By Jake Donovan

The first ten years of the 2000’s was a decade that saw more unification matches than any other ten-year period since the inception of alphabet titles.

It was a decade in which we said goodbye to boxing on free network television, but found a replacement to the long-ago phased out black box in the form of online piracy and video uploads.

The power structure of the sport shifted from the heavyweight division – in a dismal state – to the lower weight classes, with the greatest paydays to be found in and around the welterweight division, but for the land of super bantamweights to provide the most instant classics.

Pay-per-view was used as a tool far too often, although the sport finally managed to get it right as the 00’s came to a close.

History was made at the box office as well as in the ring over the past ten years, producing the highest grossing fight of all time, record-breaking title reigns at super middleweight and flyweight, and a fighter who would singlehandedly redefine the term pound-for-pound, with records set for lineal and alphabet championships won in the most weight classes.

But history alone is not defined by world records. The most lucrative films of all time are rarely if ever the best. The same holds true in the ring. In fact, rare is the occasion when the sport’s biggest stars can be found in the fights greater remembered for what took place from bell to bell than for the pre-fight hype leading up to an event.

Case in point, Boxingscene.com’s list of the best fights of the first ten years of the 2000’s.

While the list contains plenty of instantly recognizable names, also to be found are those fighters who are forever tied to a single fight in their career.

Few can correctly spell or pronounce the name Somsak Sithchatchawal upon demand, but can tell you the great lengths they went to unearth his instant classic with Mahyar Monshipour.

Try mentioning Diego Corrales without immediately thinking of Jose Luis Castillo. Or Erik Morales without someone else shouting Marco Antonio Barrera’s name. And while Israel Vazquez and Micky Ward find their names scattered throughout the list, they will forever be joined at the hip to Rafael Marquez and Arturo Gatti, respectively.

All in all, the 2000’s marked a decade in which big budget fights were offered first and foremost, but for its best moments to be found in places we didn’t always first think to look.

The following is a collection of said moments.

THE BEST OF THE DECADE (AND PERHAPS OF ALL TIME)

1) Diego Corrales TKO10 Jose Luis Castillo (May 7, 2005 – Las Vegas, Nevada)

Some fights live up to its lofty expectations. Others are special enough to actually surpass them. Then there are those fights that completely change the way we view any other.

The game was forever changed on May 7, 2005.

For two decades, “Hagler-Hearns all over again” would be uttered the moment a good fight developed into a great one. Mention of that three-round middleweight classic came up midway through the first meeting between Corrales and Castillo. By night’s end, there would be no need for comparisons; Corrales-Castillo I became the standard to which we judge all other instant classics.

A Fight of the Year was not only predicted, but expected going into their fight, which was for the lineal lightweight championship (along with two more alphabet belts at stake). Though the fight is best remembered for its unbelievable ending, the fact is that it was already a classic through nine rounds.

So fiercely and tightly contested was the action, that no scorecard you had to that point could really be disputed. Some had Corrales slightly ahead; others had Castillo up by as much as three points. There was no wrong answer, as so many of the rounds were as close as they were brutal.

How the fight was scored or how much pain each absorbed through nine rounds would ultimately prove inconsequential the moment the bell rang to begin round ten.

It was as if a new fight had begun, as the round would eventually take on a life of its own. Corrales was dropped twice inside the first minute. He was docked a point for excessive spitting out of the mouthpiece, with the two infractions earning him even more recovery time than was afforded during the pair of mandatory eight counts. Castillo appeared to be one punch away from a sure knockout.

Then came a counter left hook midway through the round. The granite chinned Castillo was rocked, and never fully recovered. Corrales emptied both barrels, pinning his rival against the ropes as he cleaned out the kitchen. Referee Tony Weeks gave Castillo every chance to recover and fight back, was forced to step in once he saw him drop his hands and have his head snapped back.

It took a moment for viewers to allow the moment to sink in and truly appreciate what was just put on display. It was a given that the ten rounds they just took in would undoubtedly go on to become Fight of the Year. But wasn’t so clear was where either fighter would go from there.

The answer would be nowhere.

It wasn’t immediately known at the time that weight, and not the physical punishment absorbed in this fight, would prove to functionally end Castillo’s days as a prime time player. Not would anyone suspect that Corrales would never another prizefight, dropping three straight before suffering an untimely death two years to the day of this fight.

But what was known at that moment was that anyone who had the pleasure of watching that night – or even during the zillions of rebroadcasts in the 4 ½ years that followed – was that we witnessed one of the greatest fights of all time.

Where exactly it ranks in boxing history is certainly up for debate. What is definitively clear is that it was without question the best fight of the first ten years of the 2000’s.

THE SUPPORTING CAST
2) Erik Morales SD12 Marco Antonio Barrera (2/19/2000) – That it’s the best 122 lb. fight of the decade as well as the best of its own trilogy tells you all you need to know about how special this fight truly was. The bout aired on HBO’s Boxing After Dark, which at the time was celebrating its fourth anniversary. The broadcast for this show lead off with discussion of what were the best fights of the series’ first four years on air, while hinting that the evening’s main event, which took place in Las Vegas (the city of choice for their entire trilogy) could potentially land on the list. Not only did it make the cut, but it can be argued that it was the best in the history of the series. Like Corrales-Castillo I, expectations were exceedingly high, yet still somehow surpassed, as momentum swayed back and forth throughout, with Morales surviving a questionable 12th round knockdown to escape with a questionable split decision win. Unlike Corrales-Castillo I, both fighters would go on to add to their Hall of Fame careers, including an epic rubber match that you will read about shortly.

3) Somsak Sithchatchawal TKO10 Mahyar Monshipour (3/18/2006) - The fight that forever deflated the old axiom “out of sight, out of mind”, when it came to the belief that it didn’t matter if it didn’t take place on American soil or on U.S. airwaves. The cult classic gained its just due thanks to word of mouth and YouTube in surfacing days after the two 122 lb warriors threw down in Levallois-Perret, France. Monshipour, an Iranian based out of France and thus the crowd favorite going in, was dropped in the opening round, but came roaring back, resulting in what seemed like one long nine-plus round toe-to-toe exchange. Sithchatchawal’s relentlessness proved to be too much, closing the show in the 10th to win an alphabet title in a super bantamweight division that produced more classics than any other this decade. Monshipour went on to retire after the bout, only to return 2 ½ years later before coming thisclose to winning a 118 lb. title last fall. Sithchatchawal lost his very next fight, a third round knockout against Celestino Caballero.

4) Marco Antonio Barrera MD12 Erik Morales (11/27/2004) – Often is the case where the third movie of a trilogy will come back full circle to where the original began. In many ways, the same could be said of the rubber match between these two fierce Mexican rivals. Like the first fight, Morales was the best fighter of the division in which the contest was fought (this bout taking place at 130 lb.), while Barrera was on the comeback trail and badly in need of a win. The first four rounds suggested that Barrera was up for the part, fighting like a man possessed in barely giving Morales an inch to breathe. Morales was forced to spend the rest of the fight playing catch up, dancing as hard as he can to live up to the part, but eventually running out of rounds.  The bad blood was evident even afterwards – Barrera attempting to shake hands, only for Morales to reject the notion and toss water in his direction. The reading of the scorecards allowed Barrera to have the last laugh, celebrating on the shoulders of his cornermen as he violently flashed two fingers in Morales’ direction, reminding his rival of the final score – Barrera two wins, Morales one.

5) Micky Ward MD10 Arturo Gatti (May 18, 2002 – Uncasville, Connecticut) – This was the only bout of the three to not take place in Atlantic City or fought in front of a sold-out crowd. But it meant little to those who turned out to the newly renovated arena at the Mohegan Sun, or those who watched with mouth agape from their living room couch. The night started out as one last (and in fact, first) major score for Ward, who was expected to head off into the sunset while Gatti goes on to challenge for another title. The scouting report held up for about seven rounds, at which point fatigue set in for Gattii while Ward kicked it into high gear in the eighth and especially the ninth. A round that still remains one of the best three-minute periods in boxing history, it featured a knockdown and three separate momentum shifts, ending with Gatti catching a beating but not only somehow surviving the round, but coming back to violently take the 10th and final round, only to fall just short on the cards, even though most felt he did enough to win. He’d gain revenge twice over, retiring his friendly rival in the process; but while victory was sweet on those occasions, boxing fans received the most bang for their buck the first time around.

ROUNDING OUT THE TOP 10 (PLUS 1)
6) Israel Vazquez SD12 Rafael Marquez (03/01/2008) – Nary a lull throughout yet another 122 lb. classic. Vazquez’ unforgettable close, including a dramatic last-second knockdown, seals the deal to give him two out of three wins in what many regard as one of the greatest trilogies in boxing history.

7) Felix Trinidad TKO12 Fernando Vargas (12/02/2000) – The defining moment of Trinidad’s Hall of Fame career, scoring five knockdowns and overcoming one of his own as well as two point deductions to earn a 12th round knockout and take Vargas’ “0” – as well as his prime – in the process.

8) James Toney SD12 Vasily Jirov (04/2/2003) – Head trainer Freddie Roach demanded Toney put Jirov on his ass in the final round if he wanted to win. Toney did just that in this 12-round cruiserweight war, winning the fight and a world title in a third weight class, as well as going on to take Fighter of the Year honors.

9) (Tie) Juan Manuel Marquez TKO9 Juan Diaz (02/28/2009) – Experience conquers youth, as Marquez tunes out a rabid pro-Diaz crown in Houston, overcomes a shaky start to close strong and flatten the former lightweight titlist in a fight that never let up from start to finish.

9) (Tie) Micky Ward UD10 Emmanuel Augustus (07/13/2001) – One of the best fights to air on ESPN2’s Friday Night Fights series since returning in the late 1990’s. More than 2000 punches in a terrific 10-round war of fringe contenders, complete with a vintage Ward body-shot knockdown to seal the deal in a fight that was much closer than two of the typically crappy New England scorecards read.

10) Kelly Pavlik KO7 Jermain Taylor (09/27/2007 ) – Pavlik recovers from a second round knockdown, rallies from behind on the scorecards to put Taylor down and out in the seventh to win the World middleweight title, while filling the void left behind by Arturo Gatti as Atlantic City’s latest boxing attraction.

Also Considered: Micky Ward KO8 Shea Neary (03/11/2000); Julio Gonzalez-Julian Letterlough (02/02/2001); Oscar Larios TKO12 Israel Vazquez (05/17/2002); Oscar de la Hoya TKO11 Fernando Vargas (09/14/2002); Arturo Gatti UD10 Micky Ward (06/07/2003); Acelino Freitas TKO12 Jorge Barrios (08/09/2003); Michael Brodie D12 In Jin Chi (10/18/2003); Manny Pacquiao D12 Juan Manuel Marquez (05/08/2004); Ebo Edler TKO12 Courtney Burton (12/17/2004); Erik Morales UD12 Manny Pacquiao (03/19/2005); Miguel Cotto TKO7 Ricardo Torres (09/24/2005); Eagle Kwoya SD12 Rodel Mayol (05/06/2006); Israel Vazquez TKO10 Jhonny Gonzalez (09/16/2006); Jamie Moore KO10 Matthew Macklin (09/23/2006); Rafael Marquez-Israel Vazquez I (03/03/2007); Israel Vasquez-Rafael Marquez II (08/04/2007); Antonio Margarito TKO11 Miguel Cotto (07/26/2008); Bernard Dunne-Ricardo Cordoba (03/21/2009).

Jake Donovan is the Managing Editor of Boxingscene.com and an award-winning member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. Contact Jake at JakeNDaBox@gmail.com .