Top 2 fighters at their peak in the past 10 years....

[Bill Butcher]

This is not who had the best career overall but at their peak, in their best weight class, which boxers impressed you the most.....

My vote goes to.....

Erik `El Terrible` Morales -- super-bantamweight (122 lbs)

Floyd Mayweather Jr -- super-featherweight (130 lbs)

I like Morales & dislike Mayweather but you cant take anything from Floyd, especially at this weight & remember how fast & good EM was at this weight, phenomenal.

Those 2 were the top 2 for me.

:thumbsup

[Loewe]

Impressed me the most?

Roy Jones Junior
Prince Naseem Hamed

Who I think were the best in no order:
Oscar dela Hoya
Erik Morales
Marco Antonio Barrera
Manny Pacquiao
Roy Jones Junior
Bernard Hopkins
Floyd Mayweather Junior
Lennox Lewis
Joe Calzaghe
Dariusz Michaelchewski
Prince Naseem Hamed
Shane Mosley
Winky Wright

There surely is somebody missing ^^

[Xplosive]

In the last 10 years:

Floyd @ 130

Hopkins @ 160

In the last 20 years:

Roy @ 168. Theres none Super middle in history who could've beaten Jones at that weight.

[Bill Butcher]

Impressed me the most?

Roy Jones Junior
Prince Naseem Hamed


I forgot about Hamed, he was 1 of my favourites, he was brilliant at 122 but had his 1st world title shot at 126 (in his 1st fight at the weight vs steve robinson, pure masterclass) I think Naz started off great at 126 but started to slow down, lose his reflexes & become a heavier puncher which wasnt necessary as he was always a great puncher.... Naz turned from a very hard puncher that had cat like agility to a very very hard puncher who looked sluggish & got hit more.

Roy Jones would be my 3rd choice, I never forgot Roy but I dont think he was a better fighter than Floyd at 130 who was better at the basics than Roy & didnt need pure athleticism as much as Roy & Morales at 122 was just the total package of fighter, arguably the best ever at that weight (others pick Gomez), he could box, slug, was really fast, accurate, poised, great finisher, good stamina, excellent puncher, brilliant foot movement, good defence & a chin of cast iron.

Yeah... my picks stay the same - Morales at 122 & Floyd at 130.

:thumbsup

[Loewe]

I forgot about Hamed, he was 1 of my favourites, he was brilliant at 122 but had his 1st world title shot at 126 (in his 1st fight at the weight vs steve robinson, pure masterclass) I think Naz started off great at 126 but started to slow down, lose his reflexes & become a heavier puncher which wasnt necessary as he was always a great puncher.... Naz turned from a very hard puncher that had cat like agility to a very very hard puncher who looked sluggish & got hit more.

Roy Jones would be my 3rd choice, I never forgot Roy but I dont think he was a better fighter than Floyd at 130 who was better at the basics than Roy & didnt need pure athleticism as much as Roy & Morales at 122 was just the total package of fighter, arguably the best ever at that weight (others pick Gomez), he could box, slug, was really fast, accurate, poised, great finisher, good stamina, excellent puncher, brilliant foot movement, good defence & a chin of cast iron.

Yeah... my picks stay the same - Morales at 122 & Floyd at 130.

:thumbsup

Hamed got power happy and bought in his own hype that cost him an atg career. Parting from Ingle just made it worse. He´s one of the gifted fighters that could have done much more just like RJJ and Tyson.

[PowerPuncher]

I forgot about Hamed, he was 1 of my favourites, he was brilliant at 122 but had his 1st world title shot at 126 (in his 1st fight at the weight vs steve robinson, pure masterclass) I think Naz started off great at 126 but started to slow down, lose his reflexes & become a heavier puncher which wasnt necessary as he was always a great puncher.... Naz turned from a very hard puncher that had cat like agility to a very very hard puncher who looked sluggish & got hit more.

Roy Jones would be my 3rd choice, I never forgot Roy but I dont think he was a better fighter than Floyd at 130 who was better at the basics than Roy & didnt need pure athleticism as much as Roy & Morales at 122 was just the total package of fighter, arguably the best ever at that weight (others pick Gomez), he could box, slug, was really fast, accurate, poised, great finisher, good stamina, excellent puncher, brilliant foot movement, good defence & a chin of cast iron.

Yeah... my picks stay the same - Morales at 122 & Floyd at 130.

:thumbsup

Morales wasnt in Jones league, you can't rate anyone above Jones at 168, you can probably rate 10fighters above Morales at 122 if you try hard enough, you could arguably pick 3-4 122lb fighters above him in the last 10years, not to mention he never went linear at that weight

Agreed on Hamed, very underrated on these populous boards, fought 10champions in 5years, despite not fulfilling his potential

[DINAMITA]

In the last 10 years:

Floyd @ 130

Hopkins @ 160

In the last 20 years:

Roy @ 168. Theres none Super middle in history who could've beaten Jones at that weight.

Yes, but RJJ's last fight at 168 was in October 1996- not within the last 10 years.

My two would be:

Hopkins at 160 (best performance the night he beat Trinidad in 2001)

Jones Jr at 175 (2001-2 when he beat Harmon and Kelly. Jones Jr's peak was 94-97 IMO, but in the last 10 years he was still superb 98-03, I just especially liked his performances around 2001-2)

[the cobra]

Hopkins @ 160

and probably Shane Mosley @ 135


Matweather at 130 or Jones at 175 are right there with both of them.

Morales is a good mention too.

[la-califa]

I forgot about Hamed, he was 1 of my favourites, he was brilliant at 122 but had his 1st world title shot at 126 (in his 1st fight at the weight vs steve robinson, pure masterclass) I think Naz started off great at 126 but started to slow down, lose his reflexes & become a heavier puncher which wasnt necessary as he was always a great puncher.... Naz turned from a very hard puncher that had cat like agility to a very very hard puncher who looked sluggish & got hit more.

Roy Jones would be my 3rd choice, I never forgot Roy but I dont think he was a better fighter than Floyd at 130 who was better at the basics than Roy & didnt need pure athleticism as much as Roy & Morales at 122 was just the total package of fighter, arguably the best ever at that weight (others pick Gomez), he could box, slug, was really fast, accurate, poised, great finisher, good stamina, excellent puncher, brilliant foot movement, good defence & a chin of cast iron.

Yeah... my picks stay the same - Morales at 122 & Floyd at 130.

:thumbsup If you were impressed with Hamed. How about the Man who beat Hamed & Morales two out of three? Marco Antonio Barrera.

[PopeJackson]

Roy Jones Jr. and Floyd Mayweather I think.

[Bill Butcher]

If you were impressed with Hamed. How about the Man who beat Hamed & Morales two out of three? Marco Antonio Barrera.

I was impressed by many fighters that did not make my list, someone reminded me of Naseem, thats why I mentioned him.

Also... I thought Morales beat Barrera 2 of 3 times myself & even if I didnt, the thread was about who impressed me most at their peak weight & Morales at 122 was better than Barrera at any weight IMO.

:thumbsup

[Bill Butcher]

Morales is a good mention too.

:good Cheers.

Try telling that to power puncher, I dont think he is a Morales fan.

:lol:

[Bill Butcher]

Morales wasnt in Jones league, you can't rate anyone above Jones at 168, you can probably rate 10fighters above Morales at 122 if you try hard enough, you could arguably pick 3-4 122lb fighters above him in the last 10years, not to mention he never went linear at that weight

Agreed on Hamed, very underrated on these populous boards, fought 10champions in 5years, despite not fulfilling his potential

If Morales wasnt in Jones league then Hamed wasnt in Morales league I could easily say but neither is true, they were all top 5 p4pers around their prime yrs.

Enough of this linear bullshit, its about YOUR OWN judgement of a fighter & Im dying to know which 3-4 122 lbers were better than Morales period never mind in the last 10 yrs.
I could be wrong here but was MAB not linear at 126 before being destroyed by the then 122 lb champ Manny Pacquiao where as Morales never lost a fight at 122 & KOd all his opponents except the last 2, McCullouch & Barrera (8 kos in 10 title fights) just shows linear means shit most of the time.

Erik Morales was the complete package & fought the way fighters should fight, I think you badly underrate Morales, you must be thinking of the shot version of the last 4 yrs or so.

:thumbsup

[Loewe]

Morales wasnt in Jones league, you can't rate anyone above Jones at 168, you can probably rate 10fighters above Morales at 122 if you try hard enough, you could arguably pick 3-4 122lb fighters above him in the last 10years, not to mention he never went linear at that weight

Agreed on Hamed, very underrated on these populous boards, fought 10champions in 5years, despite not fulfilling his potential

Well, Jones wan´t linear either at any weight. That´s not an argument here.

[Ezzard]

Barerra then Pac or Floyd...

[Bill Butcher]

Barerra then Pac or Floyd...

Just curious, which division do you class Barrera as at his peak & being the best in the last 10 yrs... Im not disagreeing with your choice, he certainly was ONE OF the best, I was just curious because he lost to Junior Jones twice & Morales at 122... lost to Pacquiao at 126... & lost to Marquez & Pacquiao at 130.

Im not saying that you have to go unbeaten in a division to be great but he did lose either more than once or clearly or both in each of those divisions.
I personally think 126 was MABs peak weight class myself but I dont think it compares with EM at 122, PBF at 130 or RJJ at 175 & thats not just because they never lost in those weights, its because MAB lost massively by tko to Pacman & got a gift verdict vs Morales while at his absolute peak or thereabouts.

:thumbsup

[Holmes' Jab]

Last 10-15 years: Jones Jr
Last 20 years: Whitaker

[PowerPuncher]

If Morales wasnt in Jones league then Hamed wasnt in Morales league I could easily say but neither is true, they were all top 5 p4pers around their prime yrs.

Enough of this linear bullshit, its about YOUR OWN judgement of a fighter & Im dying to know which 3-4 122 lbers were better than Morales period never mind in the last 10 yrs.

I could be wrong here but was MAB not linear at 126 before being destroyed by the then 122 lb champ Manny Pacquiao where as Morales never lost a fight at 122 & KOd all his opponents except the last 2, McCullouch & Barrera (8 kos in 10 title fights) just shows linear means shit most of the time.

Erik Morales was the complete package & fought the way fighters should fight, I think you badly underrate Morales, you must be thinking of the shot version of the last 4 yrs or so.
:thumbsup

No Jones was undisputed P4P no1 and GOAT at 168, Morales isn't close to being no1 at 122

Morales didn't even fight any big names at 122lbs until Barrera, all he did was feast on others fighters left overs. And yes he lost the Barrera fight emphatically no matter what you say, it wasnt close. So he can't by definition be the best at the weight. Look at who Morales didnt fight at 122:

No1 Bungu - dethroned MkKinney from no1 spot, beat him a second time. Champion for 5years making 13 defenses didnt lose his belt at 122

MkKinney - champion and beat Junior Jones in 4rounds before Morales

Wilfredo Vasquez - a 3 weight champ, WBA Champ

Canizalez - WBA Champ

Look at the fighters who were left overs:

Junior Jones - Mkkiney left over
McColough - Hamed left over

Now what is your basis for saying Morales is no1 at 122?

Is it defenses?

Gomez made 17 title defenses, Bungu made 13 defenses, Barrera made 12, Morales made 9 defenses

Is it competition?

I think not, he didn't step up until he faced Barrera in his last fight at the weight

Is it winning the series against his main 122lb rival?

No he lost 2-1 and got a gift in the first fight

Oh and in answer to your question yes MAB was linear and ring at 126.

Morales is a top P4P fighter, just not in the same league as Jones