True to an extent, but you would be hard pushed to claim that Hatton's bouts with Tszyu, Castillo, Mayweather and Pacquiao weren't megafights against quality opposition. He was an underdog for every one bar Castillo where he was a narrow favourite. Likewise Lewis-Holyfield. My point was more that other than Hatton, the other 3 had sustained success against world level competition for a number of years. Lewis was a three time champion who boasted wins over the likes of Ruddock, Tucker, Bruno, Morrison, Mercer, McCall, Akinwande, Golota, Briggs, Holyfield, Grant, Botha, Tua and Rahman. Froch was also a three timer with a resume including Pascal, Taylor, Dirrell, Abraham, Johnson, Bute, Kessler and Groves. Calzaghe was undefeated and has wins over Eubank, Reid, Sheika, Woodhall, Brewer, Mitchell, Lacy, Bika, Kessler and Hopkins. All of those guys had long lasting runs of success at the highest level which not a lot of this decade's crop have managed despite the fact that we have probably had more fighters winning world titles.
Lewis has sixteen 5 star fights according to Boxrec. As far as strength in depth goes, Tyson F should not be mentioned in the same breath.
Fighter of the Year - Josh Taylor Fighter of the Decade - Anthony Joshua Won Olympic Gold medal Won Commonwealth Heavyweight Championship Won British Heavyweight Championship Won IBF World Heavyweight Championship (Becomes first British heavyweight to win both a gold medal at the Olympics and a world title by a major governing body) Unified IBF & WBA World Heavyweight Championships Unified IBF, WBA & WBO World Heavyweight Championships Became 2 x Heavyweight Champion Built a World Title Fight record of 8-1 (6 KO) Built a Pro record of 23-1 (21 KO) Unrivalled commercial success
Pretty clear cut for when i lt comes to both: Year - Taylor Decade - AJ I can't see how anyone logically can have it any other way considering achievements and resumes.
Fighter of the decade has to be between Anthony Joshua, Tyson Fury and Carl Froch. I think Anthony Joshua has achieved more and been involved in huge fights, with PPV numbers and interest levels at an all time high. Therefore my pick is Anthony Joshua. Fighter of the year is Josh Taylor a win for all the marbles against Prograis at 140
Why not give both to AJ? Lost all his belts, immediate rematch and got them all back. WBA Super, IBF, WBO, and IBO heavyweight titles. Josh Taylor - no problem there either, but outgunned by weight and belts.
I wouldn't argue a shout for Froch even based on his accomplishments this decade. Two time world champ with wins over Abraham, Johnson, Bute, Kessler and Groves twice versus losses to peak Ward and Kessler, who were probably better than anyone AJ has fought. But Froch was retired by 2014 so AJ probably deserves the nod. The loss to Ruiz is damaging, but coming back to win the rematch in addition to wins over Whyte, Klitschko, Parker and Povetkin is a solid body of work.
Agree with the general consensus Taylor fighter of the year and AJ fighter of the decade with Froch a close 2nd.
FOTD is a tough one between Joshua and Froch. AJ has Klitschko, Povetkin, Parker, Whyte and Ruiz, with obviously the reverse against the latter in the first fight. Froch has Kessler, Bute, Groves x 2, and Abraham, with the loss to Ward. I think Froch's is slightly stronger, and his loss came to a far greater fighter p4p than Ruiz. If you're looking purely at achievements between the ropes, he should get the nod. If you start to factor in the bigger picture (impact, historical significance etc), Joshua would come out on top. FOTY is obviously Taylor.
Joshua is the biggest star in British boxing. He has to take the decade title. Year, hmm yeh probably Taylor followed by Warrington.
Fighter of the Decade - Anthony Joshua. British International Fighter of the Year - Josh Taylor. British Domestic Fighter of the Year - Scott Fitzgerald.