60. Hasim Rahman TKO7 Corrie Sanders
I admit to having some bias when it comes to Hasim. He is a hometown fighter who I?ve met on several occasions. But one thing that really irritates me, and is completely unfounded, is when I hear or read people questioning his heart. Rock may not have had the greatest chin or skills, but he had balls for days and always went out on his shield.
This dramatic slugfest saw Sanders, the Wladimir Klitschko conqueror, blitzing Rahman early with his trademark straight left hands. After being floored early on, Rahman defied his critics and ate everything Sanders could throw before coming back late and ending things with a barrage of his own.
59. Rafael Marquez TKO7 Israel Vazquez
This is the first of their three epics that I assume everyone has already seen, if not, call in sick, get some beer, and watch them now! These trilogies are difficult to place, some of them I can combine into one entry, but all three of these two gladiators? bouts told their own story and each one was more beautifully violent than the bout that preceded it.
The consensus going in was that Marquez was coming up from bantamweight to take Israel?s 122 pound title in a bout that is perfectly labeled as a hard core fans superfight. Anybody who knows the vaguest details about either man knew this would be a barnburner. And it was, Marquez sledgehammer jab began to disfigure Vazquez?s nose early on. Israel?s shots appeared to carry more force and he dropped Rafael in the third round. The furious back and forth exchanges ended prematurely on this night, as Israel had to retire due to his broken nose. We will have much more on these two later on?
58. Marcos Maidana UD12 Erik Morales
What can you say about Erik Morales? Out of the ring for three years and he comes back with a series of lesser fights amid cries of how shot and used up he is. I found this quite strange because Manny Pacquaio is considered the best fighter in the world, a demolition machine, except for when it comes to Erik Morales. Suddenly losing to Pac in competitive fashion meant that Morales could no longer take a punch or even dish one out of his own. Some of us never wavered in our faith, and we were, once again, rewarded to an epic display of courage and what Boxing is all about on April 9th, 2011.
I don?t want to make this a one way ride. Maidana is a cyborg-like fighter that is willing to take ten to get in one and his relentless forward pressure will test the resolve of any fighter in the world. After he nearly decapitated Amir Khan in a close decision loss, nobody wanted to face the Nicaraguan menace, well, almost nobody. Morales once again looked for the fight that would generate the most excitement, money be damned, and give him the opportunity to prove to the morons that he wasn?t a ?quitter? and he wasn?t ?shot?.
Things didn?t look good early as an uppercut from Maidana had Erik?s eye closing less than a minute into the fight as Marcos looked for an early finish. With each punishing shot his opponent landed, Morales got more and more comfortable until he started to come back with counters of his own. In round five a vintage Morales burst of shots drove Maidana across the ring, and the next few rounds saw the one eyed warrior giving way better than he was getting.
El Terrible gassed a bit down the stretch and Maidana rallied in the last 2 rounds. But for the first time in my life, I didn?t care who had won the decision. Erik Morales had vindicated himself in the most heroic of ways. I?m not too proud to say I was choked up as I sent off single word text messages of Legend! And in an era where three tune-ups and a mismatch constitute a $50 ppv, he had given me another priceless memory in a catalog that just keeps on giving.
57. Manny Pacquiao SD12 Juan Manuel Marquez
These two just mesh perfectly, speed and leading vs precision and countering. I must admit I thought Manny was going to walk all over Marquez at the higher weight in this one. That was a mistake I caution people not to repeat when they clash for the third time this November. These guys have always been the same size. Now it certainly hasn?t hurt Pacquaio not to cut weight and his improvement coupled with Marquez aging could lead to many finally getting a clean W. But it won?t be because of weight.
The fight was a back and forth battle with dramatic twists and turns that left nobody really knowing who had bested the other. A knockdown from Pacquaio proved to be the deciding factor in the razor close decision that most observers thought had gone the other way. I was in the minority and thought that Manny just edged it and it screamed for an immediate rematch. Sadly, Arum went for the easy title with David Diaz. But come November, they will finally settle their score and more than likely push their way onto this list.
