Fernando Guerrero Coverage: The Middleweight Division

With the amazing success and popularity of Fernando Guerrero, it is no surprise that Delmarva sports fans have begun to pay a lot more attention to what writer AJ Leibling labeled "The Sweet Science". Sensations like Guerrero tend to turn non-boxing fans into his fans. The next step on the way for many Fernando fans is to embrace the sport as a whole. Certainly with great young talents like Shawn Porter also fighting in Salisbury, many are probably well along that path. I've spoken to a lot of people that had quit being fans of boxing during the Don King/Mike Tyson train wreck, but have now had their interest and passion in the sport revived by our local blue chip middleweight prospect.

In the very near future I will weigh in on the upcoming Fernando Guerrero vs Michael "The Midnight Stalker" Walker middleweight bout. However, first I want to give a larger perspective of Fernando Guerrero's spot in boxing.

Today's post will be about his weight, middleweight. Here are some random facts about the middleweight class:

• The middleweight division dates back to the 1840s, but an exact date of its origin is unknown.
• The maximum weight limit is 160 pounds, which is 72.64 kg for our metric fans.
• Light middleweight's maximum weight limit is 154 pounds- making the traditional middleweight class from 155-160 pounds.
• Sometimes promoters/fighters will sign contracts with a stipulation for a "catch weight" allowing both fighters to come in at a different weight then the traditional weight class would allow.
• The boxer nearly every boxing expert rates as the greatest of all time, Sugar Ray Robinson, was a middleweight champion (though his best work took place at welterweight).
• Since 1904 only 5 Americans have won the Gold as a middleweight at the Olympics the last was Michael Spinks in 1976.
• There are four major belts in every division. The current champions of the middleweight class are: WBO & WBC champ Kelly Pavlik, WBA champ Felix Sturm, IBF champ Sebastian Sylvester.
  
• Fernando Guerrero is the WBO NABO champion, which is an important junior title to hold, but is not a major title.
• The first recognized world middleweight title (back when there was only one belt per weight class) was Jack "Nonpareil" Dempsey on July 30th, 1894. Thirty years later a young man named William Harrison Dempsey would fight under the name Jack as a homage to the middleweight and eventually become the Heavyweight Champion of the World. Both are in the International Boxing Hall of Fame.
• Mixed Martial Arts have different weights associated with their middleweight class. For UFC and Strikeforce middleweights must weigh between 171-185 pounds.

It is my firm belief that the middleweight division is one of the best in boxing right now and historically possibly the greatest of all time. At 160 pounds the athletes are combination of lightning speed and Herculean strength you just don't find consistently in many other weight classes.

Be on the look out for future articles on both Fernando Guerrero and his worthy opponent, Michael "The Midnight Stalker" Walker (writer's note: am I the only one that finds his self appointed moniker a bit creepy?).