1980s FOTY: What FOTYs would you dispute, why, and what fights would you choose over it?

One year we had Vargas Trinidad and Mosley de la Hoya. Explain which one and how it was not the fight of the year!

 

1980: Duran vs Leonard I, excellent choice of course, but for me it has to be Saad vs Lopez II. Good work from Ring.

1981: No issues with this one. It was a highly skilled, back & forth fight with two of the best fighters in history, although I enjoyed Park vs Oguma I & II more.

1982: GOAT fight, Chacon vs Limon IV. Although Gomez vs Pintor, Pryor vs Arguello, Mancini vs Kim and Sanchez vs Nelson were all brilliant. Great year.

Fine with Boza vs Chacon II. Chang vs Tokashiki should've taken '84 though.

Avelar vs Vasquez or Yuh vs DeMarco I should've won. No question. Can't decide between those two, though.

Dave McAuley vs Bassa I should've won. No question about it, but obviously Hagler vs Leonard was too big to ignore.

I've kinda spaced on '88, but I don't think Hearns vs Barkley I should be FOTY.

The two in the OP would be my choices for '89 as well.

 

Because they had the misfortune of sharing the same year as Morales-Barrera I.

 

Lopez vs Lockridge and Williams vs Czyz were listed as 1988 FOTY by Ring and KO magazine, respectively.

I think Murphey-Mutti has a strong case for FOTY in 1985.

 

Lopez vs Lockridge is a great pick. I like that one, I agree with it. Murphey-Mutti is a good mention too.

 

Scratch Williams vs Czyz 1 from 1988. It actually took place in 1987, but did win that year's KOTY for KO magazine.

 

Bah you can't tell me The Brawl was not fight of the year in 1980. That means the great Roberto Duran bookends the 80's with Leonard 1 and Barkley in 1989!. Yet, he was fighter of the decade for the 70's!
How d'you like that Duran haters?

 

I don't think the 80s choices are as contentious as the 70s ones. Here are my picks.

1980: Saad-Lopez 2. Yep the Ring got this right. No argument.

1981: Leonard-Hearns. Some terrific fights that year but again, good choice.

1982: You'd have to be insane to think Chacon-Limon 4 was anything other than a great choice, but my goodness there were some amazing fights that year. My own personal choice is Pryor-Arguello 1 which The Ring would call their Fight of the Decade.

1983: Chacon-Boza 2. No argument.

1984: Tough call this. Ramirez-Rosario was a cracking fight but for pure action, Chang-Tokashiki was another level.

1985: Hagler-Hearns. No argument.

1986: i actually enjoyed Cruz-McGuigan more than Holyfield-Qawi.

1987: Leonard-Hagler was a great event but Bassa-McCauley was amazing.

1988: Lopez-Lockridge 1 - good choice by The Ring.

1989: Duran-Barkley is another good choice though Harding-Andries is worth a shout.

1982 was the best year for fights with Gomez-Pintor and Sanchez-Nelson joining the aforementioned choices as absolute classics. You also had Mancini-Kim (tragic though it was) and Holmes-Cooney as well. Spinks-Burnett has gone on the watchlist based on your recommendation @William Walker!

 

It's amazing.