Tag: Fighter of the Decade

Fighter of the Decade: Boxing Junkie chooses Floyd Mayweather 2-1

Boxing Junkie staffers believe Floyd Mayweather’s perfect record and overall dominance earned him Fighter of the Decade honors.

The 2010s gave us a number of future or current Hall of Famers.

Who was the best? Boxing Junkie staffers tackled that question and came up with a consensus winner: Floyd Mayweather.

Manny fighters were worthy of consideration, including Manny Pacquiao, Andre Ward, Canelo Alvarez, Vasiliy Lomachenko, Terence Crawford and Wladimir Klitschko. However, Mayweather’s perfect record and dominance in the decade set him apart.

That’s why two Boxing Junkie staffers chose Mayweather while one opted for Ward.

Here are our choices for Fighter of the Decade and thoughts:

NORM FRAUENHEIM

Choice: Floyd Mayweather
Record in 2010s: 10-0 (2 KOs)

There’s a good argument for Manny Pacquiao and Canelo Alvarez. But Mayweather beat both of them. There might be a better argument for Andre Ward, but it’s undercut by controversy over the scoring in his first victory, a unanimous decision, over Sergey Kovalev, who lost the rematch.

Meanwhile, Mayweather only won. It wasn’t always dramatic, but there was never much debate about what happened, at least within the ropes. In addition to Pacquiao and Canelo, he beat Marcos Maidana twice, Andre Berto, Robert Guerrero, Miguel Cotto, Shane Mosley and Victor Ortiz.

Forget Conor McGregor. It was a money-making sham and perhaps one reason to vote against Mayweather, who was fighting a MMA star but boxing novice. One reason isn’t enough to say it wasn’t Mayweather’s decade.

Floyd Mayweather’s victory over fellow superstar Manny Pacquiao (right) worked in his favor in the Fighter of the Decade debate. Al Bello / Getty Images

SEAN NAM
Choice: Floyd Mayweather

Floyd Mayweather fought seriously for only half of the decade, but clear cut decisions over contemporary great Manny Pacquiao (in 2015) and a young Canelo Alvarez (in 2013) are enough to garner him this distinction.

Those accomplishments seemed to have aged well, too, considering that just this past year Pacquiao beat up a prime Keith Thurman and Alvarez felled light heavyweight Sergey Kovalev. Wins over Miguel Cotto, before Cotto’s physical erosion truly began to show, and a still committed and dangerous Marcos Maidana, twice, bolster an impressive, if minimalist, body of work.

And there is also this: No one else epitomizes the sport’s cash-grab ethos better than Mayweather, who was involved in two of the most successful economic bonanzas ever. The first was against Pacquiao, the second UFC’s Conor McGregor.

Andre Ward (left) defeated Sergey Kovalev twice in the 2010s. AP Photo / John Locher

MICHAEL ROSENTHAL

Choice: Andre Ward
Record: 11-0 (3 KOs)

I think it comes down to Floyd Mayweather (10-0, 2 KOs) or Andre Ward (11-0, 3 KOs), both of whom were undefeated in the decade.

Manny Pacquiao (12-4, 1 KO) had a so-so record in the 2010s and lost to another contender here, Mayweather. Canelo Alvarez (23-1-1, 16 KOs) has a deep resume but never dominated an elite opponent and lost badly to Mayweather. Vasilily Lomachenko (14-1, 10 KOs) might have a stronger case than both Pacquiao and Alvarez but lost to Orlando Salido.

I lean toward Ward over Mayweather because I think his opposition was better overall and his opponents were nearer their peaks at the time Ward fought them than those of Mayweather. Yes, Ward’s controversial decision over Sergey Kovalev works against him but I scored that fight for Ward and, in my opinion, he left no doubt in the rematch.