Jumping from welterweight to junior middleweight: A historic list of hits and misses

The welterweight division has been home to some of the very best fighters in boxing history.

Seven pounds north is the less traditional junior middleweight class. It was once a stop-over between two of boxing’s glamour divisions welterweight and middleweight, but with time it earned a reputation of its own.

On Saturday, Terence Crawford will look to become a four-weight world champion when he faces WBA 154-pound titlist Israil Madrimov at BMO Stadium (formerly Banc of California Stadium), Los Angeles, California.

Previously, Crawford had claimed the Ring championship and WBO title at lightweight before becoming Ring junior welterweight champion. More recently, he became Ring welterweight champion, and will now bid to join an impressive list of fighters who have similarly moved from welterweight to junior middleweight.

Here is a look at the fighters who have successfully made that leap and those who haven’t.

SUCCESSFUL:

WILFRED BENITEZ 

Benitez, who had previously won world titles at junior welterweight and welterweight, stopped WBC ruler Maurice Hope (KO 12) in Las Vegas in May 1981, to become the youngest three-weight world champion at the age of 22. The supremely gifted Puerto Rican made two successful defenses before losing to Thomas Hearns (MD 15).

SUGAR RAY LEONARD

Leonard had won (Benitez (TKO 15), lost (Roberto Duran UD 15) and regained (Duran TKO 8) his Ring and WBC welterweight titles, and was converging on a superfight with fellow phenom Thomas Hearns when he made the move to step up to junior middleweight and beat WBA beltholder Ayub Kalule (KO 9) in Houston in June 1981. He never defended his title and promptly dropped back to welterweight for the aforementioned Hearns fight.

THOMAS HEARNS

Hearns had won the WBA 147-pound title by demolishing Pipino Cuevas (TKO 2) and made three defenses before losing to Leonard (TKO 14). He then reemerged at junior middleweight. “The Hitman” edged Benitez (MD 15) to pick up The Ring and WBC titles in New Orleans in December 1982. Hearns went on to make three successful defenses before vacating.

Thomas Hearns (left) lands a left punch against Roberto Duran during the fight at Caesars Palace on June 15,1984 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Thomas Hearns won the WBC junior middleweight title by a KO 2 – Photo by The Ring Magazine/Getty Images

ROBERTO DURAN

The lightweight great had demonstrated how special he was when he beat Leonard at welterweight, but had come up short against Benitez (UD 15) in Las Vegas in January 1982 and proved those who thought he was finished wrong by putting a savage beating on Davey Moore (TKO 8) to claim the WBA 154-pound title in New York in June 1983. He never defended his title and jumped to middleweight for a mega-fight with Marvin Hagler, who came on strong in the later stages to win a 15-round unanimous decision. Duran did return to 154 pounds later, only to be brutally stopped by Hearns (KO 2) in Las Vegas in June 1984

DONALD CURRY

After shockingly losing his undisputed welterweight title to Lloyd Honeyghan (RTD 6), Curry moved up in weight, and after two wins he was stopped by WBA boss Mike McCallum (KO 5) in Las Vegas in July 1987. “The Cobra” struck the second time of asking when he went to San Remo, Italy and beat Gianfranco Rosi (RTD 9) in July 1988. He lost his belt in his first defense against Rene Jacquot (UD 12) in what became The Ring’s Upset of The Year.

SIMON BROWN

Brown had won the vacant IBF welterweight title against Tyrone Trice (TKO 14) in Paris in April 1988, and after seven defenses he unified scoring a come from behind win against good friend Maurice Blocker (TKO 10) to claim the WBC title. He vacated the IBF belt and lost his WBC laurels to Buddy McGirt (UD 12) in Las Vegas in November 1991. After a handful of wins up at junior middleweight, he caused The Ring Upset of Year by stunning Terry Norris (KO 4) to annex the WBC title. After one quick defense Brown dropped the title to a much more cautious Norris (UD 12) in a rematch. Brown later lost to Vincent Pettway (KO 6) in an IBF title shot.

PERNELL WHITAKER

Whitaker had established his credentials by winning The Ring lightweight championship. He had a brief pit stop at junior welterweight before landing at welterweight. “Sweet Pea” bested McGirt (UD 12) and made three defenses before electing to head up to face the much bigger and physically stronger but far less talented Julio Cesar Vasquez (UD 12) in Atlantic City in March 1995. He quickly vacated and went back to welterweight where he made a further five defenses before losing a debatable decision to Oscar De La Hoya (UD 12).

FELIX TRINIDAD

The charismatic Puerto Rican burst onto the scene as a fresh-faced 20-year-old, smashing Maurice Blocker (KO 2) in June 1993. He went on to make 15 successful defenses and added Oscar De La Hoya’s (MD 12) WBC belt in September 1999. Having struggled to make weight, he finally relented and headed to junior middleweight where he won the WBA title against David Reid (UD 12) and made one successful defense before unifying with IBF titlist Fernando Vargas (TKO 12). “Tito” vacated and headed to middleweight.

Felix Trinidad (right) during his fight on September 18,1999 against Oscar De La Hoya – Photo By Jose Jimenez/Primera Hora/Getty Images

OSCAR DE LA HOYA

De La Hoya won world titles at junior lightweight, lightweight and junior welterweight before the burnished star settled in at welterweight and became widely recognized as the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world. “The Golden Boy” beat Whitaker (UD 12) in somewhat controversial fashion and made seven defenses but lost controversially to Trinidad (MD 12) in a unification. He stepped up to 154-pounds and dominated Javier Castillejo (UD 12). The uber popular American unified with fierce rival and WBA incumbent Fernando Vargas (TKO 11) but lost to Shane Mosley (UD 12). He briefly held a middleweight title, losing a unification with Bernard Hopkins but regained his WBC junior middleweight belt against Ricardo Mayorga (TKO 6) but lost it to Floyd Mayweather Jr. (SD 12).

DANIEL SANTOS

Santos lost his first world title fight against WBO welterweight kingpin Akhmed Kotiev (SD 12) in Germany but returned and stopped him in five rounds. After three successful defenses he headed up to junior middleweight where he beat Yori Boy Campas (TKO 11) for the vacant WBO belt. The gifted Puerto Rican went on to make four defenses before losing to Serhiy Dzindziruk (UD 12) in Germany. He did recapture a version of the junior middleweight throne when he beat Jose Antonio Rivera (TKO 8) for the WBA title in 2008. However, he lost it in his first defense against Yuri Foreman (UD 12).

SHANE MOSLEY

Having announced himself at lightweight, Mosely elected to jump junior welterweight altogether and bested old amateur rival De La Hoya (SD 12) changing his game plan in the second half to score a very impressive win to pick up the WBC welterweight crown. “Sugar” Shane lived up to his considerable billing with three defenses but came unstuck against the taller, savvy boxing skills of Vernon Forrest (UD 12). Mosley lost a direct rematch but rebounded to controversially beat De La Hoya (UD 12) for the Ring junior middleweight championship and WBA/ WBC titles. He lost his belts when he attempted to further unify with IBF counterpart Winky Wright (UD 12). The Californian lost a rematch to Wright (MD 12) and over the next several years switched between both weights where he won some and lost some to the big names of his time including Fernando Vargas (TKO 10/ TKO 6), Miguel Cotto (L UD 12), Floyd Mayweather (L UD 12), Manny Pacquiao (L UD 12) and Canelo Alvarez (UD 12).

RICARDO MAYORGA

The Nicaraguan wild man reeled off several wins before gatecrashing the world scene against WBA titleholder Andrew Lewis (NC 2/ TKO 5). In his next bout he stunned Vernon Forrest (TKO 3) to add the WBC title in a unification. Mayorga lost his titles to IBF ruler Cory Spinks (MD 12) but claimed the vacant WBC junior middleweight title against Michele Piccirillo (UD 12). He played the pantomime villain expertly when he dropped the title to a comebacking De La Hoya (TKO 6), beat Vargas (MD 12), lost to Mosley (KO 12) and in a final title shot against WBA 154-pound beltholder Miguel Cotto (TKO 12).

JOSE ANTONIO RIVERA

Rivera was a solid fighter who was a hard-nosed pro for over a decade before heading to Germany to face previously unbeaten Michel Trabant for the vacant WBA title. The New Englander edged matters by 12-round majority decision. He lost the title in his first defense when he met Luis Collazo (SD 12). That defeat saw him move to junior middleweight, and in his first outing beat WBA champion Alejandro Garcia (UD 12). Again, he lost the title in his first defense when he met Travis Simms (TKO 9).

Cory Spinks hits Ricardo Mayorga during their welterweight championship bout at the Boardwalk Hall on December 13, 2003 in Atlantic City, New Jersey – Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images

CORY SPINKS

The son of former heavyweight champion Leon Spinks and nephew of undisputed light heavyweight titleholder Michael Spinks looked very unlucky to lose a controversial decision for the vacant IBF welterweight title to Michele Piccirillo (UD 12) in Italy. A little under a year later he returned to the scene of the crime and duly claimed the title besting Piccirillo (UD 12). He successfully unified and claimed the vacant Ring belt against Mayorga (MD 12). He defended against Zab Judah (UD 12) and former lightweight titlist Miguel Angel Gonzalez (UD 12) but was stopped by Judah (TKO 9) in a rematch. That sent him to junior middleweight where in his first fight be beat Roman Karmazin (MD 12) for the IBF title. He made one successful defense before going to middleweight where he was unlucky against Ring champion and WBC/WBO titleholder Jermain Taylor (SD 12). Spinks then lost his IBF 154-pound title to Verno Phillips (SD 12). He wasn’t done and briefly reigned a second time beating fellow St. Louis native Deandre Latimore (SD 12) for the vacant IBF belt but dropped it to Cornelius Bundrage (TKO 5).

FLOYD MAYWEATHER JR.

Mayweather excelled at junior lightweight, lightweight and made a pit stop at junior welterweight before landing at welterweight where he bested Zab Judah (UD 12) for the IBF title and then moved on to defeat Ring champion and WBC titlist Carlos Baldomir (UD 12), who had previously upset Judah. Mayweather made a brief dalliance at junior middleweight edging past De La Hoya (SD 12) to claim the WBC belt. “Money” dropped back to welterweight and fought there for the rest of his Hall of Fame career other than fights against Miguel Cotto (UD 12) and Canelo Alvarez (MD 12) though never weighed more than 151 for either bout.

VERNON FORREST

Although Forrest represented America at the 1992 Olympics, his professional career was something of a slow burn. He had to wait 31 fights until 2000, when Trinidad had vacated his IBF title, to get a shot at the vacant title. And even then he had to do wait, after his first fight against Raul Frank ended in a third round no-contest. Forrest outboxed Frank (UD 12) in their rematch in May 2001. The Atlanta native vacated his throne but captured the WBC belt beating Mosley (UD 12/ UD 12) but then twice lost to Mayorga (TKO 3/ MD 12). Forrest rose again up at 154-pound where he won the vacant WBC title against Baldomir (UD 12). After one defense he lost to Sergio Mora (MD 12) but regained his title in a direct rematch by 12-round unanimous decision. Tragically, Forrest was shot and killed in July 2009.

MIGUEL COTTO

Cotto won the WBO junior welterweight title and made six successful defenses, where he started to become an attraction at Madison Square Garden. After outgrowing the division he took himself up to welterweight and bashed up previously unbeaten compatriot Carlos Quintana (RTD 5) to claim the vacant WBA title. The Puerto Rican reeled off four defenses but lost a grueling battle with Antonio Margarito (TKO 11). He bounced back by winning the vacant WBO title in his next fight against Michael Jennings (TKO 5) and made a further two defenses. He lost to a prime Manny Pacquiao (TKO 12). That saw him move up to junior middleweight and stop an injured Yuri Foreman (TKO 9) to become WBA boss. He lost to Mayweather (UD 12) and then to Austin Trout (UD 12). He later successfully claimed the Ring and WBC middleweight titles and the WBO junior middleweight title.

MANNY PACQUIAO

As a teenager, Pacquiao won the WBC flyweight title but quickly outgrew that division and landed at junior featherweight where as a late sub he annexed the IBF 122-pound title. His legend grew by beating Marco Antonio Barrera and Erik Morales, all the while winning The Ring featherweight title, followed by world titles at 130, 135 and another Ring title at 140 pounds where he bludgeoned Ricky Hatton (KO 2). He came into his own during a particularly special spell in the late 2000s-early 2010’s when he won welterweight and junior middleweight world titles against bigger men and largely a who’s-who of his time. He was still competing at the highest level into his 40s.

INTERIM

PAUL WILLIAMS

Williams was a tall and awkward proposition for his opponents with a high punch output, throwing a 100-punches around. He struggled at times to get people to fight him and competed between 147 and 160-pounds. He took Walter Matthysse (Lucas older brother) unbeaten record, stopping the Argentine fighter in 10-rounds and then faded former 140-pound titlist Sharmba Mitchell (KO 6). That helped him get a fight with WBO welterweight titlist Antonio Margarito, who he edged past in an excellent action fight via close 12-round unanimous decision. He surprisingly dropped the title to Carlos Quintana (UD 12) but bounced back emphatically in a direct rematch (TKO 1) to regain his throne. With options scarce, Williams headed to 154-pounds where he beat grizzled veteran Verno Phillips (RTD 8) for the interim WBO title. He was never able to full consummate the title and headed to middleweight but saw his career cut short after a motor bike accident confined him to a wheel chair.

UNSUCCESSFUL

MILTON MCCRORY

McCrory claimed the vacant WBC welterweight title at the second time of asking after battling with Colin Jones (D 12/ SD 12). The Detroit native went on to make four successful defenses. He met Donald Curry for the undisputed welterweight championship and brutally knocked out in the second round. McCrory moved up to junior middleweight and after a handful of fights unsuccessfully challenged Mike McCallum (TKO 10) for the WBA title.

MELDRICK TAYLOR

Taylor won gold at the 1984 Olympics as a 17-year-old. The precociously talented Philadelphia fighter won the WBA junior welterweight title against Buddy McGirt (TKO 12) at just 21 and reeled off two defenses before facing WBC counterpart Julio Cesar Chavez. Despite a fast start, the Mexican reeled him in and stopped him in dramatic fashion with two seconds remaining in the bout. Taylor went up to welterweight and beat Aaron Davis (UD 12) for the WBA title but had left the best of him in the ring against Chavez. He went up in weight but fought Terry Norris for the WBC title at a catchweight 149-pounds and was stopped in four rounds. He subsequently yielded his WBA 147-pound title to Crisanto España (TKO 8).

Terry Norris decks Meldrick Taylor en route to a fourth-round stoppage win – Photo from The Ring archive

MAURICE BLOCKER

Blocker lost his first world title attempt when he dropped a decision to IBF/WBC welterweight titleholder Lloyd Honeyghan (UD 12). The tall Washington D.C technician used his height and reach to keep Marlon Starling (MD 12) honest to claim the WBC title the second time around. He looked to unify with good friend and IBF titlist Simon Brown but was stopped in an excellent fight while he was narrowly ahead on all three scorecards in 10 rounds. He picked up the vacant IBF title against Glenwood Brown (UD 12) and made one defense before he jumped to junior middleweight where he was stopped by WBC boss Terry Norris (TKO 2). He dropped back to welterweight and lost to a rising, young Felix Trinidad (KO 2).

AARON DAVIS

Davis was able to off-set the greater skills of WBA titlist Mark Breland and make it a dog fight which suited him and allowed him to wear his fellow New Yorker down in nine-rounds. He lost his title in his first defense against the superlative skills of WBA welterweight titlist Meldrick Taylor (UD 12). He stepped up to junior middleweight and in his only fight for a world title their lost a razor-thin decision to WBA beltholder Julio Cesar Vasquez (MD 12).

IKE QUARTEY

Quartey upset WBA welterweight ruler Crisanto España (TKO 11) in 1994. The Ghanaian boxer-puncher lived up to his “Bazooka” nickname blasting through his first four defenses. He had a tougher time with the hard-luck Oba Carr (MD 12) and twice got off the floor to fight unheralded Jose Luis Lopez to a draw. Unfortunately, Quartey didn’t fight for 16-months and was stripped of his WBA belt, which was hardly the best preparation for his biggest fight when he faced Oscar De La Hoya. The two exchanged knockdowns but ultimately the American superstar edged matters by 12-round split decision. Quartey returned just over a year later at 154-pounds and lost to IBF titlist Fernando Vargas (UD 12). He didn’t fight for nearly five years, and though had some big fights never fought for a world title again.

CARLOS BALDOMIR

Argentina’s Baldomir had been a professional for 13 years and fought in Denmark, South Africa, UK, USA and Germany. He has been undefeated in 19 fights over a seven-year span by the time he landed a shot at Ring welterweight titleholder Zab Judah. Baldomir didn’t care much for reputation and scored what was later voted Ring Magazine 2006 Upset of The Year. He then stopped Arturo Gatti (TKO 9) before losing his Ring and WBC belts to Floyd Mayweather Jr. (UD 12). In his next bout up at junior middleweight he lost to WBC boss Vernon Forrest (UD 12).

KERMIT CINTRON

Cintron ran through his first 24 opponents before hitting a brick wall in the form of WBO welterweight beltholder Antonio Margarito (TKO 5). He rebounded strongly to claim the vacant IBF title against Mark Suarez (TKO 5). Two successful defenses followed before he lost his title to Margarito (KO 6) in a rematch. He then moved up to junior middleweight and held WBC Interim champion Sergio Martinez to a draw and later lost to WBC titlist Canelo Alvarez (TKO 5).

ANTONIO MARGARITO

Margarito was cut from a clash of heads in the opening round against Daniel Santos, and their WBO welterweight fight was ruled a no-contest. Margarito went toe-to-toe with Antonio Diaz before wearing him down and stopping him in 10 to claim the vacant WBO title. He reeled off seven defenses. In the midst of his reign he jumped to 154-pounds but lost a seventh-round technical decision to Santos. His championship tenure came to an end in a thriller against Paul Williams (UD 12). He went on to become IBF titleholder by beating Cintron (KO 6) and then won the WBA title against Miguel Cotto (KO 11). He lost the WBA title Shane Mosely (TKO 9) and headed to junior middleweight where he was unsuccessful against WBC titlist Manny Pacquiao (UD 12) and old rival and WBA beltholder Cotto (RTD 9).

All told, 18 of the 26 men who were welterweight champions and headed to junior middleweight succeeded, which equates to 69.2 percent success rate.