Is Manny Pacquiao or Bernard Hopkins Fighter of the Decade?

I was reminded that an article written by Leo Reyes, with his source coming from mp.com.ph, named Manny Pacquiao the Fighter of the Decade.  Pacquiao got the same honor from USA Today, Ring Magazine and the Boxing Writers Association of America.

I think that Pacquiao had a good decade in boxing.  But if you will, I'd like to throw out another boxer who should've been mentioned: Bernard Hopkins.

The Fighter of the Decade honor covered the period from 2001 to '10.  Pacquiao and Hopkins were great fighters in their respective weight classes.  However, I don't think the FOTD honor was based on Pacquiao's performances alone.  The comparisons of both fighters are like night and day.

Pacquiao is 32 years old.  He's scheduled to fight Shane Mosley in May, who'll approach 40.  Pacquiao, I believe, had the youth, speed and the energy against his opponents during the 10-year period.

Some of the most memorable opponents that Pacquiao fought in that time span were older than he was.  I don't know if that made any difference, but it's worth observing.  The average age of the notable opponents that Pacquiao fought was 28.8 years old.

When the Pac-Man fought Marco Antonio Barrera in 2003, he was 24 and Barrera was five years older.  He was 25 when he fought Juan Manuel Marquez, who was 31, for the first time in 2004.  That fight ended in a draw.  Pacquiao was 26 when he lost to Erik Morales in 2005, who was 28.  Morales lost to Pacquiao twice in 2006. When they fought the second time in 2006, Morales had already turned 30 years old.

Five of the last six opponents that Pacquiao fought were over 30.  Miguel Cotto was 29 and Pacquiao 30 when they clashed in 2009.  Barrera was 33 when Pacquiao fought him the second time in 2007.  Marquez was 34 when he and Pac-Man met again almost three years ago.  Ricky Hatton was 31, Joshua Clottey was 34 and Antonio Margarito was 32 when they fought against Pacquiao.

So what does this all mean?  Pacquiao still fought his older opponents while they were still in their prime years.  By the way, Oscar De La Hoya, who would've beaten Pacquiao, as he said, in his prime, was 35 when the pound-for-pound champ knocked him out in 2008.

Pacquiao has eight title belts in eight weight classes and defended his titles in the past.  His bout with Mosley will be for Pacquiao's WBO Superwelterweight title.

Bernard "The Executioner" Hopkins is 45.  His last fight was against 28-year-old Jean Pascal.  The average age of his notable opponents was 32.3 years.  No other boxer defended a title as many times as Hopkins.  It was amazing that he defended his middleweight belt 20 times, something I don't forsee happening in boxing again.

Hopkins and Pacquiao have something in common: They both knocked out De La Hoya.  Hopkins was the first to unify titles in four sanctioning bodies.

To me, Hopkins fought more quality and younger opponents than Pacquiao.  Felix Trinidad was 28 when he beaten to a pulp by Hopkins.  De La Hoya was 31 when he and Hopkins met in 2004.  Jermain Taylor was 27 when he beat an older Hopkins.  Kelly Pavlik was the youngest at 26 to fight Hopkins, and he lost.

Antonio Tarver, 38, Roy Jones, 41, and Winky Wright, 35, were way past their primes when they fought Hopkins.  Joe Calzaghe was 35 when he defeated Hopkins.  Can you imagine two 40-something fighters in Jones and Hopkins doing battle in the ring?

During the decade, Pacquiao fought more times than Hopkins, 24 to 17.  The Pac-Man had three fights in the same year four times and Hopkins fought three times in a year only once.

On the durability side, I'd give the edge to Pacquiao.  You can say that Pacquiao prefers to wait until certain fighters get older to battle them because he wants to wear them down in the ring.  On the other hand, I wonder why Hopkins is still trying to fight in a division that belongs to the young warriors.  If he doesn't get out of boxing, I'm afraid that one of the young bucks will seriously hurt him.

Many of you may feel that Pacquiao deserves the FOTD.  I think Hopkins deserves it.