Fighters who would have prospered in the "In-Between" weight divisions

[mikeeod]

Vince Phillips prospered due to 140 being a weight class. He was blown out by Ike Quartey in 3 rounds at 147, dropped down to 140 and ended up stopping the great Kostya Tszyu. He was a very big 140 pounder and needed that size and punch advantage to be dominant/effective with his style.

[Bill Paxtom]

Henry Armstrong

Would have owned the 140 lb. Division.

Gene Tunney

At 188 lbs., would have been a Junior Heavyweight Champion for
a very long time.

[Spicoli]

Vince Phillips prospered due to 140 being a weight class. He was blown out by Ike Quartey in 3 rounds at 147, dropped down to 140 and ended up stopping the great Kostya Tszyu. He was a very big 140 pounder and needed that size and punch advantage to be dominant/effective with his style.

Vince was as hard luck as they come and some of it he had himself to blame for. But man what a great battler with a granite head and quality skills when his head was clear and the flesh held up. The Quartey fight was just an absolute buzzsaw but all credit to Ike for being Ike. Looking lackluster and taking a return vs a southpaw Ellis was just dumb. Cool Vince came back from the edge of life more than a few times, beat his demons. Had that jackhammer right hand at its best with Tszyu!

[mikeeod]

Two more 140 pounders:
Ricky Hatton: Horrible showings at 147 and too big to make 135.
Kostya Tszyu: never even tried to venture from 140.

A few other thoughts/examples:
Bobby Cyz
Iran Barkley
Vinny Paz
Darren Van Horn
Joey Gamache

Would ANY of the above group been multiple weight "champs" without the in between weights? Now that I think about it, Ray Leonard even benefitted some by beat Don Lalonde for the 168 n 175 pound titles (won both same fight)!!!

[Vendettos]

Imagine what Marciano would do to the current light heavies?

I think his lightest was 178 so he would have been able to scale down

[Bill Paxtom]

Wilfred Benetiez

Flourished at Light-Welterweight and Light-Middleweight.

Though, there are real questions as to >

Did he ever really make 140 lbs. in Puerto Rico. The 'insiders' say No Way.

Wilfred could get no lower than 144 lbs., even at {Age; 17 1/2}.