The FOTD debate will likely rage on well past 2019 concludes. But what is the best win this decade?
My nominations are:
Pacquiao SD over Thurman (2019)
Sor Rungvisai KO 4 over Gonzalez (2017)
Ward TKO 8 over Kovalev (2017)
Fury UD over Klitschko (2015)
Mayweather UD over Pacquiao (2015)
Mayweather MD over Canelo (2013)
Marquez KO 6 over Pacquiao (2012)
Hopkins UD over Pascal (2011)
Thoughts?
Edit: FTR my pick would be Mayweather defeating Canelo, it was a true boxing masterclass and has aged like a fine wine considering what Canelo has gone on to achieve.
WOTD goes to Marquez splitting manny’s wig
So much drama and sensation leading up into the fight and during it
Will Marquez finally get his poetic justice and just do or will the legendary manny finally vanquish his great arch nemesis
Marquez came in as the underdog and clapped the congressman man cold for robbing him blind prior
Marquez conquered the man last awarded FOTD and snagged WOTD in the process
Marquez did the unexpected by getting to manny b4 Floyd did
Imagine if the fourth fight happened first and the first fight happened last? JMM gets a lot of credit for getting the final impression. It was unexpected because nothing in the previous thirty six rounds showed that JMM planting Manny was likely. I like JMM and I think he deserved another win vs Manny. But we can’t pretend this didn’t happened till a fourth fight that was close at the time of victory. JMM could get more credit if he didn’t get dropped so often in throughout the ordeal.
Yes, Fury over Klitschko. The changing of the guard in the heavyweight division. End of a long, long era.
Ruiz over Joshua happened in the post-Klitschko world that was brought about by Fury.
WOTD goes to Marquez splitting manny’s wig
So much drama and sensation leading up into the fight and during it
Will Marquez finally get his poetic justice and just do or will the legendary manny finally vanquish his great arch nemesis
Marquez came in as the underdog and clapped the congressman man cold for robbing him blind prior
Marquez conquered the man last awarded FOTD and snagged WOTD in the process
Marquez did the unexpected by getting to manny b4 Floyd didHow did Pacquiao rob him blind?????? Pacquiao didn't score any of the fights so how did he rob Marquez? Marquez asked for rematch after rematch and Pac gave them to him. Then when he won he refused to give Pac a rematch anywhere for any amount of money. I believe Pac would have won a 5th fight. They both fought Bradley after that and Marquez clearly lost by a good amount while Pac easily beat Bradley. If you think Marquez won the first 3 fights then blame the judges for the so called robberies not Pac who just did the fighting and not the scoring.
Fury over Klitschko
From the build up to making Klitschko look stupid in the ring to the post fight of him singing Aerosmith and wlad look on his face like he can't believe this was happening
That fight ages like wine. ..
Of the fights you listed my vote goes to Mayweather beating Canelo although he should have fought him at 154 instead of draining him to 152 or no fight. Still even with the catchweight it was a very good win.
Ya think so? Joshua hadn't even established himself as the best in his division. What differentiates this win over any other victory from an underdog?
It didn't make Ruiz the best in the world. Hell, it didn't make him the best in his division. It was an underdog victory. Nothing more.
Agreed. It’s definitely categorised as an great upset as opposed to a great win.
Marquez KO over Pac
Pac was at the height of his career when it happened.
I dunno man, (I thought he won personally) but he was coming off a SD loss to Bradley and contentious win (Which he clearly lost IMO) over Marquez
AJ was an undefeated champ and the best in the HW division. To overlook it as just an upset and say AJ wasn't good enough when you have guys like Pascal, Rungsval, and Gonzalez....
AJ wasn’t the clear #1 by any stretch. Based off the flaws exposed in the Ruiz fight there’s no way anyone can reasonably suggest he should have been ranked higher than Fury or even Wilder for that matter.
Pascal I’ll accept but he was the lineal champion and clear #1 in the division, besides that win is more about a 46 year old man recapturing the Light Heavyweight title.
Roman Gonzalez is a far better fighter than AJ will ever be and was p4p #1 at the beginning of 2017. Comparing AJ to him is a disgrace. Gonzalez is a far superior fighter in every department. C’mon man you can’t be serious suggesting Ruiz-AJ is the same calibre as SSR-Gonzalez.
Ward over Kovalev. Some people (myself included) thought Kovalev won the first fight. Ward came back and stopped him in the rematch, which was pretty impressive. Marquez was obviously on PEDs for the fourth Pac fight, so that one is out. Mayweather ran and constantly clinched his way to survive a one-armed Pac in the "fight of the century," so that fight was terrible. Ruiz over Joshua was a huge upset, so that would be my second vote.
AJ was an undefeated champ and the best in the HW division. To overlook it as just an upset and say AJ wasn't good enough when you have guys like Pascal, Rungsval, and Gonzalez....
Are you from the UK?
Ruiz over Joshua.
Ya think so? Joshua hadn't even established himself as the best in his division. What differentiates this win over any other victory from an underdog?
It didn't make Ruiz the best in the world. Hell, it didn't make him the best in his division. It was an underdog victory. Nothing more.
More of a candidate for upset OTD IMO. It was a good win but not a win over a great/elite fighter IMO, that’s why I left it out.
AJ was an undefeated champ and the best in the HW division. To overlook it as just an upset and say AJ wasn't good enough when you have guys like Pascal, Rungsval, and Gonzalez....
I'm stuck between Mayweather beating Pacman and Ward beating Kovalev. Might be leaning towards Mayweather beating Pacman. My mindset is this, if the results were reversed, how would their legacies be affected.
Ward losing to Kovalev would've hurt his legacy. He would be reduced to a one division champion who was at the top for a few years. Nothing we haven't seen before. But moving up, beating the best LHW and knocking him out in the rematch helped his career greatly in my opinion.
As for Mayweather Pacquiao, as old as they were, they were still #1 and #2 p4p. Mayweather needed to win that fight more than he needed to win any fight in his career. If he were to have lost, his legacy is ruined. Being undefeated is a big deal for his legacy because he doesn't have ATG elites on it. Also, a lost would've made people say "See, that's why he's been ducking Pacman all these years." It wasn't a spectacular fight, but one that he NEEDED to win. Now that I think about it, I'm gonna give the nod to Mayweather over Ward.
Mayweather beating Pacquiao is definitely the fight of the decade. Mayweather made Pacquiao look like absolute **** in that fight.
jmm's win over pacquiao >>>>>floyd's