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Rankings: Looking at the decade's best

Yahoo Sports

With only about 14 months remaining in the decade, it got me thinking about the 10 best fighters from 2000 through 2009.

It is obvious that, at this point, the Fighter of the Decade is Floyd Mayweather Jr., who scored most of the big wins in his illustrious career from 2000 on and who reigned as the sport's pound-for-pound champion for five years in the decade.

Whenever you're choosing the best over a period like a decade, there are always elite fighters who have to get cut.

But this is my list, for what it's worth. If you give me yours, I'll share some of them in my mailbag that runs on Tuesday. Remember, though, I'm only going to consider a fighter's bouts that occurred from 2000 through the present.

So, before we get to the current monthly rankings, my decade rankings go like this: 1. Mayweather; 2. Heavyweight Lennox Lewis; 3. Middleweight Bernard Hopkins; 4. Manny Pacquiao; 5. Super welterweight Winky Wright; 6. Marco Antonio Barrera; 7. Erik Morales; 8. Shane Mosley; 9. Joe Calzaghe; 10. Miguel Cotto.

Lewis only fought through 2003 and he lost a bout to Hasim Rahman in that period. But he avenged the loss to Rahman in a devastating manner, stopped Vitali Klitschko and dominated Michael Grant (who at the time was very highly regarded), Frans Botha and David Tua (whom many were giving a good chance).

Hopkins held the middleweight titles for the first half of the decade and then, after losing them in a controversial decision, moved to light heavyweight and scored impressive wins over Antonio Tarver, Wright and Kelly Pavlik there.

As for this month's rankings, Hopkins makes the biggest move, jumping from 10th to fifth after routing Pavlik in Atlantic City, N.J. Pavlik dropped out of the poll and Cristian Mijares moved into the 10th slot.

Let me know your choices thus far for Fighter of the Decade and we'll discuss a bit in my mailbag on Tuesday.

Here, though, is the October rankings, as voted on by a 26-member panel of boxing writers.

1. Manny Pacquiao
Points: 264 1/2 (22 of 27 first-place votes)
Record: 47-3-2 (36 KOs)
Title: WBC lightweight champion
Last outing: TKO9 over David Diaz on June 28
Previous ranking:: 1
Up next: Dec. 6 vs. Oscar De La Hoya
Analysis:: Should be unanimous No. 1 if he overcomes size disadvantage against De La Hoya

2. Joe Calzaghe
Points: 218 (4 of 26 first-place votes)
Record: 45-0 (32 KOs)
Title: WBA super middleweight champion and The Ring light heavyweight champion
Last outing: W12 over No. 9 Bernard Hopkins on April 19
Previous ranking:: 3
Up next: Nov. 8 in New York vs. Roy Jones Jr.
Analysis:: Announced he'll retire after Jones fight

3. Juan Manuel Marquez
Points: 212
Record: 49-4-1 (35 KOs)
Title: The Ring lightweight champion
Last outing: TKO11 over Joel Casamayor on Sept. 13
Previous ranking:: 2
Up next: Nothing scheduled
Analysis:: In a holding pattern, waiting upon results of other bouts

4. Israel Vazquez
Points: 170
Record: 43-4 (31 KOs)
Title: WBC and The Ring super bantamweight champion
Last outing: W12 over No. 7 Rafael Marquez on March 1
Previous ranking:: 4
Up next: Nothing scheduled
Analysis:: Will return in spring of 2009

5. Bernard Hopkins
Points: 154
Record: 49-5 (32 KOs)
Title: None
Last outing: W12 over Kelly Pavlik on Oct. 18
Previous ranking:: 10
Up next: Nothing scheduled
Analysis:: Hoping for a Roy Jones Jr. rematch next year

6. Antonio Margarito
Points: 148
Record: 37-5 (27 KOs)
Title: WBA welterweight champion
Last outing: TKO11 over No. 8 Miguel Cotto on July 26
Previous ranking:: 6
Up next: Nothing scheduled
Analysis:: Won't fight again until early 2009

7. Rafael Marquez
Points: 93
Record: 37-5 (33 KOs)
Title: None
Last outing: L12 to No. 4 Israel Vazquez on March 1
Previous ranking:: 7
Up next: Nothing scheduled
Analysis:: Part of boxing's finest brother tandem

8. Miguel Cotto
Points: 59
Record: 32-1 (26 KOs)
Title: None
Last outing: TKO by 11 to Antonio Margarito on July 26
Previous ranking:: 8
Up next: Nothing scheduled
Analysis:: Won't fight again until early 2009

9. Ivan Calderon
Points: 41
Record: 32-0 (6 KOs)
Title: WBO light flyweight champion
Last outing: TD7 over Hugo Cazares on Aug. 30
Previous ranking:: 10
Up next: Nothing scheduled
Analysis:: The game's finest pure boxer

10. Cristian Mijares
Points: 37
Record: 36-3-2 (15 KOs)
Title: WBC, WBA super flyweight champion
Last outing: TKO3 over Chatchai Sasakul on Aug. 30
Previous ranking:: NR
Up next: Nov. 1 vs. Vic Darchinyan in Carson, Calif.
Analysis:: Superb boxer gaining much respect

Others receiving votes: Paul Williams 27 1/2, Chad Dawson 19, Kelly Pavlik 10 1/2, Chris John 6, Juan Manuel Lopez 5, Wladimir Klitschko 4, Mikkel Kessler 3, Roy Jones Jr. 3, Ricky Hatton 2, David Haye 1, Arthur Abraham 1.