u/CurrentCar2331

Top 50 Heavyweight Fighters of the 1980s.

For this ranking, I am only considering fights which took place between 1980 and 1989. I am also basing these rankings off resume mostly and placing an emphasis on quality of wins and not so much quantity.

1. Michael Tyson: Went 37-0 in the decade. He beat Holmes head to head in this decade. Holmes was also coming out of a semi retirement when he fought Tyson and that should be considered as well. It is a tough call. He had nine title defenses in the 1980s. Many people to this day argue that 1980s Mike Tyson in shape and trained was an invinceable fighter and may be the the toughtest version of a fighter ever. I don't think this holds as true with the modern giants of boxing now emerging, but man was this guy scary in the 1980s. Without a doubt, the most popular fighter since Ali. A national American treasure.
2. Larry Holmes: One of the very best heavyweight boxers of all the times. In terms of over all greatness, he is the best ranked heavyweight from this decade, but if his fights from the seventies and nineties are not taken into consideration, I think he is behind Tyson. Had an unbelievable Fifteen title defenses in the 1980s and wow is it hard not to rank this legend number 1. Fuck I hate ranking him 2, but he did lose head to head in this decade and Tyson would have mauled any of the guys he faced as well, I think.
3. Pinklon Thomas: Hard call here as many of these guys are going to trade wins and losses. I went with Thomas based on his wins over Weaver, Tillis, and Witherspoon and he also had fights with Tyson and Holyfield. This is a tough call though. A loss to Berbick hurts his cause. Knockout losses to Tyson and Holyfield as well. An interesting fact about Pinklon was he hid a heroin addiction for most of career. Today he had over come that addiction and is very involved in his local church. Built like a body builder and had a heavy thudding jab. I have a feeling people will want him ranked lower.
4. Tim Witherspoon: Another Hard Call. Best wins were over Frank Bruno, "Quick" Tillis, Tony Tubbs, James Broad "Axe" and Gregory Page. Had losses to Larry Holmes and Pinklon Thomas and split wins with James Smith. He was involved in 6 total title fights in this decade. His loss to Holmes for undisputed was a spilt dec. and you could argue based on his resume he should be ahead of Pinklon Thomas. Because both men fought in their prime, I will keep "Terrible" Tim here for now.
5. Michael Spinx: Many people will want him higher, but he just had so few fights at Heavyweight and he beat a very old Larry Holmes and Jerry Cooney and I just can't put a light heavyweight higher than 5. Tyson iced him in one round. Personally I think this is a gift to put him this high, but he was the first man to put it on Holmes so he gets number 5.
6. Mike Weaver: Was a force to start the 1980s. Had big wins vs Tate, Coetzee, "Quick" Tillis, and Carl Williams. Faded in the second half of the decade. He too was also involved in six total title fights in the decade. He was 13-5-1 and lost to legendary fighters of the era such as Razor Ruddock, "Bonecrusher" Smith, Pinklon Thomas, and Michael Dokes.
7. Tony Tucker: Went 35-1 on the decade. Only had one loss in the 1980s to Mike Tyson, and beat some decent fighters like Jimmy Young, James Broad, and Buster Douglas. Went 12 hard rounds with Tyson, that may be the best performance of the 1980s for him. Made the gerry curl hair cut look amazing in his fights. Lack of fighting top opposition keeps him lower on this list.
8. Trevor Berbick: Big wins over Ali, Pinklon Thomas, John Tate, Greg Page, and Mitchel "Blood" Green. Best known for losing to Michael Tyson and doing the electric slide across the ring in getting knocked out. Lost to notable fighters of the era such as Carl Williams, Buster Douglas, Larry Holmes, and Reynoldo Snipes. A Jaimaican Sensation, sadly he is no longer with us as he passed away several years ago. I believe he was tragically murdered in a domestic dispute. I think he may be the most under rated fighter on this list.
9. James "Bone Crusher" Smith: He was involved in three heavy weight title fights. He would win the WBA title over Tim Witherspoon after losing to him earlier in the decade and he would also lose to Holmes and Tyson in title attempts. Losses to Marvis Frazier, James Broad, and Tony Tubbs hurts him in the rankings. His best wins were over Frank Bruno, Mike Weaver, Jose Ribalta, and Jesse Ferguson.
10. Frank Bruno: He went 32-3 in this decade and lost both his attempts at gaining a title vs Mike Tyson and Tim Witherspoon. He did however get a big win vs Gerrie Coetzee and he also had decent wins vs Quick Tills, Anders Eklund, and Joe Bugner. Many may want him lower than Coetzee as Coatzee was at the end of his career. I am going to give the edge to Bruno based on he fought on for more years in this decade than Coatzee and had many more fights, even if Coatzee had more title fights. Highest ranked English fighter on the list.
11. Gerrie Coatzee: He was involved in three heavyweight title fights. Best wins were Tillis and Dokes and also fought Pinklon Thomas to a draw. Only white man in the top Eleven, and only non American besides Bruno as he was from the fighting nation of South Africa. Perhaps he should be lower as he did retire in 1986 after a loss to Frank Bruno.
12. Michael Dokes: He went 40-2-2 in the 1980s and was involved in three different title fights, the last of which he lost to Coatzee. Best wins were over Mike Weaver, Ossie Ocasio, and Randall Cobb. Lack of big wins keeps him lower in the rankings.
13. Carl Williams: Went 24-3 on the decade. He would have two title fights in the 1980s where he would lose to Holmes and Tyson. Also had a loss to Mike Weaver. His best wins were over Trevor Berbick, "Quick" Tillis, Ossie Ocassio, and Jesse Ferguson.
14. Tony Tubbs: Went 27-2 on the decade. Had three title fights and won one of them against Greg Page. Lost to Tim Witherspoon and Mike Tyson in his other attempts. Also had a big win over Bone Crusher Smith. Lack of wins over top opposition hurts him in the rankings.
15. Evander Holyfield: Wins over "Quick" Tillis, Pinklon Thomas, Michael Dokes, Alex Stewart and Adillson Rodrigues. Never got a heavyweight title in the 1980s and only spent two years at the weight. 10 months into 1990 he knocks out Buster Douglas and becomes Undisputed, which has no bearing in these rankings. So even though he had no title fights in this decade, I still think he deserves this ranking.
16. Greg Page: He was involved in three different title in this decade. He would win the WBA title over Coatzee and lose his other title fights to Witherspoon and Tony Tubbs. He had solid wins over Quick Tillis and Jimmy young, but would end the decade with eight losses and that will hurt him in the rankings.
17. Jerry Cooney: He was involved in the most lucrative Heavy weight fight of the 1980s when he unsuccessfully challenged Larry Holmes. He would lose his second title shot to Michael Sphinx later in the decade. He did have some huge wins against Ken Norton, Ron Lyle, and Jimmy Young to start the decade.
18. Buster Douglas: He went 29-4 and lost by TKO to Tony Tucker when he challenged for the IBF Title. Had many decent wins over fighters like Oliver McCall, Trevor Berbick, and Greg Page. He also had a few losses to journey men fighters which will hurt him in the rankings. Just two months into 1990 he would shock the world and defeat the number one ranked fighter on this list, but that will have no bearing in these rankings.
19. Marvis Frazier: Many may be surprised to see the son of Joe Frazier ranked this high but he did have some solid wins in this decade and even fought a losing effort against Larry Holmes for the title of undisputed. His best wins were over Bone crusher Smith, Quick Tillis, James Broad, and Jose Ribalta. And of course who could forget that KO loss he had to Tyson seconds into round 1?
20. John Tate: He would defeat Gerrie Coatzee to win a belt in 1980 and then lost his first defense to Trevor Berbick and then have many wins over journey fighters to finish out the decade.
21. Donovan "Razor" Ruddock: Many may want him higher, but he never even challenged for a title in this decade. He did have many impressive wins though over fighters like James Smith, James Broad, and Mike Weaver. These fighters were a bit past their primes, but solid wins none the less.
22. Fransico Damiani: Went 25-0 during the decade and won the inaugural WBO title over Johnny Duploy. Also had nice wins over Tyrell Biggs, Anders Eklund, and James Broad "Axe".
23. Tyrell Biggs: Would challenge Mike Tyson in 1987 for all the marbles. Best wins were over David Bey and Reynoldo Snipes. Would go on to lose to Damiani and Gary Mason.
24. Reynoldo Snipes: Best known for challenging Larry Holmes for his WBC title in 1981. He would go into that fight undefeated at 22-0. Also had a big win over Trevor Berbick. Would go on to lose to many respected fighters of the era for the rest of the decade.
25. Randall "Tex" Cobb: Best known for his title fight with Larry Holmes in 1982 in which he lost. Best wins were an old Earnie Shavers and Bernardo Mercado.
26. Steffen Tangstad: Best known for his losing effort to defeat Michael Spinx for the IBF title in 1986. Fought Buster Douglas to a draw and also had a solid wins over Lucien Rodriguez and Joe Bugner. Went 24-2-2 in the decade. Best Nordic fighter since the legendary Ingemar Johannson.
27. Scott Frank: Lost to Larry Holmes when he fought him for the WBC title in 1983. Also has a draw with Reynoldo Snipes.
28. Lucien Rodriguez: Would challenge Larry Holmes for his WBC title in 1983. Would lose to Tangstad later in the decade.
29. "Big" George Foreman: He went 19-0 and took out notable fighters such as Dave Jaco, Bert Cooper, Dwight Muhammad Quawi, and Rocky Sekorski.
30. Pierre Coetzer: Went 29-2 during the decade and would avenge both losses to Bernard Benton and Ossie Ocassio.
31. Joe Bugner: Did his best work in the 1970s but he did some good work in this decade as well. Had solid wins over fighters like Quick Tillis, Greg Page, Anders Eklund, and David Bey. had several losses to Journeyman as well including Marvis Frazier.
32. Johnny Du Ploy: He went 22-3-1 and picked up nice wins over James Broad, David Bey, Mike Weaver, and Quick Tills. Had losses to Reynoldo Snipes, Mike Weaver, and Damiani as well.
33. James "Quick" Tillis: He was the ultimate Journeyman of the 1980s after he would challenge Weaver for the WBA title in 1981. He fought everyone and anyone and he didn't have many elite wins but he always put on entertaining performances. His best win was probably over an aging Ernie Shavers and Ron Stander. He went 26-17 on the decade. Maybe he should be ranked higher.
34. Jose Ribalta: Never got a title shot in this decade but he did go 30-4-1 and lost to legends such as Mike Tyson and Bone Crusher Smith and also had a loss to Marvis Frazier. Best win was over an old Leon Spinx and Dave Jaco.
35. David Bey: He would challenge Larry Holmes for his IFB title in 1985. His best win was over Greg Page. Would lose 5 of his next 6 fights after his title shot.
36. Leon Spinx: He would challenge Larry Holmes for his WBC belt in 1981. He would also pick up a decent win over Bernardo Mercado, but would have no significant wins after that fight.
37. Gary Mason: He would go 33-0 in this decade and have wins over Tyrell Biggs, Quick Tillis, and Dave Jaco.
38. Adilson Rodrigues: He would go 36-3 in this decade and have decent wins over an aging James Smith and Quick Tillis late in the decade. He would also lose by KO to Evan Holyfield.
39. Orlin Norris: Went 22-1 in this decade and had wins over aging fighters like Greg Page, Jeese Ferguson, and Reynoldo Snipes.
40. James Broad "Axe": He went 21-7 in this decade but he did also pick up a win over James Smith and all his losses came to fighter ranked on this list.
41. Anders Eklund: He went 18-5-1 and had solid wins over Jesse Ferguson and Steffen Tangstad. Had losses to Bruno, Damiani, Bugner, and Witherspoon as well.
42. Jesse Ferguson: Went 16-5 during the decade and had a good win over Buster Douglas but had losses to Mike Tyson, James Smith, Anders Eklund, and Orlin Norris.
43. Bernardo Mercado: Was a Ring Magazine ranked fighter to start the decade. his most notable fight was a losing effort against Leon Spinx. His best win was over an againg Ernie Shavers in 1980.
44. Dave Jaco: He would start the first half of the decade with a 19-3 record and a win over Donovan Ruddock. He would be relegated to journey after his loss to Pierre Coetzer in 1985.
45. Ossie Ocassio: A relic from the 1970s. He did take Michael Dokes to a draw in the 1980s before losing the rematch and would turn back the clock one more time in 1987 when he pulled off the upset vs Pierre Coetzer.
46. Nate Miller: Went 15-1 at the end of the decade and defeated Bert Cooper.
47. Bert Cooper: Beat Olympic gold Medalist Henry Tillman and would end up being a solid journey man for the next two decades and put on a strong performance when e would challenge Holyfield for a title on short notice.
48. Mike Hunter: Went 13-2-2 and did pick up a win over Oliver McCall
49. Mitchel "Blood" Green: A solid fighter to start the eighties, best known for his fights with Mike Tyson and Trevor Berbick. Many believe his appearance was the original inspiration for the Predator.
50. Alex Stewart: Went 25-1 at the end of the decade with his only loss coming to Holyfield.

Honorable Mention:

Final Thoughts: I did not watch these fights live and I have not even seen all this fighters fight as I did not start following boxing until the early 1990s. I feel very uncomfortable about these rankings and I believe this is the hardest decade to rank fighters clearly and many of these traded wins and losses all over the place. Even the number one spot is quite debatable and Controversial. In fact I don't think you can confidently rank any of these fighters at any one spot and feel totally comfortable about it.

Anyway, for anyone who watched these guys through the 80s and want to chime in, it would be greatly appreciated to sort this mess out. Would love to hear your opinions.

For this ranking I am only counting fights which took place during the years 1990 to 1999. If two fighters are equal, then I will give consideration to fights that happened outside of the Decade.

1. Lennox Lewis: Lost to Oliver McCall but came back to defeat him in a truly bizarre rematch. Also was robbed in fighting Holyfield to a Draw, but came back to defeat him decisively. Also big wins over Mercer, Grant, Morrison, Ruddock, and several more notable names. Clear cut number one fighter of the decade and there is no debate. Universally recognized as a top 10 all time great heavyweight with many experts ranking him in the top 5.
2. Riddick Bowe: He won the trilogy with Holyfield and never lost a fight in this decade. His fights with Golota are as exciting and legendary as they were bizarre and personally I felt Golota fouled himself out because he was just such a head case of a fighter. I think it is the most logical conclusion as to why Golota kept throwing low blows and got himself disqualified twice. That being said, it was the second most bizarre fight of the decade after Bowe's fan man fight with Holyfield. He also had many notable wins over quality fighters like Bert Cooper, Pierre Coetzer, Pinklon Thomas, Bruce Seldon, Tony Tubbs, and Michael Dokes. The Golota fights broke him as a fighter and fans would never see Bowe have a significant bout again after his DQ wins over Golota.
3. Evander Holyfield: Had Holyfield won both fights against Michael Moorer, I would have placed Holyfield ahead of Bowe, but he didn't and split wins with him. Obviously Holyfield's biggest wins came twice against Tyson and he had several more big wins against fighters like Foreman, Ray mercer, Larry Holmes, and Buster Douglass. Was also undisputed Champ after his Douglas win. I believe Holyfield was the most durable heavyweight champion of all time. The brutal punishment he dished out and absorbed is almost mythical and legendary in its out right. The original fighter's fighter.
4. Mike Tyson: This is not a clear pick and you could argue Tyson should be lower as he lost to both Holyfield and Douglas during this decade. He did have big wins against Razor Ruddock, Frank Bruno, Henry Tillman, and Bruce Seldon which I think is enough to place him ahead of Moorer or Foreman. To this day fans are still wondering, "does Tyson beat Holyfield if he never goes to Prison?".
5. Big George Foreman: Had spectacular knock outs during this decade, especially against Cooney, Rodrigues, and of course Michael Moorer. Put on inspiring performances in his losses against Holyfield and Morrison as well and should have got the decision in his last fight against Briggs. He was the ultimate Frankensteiner or a large slow fighter who can't be hurt but if he gets his hands on you.......game over. Today's Big Bang Zhang reminds me of Big George. And lets not forget he is the oldest heavyweight Champion in history to this day!
6. Michael Moorer: Had a huge win over Evan Holyfield and for a time was the number one Heavyweight on the Planet. And of course he is best known for his loss to Old Man Foreman. Also had big wins over Frans Botha, James Smith, Bert Cooper, Vaughn Bean, and Axel Shultz. Personally, I think he is the most over rated fighter of this era and there was actually a time when boxing pundits whispered Moorer should be in the discussion for best heavyweight fighters of all time for his win over Holyfield. Clearly Moorer belongs in no such discussion, but a solid fighter of the 90s none the less.
7. Oliver McCall: He KOed the best fighter of the decade and was only the second man to ever do that. He also had notable wins over Bruce Seldon, Oleg Maskaev, Larry Holmes, and Damiani. I think many will also remember him for his rematch with Lewis in which he literally had a mental break down inside the ring. What many will also not realize is McCall's career spanned nearly 30 years where he fought a relatively high level of competition. He turned pro in 1985 and fought his last fight in 2025. Had a style that was similar to Ernie Shaver. Had a few losses during the decade, but that win over Lewis may be the single greatest win of the decade, so I will place him here in the rankings.
8. Ike Ibeabuchi: This is a controversial pick as IKE didn't have many wins over top opposition, but he did beat a hell of a fighter at his own game in David Tua and he also KOed a multi time world heavy weight champ in Chris Byrd. He also never lost a fight in this decade. He most certainly would have beat many more great fighters had he not been afflicted with mental illness and end up in prison. He could have been one of the greats in my opinion. He may be the biggest "What If" ever in the history of heavy weight boxing.
9. David Tua: The only man to beat him in the 1990s was Ike Ibeabuchi and Tua had many notable wins by KO over names like John Ruiz, David Izon, Oleg Maskaev and Hasim Rahman. Because he never got a belt, you could argue he should be lower. Tua was his own worst enemy. Had he kept his weight in the 220s- he would have certainly won a belt and defended it at some point as mobility and stamina always hindered him against elite opponents.
10. Ray Mercer: Made one defense of his WBO belt and he was ranked in the top 10 of heavyweights for 6 out of the 10 years of the 1990s and has notable wins over Morrison, Witherspoon, Damiani, and Cooper. His best fights may have been in his losses though as he gave Lennox Lewis all he could handle and many felt he should have got the decision. I think his brutal KO win over Morrison solidifies his spot in the ranking. I would have placed him higher but his losses to an older Larry Holmes and Jesse ferguson hurt his legacy for this decade.
11. Tommy Morrisson: Had some very solid wins in the 1990s over fighters like George Foreman, Razor Ruddock, James Tillis, Joe Hipp, Pinklon Thomas, and Carl Williams. He most certainly wold have made the top 10 if he had not contracted HIV and forced to retire early. Like Ibeabuchi, his career was tragically cut short.
12. Michael Grant: He would go 31-0 in this decade and defeat almost a dozen solid fighters from this era. His best wins over ranked opponents were Andrew Golota, David Izon, Lionel Butler, and Jorge Luis Gonzalez. He would never challenge for a title in this decade, so that will keep him lower in the rankings. His win over Golota edges him out over the fighter below.
13. Chris Byrd: Many people will be surprised to see Chris Byrd here and many will also be surprised to learn that Byrd went 29-1 in this decade with his only loss to the President IKE Ibeabuchi. He was the Ultimate journeyman for most of the decade and would end up with several wins over ranked fighters like Lionel Butler, Phil Jackson, Jose Ribalta, and Bert Cooper. Byrd truly earned his way into the rankings with this very respectable body of work. Just several months into the year 2000, he even gets a miracle win over Vitali Klitschko.
14. Donovan Razor Ruddock: He had a spectacular performance in his loss to Michael Tyson and the rematch was almost as good. Unfortunately Ruddock would never quite be the same after the brutality of those wars. He would be KOed by both Lewis and Morrison in his other attempts at gaining a title. He did have solid wins over ranked fighters such as Greg Page and Phil Jackson. Lack of quality wins in this decade will keep him from a higher ranking even though many will want him higher. It may be a controversial statement, but I think you could even place several fighters from the Honorable Mention section here over Ruddock. I will keep him here for now based on those magnificent fights with Tyson.
15. Andrew Golota: Another big "what if?". What becomes of Golota if he doesn't foul himself out vs Big Daddy Bowe? He clearly had both those fights in the bag and moronically fouled himself out of the history books and winning a title. That being said, those fights were incredibly entertaining, if not hard to watch at times because these two men were landing some of the hardest punches ever thrown in a heavyweight title fight. It was especially hard to watch the vicious pounding shots to the genitals of Bowe from Golota. Its amazing the fights weren't stopped sooner. Golota actually doesn't have any big wins over ranked fighters in this decade, but he would also unsuccessfully challenge Lennox Lewis for a title right after the Bowe fights and lose to Grant in his last fight in the decade.

Honorable Mention Tier 1: Buster Douglass, Vitali Klitschko, Tony Tucker, Larry Holmes, Henry Akinwande, Frank Bruno, Shannon Briggs

Honorable Mention Tier 2: Francois Botha, Corrie Sanders, Vladimir Klitschko, Herbie Hide, Larry Donald, Axel Shultz, Bruce Seldon, Brian Nielsen

Honorable Mention Tier 3: David Izon, Michael Bentt, Oleg Maskaev, Bert Cooper, Pierre Coetzer, Tim Witherspoon, Kirk Johnson, Jose Ribalta, John Ruiz, Ross Puritty, Hasim Rahman

Final Thoughts on the decade. Here are Three things that I think should define this decade.

1. Silver Age of Boxing: This decade is generally seen by many boxing experts as in the discussion for the second best era of heavyweight boxing ever. Fighters like Holyfield, Lewis, and Tyson are usually in the discussion for best heavyweights of all time and they were all arguably in their prime in this decade. Then other legendary fighters such as Foreman, Bowe, and Moorer are also seen as elite fighters who put on spectacular performances of this decade. Fighters like McCall, Mercer, Morrison, Tua, and Golota round out the lower tier of ranked heavyweights are also very very respected fighters with some big wins and important fights. If the seventies are seen as the "Golden Age" of boxing, then I think the nineties could be seen as the "Silver Age".
2. Land of the Bizarre: Boxing in general has always had some "colorful" and "odd" characters, but this decade really was an era with some extremely weird fighters and even stranger fights. From the "Fan Man Fight" during Bowe-Holyfield to the Golota-Bowe "Low Blow Fest" turned into Riot to the "Bite Fight" with Tyson-Holyfield 2 and even Lewis-McCall 2 where McCall lost his mind mid-fight. This decade just had some weird shit always going down. And let's not forget the Tyson R*** Trial and IKE Ibeabuchi ending up in Prison for two decades because of sexual assault. Tommy Morrison goes from film star and world class heavyweight boxer to cautionary tale after contracting HIV. Foreman does the unthinkable at 46 years young with that KO of Moorer. Then we had Bowe's manager Rock Neuman actually throw the WBC belt in the garbage and we even got to see the worst decison in boxing history when Lewis-Holyfield 1 was some how scored a draw and boxing basically and shamelessly admitted it was rigged. With all that said, it was quite compelling and even entertaining for the fans. Boxing at times was more like a Professional wrestling promotion than actual Pro wrestling. In the end, it was quite memorable and made for unforgettable moments in boxing history.
3. Old School: This was really the last decade with no social media and the internet wasn't really popular yet and the sport as a whole was very different because of this. Live fight cards were much more frequent as ticket sales was a major source of revenue for the sport and boxers could really only promote themselves by actually fighting in the ring or getting TV coverage on ESPN, FOX, HBO etc. This also mean't fighters fought much regularly, with almost all fighters fighting at least twice a year and having 4 fights in a year for top heavyweights was not uncommon. I don't think we will ever seen that again as guys like Fury, Usyk, and Joshua sometimes go 12 to 18 months between fights and will scedule meaningless tune up fights against unranked opponents and it just makes it really difficult for hard core fans to get their fix of great fights like we did in the 1990s.

I wrote this earlier today. Of course we know the big three, but who were the best heavyweight fighters beside the Klitschko Bros and Lewis?

How the fuck do we go from Lennox Lewis to John Ruiz? No disrespect to Ruiz, but man was the 2000s weak for Heavyweight boxing. There was literally no one outside the Klitschko who would have been in the 10 at Heavyweight during the 90s. Here is my ranking of 2000s Heavyweights besides Lewis and Klitschkos.

For this ranking I will only be considering fights that took place between 2000-2009.

1. Hasim Rahman: On any given night, Rahman had the power to beat anyone and he had a ton of heart which made up for his lack of skill. An under rated heavyweight to this day. I think he needs to get more repsect for a long and respectable career. His peak of course came with that spectacular KO of the big cat himself, Lennox Lewis. That being said, David Tua knocked his lights out, although it was controversial. In one of the great Heavyweight fights of the 2000s, Oleg Maskaev had a miraculous come from behind finish to take the title from Rahman. His stock took a hit, but I think that fight actually elevated Rahman's legacy as it was a war in the truest sense. Won a decent fight over monte Barrett, Corrie Sanders, and fought Tua to a draw in the rematch and James Toney to a draw are probably his next best fights of the 2000s.
2. Chris Byrd: This guy weighed 208 lbs soaking wet and if you saw him today, you would think he fought middleweight. I ll be honest, his fights sucked as he had zero power at heavyweight, but he was so skilled and fast and conditioned, he found ways to squeak wins and that is the correct term to describe his best wins. He would just barely do enough to get the dec. This is why I don't place him ahead of Rahman even though on paper he has better wins. If Byrd fought Lennox 10 times, he loses 10 out of 10, where as Rahman had the power which was his great eqaulizer and allowed him to always pose a threat which made his fights exciting. Byrd's best win is a controversial one where he pulled it out vs Tua. Tua fought the worst fight of his career and Byrd put on a master class of skill and pulled off the big upset. Tua should have been the next Tyson-esque like fighter to excite fans of the 2000s but Byrd put an end to that with this win. Byrd had tough losses to the President IKE iBEABUCHI and Klitschko but he also had wins over an aging Holyfield and he took the legendary Golota to a draw even though almost everyone felt he lost. Still Byrd ended his career with a very respectable four heavyweight title defenses and solidifies his spot among the best Heavyweight fighters of the 2000s.
3. Ruslan Chagaev: Wins over Ruiz and the largest Heavyweight champion ever in Nikolai Valuev. Lacked a high number of title fights and maybe he should be lower on this list. For now, I will keep him here as his only loss was to Vlad Klitschko at the very end of the decade.
4. Nikolai Valuev: Incredibly large and slow and a bit of a freak show. Outside of that though he had a lot of big wins. He had four heavyweight title defenses and won two different alaphabet belts and holds wins over good fighters of the era like Ruiz, barret, McCline, and Lyakhovich. He earned the right to be here and was a true force of the era. A much more intelligent fighter than you would think. He has the health condition giantism, and one of the side effects of that is his nervous system signals were slowed which slowed his reflexes. So even at his size he had to calculate and time his punches perfectly as they came as such a slow speed over a great distance. This made him a difficult puzzle to solve and posed some great challenges while simultaneously being rather easy to hit. His fights may be one the most unique in all of boxing and he should to be appreciated more for overcoming disadvantages.
5. John Ruiz: He had several nice wins in the first half of the decade. He came out on the winning end of the best trilogy of the decade. He had a win,loss, and title defending draw against all time great but well past his prime Evan Holyfield. He also had very close wins over Golota and Rahman. He may be best know for allowing Roy Jones Jr.-"maybe the best light heavy weight of the last fifty years", to come up to heavyweight and give him a decision loss. He was involved in eleven total title fights in this decade and that is respectable and maybe "The Quiet Man" deserves a little more respect for his work in this era.
6. Sultan Ibragimov: Nice win over Briggs and Holyfield and had a big fight with Klitschko where he went the distance, but probably lost 10 or 11 rounds. Also had an obscure loss early in the decade and a draw with the forgettable one time Title challenger Raymond Austin. Interesting fact, he is dagestani and hails from the same oblast as Khabib Nurmagomedov. Never fuck with a Russian who is a disiciple of Islam.
7. Serghei Lyakhovich: This is a strange pick as Lyakhovich lost his first defense to Shannon the Cannon, but the reason I picked him is I think he had one of the top 3 heavyweight performances of the 2000s when he put on an absolute master class of skill and fight IQ against a very dangerous Lamon Brewster who was quite feared at the time as he took out Vlad Klitschko by KO. His foot work that night was light and swift and his measured punches had just the right amount of heat to do damage but not exhaust himself. On paper Lyakhovich should not be here, but I think if you took the white wolf's performance here and put him up against any heavyweight of this era besides Klitchsko and he walks away with a win. His fight with Brewster was a true bright spot in a dark era which lacked great fights badly.
8. Alexander Povetkin: He turned professional in 2005 and quickly racked up several notable wins over many respected fighters of the era. His best wins were a tko over Chris Byrd and a dec. over Eddie Chambers. Surprisingly, he would not challenge for a title until 2011- WBA "Regular" Title. Still he would not be defeated in decade and he was ranked in the top 10 in the Ring Magazine rankings for 2007-2009.
9. Samuel Peter: Had some scary KOs to start the decade, especially his KO of Jeremy Williams. I think his best fight was actually his loss to Vlad Klitschko where he knocked Klitschko down twice and gave him a tough fight. Also had two wins over James Toney-"Many felt Toney won the first fight", and won the WBC title by KO-ing Oleg Maskaev, plus a nice win over Jameel McCline.
10. Evander Holyfield: Had decent wins over John Ruiz, Fres. Oquendo, and Hasim Rahman. I think his best claim to making the top 10 is he was invovled in six world heavyweight title fights in this decade and he gave Valuev all he could handle losing by MD at 46 years young. He did lose to Toney but I feel his over all body of work through the decade and his trilogy with Ruiz is enough to place him at number 10, but this spot is really subjective as Holyfield did lose to a high number of notable fighters above him on this list. Personally I believe Holyfield is the most durable fighter to ever lace the gloves up and he always brought a fight and gave their fans their money's worth every time he stepped in the ring all the way into his mid forties.
11. Eddie Chambers: Many may be surprised "Fast" Eddie landed here, but when looking at his body of work, he went 35-1 in this decade and had wins over notable fighters like Samuel Peter, Calvin Brock, Alex Dimitrenko, and Dominick Guinn. His lone loss was a dec. to the under rated Russian Alex Povetkin. He would never even challenge for a title in this decade but I feel his wins and lone loss are enough to put him over the fighters below.

Honorable Mention Tier 1: Shannon Briggs, Lamon Brewster, David Tua, Oleg Maskaev, James Toney, Corrie Sanders, Mike Tyson

Honorable Mention Tier 2: David Haye, Roy Jones Jr., Monte Barret, Fres Oquendo, Jameel "Big Time" McCline, Tony Thompson, Andrew Golota

Honorable Mention Tier 3: Lance Whittaker, Shane Cameron, "The Bosphorus Bull" Sinan Samil Sam, Kirk Johnson, Joe Mesi, Audley Harrison, Danny Williams, Raymond Austin, Chris Areaola, Calvin Brock, Oliver McCall, Alexander Dimitrenko

For the decade as a whole. I think this decade is generally seen as one of the weakest decades in the history of boxing, especially the second half of the decade. With that being said, Both the Klitschkos fought in this decade as well as all time greats in Evander Holyfield and Lennox Lewis and you can see there was a little more talent in this decade than people realize. I think the nineties was just so good that it spoiled fans and their expectations got a little too high. Still I would rank this decade quite low compared to other decades in the history of boxing.

For these rankings I am mostly only taking into account the fights that happened during this decade 2010-2019. I will mostly not be considering fights outside the decade, but if it is a hard call between two fighters, fights outside the decade may be slightly consider.

1. Tyson Fury: First man to beat Vlad Klitschko in almost 10 years and legendary fights with Wilder also add to his legacy. Disgracefully allowed his vice to halter his career for a few years only to over come it and show the true heart of a champion and come back to add to his legacy.
2. Anthony Joshua: Had the single best fight of the decade in his win over Vladimir Klitschko and had solid wins over Dillian Whyte and Joe Parker as well.
3. Vladimir Klitschko: Had big wins over Haye, Povetkin, and Pulaev but came up short in his biggest fights, but he was also well past his prime, especially in the Joshua fight.
4. Deontay Wilder: Two great fights with king kong Ortiz and had a spectacular KO of that Polish guy. He took Fury to a draw in their first fight and then lost the last two with him showing tremendous heart in their third fight. Had TEN Successful TITLE DEFENSES in this decade and won nine of those by KO. Impressive!
5. Vitali Klitschko: Best win is probably over Shannon Brigs or Chisora and would have been higher if not for injuries which plauged his career. Had 6 successful WBC title defenses in this decade and fought until he was 41. Not too Shabby.
6. Alexander Povetkin: A bit under sized for heavyweight but very skilled and I always considered this guy the Russian version of Chris Byrd. This guy was also in the rankings throughout the entire decade and won a belt and made several defenses. His best win is over the tough Ruslan Chagaev and made four title defenses of his WBA title belt and KOed a tough Dillain Whyte late in his career, even if it didn,t come in this decade. Came up short to both Klitschko and Joshua. He earns the unofficial title "Best of the Rest" meaning he is the best guy of this decade outside of the legends like Klitschkos, Joshua, Fury, and Wilder.
7. Dillain Whyte: Best known for his fight with Joshua in which he rocked Joshua and then got knocked out. What alot of people forget is Whyte went on a very strong run after that fight and took out many world ranked fighters, including the great Joe Parker. That win and no other loses during the decade gets Whyte number 7 on this list even though he never held anything more than a single win to grab an interim belt.
8. Joe Parker: Best win over was over a very tough and young Andy Ruiz. Made two defenses of his WBO title belt before losing a dec to Joshua.
9. Andy Ruiz: Had one of the biggest upset wins of all time when he beat Anthony Joshua. I would have actually placed him ahead of Parker had he done more after the Joshua win, but Ruiz decided to fade away after the Joshua fights rather than try and make another run for the title.
10. Kubrat PuLaev: Had a lot of solid wins throughout the decade even though he came up short when he faced Vlad Klitschko for the IBF and Ring belts. His best wins were over Chisora, Samuel Peter, Kevin Johnson, and Alexander Ustinov and A. Dimitrenko.

Honorable Mention: Agit Kabayel, Luis Ortiz, David Haye, Derek Chisora, Ruslan Chagaev

Final Thoughts: When looking at this top 5 of the decade, I think its a worthy and strong top 5 with the Klitschkos being very respectable fighters and then you have the big three in Fury, Joshua, and Wilder with all of them having some pretty impressive stats. Especially Wilder who at one time had knocked out every man he faced except for one.

The lower five fighters however are of course not quite as strong, but still some decent fighters and certainly better than the decade which preceeded it.

Overall I think this decade ended stronger than it started and I think this decade is going to be remembered as the decade that brought heavyweight boxing back into the spotlight, especially in the UK. If the 2000s were the Dark Age of Boxing, then the second half of the 2010s should be known as the Rennaisance.

When comparing this decade to the previous decade, these rankings are pretty straight forward and clear. The place each fighter was ranked is not nearly as controversial as they usually defeated the fighters beneath or lost to the fighters ahead them. This was the opposite of the 2000s as all those heavyweights beside Lewis and the Klitschkos exchanged wins back and forth and because of that the rankings were very very subjective.