Most or all the decade rankings and lists like this have been written and recorded. Even the most authoritative boxing source (Ring Magazine, "The Bible of Boxing") and the official group of boxing writers in the United States (BWAA) have conferred its "Fighter of the Decade" honors. Three months have passed to kickstart the year and boxing fans are not really far removed from the decade that was.
If anything, those finished and furnished lists give one an idea and a mold from which he or she can derive from to excogitate his or her own list.
By now, and by looking at most of those lists, one may already have an idea of who won the mythical recognition at hand, and how and why. But, well, just see for yourselves. Other great and deserving fighters are to be credited too and this output is a tribute to all of them.
The fighters' record for the decade, precisely January 1, 2000 to December 31, 2009, is inserted below the fighter's entry, as a reminder that ONLY the accomplishments between those dates are counted, and merely being able to compete in the 2000s does not qualify a fighter, as great as he has done in his career. For the sake of avoiding point-missing, off-the-mark arguments, what the boxer has done before or after that date is expunged and doesn't matter to this list. For clarification's sake, such also is the case for the bulleted "best wins" and "losses", as well as other nuances.
As the first big fight of 2010, and the 2010s, signal the arrival of the new decade for the boxing calendar, here's a look at ten years, and ten great fighters to cherish.
Honorable Mentions: Winky Wright (a forgotten man in these kinds of conversations), Erik Morales (many will forever intertwine him with Barrera’s career but just barely got edged in this list), Oscar De la Hoya (lost a handful to the best of the decade, but he still fought them while remaining accomplished and the sport’s biggest star)
10. Vitali Klitschko and Wladimir Klitschko
Record: 12-2, 10 KOs and 22-2, 19 KOs
Weight Classes: Heavyweight
Best Wins: Samuel Peter (TKO8), Corrie Sanders (TKO8), and Chris Arreola (TKO10); Chris Byrd (UD12 and TKO7), Sultan Ibragimov (UD127), and Ruslan Chagaev (TKO9)
Losses: Chris Bryd (RTD9) and Lennox Lewis (TKO6); Sanders (TKO5) and Lamon Brewster (TKO5)
They are called the “two-headed champion” of the heavyweight division and they have ruled the weight class throughout most of the past decade. That a loss to Lennox Lewis is the most significant one on their collective records, that doesn’t speak of the ability and accomplishments of the brothers. It speaks of the lack of talent in what used to be boxing’s crown division. The Klitschkos have always fought and dispose of the best available challenges in front of them and not mentioning these heavyweights among the greatest fighters of the past decade would be rude. Discussing whose better among the two of them is another thing for another day, though, so they occupy this spot as a special entry.
9. Marco Antonio Barrera
Record: 16-5, 7 KOs
Weight Classes: Super Bantamweight to Lightweight
Best Wins: Morales (UD12 and MD12), Naseem Hamed (UD12), Johnny Tapia (UD12), Rocky Juarez (SD12 and UD12)
Losses: Pacquiao (by TKO11 and UD12), Morales (UD12), Amir Khan (by TD5)
Many were quick to jump the gun to conclude Barrera’s career after his shocking annihilation at the hands of Manny Pacquiao in 2003. But “the Baby-faced Assassin”, while not so young anymore, came back and extended his career to establish a formidable resumé for the rest of the decade, until his eventual loss to a young Amir Khan in an alien weight class. Add to that his record before 2003 and his career-defining ring wars with Morales, and you have one of the best technical practitioners of the sport bringing his accomplishments to the previous decade, from the decade before that.
8. Shane Mosley
Record: 13-5, 8 KOs
Weight Classes: Welterweight and Jr. Middleweight
Best Wins: Oscar De la Hoya (SD12 and UD12), Fernando Vargas (TKO10 and TKO6), Antonio Margarito (TKO9), Mayorga (TKO12)
Losses: Cotto (by UD12), Wright (by UD12 and MD12), Forrest (UD12 and UD12)
Mosley was in many significant fight series with significant fighters since 2000, and he won and lost half of them. Many were memorable battles and may have diminished an aging Mosley. But he came back when he clubbed and hammered Margarito to remind everybody why he was a fixture of the pound-for-pound lists throughout the decade. He was also at or near the top of the welterweight division and that should tell you that Mosley has left his imprint on boxing during the portion of his career in the 2000s.
7. Ricky Hatton
Record: 29-2, 19 KOs
Weight Classes: Jr. Welterweight and Welterweight
Best Wins: Kostya Tszyu (TKO11), Luis Collazo (UD12), Juan Urango (UD12), Jose Luis Castillo (TKO4), Paulie Malignaggi (TKO11)
Losses: Mayweather (by TKO10), Pacquiao (TKO2)
The two losses in Hatton’s record is something that any boxer should not be ashamed of, as it was both to the best pound-for-pound boxers at a time. His first ever loss, against Mayweather, was partly due to his venture into the welterweight division, and it turned up for him literally a mixed result. He won a title in that weight class but
he belonged to the Jr. Welterweight division. He owned that division for a good while in the 2000s and was never defeated until Pacquiao took his title in 2009, which he took from a true legend in Tszyu.
Continue reading: "Greatest Boxers of the 2000s: The Decade's Best Fighters"
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