Junior middleweight is one of the most loaded divisions in boxing. The weight class has elite champions and several talented young fighters. Therefore, who are the best junior middleweights in the world?
5. Erislandy Lara
Erislandy Lara had an impressive amateur career. And he defected from Cuba in 2007 to begin his professional boxing career. Lara is also an excellent counterpuncher that has good hand speed and strong punching power.
Lara will be fighting the undefeated WBC Silver light middleweight champion Vanes Martirosyan on November 10th, 2012. The fight is a WBC final eliminator bout so the winner will become mandatory challenger for the winner of the Saul Alvarez- Josesito Lopez fight.
4. Carlos Molina
Carlos Molina has been overlooked by many of the best fighters in the junior middleweight division. So he has been fighting lesser known opponents when he should be fighting elite boxers.
Likewise, Alvarez and Miguel Cotto did not seriously consider him as an opponent when they were deciding who to fight in their next boxing match.
Molina is a vastly underrated boxer that has won 12 of his last 14 fights. And he schooled James Kirkland for 10 rounds on March 24th. Yet, he loss the fight because of a ridiculous and controversial disqualification.
3. Saul Alvarez
Alvarez is one of the best junior middleweight fighters in the world at just 22 years old. He is also a heavy handed fighter that is a ferocious body puncher. And he has a fan-friendly style that has helped him become one of the most popular boxers in Mexico.
Alvarez has defeated former champions such as Shane Mosley, Carlos Baldomir, and Kermit Cintron. And he will be defending his WBC light middleweight title against Josesito Lopez on September 15th, 2012.
2. Miguel Cotto
Cotto showed in his fight against Floyd Mayweather Jr. that he is not a shot fighter. "You're the toughest guy I ever fought," said Mayweather. Likewise, Cotto is an old school fighter that will fight anyone, anytime, anywhere.
Cotto and Pacquiao could not agree on the weight for a rematch. So he will be facing undefeated Austin Trout on December 1st at Madison Square Garden.
1. Floyd Mayweather Jr.
Mayweather was released from jail on August 3rd. And he had discussed fighting one more time this year. However, he will taking the rest of the year off. There are currently no fights on the horizon for Mayweather.
Mayweather is past his prime. But, he showed in his win over Cotto that he is still one of the best fighters in the world. Mayweather is also a masterful defensive fighter that has superior hand speed and excellent counterpunching skills.
Loren Robinson has watched and studied boxing for the past 12 years. He has written for boxing websites such as boxingnews24.com, eastsideboxing.com and pinoygreats.com. You can find more of his writing at the site www.lorenrobinson.com or you can follow him on Twitter, @PowerofWords22
Sources
8 Sept. 2012 http://www.boxingscene.com/
8 Sept. 2012 http://www.espn.go.com/
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