Canelo, Pacquiao, Mayweather Jr. Named As Fighters Who Defined Last Decade

As another decade reaches its borderline, analysts gathered their parameters to sum up how boxing gained ground in the last ten years. Serving as an epilogue to the sport's historic moments, Canelo Alvarez, Manny Pacquiao, and Floyd Mayweather Jr. are named as the fighters who defined the last decennary.

Dan Rafael, Steve Kim, and Timothy Bradley Jr. sat on an ESPN exclusive to reflect on how boxing hit the progress road from 2010-2019, coming up with the shortlist based on the impact the said fighters made for the sport.

Canelo Alvarez stepped into the era as a teenage welterweight with a lot of promise. Fast forward to 2019, the 29-year-old Mexican superstar is now the highest-paid fighter while being regarded as the current face of the sport.

Alvarez fought 25 times in the past decade and posted a 25-1-1 tally to his professional record. During that span, he won titles in four different weight divisions while headlining boxing's most highly-promoted slash top-profile cards.

Manny Pacquiao is another. The Filipino icon may be past his prime already as his best years were certainly from those before the current decade, but the fact remains that he was part of the richest fight in boxing history.

The last ten years were like a roller-coaster ride for the fighting legislator of the Philippines. He suffered some controversial losses against different opponents but it was the manner he bounced back from each defeat that earned him the respect to still be tagged as one of the most dangerous offensive fighters to date.

Pacquiao's imprint in the last decade was not entirely caused by his domination in the ring but rather his ability to keep himself relevant despite the skill deterioration that comes along with age.

Floyd Mayweather Jr. is included in the list for reasons almost the same with Pacquiao's, except that he had yet to suffer even a single loss.

The 42-year-old is the ultimate entertainer as his antics were undeniably effective marketing tools that enticed fight viewers to place pennies to watch him box.

Mayweather Jr. was Pacquiao's foe in the historic bout in 2015. Three years later, he and UFC star Conor McGregor shocked fans when the latter made a crossover to fight the American champion. Mayweather Jr. ended up winning the match via 10th round stoppage. Since then, he has not fought anyone although he announced himself that he will be returning to action next year.

As the sport opens up a fresh decade, the torch raised by these legendary champions would be passed on to the descendants who are next in line for greatness, and boxing fans could not be more excited.