Boxing 2000 / 2010

[Gazmac81]

Since we are nearly into 2011 was thinking about what boxer has giving best pleasure to watch over past 10 years.

Wither it be Hatton , Dela hoya , Pacquio , Calzaghe , Froch , Naz ,Haye , Audley and various others

Some Great nights have been had involving alot of them.

Delahoy was in some huge fights over the years on the recieveing end of a few close decisons too with Mosley and Mayweather.

[stujones]

Didn't really get much of Hamed this decade - a shame... I think you need to mention the Mexican fighters at the lower weights, particularly Barrera, Morales and the Marquez brothers.

I think overall its been a great decade - some fantastic rivalaries - Vasquez vs Marquez, Barrera vs Morales, Gatti vs Ward, JMM vs Pacquaio are the four that stick out. But then there was some other ones like DLH vs Mosley, Vargas vs Mosley, Lewis vs Rahman (unecessary but it got us talking), Forrest vs Mosley, Mormeck vs Bell, Pac vs Morales, Woods vs Johnson, Tarver vs Jones, Calzaghe vs Veit ( )

Whilst from an "all British" perspective we did again miss out on Hatton vs Witter, we got Enzo vs Haye which was much hyped and nice to see a true unification involve two Brits.

Could have so many "awards" and there would be so many different angles.

I can start - "performance" of the decade.... single fight performance. We could probably think of close to a hundred different responses to this all with good cases - here are some worth noting though.

HOPKINS vs Trinidad.
MOSLEY vs Oscar (possibly the one I will pick).
CALZAGHE vs Lacy
MAYWEATHER vs Gatti
MAYWEATHER vs Mosley
PACQUIAO vs Oscar
PACQUIAO vs Barrera 1
PACQUAIO vs Hatton
PACQUIAO vs Cotto
PACQUIAO vs Margarito
BARRERA vs Naz
MORALES vs Pacquiao 1
HOPKINS vs Pavlik
MOSLEY vs Margarito

And thats without mentioning the performances of arguably the P4P #1 of the decade - Roy Jones Jnr. I don't think Roy gets my vote, and the fact that he doesn't showcases how fantastic some of the fighters in the latter half of the decade have been.

[dazzer]

for me has to be hatton had some great nights, weekend and weeks away following the hitman. Never forget the night at men arena against tzsyu and the crunching punch what finished castello and the build up in vegas for the mayweather fight.

[Chris W 1982]

Stu, cheers for mentioning Bernard Hopkins in your praise mate. You beat me to it. His performance against Antonio Tarver was also something special.

Manny Pacquiao's rise has been nothing short of breathtaking. When you consider that I went against him in all three Morales fights, the first Barerra battle, both JMM classics, the DLH superfight and the Hatton destruction then I think it's fair to say that he exceeded every single expectation I had of him.

An honourable mention must also go to Chico Corrales (RIP) and Jose Luis Castillo for putting on such an epic brawl that still provides the coldest of shivers when viewed five years on.

[Deserter]

And thats without mentioning the performances of arguably the P4P #1 of the decade - Roy Jones Jnr.

Name me one outstanding Jones performance in the past decade apart from the Ruiz victory Stu? He spent the first two years of the decade cruising against easy opponents like Kelly and from 2003 onwards did his utmost best to ruin his legacy.
I genuinely can't think of a single knowledgable fan who'd place him up there with the likes of Hopkins, Mayweather Jnr and Pacquio.

[stujones]

I think the fact that for four and a half years he was the most clearly undisputed P4P #1 fighter in the history of people doing P4P brackets means he surely has to be "up there" when you consider doing a P4P of the decade. Two of those easy opponent went on to win world titles.

Yeah - did nothing from 2004 onwards.... but lets not forget, after Ruiz and even after the first Tarver fight some very esteem commentators were labelling him in the top #3 or #4 of all time.

I guess (hope you mean) by that last sentence for fighter of the decade and not in times of all time bracket - cause I think Jones will always be at least in the same bracket as Hopkins if you look at their full career.

I do agree with your notion, although I would think many pundits would have him up there based on his longevity as the clear #1 at the first part of the decade.

[stujones]

Stu, cheers for mentioning Bernard Hopkins in your praise mate. You beat me to it. His performance against Antonio Tarver was also something special.

Manny Pacquiao's rise has been nothing short of breathtaking. When you consider that I went against him in all three Morales fights, the first Barerra battle, both JMM classics, the DLH superfight and the Hatton destruction then I think it's fair to say that he exceeded every single expectation I had of him.

An honourable mention must also go to Chico Corrales (RIP) and Jose Luis Castillo for putting on such an epic brawl that still provides the coldest of shivers when viewed five years on.

Yes - Corrales' rivalaries with Castillo and Casamayor are up there with any of my list.

His performance against Tarver was also pretty incredible, but I ommitted that one because I thought Tarver himself was a faded force.

Two performances worth a mention were Winky Wrights clinics on Trinidad and Mosley (1).

[Deserter]

I think the fact that for four and a half years he was the most clearly undisputed P4P #1 fighter in the history of people doing P4P brackets means he surely has to be "up there" when you consider doing a P4P of the decade. Two of those easy opponent went on to win world titles.
Yeah - did nothing from 2004 onwards.... but lets not forget, after Ruiz and even after the first Tarver fight some very esteem commentators were labelling him in the top #3 or #4 of all time.
I guess (hope you mean) by that last sentence for fighter of the decade and not in times of all time bracket - cause I think Jones will always be at least in the same bracket as Hopkins if you look at their full career.
I do agree with your notion, although I would think many pundits would have him up there based on his longevity as the clear #1 at the first part of the decade.

I do mean the decade but I have to completely disagree with everything else you've said Stu. In the decade we're talking about Jones had a single significant win, over Ruiz. He then spent more than seven years getting beaten and KO'ed on a far too regular basis. How on earth does that constitute a claim for contention when viewed against the aforementioned fighters' records during the same period?!
As for those 'esteemed commentators', you're missing two key things. Firstly, they were talking in career terms, rather than the specific time period we're 'judging' on. Secondly, they were judging him without the benefit of historical perspective i.e. they were talking in 2003, not 2010.
I'll say it again - I would be amazed if anyone could make a convincing case for Jones being the fighter of the decade, when it's been the one period that's been characterized by his dramatic decline and the tarnishing rather than enhancing of his legacy.

[Gazmac81]

good Little period that stands out was when Mosley beat Delahoya , forrest (RIP) beat Mosley , Margarito then beat Forrest , all covered delayed at least by BBC i seem to remeber

Stu, cheers for mentioning Bernard Hopkins in your praise mate. You beat me to it. His performance against Antonio Tarver was also something special.

Manny Pacquiao's rise has been nothing short of breathtaking. When you consider that I went against him in all three Morales fights, the first Barerra battle, both JMM classics, the DLH superfight and the Hatton destruction then I think it's fair to say that he exceeded every single expectation I had of him.

An honourable mention must also go to Chico Corrales (RIP) and Jose Luis Castillo for putting on such an epic brawl that still provides the coldest of shivers when viewed five years on.

Yes - Corrales' rivalaries with Castillo and Casamayor are up there with any of my list.

His performance against Tarver was also pretty incredible, but I ommitted that one because I thought Tarver himself was a faded force.

Two performances worth a mention were Winky Wrights clinics on Trinidad and Mosley (1).

[Crease]

For me, the last decade will remember Ricky Hatton and Joe Calzaghe as two all-time greats.

[Matt W]

Some fantastic rivalries, the emergence of all-timers in Mayweather and Pacquiao, some wonderful British performances especially from Calzaghe and Hatton, Lewis going out on top, and the one of the greatest runs of fights by any British fighter, the warrior that is Carl Froch

All of this and Barrera-Morales 1 - breathtaking