By Stephen Johnson, Examiner.com
There should be no doubt as to who the most dominant fighter in the last ten years was in the sport of boxing as Floyd "Maynever", Jr. (41-0, 25 KO's) was, and still is, the "brass ring" for all competitiors from 147 pounds and under.
Manny Pacquiao (52-3-2, 38 KO's) was recently given an award from WBC President Jose Sulaiman as it's Fighter of the Decade, which would have to span from January 1, 2000 through December 31, 2010 to be accurate, that just doesn't pass the "smell test".
One should not cloud the achievements of "Maynever", Jr. inside the ring, with his weird and dangerous antics outside of it as his displayed abilities over the last ten years are second-to-none.
If there a new award given for Fighter of the Last Several Years, Pacquiao would face stiff resistance for even that from "Maynever", Jr., as the two are the best at what they do.
When Manny Pacquiao stopped Marco Antonio Barrera on November 15, 2003, he effectively made his presence known on the feather/super featherweight scene where he followed that victory with his first win over Juan Manuel Marquez on May 8, 2004, and suffered his third career defeat at the hands of Erik Morales on March 19, 2005.
Pacquiao avenged the Morales loss on January 21, 2006 with a brilliant tenth round TKO win and to end the trilogy, on November 18, 2006, Morales was destroyed in a brilliant third round KO performance by Pacquiao.
If you really want to get into specifics, Manny Pacquiao has had an outstanding last two years where he defeated the likes of David Diaz (June of '08), Oscar de la Hoya (December of '08), Ricky Hatton (May '09), Miguel Angel Cotto (November of '09), Joshua Clottey (March of '10), and Antonio Margarito (November of '10).
In the years from 2003-2010 Manny Pacquiao has fought Erik Morales three times, Marco Antonio Barrera twice, and Juan Manuel Marquez twice, (totalling seven) which were the biggest fights out there at the time.
Prior to the Barrera bout in November of 2003, Manny Pacquiao fought the bulk of his career in the Phillipines against fighters you would know the names of, only if you followed the bantamweight and flyweight divisions in that country.
This is taking nothing from the Congressman from the Phillipines, just stating fact.
During the ten year stretch associated with what is termed a "decade", Floyd "Maynever", Jr. was mixing it up with the likes of Emanuel Augustus (October of 2000), Diego Corrales (January of '01), Jesus Chavez (November of '01), Jose Luis Castillo twice (April and December of '02), Phillip N'dou (November of '03), DeMarcus Corley (May of '04), Arturo Gatti (June of '05), Sharmba Mitchell (November of '05). Zab Judah (April of '06), Oscar de la Hoya (May of '07), Ricky Hatton (December of '07), Juan Manuel Marquez (September of '09), and Shane Mosley (May of 2010).
"Maynever", Jr.'s decision to take a brief retirement allowed the name of Manny Pacquiao to take the spotlight when, at the time of his departure, there were no real opponents that could motivate either "Maynever, Jr., or the boxing public.
Manny Pacquiao is a tremendous talent and his respect shown for opponents in and outside of the ring is what the sporting world desperately needs more of, but when you compare the opponents of the two pound-for-pound recognized best fighters in the world, over the last ten years (what comprises a decade), it's really not even close.
Sportsman of the Decade, Ambassador of Boxing in the last decade, and almost any other award you would like to see given to Manny Pacquiao, he would be a most deserving recipient for what he has brought to the sport.
But the title of Fighter of the Decade clearly belongs to Floyd "Maynever", Jr.
This coming from someone who clearly sees the vast, and now seemingly dangerous, number of character flaws exhibited by "Maynever", Jr. that should take away from his marketability, not his talent in the ring.
This is taking nothing from the pride of Grand Rapids, Michigan, just stating fact.
Sheila Frazier (Denver): "Pacquiao is great for the sport and my personal favorite, but the record you just showed me would question whether he has been the best in the last decade".
Don Fullbright (Denver): "Floyd has to clean up his act for me to give him any award. Domestic issues, roughing up security guards and the like make him ineligible for awards outside of the ring".
Eric Dowell (Aurora): "Pacquiao had seven total fights with Morales, Barrera, and Marquez during the last seven years. That was the best information I've seen as a direct reflection on the undefeated resume of Mayweather".
Source: examiner.com
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