****decades surveys 1 - 2000-2009 survey closed - chart added****

1. Diego Corrales v Jose Luis Castillo
2. Isreal Vazquez v Rafale Marquez 3
3. Barrera v Hamed
4. Barrera v Morales 1
5. Gatti v Ward 1
6. Tyszu v Judah
7. Pacquiao v Marquez 1
8. Isreal Vazquez v Rafael Marquez 2
9. Pacquiao v Cotto
10. Casamayor v Katsidis

 

Casamayor v Katsidis. Didn't that one have a come from behind knockout victory after dual knockdowns and someone being knocked out of the ring? Nice call, BoppaZoo.

 

1. Diego Corrales TKO10 Jose Luis Castillo I
2. Erik Morales SD12 Marco Antonio Barrera I
3. Oscar De La Hoya TKO11 Fernando Vargas
4. Somsak Sithchatchawal TKO10 Mahyar Monshipour
5. Erik Morales UD12 Manny Pacquiao I
6. Juan Manuel Marquez TKO9 Juan Diaz I
7. Carl Froch TKO12 Jermain Taylor
8. Israel Vazquez SD12 Rafael Marquez III
9. Juan Manuel Marquez Draw12 Manny Pacquiao I
10. Micky Ward MD10 Arturo Gatti I

 

Hmm, that's a pretty tough. For me, I can safely say that's my top 3...everything else could easily be interchangeable. I feel bad that I didn't include one Cotto fight. He's been quite a few thrillers against Torres, Judah, Mosley, etc. Hopkins-Trinidad, Trindad-Vargas, Calzaghe-Kessler, etc. etc. among many, many others, all could have been in the top 10 as well. I don't know, tough call a lot of hairsplitting had to be done.

 

I see that many/most people are bigger on the Gatti-Ward fight(s) than I am...so far in 15 of the lists it has been included...I guess it lies in the eye of the beholder, but I don't believe it would make my top 20-30??? Oh well, to each their own....Since I seem to enjoy the Hatton-Tszyu fight, more than most, maybe I should just be quiet and leave well enough alone!

Somsak Sithchatchawal TKO10 Mahyar Monshipour...I must plead ignorance and claim that I have never seen it...a situation I will rectify over the weekend...I have heard people talking about it for a few years, but it has somehow slipped beneath my radar.

 

The Gatti Vs Ward battles are pretty entertaining!!...Where the hell you been Philly!?..:huh..Good to see you.

 

Looking at the lists, I still don't really get all the Vasquez-Marquez I calls. Nice fight, of course, but II and particularly III were far better by my recollection. KD aside, I remember it as being somewhat of a Rafa showcase. Pretty anti-climatic ending, too. I'll be happy to revisit the series pretty soon though, so I'll see if I'm missing something.

 

I rewatched Somsak Sithchatchawal TKO10 Mahyar Monshipour because it was fight of the year and it's been getting so many votes here. It failed to impress me again. It has volume action but not quality action, and it just isn't anywhere near an even fight. I was never in doubt about the ending since Sithchatchawal was so much better than Monshipour. Monshipour kept up a constant barrage, and he gets credit for heart and persistence, but only one in five (possibly less) of his punches were landing clean. Sithchatchawal was just like block, duck, slip, roll, counter the whole fight and everything he threw connected.

The first Gatti/Ward fight may have actually been the first fight I ever watched. I remember thinking the two of them would both die in the ring that night. Constant back and forth action and the ninth round was a doozy. It made me a fan for life. I was on my feet just roaring at the tv from maybe the fifth round on. Good chins and poor defense is one recipe for a great fight. It also helps to have a visual aid to measure the damage being done, and Gatti's head would cut or swell up like a beach ball if you even looked at him wrong. People love those bloody mask fights.

When I look back at the Gatti/Ward fight I can see why some people rate other more technical fights higher, and that is definitely an important factor. But it's not just about the technical level, or even the volume and pacing of a fight. There are also certain intangibles to consider like, are the fighters giving everything they have and going all out? Are they throwing with bad intentions? And then both fighters should also have a sort of leading man quality, like an actor, that makes them fun to watch. I've seen guys that were first class technically but didn't have that certain telegenic quality, or who's fights never had half the heat in them of a Gatti or Ward fight.

I second that opinion. The unsatisfying ending kept it from being as good as 2 or 3.

 

I do agree with you on the Gatti-Ward subject. It's sort of a bit like I said a couple of posts up, there is a lot of hair splitting when it comes to lists like these. I had Ward-Gatti I barely make it at 10th, but it could easily be replaced with a number of fights and realistically it could fall all the way down to 20, 25, 30. It's a tough thing to do. There's definitely a lot of range and nothing really is set in stone, for me anyway. You know, number 4 and 5 could fall to 10 and 11, or even further than that. It's very debatable.

Totally agree with you there, I thought that was one series where each fight just got better and better...aside from the 4th fight, which I wouldn't really count. But, yeah, with all the lists that have included the first fight I was thinking about revisiting that first fight myself.