The Light Welterweights - The Most Exciting Division!!

Maybe in terms of pure out and out talent it isn't the greatest, but my, my, the fights, characters etc. that can be made is so exciting!!

For starters we have the wily old veteran, perhaps punching above his weight a bit, but still dangerous to all in Marquez. We've got a possibility of Bradley coming back down as he may just prove to be a bit small for WW. We've got Khan on the rebuild claiming at least one more fight there. We got Rios who will surely have to move up soon as he's dead at LW. Marcos Maidana and Lucas Matthyse both limited in there own way but terrifically exciting and both have a huge dig. Garcia the newly crowned Numero Uno, looks a tad vulnerable, but at the same time has plenty of strengths. Olusegun will give anyone there a real fight, same with Alvarado who can definitely be outboxed but has a big whack. Also in and around them just behind is the likes of Soto, who is small at LWW but is a quality boxer, Judahs still going and could (Incredibly) end up getting another title shot, an ancient but still a warrior in Morales, we've got the McCloskeys, Kendall Holts, Prescotts etc. bringing up the division.

Even after all that I still feel like I missed obvious names, but mix all these about and it should be exciting.

What you guys reckon?

cant see why garcia is number 1, JMM would box his head off. JMM is also coming off his best "win". of course he didnt offically win but i refuse to see it any other way. just like bradley is coming in off a loss

I know the Khan blow-out was impressive in itself but I didn't see anything else of Garcia to suggest he's that good a boxer. Maybe I'm being harsh, but I also would back JMM to box his ears off.

I don't think its the most exciting, it has some of the best talent - but I still see SMW as the most talent packed and that has the best fights.

Nice stuff Alex, I largely agree. It's certainly a cracking division right now and, if you're Marquez, then you must fancy your chances against all of those young pups. Establishing himself as the top dog at 140 lb before retiring would go some way to making up for the disappointments he's suffered at the hands of Manny. If I were him, I'd be going after Garcia a.s.a.p.

That said, as we watched Khan fold the other night, we may also have been watching the emergence of Mayweather's next opponent. Floyd likes to wait until a 'name' fighter makes themselves viable thanks to a big win and then cash in on their new-found 'star' status - providing he can still make 147 lb, then I have a feeeling that Garcia may be getting a call from the Money team for a late 2012 / early 2013 bout. If that's the case, then Marquez may have to be happy with a Maidana or a Rios.

Once again, there's a real glut of talent and exciting match ups concentrated between ten and eleven stone.

I see it as fairly exciting but lacking in talent aside from jmm, the quality is at 147lbs and I can't see anyone moving up troubling the big players. Rios, Garcia, Alvarado and matthyse will all provide exciting match ups but are lacking in any real quality.

Good division and pretty exciting, has the most aggressive bangers out of any division.

I've said it a couple times and a round-robin it super 6 style tournament including Rios, Matthysse, Alvarado and Maidana would be great value for money and would generate a good bit of interest in the sport.

The 140 division looked a lot stronger to me when Bradley, Alexander, Peterson, Ortiz etc campaigned there

Probably the most exciting division, but not the most talent laden one.

Like I said, in terms of talent, not the strongest, in terms of the most exciting fights, for me, yeah.

See to me watching two sub par fighters going hell for level isnt exciting. When you have the likes of Barrera, morales, Castillo and corrales doing it its different as the skill level is there.

Fair enough , I personally don't think they're that sub-par, Rios/Khan/Maidana/Alvarado/Prescott/Marquez have all been in FOTY Contenders in the past few years.
Boxing for me isn't just exciting when it's the PBF types fighting.

Have to agree seems a little harsh as these "sub-par" boxers need to have these fights in order to establish who should be contenders for the champions. Surely the fighters would benefit skillwise if they move up the ladder, fighting each other rather than being smashed to pieces by the top dogs.

I'm surprised that I actually managed to forget this, and even more surprised that nobody else has mentioned it; but while 140 lb may have the most exciting array of potential fights, surely Super-Bantam is the hot spot, along with Welter, in terms of pure quality?

Donaire, Nishioka and Rigondeaux are all inside the top fifteen pound for pound operators in the world right now, for my money. Mares and Arce isn't bad as a supporting cast, either.

Donaire-Nishioka would be fantastic. Donaire-Rigondeaux, out of this world. The big difference, however, is that I think we'll see most - or at least quite a few - of the proposed match ups we crave at Light-Welterweight, whereas I don't think we'll get that same gift at Super-Bantam. Hence, I'm still happy for the Light-Welterweights to be called the most exciting division right now.

Marquez is a step above the rest at 140lbs. I enjoy a tear up but only when the skill is also there, didn't overly enjoy gatti/ward but Barrera/morales, Castillo/corrales and Marquez/Vasquez were out of this world.