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Top 25 Fighters of the 00’s Part III: The Top Ten
By Cliff Rold
Bring on the ‘teens.
The first decade of the 21st century is over and, for boxing, it was a doozy. Beginning last week, BoxingScene has been taking a trip down recent memory lane, recalling some of the highlights, key figures, and violence which make this science still sweet.
The top fighters in any given span of time can be defined many ways and a note on what can go into such voting is in order. Fighters who defy the scale, challenging multiple divisions with success, will always receive their accolades. There are others who stay confined to one weight division but establish new numerical standards for achievement. There are fighters whose peaks are short but thrilling, others who supply longevity and steady presence, each significant and worthy of praise in their own way.
All those ingredients can be found in the final voting results. Of the top ten, only seven were found on all ballots with a number of fighters beneath them receiving varying degrees of top ten recognition.
So far, the following have been revealed as BoxingScene’s best of the decade selections:
Fight of the Decade: http://www.boxingscene.com/?m=show&id=24510
Fighter Pt. I – Missing the Cut: http://www.boxingscene.com/?m=show&id=24538
Fighter Pt. II – 11-25: http://www.boxingscene.com/?m=show&id=24591
Today, it is the top ten fighters of the decade, beginning with…
Why He’s Here: When a Jr. Featherweight Pacquiao knocked out someone named Arnel Barotillo to start his 21st century campaign, he was a former WBC and lineal World Flyweight champion almost unrecognizable outside of Asia. That would change quickly. His Flyweight title doesn’t count as an achievement in this decade. It still helps with perspective when considering he skipped Jr. Bantamweight and Bantamweight before a record setting addition of six title claims (three lineal, three of the just-a-belt variety) in six consecutive weight classes from 122 to 147 lbs.
A late replacement foe for Ledwaba in 2001, Pacquiao exploded onto the American scene to win a belt at 122 lbs. and never looked back, developing into the most exciting fighter of this generation. He’d reach worldwide acclaim as the biggest winning member of a “Fab Four” which included Barrera, Marquez, and Morales, posting a mark of 5-1-1 only to continue to achieve even as all of those men began to subside. As noted following his win over Cotto in November for a seventh divisional title:
The Cotto and Hatton wins this year have…probably allowed him to Usain Bolt the field as Fighter of the Decade….A record four lineal world titles at Flyweight, Featherweight, Jr. Lightweight, and Jr. Welterweight along with major belts at Jr. Featherweight, Lightweight and Welterweight is only one indication as to why.
In all seven divisions where he claimed some title accolade, he can only be caught arguably cherry picking once in the seven. In order of titles won, he defeated Chatchai Sasakul, Lehlo Ledwaba, Marco Antonio Barrera, Juan Manuel Marquez, David Diaz, Hatton and now Cotto.
Only Diaz was considered reasonably less than the best fighter in his class.
Ledwaba had a case as the best at 122 at the time; Cotto was no worse than number two at Welterweight. Everyone else was the consensus best man Pacquiao could face and only Marquez went the distance. Two knockouts of Mexican great Erik Morales, against a competitive decision loss, in non-title affairs with Erik Morales further buff Pacquiao’s resume.
The decade didn’t end with Cotto of course. Failed negotiations to make a fight with the number two man on this list, with nasty and to date unfounded allegations of performance enhancing drug use leveled at Pacquiao, have become an endless pool for debate and a bigger story than any fight either man has had. One day, it is likely they will settle their differences in the ring and retrospect could change the order of this list.
It shouldn’t.
In the first decade of the 2000’s, Manny Pacquiao did things no fighter has ever done in terms of championship achievement and did it against real competition. The men who have had the audacity to challenge the scale and win the way Pacquiao has, across the history of the sport, are rare. The names which immediately come to mind speak only to greatness: Hearns, Canzoneri, Armstrong, McLarnin, Duran.
Manny Pacquiao.
The Fighter of the Decade.
Cliff Rold is a member of the Ring Magazine Ratings Advisory Panel and the Boxing Writers Association of America. He can be reached at roldboxing@hotmail.com
[Click Here To Read More]
By Cliff Rold
Bring on the ‘teens.
The first decade of the 21st century is over and, for boxing, it was a doozy. Beginning last week, BoxingScene has been taking a trip down recent memory lane, recalling some of the highlights, key figures, and violence which make this science still sweet.
The top fighters in any given span of time can be defined many ways and a note on what can go into such voting is in order. Fighters who defy the scale, challenging multiple divisions with success, will always receive their accolades. There are others who stay confined to one weight division but establish new numerical standards for achievement. There are fighters whose peaks are short but thrilling, others who supply longevity and steady presence, each significant and worthy of praise in their own way.
All those ingredients can be found in the final voting results. Of the top ten, only seven were found on all ballots with a number of fighters beneath them receiving varying degrees of top ten recognition.
So far, the following have been revealed as BoxingScene’s best of the decade selections:
Fight of the Decade: http://www.boxingscene.com/?m=show&id=24510
Fighter Pt. I – Missing the Cut: http://www.boxingscene.com/?m=show&id=24538
Fighter Pt. II – 11-25: http://www.boxingscene.com/?m=show&id=24591
Today, it is the top ten fighters of the decade, beginning with…
Why He’s Here: When a Jr. Featherweight Pacquiao knocked out someone named Arnel Barotillo to start his 21st century campaign, he was a former WBC and lineal World Flyweight champion almost unrecognizable outside of Asia. That would change quickly. His Flyweight title doesn’t count as an achievement in this decade. It still helps with perspective when considering he skipped Jr. Bantamweight and Bantamweight before a record setting addition of six title claims (three lineal, three of the just-a-belt variety) in six consecutive weight classes from 122 to 147 lbs.
A late replacement foe for Ledwaba in 2001, Pacquiao exploded onto the American scene to win a belt at 122 lbs. and never looked back, developing into the most exciting fighter of this generation. He’d reach worldwide acclaim as the biggest winning member of a “Fab Four” which included Barrera, Marquez, and Morales, posting a mark of 5-1-1 only to continue to achieve even as all of those men began to subside. As noted following his win over Cotto in November for a seventh divisional title:
The Cotto and Hatton wins this year have…probably allowed him to Usain Bolt the field as Fighter of the Decade….A record four lineal world titles at Flyweight, Featherweight, Jr. Lightweight, and Jr. Welterweight along with major belts at Jr. Featherweight, Lightweight and Welterweight is only one indication as to why.
In all seven divisions where he claimed some title accolade, he can only be caught arguably cherry picking once in the seven. In order of titles won, he defeated Chatchai Sasakul, Lehlo Ledwaba, Marco Antonio Barrera, Juan Manuel Marquez, David Diaz, Hatton and now Cotto.
Only Diaz was considered reasonably less than the best fighter in his class.
Ledwaba had a case as the best at 122 at the time; Cotto was no worse than number two at Welterweight. Everyone else was the consensus best man Pacquiao could face and only Marquez went the distance. Two knockouts of Mexican great Erik Morales, against a competitive decision loss, in non-title affairs with Erik Morales further buff Pacquiao’s resume.
The decade didn’t end with Cotto of course. Failed negotiations to make a fight with the number two man on this list, with nasty and to date unfounded allegations of performance enhancing drug use leveled at Pacquiao, have become an endless pool for debate and a bigger story than any fight either man has had. One day, it is likely they will settle their differences in the ring and retrospect could change the order of this list.
It shouldn’t.
In the first decade of the 2000’s, Manny Pacquiao did things no fighter has ever done in terms of championship achievement and did it against real competition. The men who have had the audacity to challenge the scale and win the way Pacquiao has, across the history of the sport, are rare. The names which immediately come to mind speak only to greatness: Hearns, Canzoneri, Armstrong, McLarnin, Duran.
Manny Pacquiao.
The Fighter of the Decade.
Cliff Rold is a member of the Ring Magazine Ratings Advisory Panel and the Boxing Writers Association of America. He can be reached at roldboxing@hotmail.com
[Click Here To Read More]
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