With four organizations and three champions the welterweight division is growing and needs unifications fights!
Errol “The Truth” Spence, Jr., 27-0 (21), from Arlington TX, holds the IBF & WBC titles. In his most recent bout he defeated former WBC World champion Danny “Swift” Garcia, 36-3 (21). WBA champion Manny “Pac Man” Pacquiao, 62-7-2 (39), of General Santos City, PH, is willing to unify with Spence which is a step in the right direction. Minor champs in the WBA are Cuba’s Yordenis “54 Milagros” Ugas, 26-4 (12), and Miami, FL, along with Vergil Ortiz, Jr. 16-0 (16), of Prairie View, TX.
Former WBA & WBC champion Keith “One Time” Thurman, 29-1 (22), of Clearwater, FL, is still in the picture. He lost to Pac Man in July of 2019 by split decision fracturing his right hand. Neither fighter fought in 2020.
Ugas lost to another piece of the puzzle in former IBF & WBC champion Shawn “Showtime” Porter, 31-3-1 (1 7), of Las Vegas, NV, who lost a split decision to Spence in September of 2019. Ugas has won three fights since. Porter is No. 1 in the WBC & WBO. 22 year-old Ortiz is the least experienced with all knockouts with his WBA Gold win over Antonio “Relentless” Orozco, 28-1, by KO in August of 2019, his biggest win. He is No. 5 WBC and No. 2 WBO ranked.
WBO champion Terence “Bud” Crawford, 37-0 (28), of Omaha NEB, seems to be the most outspoken of the group. He’s 5-0 (5) since moving up from the super lightweight division where he held all four titles. In November he stopped former champion Kell Brook, 39-2. In June of 2018 he won his title at welter stopping Jeff Horn who was fortunate to get a decision over the “Pac Man”.
Philadelphia’s 23 year-old Jaron “Boots” Ennis, 26-0-1nc (24), ranked No. 7 in the WBO fought Chris van Heerden 28-2-1-1nc (12), of South Africa ended in the first round due to a bad cut suffered by van Heerden for the vacant IBO title. Ennis has been having problems getting matches with other contenders.
Two others who are ranked No. 1 in their respective divisions are in interim WBA champ Jamal “Shango” James, 27-1 (12), of Minneapolis, MN, whose only loss was to Ugas in 2016. The other top ranked is IBF’s Kudratillo “The Punisher” Abduqaxorov, 17-0 (9), of UZB out of Malaysia, who won the WBC Silver title in 2018 and in his last match in October of 2019 defeated former WBA champ Luiz Collazo, 39-8.
On top of this WBO, IBF & WBA world lightweight champion Teofimo “The Takeover” Lopez, 16-0 (12), of NY says he’s moving up to welter after defeating the P4P1 in the world Vasyl “Hi-Tech” Lomachenko for those three titles in a close fight in October.
As you can see there are a dozen in the picture at this time Spence, Crawford, and Pac Man holding the world titles.