Fighter of the Decade: Pacquiao, Mayweather or Hopkins
December 21st, 2009
By Sam Singh: As the ’00s come to an end, it’s time to consider potential candidates as to determining the ‘Fighter of the Decade’. After careful consideration of what has been an eventful decade for the sport of boxing, my three candidates, in no particular order, are: Manny Pacquiao, Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Bernard Hopkins.
It’s also worth noting that unlike Mayweather Jr. and Hopkins, who both fought some of their bigger fights against smaller men, Pacquiao has been challenging naturally bigger fighters.
Similarly, over the last 10 years, Floyd Mayweather Jr. has had 20 championship fights. Mayweather Jr. captured championships at weights as high as 154lbs pounds and scored notable victories over Diego Corrales, Jose Luis Castillo (twice), Zab Judah, Oscar De La Hoya, Ricky Hatton and Juan Manuel Marquez.
During this time, Mayweather has come under a lot of criticism for his style of fighting as well as his selection of opponents. Some Mayweather critics say Floyd runs more than he fights. But Bernard Hopkins, who recently criticized Mayweather for not fighting Mosley, said, “Floyd don’t run from nobody. I’ve seen Floyd counter punch; I’ve seen Floyd move; I’ve seen Floyd use his speed, use his quickness. But I’ve never seen Floyd run.”
Still, Mayweather critics claim he ducked the tough fights, managing to avoid the likes of Shane Mosley, Antonio Margarito and Miguel Cotto.
My third and final candidate is Bernard Hopkins. Over the last decade, Hopkins has accumulated notable victories against the likes of Felix Trinidad, Oscar De La Hoya, Antonio Tarver, Winky Wright & Kelly Pavlik. He also ‘lost’ very close and controversial decisions to Joe Calzaghe and Jermain Taylor. Not to forget his other stellar wins against the likes of Glen Johnson and Keith Holmes. Hopkins has fought them all.
It’s difficult to determine but it’s a close call between Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr.
It’ll be much clearer after they’ve fought.
Tags: 43 Responses to “Fighter of the Decade: Pacquiao, Mayweather or Hopkins”
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kayat buhagay mo tanan the fighter of the deacade is kayat buhagay…
I think PacMan. He is not talented than Mayweather but most people loved to watch his fight. He is the most exciting fighter i ever seen. For me the impact you make on other people is better than your talent.
Achievements wise it’s hands down Manny Pacquiao. He resuscitated boxing near the end of the decade. Out of the ring, he’s respectable than the others.
Pacquiao should be the fighter of the decade.
-He faught fighters that are bigger and stronger than him and never back out and ducks opponents WIN or LOSE.
-He won 7 belts in 7 weight division including many awards and recognitions.
AND LASTLY!
-Inspiration and good example for the youth, sports athletes and as well as sports fans.
well the pacman has won 3 fighter of the year awards this decade he is only 1 of the 3 boxer who have 3 of those awards in history,fight 5 hall of famers,2 of them twice.won 7 belts in 7 weight classes & 4 lineal titles…its the accomplishment this decade,even if you think mayweather is more talented,he cannot top the achivements of pacman this decade…maybe the next decade is for him if he beats pacman…
Fighter of the Decade. . .? who else . .is there any other EXCITING fighter inside the ring? . its the PACMAN, the P4P KING. . give Mayweather the boxer of the decade.
just looking over the comments…one thing is getting to me:
“bernard hopkins: he’s faced everybody”.
new to boxing guys?
This article significantly differs from Thomas H’s article on HBO. He incluced Joe Calzaghe which is a slap in the face to the sport of boxing.
not even close !! FLOYD MAYWEATHER JUNIOR , not even close .. he has fought mostly guys BIGGER than him , and beat em all !! with only a couple of the fights being close , floyd proves time and time again he can adapt and beat all fighters .. i agree hopkins is an all time great , however he is a dirty fighter ! manny p. is also great but he dont have the skills of a floyd mayweather ..manny in a way is like james toney , if you come forward he will look real good , on the other hand if you are a great defensive fighter that fights backing up they are exposed !! mayweather is the best there is at this style..its allready been proved that pac can be out boxed…what do you think is going to happen when manny fights the best fighter of the last decade [mayweather] ?? thats right ..alot of people WANT floyd to lose but it wont be this fight ..sorry to let yall down ..
Hopkins no way, his fights are boring he’s a racist and gets away with it. Doesn’t deserve to be even considered for fighter of the decade. Mayweather
Good spot Blah. This “writer” copies/summarises an article on the HBO website and then takes credit for it. Seriously were does this website get these people from.
Mayweather, Pacquiao and Hopkins have all cherry picked opponents in there career. Anyone naive enough to believe that Mayweather is the only one out there doing it knows nothing about boxing.
Toss up between Hopkins and Pacman because they fought everyone. FMJ retired when it was time for him to fight Margarito, Cotto, Mosley. He could have won these fights but he chose not to challenge the fighters or challenge himself with good competition. FMJ has all the talent in the world.
Floyd dominated since he started boxing for about 15 years. He should be the fighter of the decade.
Pac sudden rise is attributed to his hyped win against Oscar followed by Hatton and Cotto. So, he could be the fighter of the year. 2008-2009.
Way to summarize an article written by Thomas Hauser in HBO.com and call it your own. Except you left out the last sentence of the article.
MAnny PAcquiao is the true fighter.
Klitschkos brothers are the best forever
Since the article is asking for “Fighter of the Decade,” it’s definitely Pacquiao. If it was asking for “Boxer of the Decade,” then it’s a tie between Manny and Floyd. Of all three, it seems that the true fighter is Manny. The guy fights 36 minutes in each match he’s in. As far as boxing, boxing is both offense and defense. In my opinion, Manny’s offense is as great as Floyd’s defense. Therefore, it’s a toss up. No offense to Hopkins but his name just doesn’t come to mind. I don’t think he’s as impressive as Manny or Floyd. I’m sure he is to most people but he just doesn’t leave a lasting impression on me. I just don’t see him as complete as Manny and Floyd.
imo calzaghe…
but those three plus wlad k, wonjongkam, jmm & mosley have got to be in the mix too…it’s all down to opinion.
The winner of the Mayweather-Pacquiao fight will be crowned as the Undisputed, Unquestioned, and Undeniably the #1 Pound 4 Pound Fighting Champion of the decade as well as our era.
Let’s crown him and enjoy the fact that we were able to witnes one of the most talented fighters EVER!
Its a joy to be a boxing fan right now!
…let 50 percents comes from the people and 50 percent from the juries…
Kuplit, VERY good question. And after answering those questions, Floyd Mayweather is the winner. Like him or not….Cherry picking or not….Exciting to watch or not….The man has some serious boxing skills and defensive wizardry. And to me, he is very exciting to watch because of his amazing techicality and ring generalship.(As Jim Lampley would say)
Mayweather or Pacquiao. I would say Mayweather except for Pac’s stronger finish tied it up.
i vote manuel perez for ring girl of the decade.
Good article but there was nothing controversial about hopkins loss to calzaghe. I think manny is the fighter of the decade he has fought some of the best opposition available and come out on top almost every time.
To truly be a champion, you have to defend the title after you win it. How many of those titles that Manny won has he defended?
It’s a whole ‘nother kind of pressure when you got someone coming after your spot, when you’re the hunted and not the hunter.
Mayweather by technical stppage.
All these men are men of great talent. However it seems My man Mayweather never gets the credit due.You have to have talent there is no way you have a 40-0 record just by luck The Man has talent. At the end of the day you can’t take anything away from him.
In both Castillo fights Mayweather weighed a lot less than him. Gosh people do your homework before you comment. No wonder Mayweather behaves the way he does. All these skewed facts. Even when he wins he will not reason the gratification he is due, will be all kinds of criticism.
Guest well said, i’m sick of all these people putting down Floyd, i’d like to see you all beat those 40 opponents that Mayweather has beat.
Matthew Hatton
The Klitschko Brothers thats my opinion
Manny no doubt. To be fighter of the decade you have to take risks and the greatest risk taker was Pacquiao because he fought champions who were bigger than him. Plus most critics thought he would lose and ended up proving them wrong.
Why out of the three boxers you state do you only write something negative about Mayweather?
Mayweather has only ever fought two boxers who were smaller than him, Hatton and Marquez. Yes he hasn’t fought the best in 147lbs, but other than that he has been in with some top boxers in the lower divisions.
I don’t think there is or should be a fighter of the decade. The three mentioned have achieved amazing things over the past decade or so, why can’t people just agree that they are all great in there own right and leave it at that?
Manuel Perez is the boxing writer of the decade…not! LOL.
bernard hopkins has fought them all and is a living hall of famer
hopkins
Mayweather it has to be .. the money he makes the 24/7s it was unreal .. got to enjoy his interviews. . his all around skill he is pure talent ..
okay floyd fought two guys who were smaller get over it….the dude has 40 fights and most of them were against naturally bigger fighters.. i get annoyed everytime i read something like that.
The Fighter of the Decade it’s only either Manny Pacquiao or Bernard Hopkins. I’ve seen these 2 boxers fought with other tough boxers out there – no cherry picking.
Floyd Mayweather Jr. will go along with Joe Calzaghe to be the Cherry Picker of the Decade. Maybe Floyd Mayweather will win this one.
Although i don’t think Calzaghe has been the best, he’s certainly a worthy mention and has been the UK’s best fighter over the last decade.
i think paquiao but hopkins still doing well at 43 this guy is special he makes calzaghe and hatton look like fat lazy BARstewards
Fighter of the decade? Easy. Audley Harrison.
Good article. The winner of Pac-May will determine it!