Think about all the meaningful fights we've had & are going to have. I've only been big into boxing for a lil over 10 years, but I can't remember this many important fights for both casual & serious fans. We've seen contenders emerge as heir-apparents on the backs of top-tier opponents who were supposed to expose them (Sam Peter W12 James Toney, Chad Dawson W12 Tomacz Admaek, Juan Diaz TKO8 Acelino Freitas, Paulie Malignaggi W12 Lovemour Ndou, Miguel Cotto KO11 Zab Judah, Paul Williams W12 Antonio Margarito, Kelly Pavlik KO7 Edison Miranda). We've seen P4P elites face off or, at least, schedule to face off (Floyd Mayweather Jr. W12 Oscar De La Hoya, Bernard Hopkins W12 Winky Wright, Joe Calzaghe vs. Mikkel Kessler, Miguel Cotto vs. Shane Mosley, Floyd Mayweather vs. Ricky Hatton). We've seen the king's take on the best that their division has to offer (Jean-Marc Mormeck W12 Oneill Bell & vs. David Haye, Jermain Taylor vs. Kelly Pavlik, Rafael Marquez TKO7 Israel Vazquez, Juan Manuel Marquez W12 Marco Antonio Barrera). And finally, we've seen more progress this year in the HW division than we've seen since Holyfield vs. Lewis. Wladimir Klitschko finally gave the public a champ that brought stability to the belt and set himself up as the definitive #1 in the division even if he has only 1 belt. Chagaev & Ibragimov are finally giving us a unification fight that brings up 1 step closer to an undisputed HW champion. And for the first time in a while all the belt-holders (& Sam Peter if he wins vs. Maskaev) can claim that they are the very best in the division b/c they beat the best to get a piece of the HW titles. Has there been a better year in boxing than 2007 in the last 25 years? I dont' think so.
****ing huge year thats for sure... .....puts '06 to shame, and its exactly what we needed for our sport! ****ing delighted
This has been a great year for boxing certainly, but there were quite a few in the 80s and 90s were there were enough big fights to rival it. The emergence of Tyson in the mid 80s, coupled with the rise of the '84 U.S. Olympic team fighters, the big fights between Hagler, Hearns, Leonard, etc. And then in the early 90s there were several very good years, when you had the Bowe-Holyfield figths, Foreman improbable winning of the HW title, etc. The past 25 years of boxing history is not as bad as some like to portray, but I think this year looks especially good because the early part of THIS decade was so bad. Is this the best year of THIS decade? Quite probably. Of the last 25 years? That's VERY arguable.
Briggs, Byrd and Chambers are big names....jk jk jk. It has been a fantastic year. Too many good to fantastic fights to mention without forgetting a few here and there. AND, its only getting better! Cant wait for Vazquez - Marquez....
