I was going to do a top 10 pound for pound for this decade, but I became a hardcore boxing fan in 2008, so I decided to incorporate those two years into my list. Records are for the fighters' entire career.
1. Floyd Mayweather (50-0, 27 KOs)
2. Manny Pacquiao (62-7-2, 39 KOs)
3. Andre Ward (32-0, 16 KOs)
4. Wladimir Klitschko (64-5, 53 KOs)
5. Canelo Alvarez (53-1-2, 36 KOs)
6. Vasiyl Lomachenko (14-1, 10 KOs)
7. Juan Manuel Marquez (56-7-1, 40 KOs)
8. Miguel Cotto (41-6, 33 KOs)
9. Gennady Golovkin (40-1-1, 35 KOs)
10. Guillermo Rigondeaux (19-1, 13 KOs)
1. Mayweather is the unquestioned fighter of the last 12 years. He matched both skill and resume in a way no other fighter of his era did. He beat four men on my top ten list; no one comes close to that number. Not every fight was against a top flight opponent, but he beat more top opponents than anyone of the last dozen years.
2. Pacquiao's run, starting with his victory over Oscar De La Hoya, was incredible at the time. Hindsight is less kind. The win over Cotto still holds up, and perhaps has even gained merit after Cotto resurrected his career, but the rest have lost their luster somewhat with time. He deserved all three over Tim Bradley, who would have made this list had it extended to 20 boxers. Officially, he is 2-1 against Marquez since 2008, but I thought Marquez deserved all three. His recent win over Keith Thurman was impressive, though.
3. Ward cleaned out the super middleweight division by dominating the Super Six tournament in the early part of the decade. His wins over Froch and Kessler in the tournament were noteworthy. He then whipped Chad Dawson, who was the true light heavyweight champion at the time. He later became the best light heavyweight in the world after taking two against Kovalev.
4. Until November 2015, Klitschko totally dominated the heavyweight division. He looked unbeatable. He didn't have the stiffest competition, but wins over former true cruiserweight champ David Haye in addition to Povetkin and Pulev are at least worth mentioning. He fought a very boring fight against Tyson Fury, who has since done well for himself, and a very exciting fight against Anthony Joshua. He lost against his two best opponents, but Klitschko was clearly a faded fighter by then.
5. No one has fought the number of quality opponents as has Canelo. He won a couple of questionable decisions (against Trout and Lara), but he's also moved up in weight in a way that is comparable only to Pacquiao. He lost to Mayweather badly, but was very competitive against Golovkin. Officially, he is 1-0-1 against GGG, although I though Golovkin deserved the fight fight. He beat Cotto for the true middleweight championship and recently won a strap at light heavyweight despite starting this era as a welterweight.
6. Lomachenko doesn't have the resume of the guys above him. His best win was against Rignodeaux, who was coming up in weight. He also had good wins against Russell and Walters. But he has moved up from featherweight to lightweight and pretty much dominated world class guys. His ability puts him this high on the list more than his resume.
7. Marquez makes the list almost exclusively on his battles with Pacquiao. He had that huge knockout of the PacMan in 2012, which was a shocker because Pacquiao looked invincible at the time. He deserved the other two fights against Pacquiao since 2008. He fought a close battle with Bradley as well.
8. Cotto's best win since 2008 was over a faded Sergio Martinez, but it was for the true middleweight championship. Cotto fought three of the top 5 guys on this list and was relatively competitive against all three.
9. Golovkin is another guy whose ability outshines his resume. His best opponent has been Canelo, who he officially is 0-1-1 against. I thought he deserved the first fight and both were close. Golovkin was a bit past his prime in those bouts. He also has a nice win over Jacobs and annihilated the world class opponents put in front of him before he fought Jacobs and Canelo.
10. Rigondeaux also makes the list based on ability. He beat Nonito Donaire when the latter was a top 5 pound-for-pound fighter. He didn't stand a chance against Lomachenko, his only defeat, but that was at a much heavier weight. Otherwise, his opponents haven't had a chance against him, his last fight notwithstanding.
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