Fighter of The Millenium '00-'15
Posted: 08 Dec 2014, 19:33
As we approach 2015, who has been your Fighter of the Millenium so far? My short list for consideration (not in order):
1. Wladimir Klitchko - Wladimir was just reaching world level around 2000. Dominant wins against Barret & Byrd put him in the frame for a world title, becoming champion easily knocking out Derrick Jefferson in round 2. It started to go wrong for Wladimir when he met Corrie Sanders, who smacked him around inside 2 rounds, soon followed by a KO loss to Brewster. Wladimir went back to the drawing board with Manny Steward after that loss and reinvented hismelf, becoming one of the most dominant HW champions in history, although, against weaker comeptition. Wladimir is since unbeaten since 2004, with notable wins against David Haye to unify, Unbeaten Samual Peter x2, unbeaten Povetkin & Tony Thompson.
2. Lennox Lewis (post Evander Holyfield) - Both wins against Holyfield (although 1 was a "draw") both came in 1999. WE only got to see Lennox fight 6 times since the millenium, 1 of which was a KO loss to Rahman, although it was brutally avenged. Lewis showed he was simply a different class of Heavyweight though, blasting out the unbeaten Grant in 2 rounds, 40-2 Botha inside 2, 118-110 the 37&1 Tua, and finished his career with KO wins over ATG's Mike Tyson & Vital Klitchko.
3. Bernard Hopkins - The everlasting Hopkins, it's hard to pin point exactly when this guys prime really was, for me it's around 2001, a masterful performance against the 41&0 Trinidad. Hopkins started the millenium with 10 wins in a row in world title fights - including the KO win over Oscar DeLaHoya, before finally losing to Jermaine Taylor via SD, and making it 2 L's in a row when he lost the rematch. BHop bounced back by schooling Tarver & winky Wright, a loss to Calzaghe seemed it may have marked the end but Hopkins bounced back by schooling the feared and 34&0 Kelly Pavlik. Hopkins broke records and beat father time, winning the world light heavyweight title from Pascal, although finally looks close to retirement with recent loses to Dawson & Kovalev.
4. Joe Calzaghe - The unbeaten man (46&0), Calzaghe is 20&0 from 2000 and is the longest reigning super middleweight champion in history of the sport. Criticism of Calzaghe is that Joe's best in came late in his career against Bernard Hopkins, and only beat RJJ once he was shot. Other notable wins for Calzaghe would be the destruction of Jeff Lacey, and an outstanding win against a prime, unbeaten 39&0 Mikkel Kessler.
5. Floyd Mayweather Junior - another unbeaten man, around 2000 was arguably Floyd's prime, with his destruction of Diego Corrales coming in 2001. It wasn't long after that however than Floyd twice met his bogey man JL Castillo, with many believing Floyd lost the first, if not both, of those fights. There's been few fighters to have stood in Floyd's way since however, notable wins came over Corley, the destruction of Gatti, Mitchell and Judah put Floyd as the no.1 p4p fighter in the world as he moved through 140lb & 147lb. He was moved out his comfort zone to face the bigger, but aged, Oscar DeLaHoya, showing himself to simply be the better, slicker fighter than DeLaHoya, and picking up a title in 154lb division. Notable wins since then having been taking Ricky Hatton's undefeated record with a systematic knock out, and points wins over Mosley, Cotto & the young unbeaten Saul Alvarez.
6. Manny Pacquiao - Pacquiao burst on to the scene in 2001 as an unheard of 14-1 underdog against the feared 33&1 Ledwaba. Pacquiao announced hismelf to America by blitzing Ledwaba inside 6. After Ledwaba, Pacquiao began knocking opponents out for fun as he moved through the weight classes. His next big win coming against the legendary Barrera, who had never been stopped, his corner waving the fight off in the 11th after a 1-sided beating. Pacquiao lost a close decision to Morales in 2005, a loss he avenged with 2 sensational KO victories over Morales in 2006. In 2008 Pacquiao added a win over another ATG with a closely disputed fight over Marquez in a rematch of a fight that ended in a draw. After Marquez, Pacquiao reached super-stardom, blitzing David Diaz, Oscar DeLaHoya, Ricky Hatton, Miguel Cotto, Margarito & Shane Mosley. Another close yet controversial victory over Marquez seen a rematch in which Pacquiao was put to sleep however in a brutal 1 shot punch KO at the fist of his bogey-man Marquez. Pacquiao bounced back with a win over P4P ranked Timothy Bradley.
7. Juan Manuel Marquez - in contention with Chavez as one of the greatest Mexican fighters ever. The greatest win of Marquez career ofcourse, the sensational 1 punch KO over Manny Pacquiao. If Marquez isn't the fighter of the millenium so far, he certainly has the KO of the millenium. Marquez amazing power/counter punching style has seen him in some amazing fights, notable wins came against Katsidis, Diaz, Barrera & Casamayor.
8. Marco Antonio Barrera - Barrera was a beats of a fighter, knocking opponents out with ease for much of his career, from 2000, Barrera's first major fight came against Eric morales, losing by split decision. MAB responded with 8 straight victories, one of which was against the HOF fighter Naseem Hamed, taking his 35&0 record, and revenge over Morales, taking his 41&0 record with a decision victory, followed by UD of the 52 win Tapia. After losing to Pacquiao, Barrera won the bounce match against Morales, putting him 2-1 up. MAB retired in 2011 with 67 wins.
9. Eric Morales - Another ATG Mexican Warrior, 41&0 including a win over Barrera before his streak came to an end to Barrera giving him a rematch. Morales bet victory however came against another ATG in Manny Pacquiao winning a 115-113UD in 2005. It was followed however by 4 straight defeats. Morales showed what a great warrior he truly is fighting (and beating in most people's cards) with 1 eye gainst bg punching Maidana. Morales career came to a sad end in a brave performance against Danny Garcia where he was nearly knocked out the ring.
10. Andre Ward - A bit of a late one to the party, Ward still an Amatuer in 2004- winning gold at the Olympics. Over the last 5 years Ward has established himself as one of the best technicians in the game adding some outstanding wins to boot. wins include Mikkel Kessler, Green, Bika, Abraham & Froch, cleaning out what wast he most competitive division in boxing.
1. Wladimir Klitchko - Wladimir was just reaching world level around 2000. Dominant wins against Barret & Byrd put him in the frame for a world title, becoming champion easily knocking out Derrick Jefferson in round 2. It started to go wrong for Wladimir when he met Corrie Sanders, who smacked him around inside 2 rounds, soon followed by a KO loss to Brewster. Wladimir went back to the drawing board with Manny Steward after that loss and reinvented hismelf, becoming one of the most dominant HW champions in history, although, against weaker comeptition. Wladimir is since unbeaten since 2004, with notable wins against David Haye to unify, Unbeaten Samual Peter x2, unbeaten Povetkin & Tony Thompson.
2. Lennox Lewis (post Evander Holyfield) - Both wins against Holyfield (although 1 was a "draw") both came in 1999. WE only got to see Lennox fight 6 times since the millenium, 1 of which was a KO loss to Rahman, although it was brutally avenged. Lewis showed he was simply a different class of Heavyweight though, blasting out the unbeaten Grant in 2 rounds, 40-2 Botha inside 2, 118-110 the 37&1 Tua, and finished his career with KO wins over ATG's Mike Tyson & Vital Klitchko.
3. Bernard Hopkins - The everlasting Hopkins, it's hard to pin point exactly when this guys prime really was, for me it's around 2001, a masterful performance against the 41&0 Trinidad. Hopkins started the millenium with 10 wins in a row in world title fights - including the KO win over Oscar DeLaHoya, before finally losing to Jermaine Taylor via SD, and making it 2 L's in a row when he lost the rematch. BHop bounced back by schooling Tarver & winky Wright, a loss to Calzaghe seemed it may have marked the end but Hopkins bounced back by schooling the feared and 34&0 Kelly Pavlik. Hopkins broke records and beat father time, winning the world light heavyweight title from Pascal, although finally looks close to retirement with recent loses to Dawson & Kovalev.
4. Joe Calzaghe - The unbeaten man (46&0), Calzaghe is 20&0 from 2000 and is the longest reigning super middleweight champion in history of the sport. Criticism of Calzaghe is that Joe's best in came late in his career against Bernard Hopkins, and only beat RJJ once he was shot. Other notable wins for Calzaghe would be the destruction of Jeff Lacey, and an outstanding win against a prime, unbeaten 39&0 Mikkel Kessler.
5. Floyd Mayweather Junior - another unbeaten man, around 2000 was arguably Floyd's prime, with his destruction of Diego Corrales coming in 2001. It wasn't long after that however than Floyd twice met his bogey man JL Castillo, with many believing Floyd lost the first, if not both, of those fights. There's been few fighters to have stood in Floyd's way since however, notable wins came over Corley, the destruction of Gatti, Mitchell and Judah put Floyd as the no.1 p4p fighter in the world as he moved through 140lb & 147lb. He was moved out his comfort zone to face the bigger, but aged, Oscar DeLaHoya, showing himself to simply be the better, slicker fighter than DeLaHoya, and picking up a title in 154lb division. Notable wins since then having been taking Ricky Hatton's undefeated record with a systematic knock out, and points wins over Mosley, Cotto & the young unbeaten Saul Alvarez.
6. Manny Pacquiao - Pacquiao burst on to the scene in 2001 as an unheard of 14-1 underdog against the feared 33&1 Ledwaba. Pacquiao announced hismelf to America by blitzing Ledwaba inside 6. After Ledwaba, Pacquiao began knocking opponents out for fun as he moved through the weight classes. His next big win coming against the legendary Barrera, who had never been stopped, his corner waving the fight off in the 11th after a 1-sided beating. Pacquiao lost a close decision to Morales in 2005, a loss he avenged with 2 sensational KO victories over Morales in 2006. In 2008 Pacquiao added a win over another ATG with a closely disputed fight over Marquez in a rematch of a fight that ended in a draw. After Marquez, Pacquiao reached super-stardom, blitzing David Diaz, Oscar DeLaHoya, Ricky Hatton, Miguel Cotto, Margarito & Shane Mosley. Another close yet controversial victory over Marquez seen a rematch in which Pacquiao was put to sleep however in a brutal 1 shot punch KO at the fist of his bogey-man Marquez. Pacquiao bounced back with a win over P4P ranked Timothy Bradley.
7. Juan Manuel Marquez - in contention with Chavez as one of the greatest Mexican fighters ever. The greatest win of Marquez career ofcourse, the sensational 1 punch KO over Manny Pacquiao. If Marquez isn't the fighter of the millenium so far, he certainly has the KO of the millenium. Marquez amazing power/counter punching style has seen him in some amazing fights, notable wins came against Katsidis, Diaz, Barrera & Casamayor.
8. Marco Antonio Barrera - Barrera was a beats of a fighter, knocking opponents out with ease for much of his career, from 2000, Barrera's first major fight came against Eric morales, losing by split decision. MAB responded with 8 straight victories, one of which was against the HOF fighter Naseem Hamed, taking his 35&0 record, and revenge over Morales, taking his 41&0 record with a decision victory, followed by UD of the 52 win Tapia. After losing to Pacquiao, Barrera won the bounce match against Morales, putting him 2-1 up. MAB retired in 2011 with 67 wins.
9. Eric Morales - Another ATG Mexican Warrior, 41&0 including a win over Barrera before his streak came to an end to Barrera giving him a rematch. Morales bet victory however came against another ATG in Manny Pacquiao winning a 115-113UD in 2005. It was followed however by 4 straight defeats. Morales showed what a great warrior he truly is fighting (and beating in most people's cards) with 1 eye gainst bg punching Maidana. Morales career came to a sad end in a brave performance against Danny Garcia where he was nearly knocked out the ring.
10. Andre Ward - A bit of a late one to the party, Ward still an Amatuer in 2004- winning gold at the Olympics. Over the last 5 years Ward has established himself as one of the best technicians in the game adding some outstanding wins to boot. wins include Mikkel Kessler, Green, Bika, Abraham & Froch, cleaning out what wast he most competitive division in boxing.
