Who will be named fighter of the decade for the 2010s?
Andre Ward
Record in decade: 11-0, 3 KOs
Andre Ward is one of the most talented boxers of this decade. The last man from the United States to win gold at the Olympics, Ward’s skills are truly world class.
He put himself on the map when he won the Super Six World Boxing Classic, which featured six of the best super-middleweights in the world. Coming in to the tournament, people knew of Ward, but they did not know just how good he was.
He entered the tournament with the second-worst odds to win, yet he won with relative ease. With Ward emerging victorious, it was clear he was not only a great fighter, but he was different.
After wiping out the super-middleweight division, Ward challenged light-heavyweight champion Chad Dawson to a fight at a catchweight, which Ward dominated.
Following his victory over Dawson, Ward had a period of inactivity where he fought just once from 2013 through 2015. In 2015, he came back and decided to move up to light-heavyweight full-time, and after a few tune-up fights, he challenged the biggest boogey man in boxing (at the time), Sergey Kovalev.
Their first fight was razor close, with Ward edging it on the scorecards. The rematch left no doubts, however, as Ward knocked out the once-invincible Kovalev. This was the best win of his career, and following Roman Gonzalez’s knockout loss, cemented Ward as the best fighter in the world.
This is why his retirement following the Kovalev fight was so shocking. He was at the height of his career, and getting all the respect he deserved. It’s a shame to see someone retire in their prime (or close to it), but he was financially secure and did not want to get hit in the face anymore.
Ward’s resume stacks up with anyone’s on this list, with notable wins over Arthur Abraham, Carl Froch, Dawson, and Kovalev twice. Even his opponents who were not as big-named as those previously mentioned are solid wins, including Allen Green, Sakio Bika and Sullivan Berrera.
The only thing holding back Ward from being the front runner for fighter of the decade is that he was inactive for nearly half of it, so he wasn’t able to bolster his already-impressive resume.
He fought once in a two-and-a-half-year span, and retired with another two-and-a-half-years left in the decade, while still the best fighter in the sport.
If he never retired, he would more than likely still be No. 1 pound-for-pound, while adding even more impressive names to his resume. He would be mixing it up with the likes of Dmitry Bivol, Artur Beterbiev and Oleksandr Gvozdyk, while being the favorite in all of those matchups. He might have even tested the waters at cruiserweight (if only we got to see Ward vs. Oleksandr Usyk).
All of those fantasy fights are fun to talk about, but do not impact voting. Ward has as strong of a case as anyone, even with missing half of the decade. He was that good.