By Michael Rosenthal

To be selected as Fighter of the Year is a rare, legacy-defining honor and is often among the proudest moments in the career of any boxer. To be selected Fighter of the DECADE? That’s reserved for only the greatest in the sport.

As we approach the end of the 2010s, it’s natural to begin speculating about who might be named the best of this 10-year period.

Thomas Hauser, writing for Sporting News, believes it comes down to five fighters (in alphabetical order):  Canelo Alvarez, Gennady Golovkin, Wladimir Klitschko, Floyd Mayweather and Andre Ward. I like all five, each of whom dominated in the 2010s. I want to add three fighters to consider for the purposes of this column: Terence Crawford, Roman Gonzalez and Vasyl Lomachenko, who also have been dominating in this decade.

Here are my thoughts on each of the eight:

CANELO ALVAREZ

Decade record: 21-1-1 (13 KOs)
Best victories: Shane Mosley, Austin Trout, Erislandy Lara, Miguel Cotto, Gennady Golovkin
Losses and draws: Mayweather (L) and Golovkin (D)
Next fight: Daniel Jacobs, May 4

Summary: Alvarez has been a busy champion with a strong list of elite opponents on his resume. The bad news for him is that he suffered a bad loss and his biggest victories have been controversial, which make it difficult to support him here. Mayweather schooled him. And many believe he received gifts against Lara and in both fights with Golovkin. Also, Mosley and Cotto were past their primes when they fought Alvarez. The good news for Alvarez is that the jury is still out. If he can beat Daniel Jacobs on may 4, that would bolster his resume. And if he somehow fights and beats Triple-G later in 2019, he could begin to make a case for Fighter of the Decade.

TERENCE CRAWFORD

Decade record: 24-0 (18 KOs)
Best victories: Ricky Burns, Yuriorkis Gamboa, Ray Beltran, Thomas Dulorme, Viktor Postol, Julius Indongo
Losses and draws: None
Next fight: Amir Khan, April 20

Summary: No fighter dominated his opponent more completely than Crawford during the 2010s. The question is: How good were his opponents? The answer: very good but maybe not good enough to win Crawford this award. He went to Scotland to beat Burns and win his first title. He stopped then-unbeaten Gamboa when the Cuban was still respected. He did the same to Postol, who also was unbeaten when they met. I could go on. The Nebraskan is on a terrific run. Two or three victories over top 147-pounders would lift him to rarified air. The problem is there isn’t enough time in this decade to get that done.

GENNADY GOLOVKIN

Decade record: 20-1-1 (19 KOs)
Best victories: Curtis Stevens, David Lemieux, Daniel Geale, Kell Brook, Daniel Jacobs
Losses and draws: Alvarez (L and D)
Next fight: Not scheduled

Summary: If Golovkin’s list of best victories looks thin, that’s because it is. And it really isn’t his fault. Golovkin was one of the most avoided fighters of the decade and for good reason: He seemed unbeatable. When he finally lured top-tier opponents into the ring, in his mid-30s, he no longer appeared to be invincible. He narrowly outpointed Jacobs, which is his signature victory, and then drew and lost to Alvarez in controversial fights. Of course, if he had been awarded victories in both meetings with Alvarez, he’d have a stronger argument here. At the same time, victories in two fights that could’ve gone either way probably doesn’t make a Fighter of the Decade.

ROMAN GONZALEZ

Decade record: 23-2 (19 KOs)
Best victories: Juan Francisco Estrada, Akira Yaegashi, Edgar Sosa, Brian Viloria, Carlos Cuadras
Losses and draws: Srisaket Sor Rungvisai (2 L)

Summary: No fighter could rival Gonzalez’s momentum in mid-decade, when he had won major titles in four divisions and climbed to No. 1 on most pound-for-pound lists after one of Mayweather’s “retirements.” And then he met Srisaket Sor Rungvisai. The Thai slugger outpointed Gonzalez in March 2017 and then put him to sleep six months later in the rematch, turning the Nicaraguan’s career upside down. Gonzalez deserves to be mentioned here because of his impressive accomplishments but it’s difficult to consider him Fighter of the Decade because he crashed so violently in the end.

WLADIMIR KLITSCHKO

Decade record: 11-2 (7 KOs)
Best victories: Samuel Peter, David Haye, Tony Thompson, Alexander Povetkin, Kubrat Pulev
Losses and draws: Tyson Fury (L) and Anthony Joshua (L)

Summary: Klitschko, like Golovkin, seemed unbeatable until he wasn’t. Wlad’s decision over Bryant Jennings in April 2015 was his 22nd consecutive victory over 11 dominating years, an incredible run even if you want to bash the overall state of the heavyweight division. He would never win again. Fury made a 39-year-old version of Klitschko look silly seven months after the Jennings fight, outboxing him en route to a stunning one-sided decision. Klitschko made a valiant comeback against Anthony Joshua in 2017. He put the younger man down but was later stopped himself, spoiling any chance he had of becoming Fighter of the Decade.

VASYL LOMACHENKO

Decade record: 12-1 (9 KOs)
Best victories: Gary Russell Jr., Roman Martinez, Nicholas Walters, Guillermo Rigondeaux, Jorge Linares
Losses: Orland Salido (L)
Next fight: Anthony Crolla, April 12

Summary: Lomachenko demonstrated from the beginning that he had no intention of fighting second-rate opponents. He challenged rugged veteran Orlando Salido for a vacant title in 2014 in only his second pro fight, losing a split decision in good part because of Salido’s rough (dirty?) tactics. The boxing wizard from Ukraine has been pristine since then. He outclassed the much-feared Russell immediately after the Salido loss, stopped then-red-hot Walters in 2016, stripped Rigondeaux of his aura of invincibility in 2017 and ultimately stopped an inspired Linares last year. I suppose one could argue that Lomachenko hasn’t done enough to top this list but no one has more dazzling.

FLOYD MAYWEATHER

Decade record: 10-0 (2 KOs)
Best victories: Shane Mosley, Miguel Cotto, Canelo Alvarez, Marcos Maidana (twice), Manny Pacquiao
Losses: None
Next fight: Retired

Summary: No one who fought in the 2010s was a better boxer than Mayweather. The question is whether he did enough in the 10-year period to be selected Fighter of the Decade. The answer is maybe. One could legitimately put an asterisk next to each of his best victories: Mosley (old), Cotto (past his prime), Alvarez (green), Maidana (two surprisingly competitive fights by Mayweather’s standards) and Pacquiao (too late). And, of course, his victory over novice Conor McGregor meant nothing. “Money” deserves credit. He beat 10 big-name opponents on the biggest stages. I’m just not sure any of those victories was meaningful enough to lift him to the top of this list.

ANDRE WARD

Decade record: 11-0 (3 KOs)
Best victories: Allan Green, Sakio Bika, Arthur Abraham, Carl Froch, Chad Dawson, Sullivan Barrera, Sergey Kovalev (twice)
Losses and draws: None
Next fight: Retired

Summary: Ward made the wise decision to take part in the 2009-2011 Super Six World Boxing Classic when he was still unproven as a pro. He emerged as tournament champion, with victories over Arthur Abraham and Carl From in this decade and universal respect that would ultimately lead him to the top of pound-for-pound lists. The master boxer went on to stop Chad Dawson and beat Sergey Kovalev in two memorable fights, the first one by a controversial decision and the second by brutal KO. His ability to dominate Kovalev in their rematch sets him apart from Alvarez and Golovkin. Ward wasn’t universally loved but he might’ve been the best of the 2010s.

CONCLUSION

This is a tough one. I think arguments can be made for (in alphabetical order) Crawford, Lomachenko, Mayweather and Ward, which means I don’t believe a good case can be made for the others for the reasons stated above. Lomachenko has slightly more impressive victories than Crawford but has that loss on the record, which can’t be dismissed. I would be inclined to eliminate both of them, leaving Mayweather and Ward still standing. Who wins? Neither Mayweather nor Ward lost a fight in this decade. Mayweather was more dominating, receiving meaningful competition only from Maidana in their first fight, but I keep thinking about the asterisks next to his best victories. I would’ve loved to see Mayweather of the 2010s fight someone like the current versions of Terence Crawford, Errol Spence, Keith Thurman or Shawn Porter. That didn’t happen. Ward’s toughest opponents were at or near their peaks, which works in his favor, but many believe he lost the first meeting with Kovalev and Dawson might’ve been energy depleted after making weight. In the end, I lean toward Ward because of the gauntlet he faced to win the Super Six World Boxing Classic and the second fight with Kovalev. Remember: That was No. 1 (Ward) vs. No. 2 (Kovalev) on some pound-for-pound lists. Mayweather had no victory in the 2010s that could approach that. Let’s revisit this at the end of the year to determine whether anything has changed.

Michael Rosenthal is the 2018 winner of the Boxing Writers Association of America’s Nat Fleischer Award for excellence in boxing journalism. He has covered boxing in Los Angeles and beyond for almost three decades.