier this summer, I have Crawford (29-0, 20 KOs) as the number. He has one good win in his career now. For Crawford to remain at the top spot on my list, he’s going to need to start fighting better opposition. I can’t have him occupying the No.1 position on my list if he’s going to continue to fight guys like Dierry Jean, Raymundo Beltran and Henry Lundy. Crawford is also going to need to stop running in his fights, because it’s not interesting to watch.
2.Eduard Troyanovsky – I’ve temporarily got the IBF champion Troyanovsky (24-0, 21 KOs) at the No.2 spot on my list after his wins over Cesar Rene Cuenca.
3.Rances Barthlemy – We could have future No.1 in Barthlemy (25-0, 13 KOs) if he can keep winning.
4.Frankie Gomez – I like what I see from Gomez (21-0, 13 Kos) thus far. If he can make weight for the 140lb division, I think he might develop into a real talent someday. Gomez is a good fighter. I just don’t know if he’s cut out for the 140lb division. It’s time that he moves up to 147 or 154.
5.John Molina – With his recent win over Ruslan Provodnikov, Molina (29-6, 23 KOs) resurrected his career and earned the No.5 spot on my top fighter list for 140. I still have a lot of doubts about Molina’s ability to sustain his career, because he’s very, very flawed. I think his shelf life is probably no more than two more years before he’s no longer a relevant fighter at 140.
6.Lucas Matthysse – It remains to be seen whether Matthysse (37-4, 31 KOs) will be able to bounce back from his 10th round knockout loss to Postol that he suffered in 2015. The fact that Matthysse hasn’t fought at all in 2016 has me thinking he won’t be around too much longer. Matthysse needs to work on his boxing skills if he does continue his career because he’s been taking too much punishment in his recent fights.
7.Lamont Peterson – I think Peterson (34-3-1, 17 Kos) is on the downside of his career at this point. He’s still good enough to make the top 10 of my list for now. If he keeps looking bad, I’m taking off my list for good.
8.Viktor Postol – The way that Postol (28-1, 12 KOs) performed in his recent 12 round decision loss to Crawford last July, I was tempted to take him off my list forever. Postol looked inept and clueless inside the ring. I don’t know what his trainer Freddie Roach has been teaching him, but it’s enough. Postol needs to think seriously about giving Roach the boot and finding someone that catch teach him how to throw combinations and fight hard, because he only looked good in the 12th round of that fight.
9.Ricky Burns– I was not impressed with Burns’ last fight against Michelle Di Rocco. I still think Burns (40-5, 14 KOs) deserves a place in my top 10 based on his past accomplishments. If Burns had to fight a good contender for the vacant World Boxing Association title, he would have lost.
10.Kiryl Relikh – A fighter that could very well kick Burns out of the top 10 is Relikh (21-0, 19 KOs). The two of them are fighting on October 7 in Glasgow, Scotland. I expect Burns to lose that fight.
Here are Ring Magazine’s ratings for the light welterweight division:
Champion: Terence Crawford
1.Viktor Postol
2.Lucas Matthysse
3.Adrien Broner
4.Antonio Orozco
5.Eduard Troyanovsky
6.Adrian Granados
7.Jack Catterall
8.Ricky Burns
9.John Molina
10.Regis Prograis