1990s: 10) Riddick Bowe W DQ 9 Andrew Golota 9) Riddick Bowe W 12 Evander Holyfield 8) Michael Moorer TKO 5 Bert Cooper 7) Arturo Gatti KO 6 Wilson Rodriguez 6) Robert Quiroga W 12 Kid Akeem Anifowoshe 5) Marco Antonio Barrera TKO 12 Kennedy McKinney 4) Nigel Benn KO 10 Gerald McCellan (I hate this fight and never watch it) 3) Julio Cesar Chavez TKO 12 Meldrick Taylor 2) Ivan Robinson W 10 Arturo Gatti (first fight) 1) Michael Carbajal KO7 Humberto Gonzalez Others outside the top 10: Kevin Kelley KO 8 Derrick Gainer, Naseem Hamed KO 4 Kevin Kelley, Arturo Gatti TKO 5 Gabe Ruelas, Frankie Randall W 12 Julio Cesar Chavez, Jorge Castro TKO 9 John David Jackson, Derrick Jefferson KO 6 Mo Harris, Frank Liles KO 3 Tim Littles, Ike Ibeabuchi W 12 David Tua, Alejandro Gonzalez TKO 9 Kevin Kelley 2000- present: I've only seen clips of Sithchatchawal-Monshipour so it's not on the list. 10) Oscar De La Hoya TKO 11 Fernando Vargas 9) Micky Ward W 10 Emanuel Burton/Augustus 8) Marco Antonio Barrera W 12 Erik Morales (3rd fight) 7) James Toney W 12 Vasilly Jirov 6) Sergei Liakhovich W 12 Lamon Brewster 5) Micky Ward W 10 Arturo Gatti 4) Felix Trinidad TKO 12 Fernando Vargas 3) Miguel Cotto TKO 7 Ricardo Torres 2) Erik Morales W 12 Marco Antonio Barrera 1) Diego Corrales TKO 10 Jose Luis Castillo Others outside the top 10: Fernando Vargas W 12 Ike Quartey, Manny Pacquiao TKO 10 Erik Morales, Manny Pacquiao D 12 Juan Manuel Marquez, Lennox Lewis TKO 6 Vitali Klitschko
Nice post man. I got a couple of holes I need to fill in here and there. But no mention for Pacman-Marquez? That had brute force, wonderful boxing and high drama. It was a great fight. I'd also have Lewis-Tyson, just for the high drama. Can you remember a bigger build up?
That's in my honorable mention for top 10. I won't argue much if you bump something and put it in the top 10. I rank the fights mainly on how good the fight was, rather than the event and build-up. Obviously a mega event makes a very good fight even more exciting, but the biggest events this decade (Lewis-Tyson, Mayweather-DLH) were OK fights but nothing really special. It really takes a very boring fight for me to get bored DURING the fight if it's a big fight.
For the fights after 2000, I didn't see Mosley-De La Hoya I listed. That fight was IMO more entertaining then Vargas-De La Hoya at least. The combined skills in this fight were crazy and that 12th round just pushed it over the top.
One you see the entire fight, then Monshipour-Sitchatchawal will appear on the list (likely very near the top.)
Cooper v Holyfield had a bit of drama, Cooper v Mercer was also a great battle.. Cooper v Moorer was just pure poetry.........
Cooper vs. Holyfield was a great fight. Not onesided in punishment, but maybe a little onesided in scoring to make the list. Great list though.
If this thread was created one year later, where would Vasquez vs Marquez III rank? Freitas vs Barrios gets an honorable mention during that time from me.
Ward vs Gatti 1 The punishment that each took was unreal . Back and forth the ENTIRE fight. Round 9 one of the greatest rounds ever in boxing history.
Some deep boxing knowledge in this post. Arce vs Hussein I belongs on this list. Since Katsidis vs. Graham is on there, I'll add Katsidis' fight with Casamayor. It wasn't the wild slugfest Katsidis-Graham was, but it had almost unbelievable twists and turns, capped by an almost cartoonishly great kayo.
Was Casamayor leading Katsidis at the time of the stoppage? My recollection was that Casa dropped him twice in the first because Katsidis was leaving his head open in the middle lane. Then Katsidis weathered the storm and by the third round was moving forward. I thought the ensuing rounds were roughly evenly split with Katsidis getting a knock down back. If Casamayor was far ahead on the scorecards, then my memory is well off the mark. Mtgwa vs Villa was a hidden gem of a fight. Kermit Cintron vs David Estrada and Jesse Feliciano vs Alfonso Gomez were Friday Night Fights at its best.
