The most significant boxing match since 2000 ?

[ValMar]

Wlad vs Joshua or Vitali vs Lewis ?

[Ossyrules]

Lewis vs vitali

[Thomastearns]

Yes, the contentious Klitschko v Lewis fight was hugely significant for what followed in the heavyweights.

But nothing cast a cloud over boxing like Pacquiao v Mayweather.

Killed the sport in America.

[SaadOffTheDeck]

Joshua/wlad by miles, vitali was a late replacement. Just a regular title fight heading in.

[Ossyrules]

Joshua/wlad by miles, vitali was a late replacement. Just a regular title fight heading in.

Lewis vs Vitali became significant in retrospect, but wasn't considered it leading up too agreed.

It still gets my vote over the Joshua vs Wlad fight, being as Wlad has already be dethrone and the torch passed so to speak

[Ossyrules]

Yes, the contentious Klitschko v Lewis fight was hugely significant for what followed in the heavyweights.

But nothing cast a cloud over boxing like Pacquiao v Mayweather.

Killed the sport in America.

Mayweathers way about matching himself vs opponents and his reluctance to entertain are truly disappointing. Not saying he's terrific at what he does, but generally I think the majority love an attacker

[pablothunder]

In every sense, the listing of that particular fight is-
Lewis vs Klitschko. From the outset to the outcome.
Holder first, winner first.

[hagler81]

Yes, the contentious Klitschko v Lewis fight was hugely significant for what followed in the heavyweights.

But nothing cast a cloud over boxing like Pacquiao v Mayweather.

Killed the sport in America.

Boxing seems to be alive especially in the heavies and welters. Why did it kill the sport in America?

Yes it was another great performance from Floyd and I am a fan of Manny's style more. I hope it hasn't killed the sport anywhere and I am sure there will be more greats to come.

[Lackeos]

Wlad vs Joshua or Vitali vs Lewis ?

OMG. Current Scene newbies have literally 0 historical perspective. How did you manage to avoid listing Porter - Berto? It did occur last weekend, after all, and your memory of boxing obviously doesn't extent further back than about one week.

[Lackeos]

Most significant boxing matches since 2000:
1) Mayweather - Pacquiao
2) Hopkins - De La Hoya
3) Pacquiao - Marquez 4
4) Calzaghe - Hopkins
5) De La Hoya - Mosley 1
6) Hopkins - Trinidad
7) Hopkins - Wright
8) Ward - Kovalev
9) Pacquiao - Marquez 3
10) Pacquiao - Marquez 2

edit: Completely blanked on the date of RJJ - Toney. Did not really think about what year it was, and probably couldn't have accurately guessed it anyway. It is now removed.

[Sequitorian]

Yes, the contentious Klitschko v Lewis fight was hugely significant for what followed in the heavyweights.

But nothing cast a cloud over boxing like Pacquiao v Mayweather.

Killed the sport in America.

Reports of its death have been greatly exaggerated - Mr. T...

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[ValMar]

Most significant boxing matches since 2000:
1) Mayweather - Pacquiao
2) Hopkins - De La Hoya
3) Pacquiao - Marquez 4
4) Calzaghe - Hopkins
5) De La Hoya - Mosley 1
6) RJJ - Toney
7) Hopkins - Trinidad
8) Hopkins - Wright
9) Ward - Kovalev
10) Pacquiao - Marquez 3
11) Pacquiao - Marquez 2

The most significant boxing match was/is and always will be the match at HW, and there is no exception.

[Joe Boxer]

Most significant boxing matches since 2000:
1) Mayweather - Pacquiao
2) Hopkins - De La Hoya
3) Pacquiao - Marquez 4
4) Calzaghe - Hopkins
5) De La Hoya - Mosley 1
6) RJJ - Toney
7) Hopkins - Trinidad
8) Hopkins - Wright
9) Ward - Kovalev
10) Pacquiao - Marquez 3
11) Pacquiao - Marquez 2

RJJ vs Toney was like 1995 I think

[Ruthless-RKO]

Most significant boxing matches since 2000:
1) Mayweather - Pacquiao
2) Hopkins - De La Hoya
3) Pacquiao - Marquez 4
4) Calzaghe - Hopkins
5) De La Hoya - Mosley 1
6) RJJ - Toney
7) Hopkins - Trinidad
8) Hopkins - Wright
9) Ward - Kovalev
10) Pacquiao - Marquez 3
11) Pacquiao - Marquez 2

RJJ vs Toney was like 1995 I think

Yup! Maybe he meant RJJ vs. Ruiz?

[Boxing Prospect]

De la Hoya vs Mayweather should be on that list, surely?

[BitPlayer]

Mayweather Vs Pac-Man.

[BitPlayer]

The most significant boxing match was/is and always will be the match at HW, and there is no exception.

Find a HW fight more significant than them then.

[Loki]

Joshua/wlad by miles, vitali was a late replacement. Just a regular title fight heading in.

Lewis vs Vitali became significant in retrospect, but wasn't considered it leading up too agreed.

It still gets my vote over the Joshua vs Wlad fight, being as Wlad has already be dethrone and the torch passed so to speak

I just hope Klitschko/Joshua is half as good as Lewis/Vitali.

[Thomastearns]

Yes, the contentious Klitschko v Lewis fight was hugely significant for what followed in the heavyweights.

But nothing cast a cloud over boxing like Pacquiao v Mayweather.

Killed the sport in America.

Boxing seems to be alive especially in the heavies and welters. Why did it kill the sport in America?

Yes it was another great performance from Floyd and I am a fan of Manny's style more. I hope it hasn't killed the sport anywhere and I am sure there will be more greats to come.

I'm sure there will be, it just takes another Dempsey, Marciano, Ali, Tyson etc to come along. However right now its disappointing that even mega fights like Kovalev v Ward don't capture the US public imagination anymore.

Canelo v Chavez will be huge and boxing is riding a wave here in the UK. AJ v Klitschko and Brook v Spence. Wow!

[actjac]

The most significant was Oscar vs Mayweather and NOT the Floyd fight with Pacquiao long after their primes.

I anticipate the round robin matches with Joshua, Wilder, Fury and Parker as the most significant.

[IKSRTFO]

Most significant boxing matches since 2000:
1) Mayweather - Pacquiao
2) Hopkins - De La Hoya
3) Pacquiao - Marquez 4
4) Calzaghe - Hopkins
5) De La Hoya - Mosley 1
6) RJJ - Toney
7) Hopkins - Trinidad
8) Hopkins - Wright
9) Ward - Kovalev
10) Pacquiao - Marquez 3
11) Pacquiao - Marquez 2

RJJ Toney happend after 2000?

[Syntax Error]

Fury v Klitschko - Not a great fight & poor performance by Wladimir, but it opened up a moribund HW division & seemingly vanquished a long reigning, but perceived to be dull champion.

It seemed like a fresh new dawn in the division, but then Fury couldn't handle the fame & fortune.

Mayweather v Pacquiao - Another poor fight & a poor performanc by Pacquiao; plus it happened 5 - 6 years after it should have happened, but its significance is there.

It's the richest fight ever & we all know it was massively over-hyped, but it's one of the few modern fights that transcended sport.

Very few modern bouts have had that impact.

[Perseus]

Fury v Klitschko - Not a great fight & poor performance by Wladimir, but it opened up a moribund HW division & seemingly vanquished a long reigning, but perceived to be dull champion.

It seemed like a fresh new dawn in the division, but then Fury couldn't handle the fame & fortune.

Mayweather v Pacquiao - Another poor fight & a poor performanc by Pacquiao; plus it happened 5 - 6 years after it should have happened, but its significance is there.

It's the richest fight ever & we all know it was massively over-hyped, but it's one of the few modern fights that transcended sport.

Very few modern bouts have had that impact.

Transcended sport.
When you say significant boxing match that's what it means to me.
Which fights transcended the sport?
Which fights crossed over into the mainstream?
Those are the significant fights.
Since 2000 there haven't been many.

Significant fights in America since 2000:
Tyson/ Lewis
RJJjr/Ruiz
De La Hoya/Hopkins
De La Hoya/Mayweather
Mayweather/Hatton
Cotto/Paquiao
Mayweather/Cotto
Mayweather/Canelo
Paquiao/Marquez 3 and 4
Pacquiao/Mayweather

[SaadOffTheDeck]

Most significant boxing matches since 2000:
1) Mayweather - Pacquiao
2) Hopkins - De La Hoya
3) Pacquiao - Marquez 4
4) Calzaghe - Hopkins
5) De La Hoya - Mosley 1
6) RJJ - Toney
7) Hopkins - Trinidad
8) Hopkins - Wright
9) Ward - Kovalev
10) Pacquiao - Marquez 3
11) Pacquiao - Marquez 2

The most significant boxing match was/is and always will be the match at HW, and there is no exception.

Incorrect.

[Lackeos]

De la Hoya vs Mayweather should be on that list, surely?

I mean... if someone had it in their list, I would understand their logic. 2.7 million ppv buys is a big deal. In terms of financial significance / public attention, it has a super strong case. But in terms of its significance to the sport, my opinion is that it wasn't top 10. I felt that DLH was clearly past prime and no longer an elite fighter. They had all of these commercials where people argued over whether the winner would be Mayweather or DLH, and I reacted like "You idiots. It's 200% going to be Mayweather." From a boxing perspective, we've seen other similar fights that featured a past-prime legend, but were mismatches and not so historic, i.e. Calzaghe - RJJ, Kovalev - Hopkins, Lewis - Tyson, etc.. So I personally didn't perceive it as a fight that would carry much relevance as a legacy fight, and I don't usually bother to mention DLH's name among Mayweather's top key wins.

On a related note, by similar logic, if Mayweather - DLH was on that list, somewhere around #2, because financial reasons, then Pacquiao - DLH and Mayweather - Alvarez would also be on that list, somewhere around #3 and #4. But I really didn't make financials a primary consideration, and from a pure boxing perspective, I don't think they're that important either.