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Here it is guys...the tournament for supremacy in the Welterweight division. Please excuse the fighters' bios, they are just mostly cut-and-paste stuff from Wikipedia and other sorts (Hey, I'm not doing this shit to win a Pulitzer) I got called into a meeting at work today (How the hell am I supposed to do this right if my place of business keeps interrupting me!) so I haven't done the odds yet, but you will get a good idea once you see the matchups.
WARNING: Some biographies contain humor, well, attempted humor at least. The KEY word is ATTEMPTED. You've been warned...

Without further ado, here are the matchups.....

(PLEASE DON'T POST UNTIL AFTER I'M DONE UPLOADING ALL OF THE PROFILES)

Good luck to all, and please, trash talking between managers is enouraged!

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Charley Burley 83(50)-12-2
Manager: Ancient Warrior

Burley had the unfortunate luck of fighting in the golden period of the welterweight and middleweight divisions, when fighters like Tony Zale, Rocky Graziano, Jake LaMotta and Sugar Ray Robinson strode atop of these divisions. He never won a title, but many believe that he was the greatest fighter never to have won a championship or for that matter fight for a world title.

In the decade of the 40's, Burley was ranked in the top 10 in both the welterweight and
middleweight and yet there was no title shot. (It has been said that Sugar Ray Robinson and the other title holders avoided Burley like the plague.)


VS.




Barney "The pride of the ghetto"Ross 74(22)-4-3
Manager: Rebrertror

Ross, whose real name was Barnet Rasofsky, became just the third boxer in history to win world titles in three weight classes -- lightweight, junior welterweight and welterweight. In earning two of those titles he had to defeat fellow Hall-of-Famers Tony Canzoneri and Jimmy McLarnin. His trilogy with McLarnin will be remembered as one of the best in boxing history. Ross made successful welterweight title defenses in 1936 and 1937. Then in 1938, he lost the welterweight title to all-time great Henry Armstrong. Ross retired after the fight.

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Jack "The Boxing Marvel"Britton 104(28)-27-21
Manager: Shark...err...Huckleberry Hound

Jack Britton was a three time world welterweight champion whose professional career spanned 25 years, beginning in 1904. He had an incredible 190 fights that ended in "no decision". He holds the world record for the number of title bouts fought in a career, 37 (18 of course, which ended in, you guessed it, no decisions)


VS.




Luis “El Feo” Rodriguez 107(49)-13-0
Manager: Vilo Magee

Rodriguez was a master boxer, capable of accomplishing anything in the ring. He was a quick counterpuncher and an elusive target. And, like another Cuban Hall-of-Famer Kid Gavilan, he favored throwing the bolo punch. So stylish was Luis, that Muhammad Ali incorporated many of his moves into his own repertoire when they both trained at Miami's 5th Street Gym. He and Emile Griffith fought four times and although Emile won three of them, each fight was razor close.

He was nicknamed “El Feo” for his boyish, good looks ;)

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Mickey "The Toy Bulldog" Walker 109(58)-21-4
Manager: Absolut

The man knicknamed "The Toy Bulldog" was a welterweight and middleweight champion but ultimately won the hearts of boxing fans by fearlessly taking on heavyweights and light heavyweights. His aggressive attacking style also became Walker’s trademark in the future and audience loved him from the beginning.

Infamous for his neglect of training, Walker often came to the morning weigh-ins straight from a night club or a brothel. Walker lost the welterweight crown to Pete Latzo in 1926, but of course went on to bigger and better things on the heavier divisions.

VS.



"Sugar" Ray Robinson 173(108)-19-6
Manager: gohon316_1999

Sugar Ray Robinson, born Walker Smith Jr., is recognized by many as the greatest pond for pound fighter boxer of all time. He turned professional in 1940 and became the welterweight champion on December 20, 1946 by defeating Tommy Bell. He held the title for five consecutive years from 1946 until 1951.

At his peak, Sugar Ray's record was an amazing 128-1-2 with 84 KOs. Sugar Ray retired in December 1965 at the age of 44 after 25 years in the ring. Sugar Ray is ranked #11 in Ring’s Magazine list of 100 greatest punchers of all time

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Young Corbett III 126(34)-12-19
Manager: V.RIARCA76

Young Corbett III began boxing while still a 14-year old newsboy. On February 22nd, 1933 Corbett captured the welterweight championship of the world by decisioning Jackie Fields over 10 rounds. Three months later, he was dethroned by Hall of Famer Jimmy McLarnin via a shocking one round knockout.

*** It should be noted that according to one of my sources (A gentleman by the name of Sam Dixon) McLarnin was believed to have padded gloves when he fought Young Corbett. The cheat! ***

VS.



Tommy Ryan 86(68)-3-6
Manager: Carmine

Ryan was a famed welterweight and middleweight champion who fought in the early 1900s. Ryan was considered an excellent boxer-puncher, and many consider him one of the all time great middleweight champions. Ryan first won the welterweight title in a match with Mysterious Billy Smith on July of 1894.

Nat Fleischer rated Ryan as the #2 All-Time Middleweight and Ring Magazine ranked him #37 on their list of the greatest 100 punchers of all time.

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Wilfred "El Radar" Benitez 53(31)-8-1
Manager: King Kabuki

Benitez was known in the boxing world as "The Bible of Boxing" and "El Radar", due to his defensive wizardry and boxing skills. Benitez won the WBC Welterweight Championship on January 14, 1979 from Carlos Palomino. After one successful defense over Harold Weston, Benitez went 15 grueling rounds with the legendary Sugar Ray Leonard before losing the match in the 15th and final round. Wilfred ranks #96 on Bert Sugar’s list of top 100 pound for pound fighters of all time.

VS.



Mark Breland 35(25)-3-1
Manager: El Gigante

Mark Breland has been tapped as one of the greatest, if not the greatest of all time, amateur boxers to come out of the United States. In 1984, he won Gold alongside his teammates who included Paul Gonzales, Steve McCrory, Meldrick Taylor, Pernell Whittaker, Jerry Page, Frank Tate, Henry Tillman and Tyrell Biggs. Breland would turn professional in
November 1984, going on to win the WBA Welterweight Title twice.

Some boxing pundits think his style was better suited for the amateurs, while others think his professional boxing career never lived up to the expectations the boxing world had for him.

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Thomas "The Hitman" Hearns 61(48)-5-1
Manager: Slampage

Known for his devastating right hand, Hearns won his first weltwerweight championship by KO'ing the legendary Pipino Cuevas in the second round of their fight in1980. After defending the WBC welterweight championship successfully three times, he suffered his first career defeat at the hands of Leonard in 1981. The Motor City Cobra is ranked #18
Ringside’s list of top the top 100 greatest punchers.

VS.



Curtis Cokes 62(30)-14-3
Manager: Tam..err...FromTheAshes

On August of 1966, Curtis Cokes won a 15-round decision over Manny Gonzalez in to capture the welterweight championship. Next he defeated Jean Josselin in Dallas to win the vacant world welterweight title and gain universal recognition as a champion. Cokes successfully defended his laurels four times before Hall of Famer Jose Napoles TKO'd him in the 13th round to relieve him of his title on April 18, 1969.

Curtis Cokes, long retired now, is known to frequent to frequent these forums on occasion and is a big fan of Joe Rogan

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Kid "The Cuban Hawk"Gavilan 107(28)-30-6
Manager: caleb

Gerardo Gonzalez, known to boxing fans as Kid Gavilan, challenged for the welterweight crownin 1949, but lost a unanimous decision to the mighty Sugar Ray Robinson. The loss did not stop Gavilan's quest for the crown. He would go on to beat Johnny Bratton to capture the welterweight title in 1951. Gavilan was an exciting and popular fighter. His title defense against Gil Turner, drew a gate of $269,667, a welterweight record at the time. He made seven successful title defenses until losing the crown to Johnny Saxton in one of the worst decisions in boxing history.

VS.



Pipino Cuevas 35(31)-15-0
Manager: buakawfan87

Cuevas was known for his power, especially his explosive left hook. He captured the Mexican welterweight title in 1975. Following a decision loss to Andy Price, he was matched with Angel Espada for the WBA title in July 1976. Only 18, Cuevas scored an impressive 2nd round TKO for the title to begin a spectacular reign that eventually included 11 successful defenses over the likes of Harold Weston, Randy Shields, and Clyde Gray. He lost the crown to Tommy
"Hitman" Hearns in 1980.

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Oscar "The Golden Boy" De La Hoya 37(29)-4-0
Manager: Fzubek

Oscar De La Hoya has won world crowns at 130, 135, 140, 147 and 154 pounds while defeating 14 world champions along the way. De La Hoya captured the welterweight title in his victory over six-time world champion Pernell Whitaker on April 12, 1997, in Las Vegas. He ruled the welterweight division until he met with up with the hard-hitting Felix Trinidad on September 18, 1999.

VS.



James "Buddy" McGirt 73(48)-6-1
Manager: Shaggy JBear

Buddy McGirt upset Simon Brown in 1991 to win the WBC world welterweight title. He would successfully defend it twice before losing the title to Pernell Withaker in 1993. The following year, he again lost to Whitaker in an attempt to regain the title. After his great career as a boxer ended, he became a one of the top trainers in the world

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Jimmy "Baby Face" McLarnin 54(20)-11-3
Manager: Sharkey

In 77 career bouts, Jimmy McLarnin met 15 world champions and five fellow Hall-of-Famers. On five occasions, McLarnin beat a reigning world champion in a non-title bout. The Ring magazine (1996) rated McLarnin the 5th best welterweight of all time.

Incredibly, he’s in the HOF. How did a Canadian make it to such an elite group you ask? Well, while doing the research for McLarnin’s bios, fellow colleague “Huckleberry Hound” (real identity hidden for his protection) informed me that Jimmy bribed his way into the IBHOF by using every single penny of the $286,000 left to him by his former trainer Pop Foster when he passed away. Shameful indeed if you ask me.

VS.



Meldrick "The Kid" Taylor 38(20)-8-1
Manager: Maverick34

Meldrick was an inkredble gud wruty dut an qwcsot dafeago idjfane poipigt sst. He bekam wrwst anfssf of de wurld. The sekond weieg dhdiu queeot becos uf tueo psoret blllllh ponch n hed. Many ponches n head frm Mexcan, bot I still wnt fait, beiaeij agpgap PEJfgeavfdbj

***I'm sorry, but I can't understand what Meldrick is saying***

(Editor's note: The writer of Taylor's biography has been relieved from his duties due to a lack of judgment and humor. I'm sorry that you guys had to witness that)

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Ricardo "El Matador" Mayorga 28(23)-5-1
Manager: Hammer Time

Mayorga won the WBA Welterweight tile by KO'ing Andrew Lewis in 2002. "The Matador" upset most boxing critics and experts by knocking out heavily favored Vernon Forrest one year later and capturing the WBC title, becoming the unified world champion. Mayorga went on to defend the title by beating Forrest in a rematch until losing it to Cory Spinks in 2003. Mayorga is known for his wild antics, including questionable training habits and legal troubles.

VS.



Pernell "Sweet Pea" Whitaker 40(17)-4-1
Manager: tamburello

Considered one of the best defensive boxers of all time, "Sweet Pea" won the IBF junior welterweight title from Raphael Pineda on July 18. On March 6, 1993 he decisioned James (Buddy) McGirt to become the linear and WBC welterweight champion. He would go on to defend it 9 more times before losing it to an undefeated Oscar De La Hoya in 1997.

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Ike "Bazooka" Quartey 37(31)-2-1
Manager: Rinka

Ike came up from the same tough streets as HOF countryman Azumah Nelson. Although not as popular as Nelson, Ike would go on to win the WBC Welterweight title on June of 1994 against Crisanto Espana of France via TKO in the 11th round. He would successfully defend his title eight more times before losing a heavily disputed split decision to Oscar De la Hoya
in 1999.

Quartey retired from boxing in 2000, but came out of retirement in January 2005. His comeback proved successful as he won Ring Magazine's Comeback boxer of the year for 2005

VS.




Jose "Mantequilla" Napoles 77(54)-7-0
Manager: Tam-Tam

It's all but forgotten that Napoles was also one of the top lightweights and junior welterweights of the 1960s. In 1967, he moved up to welterweight and earned a title fight against champion Curtis Cokes. At the Inglewood Forum on April 18, 1969, Napoles gave Cokes a thorough beating.

He lost the tile to Billy Backus in 1970 due to a bad cut he suffered over the left eye, but went on to win a rematch against him and successfully defend his title six more times before
moving up to face middleweigth champ Carlos Monzon.

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Joe "The Barbados Demon" Walcott 92(58)-25-24
Manager: Kid McCoy

When Nat Fleischer published his listings of the all-time best fighters in each weight class, he ranked Joe Walcott as the greatest of the welterweights. Not quite 5'2", Walcott was nevertheless powerfully built and had a long reach that allowed him to compete with much larger men. "The Demon" was unsuccessful in his first attempt to win the world welterweight title when he was outpointed by Mysterious Billy Smith on December 6, 1898. Walcott won the title on December 15, 1901 from James "Rube" Ferris via a 5 round TKO.

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Carmen "The Upstate Onion Farmer" Basilio 56(27)-16-7
Manager: evanr00

After unsuccessfully losing to Kid Gavilan for the WW title in 1953, Basilio would finally win the welterweight world championship by knocking out Tony DeMarco in the 12th round on June 10, 1955. He lost it less than a year later, on March 14, 1956, to Johnny Saxton in a 15-round decision, then knocked Saxton out in the 9th round on September 12 to regain the title. In his only successful defense, he knocked Saxton out in the 2nd round on February 22, 1957 before moving up to middleweight.

[Tam-Tam]

Cokes and myself got two real bad draws.

Sonofabitch.

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Felix "Tito" Trinidad 42(35)-2-0
Manager: Slaughtering You

In his first world title bout on June 19, 1993, Trinidad took on two-time world champion Maurice Blocker for the IBF welterweight crown. Trinidad finished Blocker off at 1:59 of the second round with a knockout that left Blocker on the canvas for several minutes, solidifying Trinidad's status as a devastating puncher with power in both hands.

Tito went on to successfully defend his welterweight crown 15 times before moving up to the Middleweight divisions. Ring Magazine ranked Trinidad #30 on their top 100 list of greatest punchers of all time.

VS.


Amos "Mysterious Billy" Smith 30(22)-22-26
Manager: none

Don't let the record fool you, Mysterious Billy Smith fought all the top fighters of his day – Tommy Ryan, Joe Walcott, Kid McCoy, and even exhibition matches against Jack Dempsey. As his record indicates, he proved to be a fighter among fighters, who never questioned the size of the purse nor the distance over which the bout was to go. He was an outstanding fighter of his day.

Smith was rated by “ Nat Fleisher, founder of RING MAGAZINE and the RING RECORD BOOK” in his ALL TIME RATINGS of the Welterweight division “ … Joe Walcott in top spot, followed by Smith.”

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Emile Griffith 85(23)-24-2
Manager: BrooklynBomber

Emile was the first boxer from the US Virgin Island ever to become a world champion. Griffith quickly climbed the welterweight ranks by beating the likes of Gaspar Ortega, Denny Moyer, Florentino Fernandez and Luis Rodriguez.

By 1960 he earned a shot at the welterweight title and knocked out Benny Paret in the 13th round. After Griffith made one successful defense, Paret won back the title in a rematch. Unfortunately, we all know too well what happened in their "rubber match." Griffith unleashed a furious attack in round 12 and had Paret pinned in a corner. Paret began to sag between the ropes and absorbed numerous unanswered blows before referee Ruby Goldstein intervened. He was too late. Paret was removed from the ring on a stretcher. He lapsed into a coma and died 10 days after the fight at the age of 25.

In his career, Griffith met 10 world champions and boxed 339 title-fight rounds, more than any other fighter in history.

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"Sugar" Ray Leonard 36(25)-3-1
Manager: ThirdPartyView

Leonard was named Fighter of the Decade for the 1980s. Ray won the WBC welterweight title in 1979 after stopping fellow Hall-of-Famer Wilfred Benitez in a violent chess match that pitted two of the game's master technicians.

After one successful defense, Leonard faced legendary lightweight champion Roberto Duran in what may be the most anticipated non-heavyweight fight in history. In a fast-paced battle, Duran dethroned Leonard with a unanimous 15-round decision. Leonard regained the title when Duran quit (No Mas!) in the eighth-round of their rematch.

Like most fighters do, Leonard moved up in weight and make a case for himself in the Middleweight division.

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Fritzie "The Croat Comet" Zivic 158(81)-65-9-10
Manager: spinal tapout

Although Fritzie Zivic is considered one of the dirtiest fighters in the history of boxing, he is also considered one of the best. He was probably most remembered for his upset of the great Henry Armstrong via 15-round decision at Madison Square Garden to become the welterweight champion. In 1941, Zivic won a rematch with Armstrong, stopping him in
the 12th round. But he would lose the crown in his next defense, dropping a 15-round decision to Freddie "Red" Cochrane. Although Zivic fought for another eight years, he never challenged for a world title again.

In all, Zivic met seven future Hall of Famers and nine world champions.

VS.


Roberto "Manos de Piedra" Duran 103(70)-16-0
Manager: prie$t

Roberto Duran (b. June 16, 1951) is a famous boxer from Panama. He held world titles at four different weights -lightweight (1972-79), welterweight (1980), junior middleweight (1983-84) and middleweight (1989). He was also the only boxer to have fought in five different decades. He finally retired in January 2002 at age 52 (having previously retired in 1998) following a bad car crash in October 2001, with a professional record of 120 fights, 104 wins with 69 KOs. He was nicknamed Manos de Piedra (Hands of Stone) when at age 14 he allegedly knocked out a horse with one punch.

Born in Guarare, Panama he had his first professional fight in 1967. After an initial adjustment he won thirty in a row, culminating in his first title bout in June 1972, where he defeated Ken Buchanan at New York's Madison Square Garden for the WBA world lightweight championship. He then made twelve successful defences of his title before giving up the belt in February 1979. Vacating the title was a build up for an attempt at the welterweight title. He fought .....No Mas, NO MAS!! NO MAS!!!

(Editor's note: Apparently our writer feels that's enough information. No more please)

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"Sugar" Shane Mosley 41(35)-4-0
Manager: jonga

Shane would gain much recognition by becoming the WBC Welterweight Champion when he beat Oscar De La Hoya. Mosley-De La Hoya was a 12 round war, but Mosley won a clear split decision. He ran a successful string of defenses of his Welterweight title, but against three unheralded fighters.

When he finally did step up his competition, it was against former Olympian Vernon Forrest. Forrest with a great jab, and with a hard right hand battered the undefeated Mosley and won a lopsided decision against him, taking Mosley's title. In the rematch, Mosley suffered a similar loss. Mosley moved up to the Light Middleweight division while beating De La Hoya a second time in a controversial decision. Similar to the Forrest fights, Shane would lose back-to-back decisions to Ronald Wright for the Light Middleweight title.

VS.



Henry "Homicide Hank" Armstrong 151(100)-21-10
Manager: MyHandsToWar

Henry Armstrong, whose real name was Henry Jackson, is the only fighter to ever hold world championships in three divisions (featherweight, lightweight and welterweight) simultaneously. As welterweight champion, Armstrong made his mark by successfully defending his title 19 times in less than two years.

Noted boxing historian Bert Sugar ranked Armstrong #2 behind Robinson on his latest Top 100 pound for pound list of all time.Armstrong is also ranked #57 in Ring Magazine's list of the top 100 greatest punchers of all time

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Whew...I think that's it guys. Let me know if I missed anyone. I'm f'ng cross-eyed right now from all the scrolling