2017 has been called the year which saved boxing. As is usually the case, reports of death were premature?
2017 has been called the year which saved boxing. As is usually the case, reports of death were premature. The big names and fights led to many people calling 2017 one of the best years boxing has had for a while. But, boxing in 2017 will also be remembered for an almost unprecedented rash of retirements. We look back at the men who have retired, their careers and legacy. Of course perhaps the biggest debate could come when these men line up for the admission into the International Boxing Hall of Fame. Even when you look at those who will not be mentioned in this, there are popular boxers who have had great careers such as Takashi Miura, Paulie Malignaggi, Robert Stieglitz, Beibut Shumenov and Nathan Cleverly.
The greatest fighter of this era?post Oscar and Jones [1]?is almost undoubtedly Floyd Mayweather Jr. He comes from a boxing family including Dad Floyd, Uncles Jeff and Roger. He was a superb amateur, only winning bronze at the 1996 Olympics after a controversial loss to Serafim Todorov, having become the first American to defeat a Cuban in 20 years. He has held fifteen world titles in five weight classes and dominated the sport throughout that time period. He was twice named The Ring Fighter of the Year in 1998 and 2007. 1998 was the first year he become world champion, with his best win being a stoppage victory over Genaro Hernandez, the lineal champion. In 2007 he beat Oscar De La Hoya and Ricky Hatton to win the award. The ESPY?s also named him the best fighter six times.
His impact goes far beyond boxing, as he transcended sport into mainstream media, making appearances on WWE and Dancing with the Stars. This popularity saw him smash pay-per-view records and dominate the Forbes highest paid athlete lists for most of this decade. Nine times he has topped one million buys, twice going over two million and twice over four million including earlier this year for a super fight with Conor McGregor. His defensive style meant that he was often derided by casuals but to many boxing purists, watching Mayweather showed boxing at its best. There were a few fights that he arguably missed out on, but he fought a who?s who of the divisions during his fifteen-year period of dominance. His biggest fight arguably came against Manny Pacquiao, and he dominated the Filipino superstar to a clear decision. Other huge wins included Canelo Alvarez, Marcos Maidana twice, Miguel Cotto, Shane Mosley, Juan Manuel Marquez, Ricky Hatton, Oscar De La Hoya, Zab Judah, Diego Corrales and Jose Luis Castillo twice. Not many can match such an impressive list.
The order of this list will cause many debates but for me the second name on the hall of fame ballot should be Andre Ward. The last time he lost, he was only 13 years old, in 1998. This is not the case of Sven Ottke who did not have big fights. Ward went looking for huge bouts and arguably his retirement came because there were no more big fights out there for him [2]. That loss was one of only five amateur losses and he topped it off by winning the Light Heavyweight gold in the 2004 Olympics, the first American to capture gold in eight years including a seven point victory over reigning world champion Evgeny Makarenko. His style saw him use his intelligence and a dominant jab to not let opponents ever settle. He also won a Ring Fighter of The Year award, this time 2011 when winning the Super Six World Boxing Classic with two dominant wins over Arthur Abraham and Carl Froch.
The Super Six was his coming out party. He entered the tournament unbeaten and with a good win over Edison Miranda but was not considered to be a favorite. The closest anyone got to him in any tournament bout was Carl Froch, who was down by two points on two cards but eight on the other. It was somewhere in between but Ward was so dominant that no one could have seen Froch beating him in a rematch. Promotional struggles meant that for the five years following the Super Six triumph, he only has three bouts. This was Ward looking to get the best possible deal for himself and not willing to box for less value. Thankfully we did get a second part of his career. He boxed dominant Light Heavyweight Sergey Kovalev, twice defeating the Russian, both times in controversial circumstances. The first came by on a close decision which saw him dropped early but come back with great body work to just edge the decision. The second he was beating Kovalev when he stopped him in the eighth but at least one punch was low. He also had dominating wins over Sullivan Barrera and Chad Dawson.
Thankfully for voters to the International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF)[3], Sugar Shane Mosley had his final fight in 2016, meaning they will not have to decide whether he deserves entry in this class. His r?sum? is slightly dented by the BALCO scandal which saw him admit to applying EPO and steroids prior to the Oscar De La Hoya rematch despite him claiming he was unaware that he was taking a banned substance. Although never Ring Fighter of the Year, like the two men above him he held the Pound-for-Pound crown. He was an athletic freak who dominated the lightweight division after first winning the IBF title against Philip Holiday. Holiday was one of the two men at lightweight to take him to a decision. His huge wins came up at Welterweight, but many believe Shane to be almost unbeatable at Lightweight given his speed, size and power.
He won the lineal Welterweight Title over Oscar De La Hoya with a split decision win. Coming up against the unbeaten Vernon Forrest, he was heavy favorite but the jab of Forrest carried him to a wide win. An immediate rematch saw the same result with Forrest dominating Mosley. He went on to rematch De La Hoya, winning a controversial decision. Again as heavy favorite, this time up at light Middleweight, he lost to the bigger Winky Wright who again dominated with his strong jab. Two wins came against Fernando Vargas before stepping back down to Welterweight and beating Luis Collazo. Many thought his last stand came when losing to Miguel Cotto but he rebounded with a last second stoppage of Ricardo Mayorga and then arguably his greatest win as a 4-1 underdog against Antonio Margarito. The losses piled up after this as he lost to Canelo Alvarez, Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather but perhaps came closest to beating Mayweather when he severely wobbled him in round two.
James Toney was also a two-time Ring Fighter of the Year, winning it in 1991 and 2003. He has told all that he was retired after his fight with Mike Shepperd earlier this year[4]. He was a three weight world champion and a fascinating what if, given his undeniable talent but frustrating habits. For a man who was a three weight world champion with numerous great wins and such amazing skills it seems wrong that many still consider him to have wasted potential. He never had discipline with his training habits or weight. His banner year was 1991 when he was hungry for belts, and he won the Middleweight Title upsetting Michael Nunn. He also had wins over Merqui Sosa and Reggie Johnson as well as a draw over Mike McCallum. His 2003 was arguably just as impressive. He beat Vassiliy Jirov for the IBF Cruiserweight Title in a fight of the year candidate and then moved up to Heavyweight, becoming only the second man to stop Evander Holyfield.
He would have been the third man to win the Heavyweight title after holding the Middleweight title but his victory over John Ruiz for the WBA Title was overturned when he tested positive for stanozolol. His first loss came against arch rival Roy Jones although he claims a lack of training cost him. Unfortunately as a fan we never got to see one of the best defensive fighters of his generation?a peak Toney?take one of the best offensive fighters of his generation in Jones. He also had wins over Tim Littles, Mike McCallum, Doug DeWitt and Iran Barkley. His defense was truly superb with an ability to stand in the pocket and not be hit. He also had a great chin and big power which could carry him in a war. His talent is unquestionable and he had a great career despite not reaching the level he maybe should have.
Also having his last fight before 2017, but officially announcing his retirement this year was Juan Manuel Marquez. The Mexican will perhaps be best remembered as the nearly man. The third Mexican to be a four-weight world champion after Erik Morales and Jorge Arce. His major legacy will perhaps be to be remembered as the defining opponent of Manny Pacquiao. The two fought four times; Marquez being successful only once with a draw and two defeats as well. That does not tell the story of those fights and if you watch the 42 rounds then you will probably believe Marquez came out on top. The first and last rounds were the most one-sided in an incredibly competitive series. Marquez was dropped three times in the first round of the first fight. He returned and counterpunched with a look to control the pace of the fight. The final round of the fourth fight saw Marquez knock Pacquiao unconscious with an overhand right despite actually losing most of that round. Bouts two and three were incredible with Pacquiao taking two razor thin decisions that Marquez arguably deserved.
His career, although defined by Pacquiao, is far more than just four bouts with the Filipino. He also had a win over Mexican legend Marco Antonio Barrera and missed out on big fights with Erik Morales and Naseem Hamed which would surely have only boosted his legacy. Late in his career he would shine as a lightweight with superb wins in great fights over Juan Diaz, Michael Katsidis and Joel Casamayor to become the oldest Lightweight World Champion of all time. His r?sum? is a bit spotted with a few losses that look out of place such as Freddie Norwood, Tim Bradley and Chris John. Wins over Rocky Juarez and Orlando Salido are also good looking wins over contenders in the division. He was actually a superb counterpuncher with a tactical intelligence from his partnership with Nacho Beristain. He had the hearts and guts of a brawler and had the chin to help him through the toughest punches.
Wladimir Klitschko could miss out on first year entry to the IBHOF but the Ukrainian younger brother will surely get there eventually. He dominated an admittedly poor heavyweight division along with his brother over ten years. He was a highly decorated amateur, going 134-6 and winning gold at the 1996 Olympics. The list of stats he attained as Heavyweight champion are incredible. He had the longest combined title reign of 4,383 days and the second most title defenses with 23 defeating 12 boxers who were previously undefeated. The knock on Klitschko was always that the division was weak. Obviously no fault of his own, it never helped that people labeled his careful style as boring. The last fight of his career, a war with Anthony Joshua, may actually help his legacy as he showed he can be in exciting fights and also his courage when his back is against the wall.
Prior to the Joshua fight his chin was seen as a huge weakness which he had to hide, having been stopped by Ross Puritty, Corrie Sanders and Lamon Brewster. His first title came in 2000 when defeating Chris Byrd for the WBO Title. His best wins came in his final reign after he began being trained by Emanuel Steward. He took on and beat all comers, except for his brother. His wins include Lamon Brewster, Sultan Ibragimov, Ruslan Chagaev, Samuel Peter, David Haye, Alexander Povetkin and Kubrat Pulev. He ended his career with two losses, one to Anthony Joshua and before that Tyson Fury. He boxed behind his jab, pawing away with his huge size to wear down opponents, usually stopping them late.
Miguel Cotto took the unusual step of announcing his retirement in advance. This meant that people saw his final year?beating Yoshihiro Kamegai and losing against Sadam Ali?as a disappointment. He was the first four weight world champion from Puerto Rico. Unfortunately for Cotto his most famous fight is probably a defeat. Antonio Margarito wore him down with his pressure fighting eventually stopping a bloodied Cotto. He would later come under suspicious of using loaded hand wraps. Arguably Cotto was never quite as impressive after that defeat. He did manage to get revenge on Margarito, stopping him in ten. He also shared a ring with the stars of his era, losing to Canelo Alvarez, Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao. His other losses came in a shock against Austin Trout and in his last bout against Ali. Many thought he was done but he rebounded to become the Middleweight Champion defeating a hobbled Sergio Martinez.
His prime came at Light Welterweight as a hard hitting pressure fighter. He had wins over Lovemore N?dou, Kelson Pinto, Randall Bailey, Ricardo Torres and Paulie Malignaggi. Unfortunately a bout with Ricky Hatton never came to pass but it would have been an incredible fight. Up at Welterweight he also had wins over Joshua Clottey, Carlos Quintana, Shane Mosley and Zab Judah. Cotto is one of the more celebrated boxers of this era although it has been pointed out that for the second half of his career his cultural resonance was greater than his boxing ability. A lot of his fame came from being the preeminent Puerto Rican boxer of his era and I wonder in hindsight whether his career will look slightly less impressive.
Another boxer who will have a chance to enter the hall of fame early as his last fight came in 2016 is Timothy Bradley. He got to a high of third in The Ring pound-for-pound rankings and was possibly underrated throughout his career. It perhaps played into that narrative after his biggest win was mainly seen as a farcical decision. He ended Manny Pacquiao?s seven year unbeaten streak with a split decision in a close bout that most thought Pacquiao won. The pair would engage in two more bouts that Pacquiao would win. The third fight was supposed to be the Filipino?s final bout but it ended up being the last bout of Bradley and Pacquiao would return. He had a superb all-round skill set and arguably did not have the big fights he deserved because he was not a large character.
His biggest win probably came over Juan Manuel Marquez in a split decision which most saw as wider. It showed how frustrating Bradley can be though as he often dominated the majority of the round but would get lazy and let Marquez in. He won his first title as a big unknown underdog when his bank account was down to only $11 by dominating Junior Witter. At Light Welterweight he was dominant, easily defeating Kendall Holt and Lamont Peterson but showed his heart after being dropped twice by Holt. Ruslan Provodnikov, Devon Alexander, Jessie Vargas and Brandon Rios were also all defeated by Bradley but unfortunately an oft feted clash with Amir Khan was never made.
Takashi Uchiyama was nowhere near as celebrated as most of the boxers on the list, a by-product of fighting solely in Japan, but he enjoyed a superb career. He also got onto The Ring pound-for-pound list, topping out at number ten. His last fight also technically came in 2016 as he was on the big New Years Eve card in Japan. He held WBA Super Featherweight Title for almost seven years before a shocking knockout loss to Jezreel Corrales. He was a superb technician who boxed in a lovely style to watch. His best wins include Takashi Miura, Juan Carlos Salgado and Jorge Solis.
Jean Pascal was a boxer I had a soft spot for. This begun when he waged war on Carl Froch, losing a superb bout. Following that he moved to Light Heavyweight, winning the title against Adrian Diaconu. It may not have been a hall of fame career, with his best wins being Lucian Bute, Chad Dawson and two victories over Diaconu. He did get a draw by Bernard Hopkins but lost in the rematch. He also lost twice to Sergey Kovalev and also late on to Eleider Alvarez. His final bout saw Pascal stop the young prospect Ahmed Elbiali. He was a super athletic boxer, with great power and chin despite sometimes lacking boxing IQ.
Robert Guerrero is another underrated boxer who will be overshadowed by the names he retired alongside. He was a two weight world champion who also held interim world title belts in two more weight divisions. His record looks worse thanks to his late career struggles which saw him lose five of his last seven bouts. The first of those losses came on his biggest stage as he earned $3 million in losing to Floyd Mayweather. He earned that shot after a good run which saw him defeat Andre Berto, Michael Katsidis and Joel Casamayor. His early titles came at Featherweight and Super Featherweight with wins over Eric Aiken, Jason Litzau, Spend Abazi and Malcolm Klaasen.
You can argue whether many of these count as the class of 2017, given they had their last fight at an earlier date. That also suggests that the more boxers will end up having their last fight in 2017. The greatest of those is probably Roy Jones Jr. He would slot in behind Mayweather in this class after his bout with Bobby Gunn in February. Freddie Roach has been encouraging Manny Pacquiao that after his defeat to Jeff Horn, he should retire. I also wonder if 2017 could be the last year we see David Haye, Marco Huck, Shinsuke Yamanaka, Arthur Abraham, Roman Gonzalez, Ricky Burns and Guillermo Rigondeaux. That would only add to the incredible quality of the class of 2017.
[1] I know the eras overlap but they were at their best a while before you would consider Floyd at his best. [2] I mean an offer went out for Ward to box Frank Buglioni. How far down the list must that fight have been. Frank turned it down because he knew he had no chance according to a recent interview. [3] Usually the IBHOF ballot consists of 30 boxers, three of whom are five years removed from their final fight. Although with a strong class this year, they expanded that to five. You can then vote up to five in and the top three vote getters will get in. [4] He has had an unlicensed fight this year but does not think he will ever have a licensed fight again. I for one hope not?http://www.boxing.com/before_the_lights_go_out.html
