Examples of the Best Fighting the Best '01-'16

Best Fight the Best Last 15 Years
2001
Bernard Hopkins vs Felix Trinidad
Marco Antonio Barrera vs Naseem Hamed
Floyd Mayweather vs Diego Corrales
Felix Trinidad vs William Joppy
Kostya Tszyu vs Zab Judah
Rafael Marquez vs Mark Johnson
2002
Shane Mosley vs Vernnon Forrest
Marco Antonio Barrera vs Erik Morales
Marco Antonio Barrera vs Johnny Tapia
Floyd Mayweather vs Jose Luis Castillo
Oscar De La Hoya vs Fernando Vargas
Erik Morales vs Paulie Ayala
Lennox Lewis vs Mike Tyson
Rafael Marquez vs Mark Johnson
2003
Shane Mosley vs Oscar De La Hoya
Bernard Hopkins vs William Joppy
Roy Jones Jr vs John Ruiz
Marco Antonio Barrera vs Manny Pacquiao
Lennox Lewis vs Vitali Klitschko
James Toney vs Vassiliy Jirov
2004
Shane Mosley vs Winky Wright
Bernard Hopkins vs Oscar De La Hoya
Roy Jones Jr vs Antonio Tarver
Marco Antonio Barrera vs Paulie Ayala
Marco Antonio Barrera vs Erik Morales
Felix Trinidad vs Ricardo Mayorga
Manny Pacquiao vs Juan Manuel Marquez
2005
Bernard Hopkins vs Jermain Taylor
Roy Jones Jr vs Antonio Tarver
Felix Trinidad vs Ronald Wright
Kostya Tszyu vs Ricky Hatton
Erik Morales vs Manny Pacquiao
Jose Luis Castillo vs Diego Corrales
2006
Shane Mosley vs Fernando Vargas
Bernard Hopkins vs Antonio Tarver
Oscar De la Hoya vs Ricardo Mayorga
Erik Morales vs Manny Pacquiao
2007
Shane Mosley vs Miguel Cotto
Bernard Hopkins vs Ronald Wright
Marco Antonio Barrera vs Juan Manuel Marquez
Marco Antonio Barrera vs Manny Pacquiao
Floyd Mayweather vs Oscar De La Hoya
Floyd Mayweather vs Ricky Hatton
Jose Luis Castillo vs Ricky Hatton
Miguel Cotto vs Zab Judah
Rafael Marquez vs Israel Vazquez
Nonito Donaire vs Vic Darchinyan
2008
Shane Mosley vs Ricardo Mayorga
Bernard Hopkins vs Joe Calzaghe
Bernard Hopkins vs Kelly Pavlik
Oscar De La Hoya vs Manny Pacquiao
Manny Pacquiao vs Juan Manuel Marquez
Miguel Cotto vs Antonio Margarito
Rafael Marquez vs Israel Vazquez
Carl Froch vs Jean Pascal
2009
Shane Mosley vs Antonio Margarito
Manny Pacquiao vs Ricky Hatton
Manny Pacquiao vs Miguel Cotto
Juan Manuel Marquez vs Floyd Mayweather Jr
Sergio Martinez vs Paul Williams
Andre Ward vs Mikkel Kessler
Carl Froch vs Jermain Taylor
2010
Shane Mosley vs Floyd Mayweather Jr
Bernard Hopkins vs Roy Jones Jr
Bernard Hopkins vs Jean Pascal
Manny Pacquiao vs Antonio Margarito
Ivan Calderon vs Giovanni Segura
Nonito Donaire vs Hernan Marquez
Pongsaklek Wonjongkam vs Koki Kameda
Sergio Martinez vs Paul Williams
Sergio Martinez vs Kelly Pavlik
Andre Ward vs Sakio Bika
Fernando Montiel vs Hozumi Hasegawa
Carl Froch vs Mikkel Kessler
Carl Froch vs Arthur Abraham
2011
Shane Mosley vs Manny Pacquiao
Bernard Hopkins vs Jean Pascal
Manny Pacquiao vs Juan Manuel Marquez
Miguel Cotto vs Ricardo Mayorga
Miguel Cotto vs Antonio Margarito
Ivan Calderon vs Giovanni Segura
Wladimir Klitschko vs David Haye
Nonito Donaire vs Fernando Montiel
Nonito Donaire vs Omar Narvaez
Pongsaklek Wonjongkam vs Edgar Sosa
Paul Williams vs Erislandy Lara
Andre Ward vs Arthur Abraham
Andre Ward vs Carl Froch
Brian Viloria vs Giovani Segura
2012
Shane Mosley vs Saul Alvarez
Floyd Mayweather vs Miguel Cotto
Manny Pacquiao vs Tim Bradley
Manny Pacquiao vs Juan Manuel Marquez
Roman Gonzalez vs Juan Francisco Estrada
Sergio Martinez vs Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.
Andre Ward vs Chad Dawson
Brian Viloria vs Hernan Marquez
Danny Garcia vs Amir Khan
Carl Froch vs Lucian Bute
2013
Floyd Mayweather vs Saul Alvarez
Nonito Donaire vs Guillermo Rigondeaux
Nonito Donaire vs Vic Darchinyan
Juan Francisco Estrada vs Brian Viloria
Tim Bradley vs Juan Manuel Marquez
Danny Garcia vs Lucas Matthysse
Carl Froch vs Mikkel Kessler
Carl Froch vs George Groves
2014
Bernard Hopkins vs Sergey Kovalev
Manny Pacquiao vs Tim Bradley
Miguel Cotto vs Sergio Martinez
Wladimir Klitschko vs Alexander Povetkin
Nonito Donaire vs Nicholas Walters
Roman Gonzalez vs Akira Yaegashi
Juan Francisco Estrada vs Giovani Segura
Terence Crawford vs Yuriorkis Gamboa
Vasyl Lomachenko vs Gary Russell Jr
Naoya Inoue vs Omar Narvaez
Kell Brook vs Shawn Porter
2015
Floyd Mayweather vs Manny Pacquiao
Miguel Cotto vs Saul Alvarez
Wladimir Klitschko vs Tyson Fury
Roman Gonzalez vs Edgar Sosa
Roman Gonzalez vs Brian Viloria
Juan Francisco Estrada vs Hernan Marquez
Sergey Kovalev vs Jean Pascal
Gennady Golovkin vs David Lemieux
Krzysztof Glowacki vs Marco Huck
2016
Manny Pacquiao vs Tim Bradley
Terence Crawford vs Viktor Postol
Sergey Kovalev vs Jean Pascal
Sergey Kovalev vs Andre Ward
Keith Thurman vs Shawn Porter
Oleksandr Usyk vs Krzysztof Glowacki
Leo Santa Cruz vs Carl Frampton
Krzysztof Glowacki vs Steve Cunningham
Roman Gonzalez vs Carlos Cuadras

What do you think? Am I forgetting something? Should I have included the times Pongsaklek Wonjongkam fought Daisuke Naito? We have hundreds of title fights every year but I'm mostly just sampling from guys who are p4p top ten or so and the difficult fights they took against top guys in their divisions. Still, there were a lot of guys who were at the top of their division who just weren't elite and maybe their tough fights should count too. Or they were top contenders like Eubank vs Saunders, Makabu vs Mchunu, or Jacobs vs Quillin. Should those count too? Give me your thoughts. What in your opinion qualifies as the best fighting the best?

 

So you are only happy with p4p top ten fighters fighting other p4p top ten fighters? But that's always been rare, and it happens just as often now as it ever has. Those ten guys are always spread out over 17 divisions and it's kind of rare for them to face more than 2 or 3 in a career. On average you get about ten match ups like that in a decade, and that's what we've got lately. Let me show you the history of this:

1920s

1. Harry Greb 2. Benny Leonard 3. Gene Tunney 4. Mickey Walker 5. Pancho Villa 6. Tommy Loughran 7. Jack Dempsey 8. Bud Taylor 9. Tony Canzoneri 10. Tiger Flowers

Greb vs Tunney, Greb vs Walker, Greb vs Loughran, Greb vs Flowers, Tunney vs Loughran, Tunney vs Dempsey, Walker vs Flowers, Walker vs Britton, Pancho Villa vs McLarnin, Taylor vs McLarnin

1930s

1. Henry Armstrong 2. Joe Louis 3. Barney Ross 4. Tony Canzoneri 5. Jimmy McLarnin 6. Freddie Steele 7. Panama Al Brown 8. Benny Lynch 9. Jack Berg 10. Kid Chocolate

Armstrong vs Ross, Ross vs Canzoneri, Ross vs McLarnin, Canzoneri vs Berg, Canzoneri vs Chocolate, McLarnin vs Leonard, Berg vs Chocolate

1940s

1. Sugar Ray Robinson 2. Ezzard Charles 3. Willie Pep 4. Joe Louis 5. Ike Williams 6. Manuel Ortiz 7. Sandy Saddler 8. Billy Conn 9. Jake LaMotta 10. Marcel Cerdan

Robinson vs Armstrong, Robinson vs LaMotta, Charles vs Louis, Pep vs Saddler, Louis vs Conn, Lamotta vs Cerdan, Williams vs Gavilan

1950s

1. Sugar Ray Robinson 2. Archie Moore 3. Kid Gavilan 4. Rocky Marciano 5. Pascual Perez 6. Sandy Saddler 7. Gene Fullmer 8. Carmen Basilio 9. Joe Brown 10. Harold Johnson

Robinson vs Gavilan, Robinson vs Fullmer, Robinson vs Basilio, Moore vs Marciano, Moore vs Johnson, Gavilan vs Basilio, Marciano vs Charles, Marciano vs Louis, Saddler vs Brown, Saddler vs Elorde, Basilio vs Fullmer

1960s

1. Eder Jofre 2. Muhammad Ali 3. Carlos Ortiz 4. Emile Griffith 5. Fighting Harada 6. Nino Benvenuti 7. Vicente Saldivar 8. Ruben Olivares 9. **** Tiger 10. Flash Elorde

Jofre vs Harada, Jofre vs Saldivar, Ali vs Moore, Ortiz vs Elorde, Ortiz vs Brown, Griffith vs Benvenuti, Griffith vs Napoles, Griffith vs Tiger, Benvenuti vs Tiger, Tiger vs Fullmer, Tiger vs Foster,

1970s

1. Roberto Duran 2. Carlos Monzon 3. Jose Napoles 4. Alexis Arguello 5. Miguel Canto 6. Wilfredo Gomez 7. Carlos Zarate 8. Muhammad Ali 9. Bob Foster 10. Yoko Gushiken

Monzon vs Napoles, Monzon vs Benvenuti, Monzon vs Griffith, Gomez vs Zarate, Ali vs Foster

1980s

1. Sugar Ray Leonard 2. Marvin Hagler 3. Salvador Sanchez 4. Michael Spinks 5. Tommy Hearns 6. Julio Cesar Chavez 7. Mike Tyson 8. Aaron Pryor 9. Larry Holmes 10. Jeff Chandler

Leonard vs Hagler, Leonard vs Hearns, Leonard vs Duran, Hagler vs Hearns, Sanchez vs Gomez, Spinks vs Holmes, Pryor vs Arguello, Tyson vs Holmes, Tyson vs Spinks, Holmes vs Ali

1990s

1. Pernell Whitaker 2. Roy Jones Jr. 3. James Toney 4. Evander Holyfield 5. Julio Cesar Chavez 6. Bernard Hopkins 7. Felix Trinidad 8. Ricardo Lopez 9. Oscar De La Hoya 10. Terry Norris

Whitaker vs Chavez, Whitaker vs Trinidad, Whitaker vs De La Hoya, Jones vs Toney, Jones vs Hopkins, Holyfield vs Tyson, Holyfield vs Holmes, Chavez vs De La Hoya, Trinidad vs De La Hoya, Hopkins vs Trinidad, Norris vs Leonard

2000s

1. Manny Pacquiao 2. Floyd Mayweather Jr. 3. Bernard Hopkins 4. Erik Morales 5. Joe Calzaghe 6. Juan Manuel Marquez 7. Roy Jones Jr. 8. Marco Antonio Barrera 9. Rafael Marquez 10. Pongsaklek Wonjongkam

Pacquiao vs Morales, Pacquiao vs Marquez, Pacquiao vs Barrera, Pacquiao vs De La Hoya, Mayweather vs Marquez, Mayweather vs De La Hoya, Hopkins vs Calzaghe, Hopkins vs Jones 2, Morales vs Barrera, Calzaghe vs Jones, Marquez vs Barrera

2010s
1.Nonito Donaire 2.Roman Gonzalez 3.Andre Ward 4. Sergio Martinez 5.Guillermo Rigondeaux 6.Sergey Kovalev 7.Saul Alvarez 8.Gennady Golovkin 9.Juan Francisco Estrada 10.Carl Froch (Darkhorses Lomachenko and Inoue waiting to steal somebodies place).

Ward vs Froch, Donaire vs Rigondeaux, Mayweather vs Alvarez, Pacquiao vs Mayweather, Kovalev vs Hopkins, Gonzalez vs Estrada... and the decade is only half over.

 

If there is no great match up to be had at a great fighter's weight, then I'll take them moving up two weight classes to fight a good fighter instead. The difficulty level is probably the same as fighting a great fighter at their own weight. If the goal is to see great fighters finding their limits in challenging fights then this should qualify.

At the time, this was a very impressive fight and a lot of people didn't think Jones could do it. Jones was still a light heavyweight and Ruiz was a champion at heavyweight about 40 pounds north of where Jones was fighting. Capturing belts from middleweight all the way to heavyweight was a hell of an accomplishment, even if Jones wasn't fighting Lennox Lewis for the lineal title.

Think of it like Roberto Duran fighting Iran Barkley. Was Barkley this amazing phenom like Leonard, Hagler, or Hearns? No. But he was good and at middleweight Duran was moving up four weight calsses, twenty-five pounds from his best weight to fight him. That is the stuff of greatness and a great fight.

 

I mentioned them for 2016.

While I personally don't think he was the best of anything, he was always a very good fighter, was riding high off of the Martinez win, held the lineal middleweight title, and had put together a string of victories. A lot of people thought Freddie Roach and him were an excellent team and had given Cotto's career a second wind.

Not as good as Lewis vs Klitschko, since Tyson was past his best, but sometimes the best fighting the best also means the best fighting older fighters who used to be the best. Great fighters often don't meet when both are in their primes.

But anyway the public had been clamoring for this one for years and it still holds the distinction of being the fourth biggest pay per view ever.