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Boxing welterweight division rankings: Spence, Crawford top stacked weight class

By Matthew Saljanin

FRISCO, TX - JUNE 16: Errol Spence Jr. knocks out Carlos Ocampo in the first round of a IBF Welterweight Championship bout at The Ford Center at The Star on June 16, 2018 in Frisco, Texas. (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images)
FRISCO, TX - JUNE 16: Errol Spence Jr. knocks out Carlos Ocampo in the first round of a IBF Welterweight Championship bout at The Ford Center at The Star on June 16, 2018 in Frisco, Texas. (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images) /
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The welterweight division always seems to be filled with talent, and that is the case today as well. There are multiple elite level boxers in the division, and it figures to provide fans with exciting fights in the future.

It seems as though in every era, there is a surplus of talent in the welterweight division. That certainly is the case today, as it is difficult to narrow down the list to just ten fighters.

With that in mind, here are a couple of honorable mentions, that easily could have cracked the top 10:

Adrien Broner (33-3-1, 24 KOs), Yordenis Ugas (22-3, 11 KOs) and Egidijus Kavaliauskas (20-0, 16 Kos)

BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA – JULY 02: Jeff Horn of Australia looks on during the WBO World Welterweight Title Fight against Manny Pacquiao of the Philippines at Suncorp Stadium on July 2, 2017 in Brisbane, Australia. (Photo by Chris Hyde/Getty Images)
BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA – JULY 02: Jeff Horn of Australia looks on during the WBO World Welterweight Title Fight against Manny Pacquiao of the Philippines at Suncorp Stadium on July 2, 2017 in Brisbane, Australia. (Photo by Chris Hyde/Getty Images) /

10. Jeff Horn (18-1-1, 12 KOs)

Horn will likely always be known as the man who was on the receiving end of a gift decision against Manny Pacquiao. This is unfortunate, because while virtually nobody outside of Australia thought Horn won the fight, the fact that Horn was able to make the fight competitive gets lost in the the cries of robbery. I’m not here to tell you Horn won, because he didn’t, but he performed very well and exceeded expectations.

Coming into that fight, almost nobody had heard of Jeff Horn. He was written off by most fans, and he was given almost no chance of winning. The fact that he was able to hear the final bell and win a few rounds against Pacquiao was impressive.

He was able to use his size advantage to successfully bully the smaller Pacquiao, and his effective aggression was also impressive.

Correct decision or not, Horn won the WBO title, putting himself in position for another payday against Terrence Crawford, who was set to move up to the division.

Horn lost every round of that fight before getting stopped, but he didn’t come just for a paycheck. He was able to hang around with the superior Crawford and showed off a pretty solid chin. Horn is not an elite fighter, but he is not the bum many boxing fans accused him of being. And while he wouldn’t beat the elite guys in the division, he can hang around with the rest of the top welterweights.

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