SB Nation User Blog: Brickhaus

Bad Left Hook Best of the Decade - Lightweight

Brickhaus — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 14:03:43 -0000

Mayweather and Castillo twice fought for lightweight supremacy, with Mayweather narrowly coming out on top each time.

Now that 2009 is getting close to wrapping up, it means this decade is almost over. Before the end of the year, I hope to get through all the weight classes, presenting to you some choices for the best fighter in a given weight class in the decade. I'm not going in any particular order here, but we'll get through all 17 weight classes.

When voting, please only consider the time that the fighter was in the specified weight class during this decade. Also, I'm not going to count obvious ballot stuffing when I tally these up at the end of the year.

Lightweight has been an on and off weight class through the decade. Early in the decade, it was relatively strong, although many of the best never fought each other. In the middle, there were a few guys who stepped up, but there was little depth. As the decade wore on, with fighters moving up and titlists unifying, the weight class again became much stronger, leading to the list below.

Joel Casamayor - In the decade, El Cepillo went 9-2-1, generally fighting at or near the top level of competition, and holding the Ring title for a period of time. Wins include Michael Katsidis, a contested decision over Jose Armando Santa Cruz, Chico Corrales and Nate Campbell. He also had a draw with Kid Diamond. The losses include a split decision to Jose Luis Castillo and a knockout loss to Juan Manuel Marquez in a bout that was close until the end, and that came well past Casamayor's best.

Jose Luis Castillo - Castillo went 7-3-1 at lightweight during the 2000's, but that included a run as the Ring Magazine champion and two runs as a titleholder. Wins included Stevie Johnston (with whom he also drew), Cesar Bazan, Steve Quinonez, Juan Lazcano, Joel Casamayor and Julio DIaz. One of those losses was to Mayweather, in the closest fight he's had in his career, and the only fight that people can legitimately argue that Mayweather lost. One of the losses was a fight of the year against Chico Corrales, where he was winning until Corrales took it by come from behind knockout. The third was a Mayweather rematch with a more decisive conclusion.

Juan Diaz - Baby Bull went 23-2 in the weight, including seven defenses of his WBA title and unification of three of the belts. Key victories include Popo Freitas, Julio Diaz, Lakva Sim, Randy Suico, Francisco Lorenzo and Jose Cotto. The two losses came in bloody battles to Nate Campbell and Juan Manuel Marquez.

Artur Grigorian - King Artur went 8-1 at the weight, all in defenses of his WBO title. In fairness to others, he won the title when it was not considered a major belt, and it just kind of grew into one as he held it. Of those eight wins, the most prominent were Matt Zegan, Rocky Martinez, Antonio Pitalua and Stefano Zoff. His lone loss came to Acelino Freitas, which ended a string of 18 consecutive defenses for Grigorian.

Juan Lazcano - The Hispanic Causing Panic went 12-1 at the weight in the 2000's, and may have been the best fighter of the four-belt era to never have won a title. Marquee wins included John John Molina, Stevie Johnston, Jesse James Leija, Dorin Spivey and Wilfredo Vasquez. By going after the big names much more than he went after the actual belt, it turns out that despite having a lot of great names on the resume, he still couldn't grab a belt. He went 0-1 in title fights at the weight, losing a close but clear decision to Jose Luis Castillo for the Ring Magazine title.

Juan Manuel Marquez - Marquez is to lightweight what Joe Calzaghe is to heavyweight. He's fought all of two fights in the weight class, but there's a pretty good argument that he was still the best lightweight of the decade due to who he beat. First, he beat lineal champion Joel Casamayor by 11th round technical knockout; then, he beat Juan Diaz by 9th round technical knockout. By the time Marquez got to them, both men had lost some of their luster (most thought Casamayor lost to Jose Armando Santa Cruz, and Diaz had recently lost his belts to Nate Campbell), and both fights were close and competitive before the knockouts, but in each case, Marquez found a way to win, despite the fact that he probably still could have been fighting at featherweight.

Floyd Mayweather Jr. - Mayweather didn't spend much time at lightweight, only going 5-0 at the weight, with two wins over Jose Luis Castillo, and wins over Emmanuel Augustus, Phillip N'Dou and Victoriano Sosa. Castillo was one of the top dogs at the time, and one of the decisions was highly controversial.

Paul Spadafora - Spadafora went 6-0-1 at the weight, all in defenses of his IBF title, and the one draw coming in a unification fight with Leonard Dorin. The names of the fighters he beat aren't overwhelming - probably the most recognizable are Angel Manfredy and Victoriano Sosa. But he did become somewhat notorious for being the guy Mayweather never faced. Real standup guy too. He still has never lost, in part because he lost a few years of his career to prison after shooting his pregnant girlfriend.

Other shout outs: Nate Campbell, Diego Corrales, Leonard Dorin, Popo Freitas, Zahir Raheem, Kid Diamond

Poll

Who was the best lightweight of the 2000's?

Manny Pacquiao interview on Sports Soup. Best line (about Juan Manuel Marquez): "That's why he's...

Brickhaus — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 04:42:04 -0000

Manny Pacquiao interview on Sports Soup. Best line (about Juan Manuel Marquez): "That's why he's not strong enough in the fight, he only drank his urine, he had to eat his s*@# and then" (flexes muscles)...

Went to local fair threw speed pitch. Got mad and told the guy his radar gun was wrong, then...

Brickhaus — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 20:44:36 -0000

Went to local fair threw speed pitch. Got mad and told the guy his radar gun was wrong, then punched him N the face and took a bear anyway!!

Our old buddy Seth McClung, via Twitter.

Live stream of Cotto-Pacquiao press conference

Brickhaus — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 20:29:24 -0000

Live stream of Cotto-Pacquiao press conference

The final fight presser will start at 4:00 p.m. Eastern time, streaming live at HBO.com.

TV and Internet Fight Schedule - Weekend of November 13

Brickhaus — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 18:04:41 -0000

There's really one fight that matters this weekend. But here are a few others, in case you need a little warm-up to get the blood pumping.

Friday, November 13

Sky Sports, 5 p.m. Eastern, Matthew Hatton vs. Lovemore N'Dou, Darren McDermott vs. Danny Butler, Rob Norton vs. Akinyemi Laleye. Bad Left Hook will be providing live round by round coverage. This is the first "title fight" that Ricky Hatton is promoting. Former junior welterweight paper titlist N'Dou will take on tough but not skilled Hatton in an IBO welterweight bout. This is a really solid card top to bottom, and I can't guarantee which other fights will air. McDermott is another tough guy, and his fight with Butler will be for the English middleweight title. Norton vs. Laleye will be for the commonwealth cruiserweight title. Scott Lawton vs. Derry Matthews features two fighters who were highly regarded coming up but who have since fallen from grace.

Azteca America, 10:00 p.m. Eastern, Federico Catubay vs. Juan Alberto Rosas, Mark Melligan vs. Michel Rosales. This is part of Bob Arum's calm before the storm. Somehow, 30-5 Rosas against 25-15 Catubay is a title eliminator. Z Gorres and Roberto Marroquin will also be on the undercard. As per usual, it's halfway impossible for me to confirm these Azteca fights, so if you have Azteca America, you may want to double-check the schedule yourself, as they may have dropped this card now that the Pacquiao-Cotto card has been added.

Saturday, November 14

Superchannel 2, 5:30 p.m. Eastern, Andy Lee vs. Affif Belgecham. Andy Lee is still on the comeback trail from his loss to Brian Vera, and has mostly been trying to build up a name in Ireland. Affif is a former French and European middleweight champion who's a bit of a step up, but doesn't even come close to having enough power to bother Lee.

HBO PPV, 9:00 p.m. Eastern ($59.95), Manny Pacquiao vs. Miguel Cotto, Daniel Santos vs. Yuri Foreman, Alfonso Gomez vs. Jesus Soto-Karass, Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. vs. Troy Rowland. Bad Left Hook will be providing live round by round coverage. In addition, check Yahoo before the fight starts, as they often air the untelevised undercards of these HBO pay per views. This one includes Matt Korobov. Also, for those of you near the Mexican border, TV Azteca (not Azteca America) will be airing the main event and the Julio Cesar Chavez fight for free.

Elsewhere in the world of boxing.....there is no elsewhere. Boxing promoters were pretty smart this week and mostly realized they couldn't compete with the main event. Minnesota local attractions Matt Vanda and Wilton Hilario will be facing light touches in a Minneapolis card. Former hotshot cruiserweight prospect Eric Fields will be facing a 10-1 prospect in his native Oklahoma. Jackson Bonsu takes a bounceback fight in his native Belgium. In Algeria, Ali Chebah will take on Javier Prieto in a decent prospect-prospect fight. Monk Foreman will try to maul some no-name in Louisiana.

Who's coming in the middleweight division?

Brickhaus — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 03:36:51 -0000

With the recent falling apart of the Pavlik-Williams fight, plus Arthur Abraham moving up to 168 to participate in the Super Six, the middleweight division might be the weakest it's been in years, and possibly even in the long and storied history of the weight class.

Its champion, Kelly Pavlik, hasn't fought much of anyone lately, and is still trying to shake the lasting memory of being absolutely dismantled by former middleweight star Bernard Hopkins. Number two in the weight class isn't even a middleweight, but a junior middleweight. Number three, Felix Sturm, was blown out in his last fight, and got back the favor he lost in the De La Hoya fight.

After those three, there just aren't a whole lot of recognizable names, and those that there are either have quite a few losses, haven't faced anyone significant, or are already on the backslide of their careers.

Fortunately, there is hope. Right now, middleweight may well have the best crop of prospects of any weight class out there. Some of these names may already be familiar, but hopefully you can get acquainted with some of the names that may help lead to a renaissance in the weight class. Here they are, in no particular order.

Matt Korobov - The 26 year old Russian southpaw was a decorated amateur who was the odds on favorite to win gold at Beijing, until being upset in the early rounds. More recently, people will remember him for stealing the show of the Pacquiao-Hatton undercard. As Top Rank's most prized prospect, we'll be seeing a lot of him. Korobov's a built southpaw who's very technically sound. He doesn't have blazing handspeed, but his hands are quick enough to get done what he needs to get done. Preferring to box from the outside, Korobov tends to be economical with his punches, throwing a few lighter punches to create openings and then firing away with power shots. He also has great balance. One question that has yet to be answered is how he'll take a punch and how he'll handle adversity, as he has yet to really be tested in a fight, but if anyone knows how to bring up a fighter in a way that prepares him for that incrementally, it's Bob Arum. He'll be fighting former British prospect Kerry Hope on the untelevised undercard of Pacquiao-Cotto, after a five month layoff for unspecified reasons.

Gennady Golovkin - Golovkin was a decorated amateur who won an Olympic silver for Kazakhstan in 2004 and won an amateur world championship in 2003. At 17-0 with 14 knockouts, he's quickly working his way up to becoming the WBO mandatory. As one might imagine with his credentials, Golovkin fights with a tricky and awkward stlye that almost seems more suited to the amateurs, but that hasn't hindered his development so far. And while he doesn't have tremendous handspeed or power, he might have the quickest reflexes of anyone on this list, easily finding opportunities to counter and usually getting his head out of the way with a "now you see it, now you don't" defensive style. Next up, he'll be facing Ishe Smith, which will be a good measuring stick to compare where he stands versus Daniel Jacobs.

Daniel Jacobs - The 22 year-old has run up a record of 17-0, becoming Golden Boy's most prized prospect. I know I'm going out on somewhat of a limb here, but of everyone on this list, Jacobs is the guy I think is most likely to become a pound for pound fighter. He has absolutely dazzling handspeed and footspeed, and he seems to be improving technically from fight to fight. I'm not sure he'll ever become a major star though. He seems to have a little Chad Dawson in him, and I mean that in both a good way and a bad way. His talent and skills means he'll be a tough out for anyone, and that he could very well beat some of the best fighters out there. On the other hand, his hesitancy to take risks means that he'll never be viewed in a fan friendly manner, and his getting overhyped by Golden Boy will lead a lot of people to jump to the conclusion that he's overrated. In the meantime, he's been consistently stepping up his competition, and has already soundly beaten tricky veteran Ishe Smith. A more in-depth analysis of Jacobs is here.

Hassan N'Dam N'Jikam - 21-0 N'Jikam (pictured right) might be the most exciting fighter on this list, and has a good chance to be the best French middleweight since Marcel Cerdan. The 2004 Olympian, who represented Cameroon, is a vicious body puncher who can box from the outside or brawl on the inside. While he hasn't been overly hyped outside of France, he's a guy to keep an eye on. With his skills and flashy fighting style, he could cross over, if someone could give him a pronounceable nickname.

Dmitry Pirog - 14-0 Pirog is a slightly more typical Euro fighter at first glance, but he has a style that could be tricky for most and has a punch that packs a wallop. Fighting gloves up and hunched down, he has a slippery defensive style where he's able to block most of what comes his way to the body and duck under and just slip punches to the head that aren't perfectly straight. He also has a varied offensive arsenal, and unlike many Europeans, likes to throw a lot of punches from all different angles, hoping to open up his opponent for his more powerful shots. He's already beaten some solid competition, like Kofi Janutah, and should be in line for a WBC title shot fairly soon. If he does get Sturm, don't be too surprised if he's able to take Sturm down, despite his relative lack of experience.

More prospects, including Fernando Guerrero, Darren Barker, David Lemieux and Dominic Wade, come after the jump.

Darren Barker - Barker, the current Commonwealth champion, is currently 20-0 with 13 knockouts. His upside potential likely isn't as high as some of the others on this list, but as a prominent Brit with a flashy style, he's pretty likely to end up on U.S. television in the future. He doesn't have a ton of power, and his defense is on the leaky side, but he has "dazzling" handspeed and likes to pop off combinations that can overwhelm his opponent. Next up, he'll be facing Wayne Elcock for the BBBoC title.

David Lemieux - Lemieux (pictured right), already 19-0 at only 20 years old, may not have the physical gifts of some of the others on this list, but he's a big puncher who fights smart and is developing into his body. All 19 of his wins thus far have come by knockout, including some recognizable names such as Donny McCrary. Relatively conservative with his punches, he likes to feint and move to create openings, and when he finds them, pounce on his opponents with power shots. He's being built into a local attraction in Montreal, but at his young age, he could develop to where he's able to have a name outside of that great fight city. He's still got plenty of time. In case you're interested, the McCrary fight is available here (spectacular knockout at 7:26).

Andy Lee - Andy Lee now has a record of 19-1, after his surprising TKO loss to Brian Vera, but he's still a solid prospect who may have a bright future ahead of him. Now, he's taken a recent step back, but he's still with Emmanuel Steward, and he's still a 6'2" southpaw with one punch knockout power. I'm not sure I can describe him any better other than to say he's a Steward fighter - he fights long, he pumps out the jab to keep people at a distance, he'll double up the jab before throwing a right hand, and he tries to tie up the second someone gets on the inside. The problem with the Vera fight is that prior to then, Lee had some bulldog in him, and would mix things up even when it wasnt' smart to do so. Now that he's already lost a fight for making that mistake, expect to see him become a more typical Steward safety-first style fighter who would rather win fights than entertain crowds. As an aside, I can't be the only one who's reminded of the Notre Dame mascot when I see him fight. It's just unusual for a fighter to ever he as upright and rigid with his elbows way up high, as he often fights.

Craig McEwan - The Scottish southpaw, at 16-0, is bound to get a lot of hype if for no other reason than that he's trained by Freddie Roach. He doesn't have the flashiest style, but he can be tricky, and he already owns solid wins over Brian Vera and Darnell Boone. In one respect, I doubt he'll be championship material because of his general physical limitations. On the other hand, he's a very smart fighter, and in each fight I've seen him in, he's had some struggles early, figured out his opponent, and kept on adjusting all fight, keeping his opponent off balance.

Fernando Guerrero - Guerrero has built up a 16-0 record, and in the process, has become one of Bad Left Hook's favorite prospects with his fan-friendly style. He can box, he can punch, he can fight inside and out, he has some spectacular talent and some major flaws and he has a ton of charisma. He's already faced some tough outs, and it looks like his handlers are angling to get him a title shot in the not too distant future. At this point, he needs to fix some of his defensive lapses, such as his tendency to pull straight back, but it's becoming more apparent that he has the stomach to be a top level pro fighter. A more in-depth analysis of Guerrero is here.

Dominic Wade - Here's sleeper #1. Wade is only 4-0 at this early stage in his career, and his fights have come against complete nobodies, but he has the physical talents to go a long way. He had a solid career as an amateur against a very deep crop of American middleweights, and he just might have the best pro style of all of them. He's calm, sits back in the pocket waiting to unload, and strikes with quickness and precision. Fighting for the Prize Fight stable, expect him to become a fixture on Friday Night Fights next year. He's not even 20 years old at this point, so he has a ton of time to develop. It's not much to base an opinion on, but you can see an absolutely sick knockout by him here. Just remember, you heard about him here first.

James DeGale - DeGale, the 2008 Olympic gold medalist, has been campaigning at 168 so far, but as he progresses a bit he should be moving down to 160. As Frank Warren's prized prospect, U.K. viewers will probably be seeing way too much of this kid in the near future. Yet another tricky southpaw, he has great fundamentals and excellent accuracy with his punches. On the other hand, he doesn't have a particularly exciting style, and there are questions about whether it will translate to the pros. He also has one of those lackadaisical looks about him, like he's almost going through the motions. Sometimes a kid makes fighting look too effortless, and that can be to his detriment. DeGale might very well be that kid.

Shawn Estrada - He was the U.S. Olympian at middleweight in 2008, beating out an extremely strong crop of competitors that included Jacobs, Guerrero, Wade and Shawn Porter, and for that reason alone we should keep an eye out for him. That said, he's always struck me as fairly ordinary when I watch him. Hopefully he can prove me wrong.

Dmitry Chudinov - When I do one of these, I have to include a sleeper special, and this is him. Chudinov was a top Russian amateur. Like Jacobs, he was the second place finisher in his country's Olympic tournament, losing a relatively close decision to Matt Korobov. When you look at the level of polish between those two, it's like night and day, but if he can continue to improve his fundamentals, Chudinov could be an exciting guy to watch. On the positive side, he's an extremely aggressive puncher, winging shots from all angles, swarming kind of like his sparring partner Alfredo Angulo. On the other hand, he leaves himself way too open to get hit, and has already been knocked down by a flush left hand a couple fights into his career. It doesn't bode well that a fighter with his style has already been knocked down, but if he can rattle off a series of wins, it probably means we'll see a bit of him and his brother Fedor on TV in the future.

A few other names to throw out there who are currently campaigning at 154, but might end up at middleweight if it becomes the money division - Erislandy Lara, Alfredo Angulo, Shawn Porter, Demetrius Andrade.

Mandatory Eight Count - Finances Made Public

Brickhaus — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 18:48:12 -0000

According to one source, this is one of the few punches that Valuev landed all night. via i.telegraph.co.uk

View full size photo »

Punch Stats for Haye-Valuev | AllBoxing.Ru

I have no idea how valid these numbers are, or where they compiled the numbers (since the U.S. and U.K. broadcasts didn't have punch stats), but this Russian site claims that Haye was 98/143 (69%) and Valuev was 64/390 (16%). That's not exactly the fight I saw (I personally thought Valuev blocked the majority of Haye's punches), but if those stats hold true, then it's pretty easy to see how Haye won, despite an absurdly low output. The site also mentions that Haye's purse for the fight was only 1 Euro, but that he got to keep 100% of the UK TV rights, which amounted to about 2.5 million Euro.

Kessler to make $8 million for Super Six | Ekstra Bladet

This is the first real insight we get into the business deal behind the Super Six. According to the article, Kessler will be making approximately $8 million for the first three fights of the Super Six tournament. He made $5 million to fight Calzaghe, so it's pretty easy to see why he would take part in the tournament.

WBC taking even more money from its fighters | Reuters

Unnoticed by me, at the WBC convention, they also resolved to pull 3% from every fighter's purse. Promoters will need to deposit a letter of credit to account for the purses before the fight. Expect to see a lot of fighters dropping their belts in big fights in the future.

The Internets catch Pacman Fever | Various

You can't blame the mainstream media for not covering this bout. In the past day, there have been prominent articles in USA Today, CNN, ESPN (which front-paged its fight blog), Yahoo! (sans Kevin Iole), the LA Times and the Las Vegas Sun. And a note to Larry Merchant - even the New York Times is in on the action, writing a good piece about how Pacquiao and Freddie Roach came to form a union.

Saul Alvarez to face Lanardo Tyner | Esto

"Canelo" will be taking another step towards trying to build a name in the U.S., facing Lanardo Tyner in his next fight in an American location to be determined. Tyner has fought a couple times on U.S. TV before, losing decisions to Mike Arnaoutis and Lamont Peterson, so it would be impressive if Alvarez could knock him out. Considering he still doesn't have a major promoter (he's fought on both GBP and Top Rank cards before, and there's rumored to be somewhat of a bidding war to sign him), his career has been guided very well up to this point. And while he's still facing fringe contenders in his 30th career fight, you have to remember that the kid is only 20 years old.

Laila Ali coming out of retirement? | Gulf News

According to this Dubai-based news source, Laila Ali will be coming out of retirement in 2010 to fight in an MMA match that will help launch the new XKL fight league. Considering Ali constantly says she's happily retired, and that she's only ever boxed in her life before (and never fought in MMA), I have to imagine they're paying her a boatload of cash for the event.

Odlanier Solis wants to knock out Haye Again | Saddoboxing

The king of obscure European boxing reporting, Per Ake Persson, is reporting that Solis is calling out David Haye. This is no surprise, as Solis brutally knocked out Haye in the amateurs. And frankly, based on what we saw this past weekend, I'd pick him to do it again, even being as grossly overweight as he is. Still, if they make the fight, it would probably be a great one. For what it's worth, Haye hurt Solis in that one as well.

$25 discount on Pacquiao-Cotto | MediaPost

For the first time ever, Tecate will be offering a $25 discount for a Top Rank event rather than a Golden Boy event. People who buy an 18-pack or a case of Tecate beer will be able to get a $25 rebate for the Cotto-Pacquiao fight. In addition, Tecate will be sponsoring the fight on free TV in Mexico.

Ricky Hatton vs. Chavo Guerrero in a boxer-wrestler match on last night's WWE Raw.

Brickhaus — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 02:01:01 -0000

Ricky Hatton vs. Chavo Guerrero in a boxer-wrestler match on last night's WWE Raw.

Bad Left Hook Best of the Decade: Light Heavyweight

Brickhaus — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 23:57:56 -0000

Light Heavyweight has a ton of great names, but when you dig a little beyond the surface, they're mostly just names. There are a couple guys (Jones and Michalczewski) who were true stars in the '90's, but who didn't do too much damage this decade, a couple of guys (Calzaghe and Hopkins) who were dominant at other weights but only took a few fights at 175, a couple of guys (Adamek and Erdei) who have shiny records but never really faced the top competition, a couple of guys (Tarver and Johnson) who faced just about everyone but didn't necessarily always shine, and one guy (Dawson) who has the big names and the shiny record, but the names were mostly well past prime.

Tomasz Adamek - Adamek ran up a record of 27-1 at light heavyweight, although much of it came while he was building up a record against no-names in Poland. His three best wins were all in his title fights, including two bloody wars against Paul Briggs, and a win over Thomas Ulrich, who's just on the outside looking in to getting on this list. He was soundly beaten when he faced Chad Dawson, and while he's gone on to do great things at cruiserweight, his resume at light heavyweight isn't nearly as impressive.

Joe Calazghe - He only fought two fights in the weight class, but I can't keep him off of here in good conscience because of who he did beat and the fact that he retired holding the Ring Belt. He scored a close win over Bernard Hopkins and a wide victory over Roy Jones. On the plus side, Hopkins was a top 10 pound for pound fighter when Calzaghe beat him, and Jones was still top 10 at the weight. On the downside, Jones was probably only about 60% of what he was in his prime, and Hopkins was 43 years old.

Chad Dawson - Dawson has gone 12-0 at light heavyweight, and while he seems so natural at the weight, his early fights were actually mostly at middleweight and super middleweight. Key victories include Tomasz Adamek, two wins over Antonio Tarver, two wins over Glen Johnson (one of which was contested) and Eric Harding. The unfortunate part is what could have been. While in the greater scheme of things it doesn't change much, his record would be much less assailable had he taken his mandatories (and likely easy wins) against Adrian Diaconu and Tavoris Cloud rather than dumping his belts in the hopes of getting a bigger money fight.

Zsolt Erdei - Erdei is probably the biggest unknown quantity, and like it or not, he's been the lineal titlist at light heavyweight for the last six years. He's gone 30-0 in the weight in the decade, including 12 title defenses. However, some of those title defenses would make Omar Narvaez blush. Key wins include Julio Cesar Gonzalez, Hugo Garay (twice, but both were controversial) and Thomas Ulrich. However, look at his other title victories, including Alejandro Lakatos, Mehdi Sahnoune, DeAndrey Abron, George Blades and Paul Murdoch - it's just crap, crap and more crap. None of those guys were so much as top 50 LHWs when his promoter scraped the bottom of the barrel to get those defenses. Fortunately for us, it appears that Erdei will end his hijacking of the real light heavyweight title by moving up to cruiserweight to face Giacobbe Fragomeni next month.

Bernard Hopkins - Hopkins has gone 3-1 at light heavyweight, at least nominally, while managing to hold onto a top 10 pound for pound spot and winning a Ring belt. During his reign at light heavyweight, he convincingly beat Antonio Tarver, beat middleweight Kelly Pavlik, beat middleweight Winky Wright and lost to Super Middleweight Joe Calzaghe. Sure, he'd be a tough fight for anyone, but he's come far from proving himself at the weight, instead generally forcing top competition to come up and meet him. He does have one more upcoming fight, but he'll be making yet another middleweight (and this time a no-name middleweight at that) gain 15 pounds to fight him at light heavyweight.

Glen Johnson - Johnson's never had the prettiest record, but anyone who's watched him fight knows the Road Warrior can be a beast in the ring. In the weight class in the decade, he went 12-6-2, including a win over Roy Jones, going 1-1 against Antonio Tarver, going 1-1-1 against Clinton Woods and wins over Eric Harding, Richard Hall and Thomas Ulrich. In addition, he lost twice to Chad Dawson (once controversially), to Julio Cesar Gonzalez (also controversially) and once to Derrick Harmon.

Roy Jones Jr. - While Jones was really at his peak in the '90's, and his best win this decade came at heavyweight, he did manage to inflict some damage early in the decade, holding the Ring Belt until his loss to Tarver. Jones has gone 13-4 in the weight class, including being the unified titlist for most of the early part of the decade, with wins over David Telesco, Richard Hall, Eric Harding, Derrick Harmon, Julio Cesar Gonzalez, Glen Kelly, Clinton Woods, Felix Trinidad and Jeff Lacy. He also went 1-2 against Antonio Tarver and had losses to Joe Calzaghe and Glen Johnson. He does have one more fight coming up, but it will be at cruiserweight against Danny Green.

Dariusz Michalczewski - Tiger really did most of his damage in the '90's, but he did go 7-2 in the 2000's while being the true light heavyweight champion of the world, all in title fights, including wins over Graciano Rocchigiani, Richard Hall (twice), Joey DeGrandis and Derrick Harmon. His losses both came at the very end of his career, against Julio Cesar Gonzalez and Fabrice Tiozzo. It's still a damn shame that he and Jones never faced off to determine who was really the best light heavyweight of their generation.

Antonio Tarver - Tarver went 12-6 in the weight class in the 2000's, but almost all of those fights were high profile bouts. He went 2-1 against Jones, 1-1 against Johnson and 1-1 against Harding, and scored wins over Clinton Woods, Montell Griffin, and Reggie Johnson. He also lost once to Bernard Hopkins and twice to Chad Dawson.

Others for consideration: Clinton Woods, Thomas Ulrich, Julio Cesar Gonzalez, Eric Harding, Silvio Branco

Nicolai Valuev and David Haye weigh in. Valuev came in at 315, while Haye came in at 218. Valuev...

Brickhaus — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 17:48:58 -0000

Nicolai Valuev and David Haye weigh in. Valuev came in at 315, while Haye came in at 218. Valuev has tended to look his best when he weighs in around 320, but usually he leaves his clothes on for the weigh in, so he's probably around his ideal weight.

SB Nation User Blog: Brickhaus

Bad Left Hook Best of the Decade - Lightweight

Who was the best lightweight of the 2000's?

Manny Pacquiao interview on Sports Soup. Best line (about Juan Manuel Marquez): "That's why he's...

Went to local fair threw speed pitch. Got mad and told the guy his radar gun was wrong, then...

Live stream of Cotto-Pacquiao press conference

Live stream of Cotto-Pacquiao press conference

TV and Internet Fight Schedule - Weekend of November 13

Who's coming in the middleweight division?

Mandatory Eight Count - Finances Made Public

Ricky Hatton vs. Chavo Guerrero in a boxer-wrestler match on last night's WWE Raw.

Bad Left Hook Best of the Decade: Light Heavyweight

Who was the best light heavyweight of the 2000's?

Nicolai Valuev and David Haye weigh in. Valuev came in at 315, while Haye came in at 218. Valuev...