Ranking the Most Lopsided Title Fights in the Last Decade

What makes a fight “lopsided”?

Is it a drawn-out malicious beatdown over 10 or 12 rounds? Is it one man scientifically picking apart another? Or is it maybe a swift destructive knockout under two rounds?

It’s a little bit of everything or sometimes none of the above. 

Kind of like “greatness.” You don’t really know how to explain it, but you know it when you see it.

Lopsided fights take place every day—today, tomorrow and in the fights of yesteryear replaying in our memories.

Sometimes you see them coming. Sometimes you don’t. For every great superfight, there are hundreds of mismatches waiting for an epic annihilation to happen.

But title fights featuring two highly touted boxers supposedly evenly matched on paper rarely provide one-sided affairs.

Some are profound and breathtaking to behold—others are too grimacing to discern.

These are 10 of the most lopsided title fights between January 1, 2000 and December 31, 2009. 

10. Vitali Klitschko vs. Danny Williams

December 11, 2004 was the date. The WBC heavyweight title was on the line, and two giants were set to face off. 

Come fight night, over 500 pounds of mean, dangerous man would be in the ring—250 pounds on the side of the champion Vitali Klitschko and a staggering 270 for the challenger Danny Williams.

Could a normal man handily defeat a near 300-pound behemoth? No. But a Ukrainian diesel-powered fistic machine like Klitschko could.

From stabbing power jabs and straights to cracking uppercuts, Klitschko pummeled his plodding opponent from bell to bell. Williams was never in the fight for a second, even taking a nine count in the opening frame.

Williams keeled over to the canvas three more times in the fight. In Round 8, the referee stepped in and saved him from more punishment.

A man of such stature rarely endures a beating like this. It was a colossal licking that no one will ever forget. 

9. Carl Froch vs. Lucian Bute

Carl Froch tends to shine brightest when the odds are against him.

On May 26, 2012, he challenged upstart Lucian Bute for his IBF super middleweight title.

Many pegged this as an automatic loss for Froch, as Bute was the new and Froch was the old. But he had other plans.

From start to finish, Froch unloaded on his opponent. His unconventional attack was at its finest this night, and Bute couldn't do a thing about it.

Punches flew at Bute from every conceivable angle—and then some.

Bute clearly wouldn’t last long. And in the fifth round, Froch put him out of his misery.

“The Cobra” bullied his opponent into the ropes and unleashed a closing barrage of punches until the referee signaled an end to this ruthless beatdown. 

8. Lennox Lewis vs. Mike Tyson

It was a fight that should have happened long before. 

Lennox Lewis was the best heavyweight in the world. He held the WBC, IBF, IBO and the reintroduced Ring Magazine heavyweight titles. And he was set to defend them against none other than the human dynamo, Mike Tyson on June 8, 2002.

Tyson, a shell of his former self, still brought a stylistic matchup that some felt would give Lewis enough problems to overthrow the heavyweight kingpin. But they were wrong.

Lewis would later say in the post-fight interview, “No one gets away from my jab.” And he was right.

Tyson fought valiantly, however, even applying enough pressure to win the first round. But it was all Lewis from there.

Pumping out his brilliant jab off of an 84-inch reach, Lewis peppered Tyson’s face. "Iron Mike" ate the champion’s jabs and right straights as often as they were served up to him.

The end of the second round only foreshadowed an impending doom for Tyson. He was completely overmatched and downright overshadowed.

Between his inability to avoid Lewis’ powerful punches and the way he was tossed about the ring like a child, Tyson became a pitiful figure in the ring.

There’s nothing more lopsided than a man against a boy. And that’s just what this fight was. Round after round, Tyson had nothing to offer Lewis.

In Round 8, Lewis put Tyson away with one gigantic overhand right. 

Tyson collapsed to the ground. Once a ravenous predator, at the hands of Lewis he had turned into fallen prey. 

7. Shane Mosley vs. Antonio Margarito

Coming off a thrilling victory over Miguel Cotto, Antonio Margarito stood alone atop the loaded welterweight division.

And being such a talent-rich weight class, no one expected Shane Mosley to be the guy to overthrow him on January 24, 2009.

Entering as a 4-1 underdog, Mosley embraced the opportunity to shock the world. Right off the bat, he took the fight to his opponent, attacking the body unmercifully.

Being a tough-as-nails warrior, Margarito tried to fight back. He tried to close the distance. He tried to back Mosley into the ropes.

And none of it mattered. This night belonged to “Sugar.”

Like an acidic shower, Mosley’s hands rained down on a corroding Margarito. He did not make it past the ninth round.

With one final flurry on the ropes, Mosley struck Margarito over and over until he hit the ground, claiming the WBA welterweight title and recognition as the best welterweight in the world.  

6 and 5: Floyd Mayweather Jr.

In a list of the most lopsided fights of the last decade—how could you expect not to see Floyd Mayweather Jr.?

In fact, at least two of his fights are worthy of inclusion. Here are those two—arguably the two defining performances of Mayweather’s illustrious career.

Vs. Diego Corrales

Do you want to know how one-sided this fight was?

Diego Corrales threw 205 punches, with just 60 of them landing. Meanwhile, Mayweather landed 220 of his 414 punches.

In the most masterful performance of his career, Mayweather landed more punches than his opponent even threw.

Let that one sink in for a moment.

And Corrales was far from a mid-tier or serviceable journeyman. He was a fearsome puncher, an undefeated one at that—and he was the best super featherweight in the world at the time.

And Mayweather thoroughly outclassed him, displaying some of his own power to earn a TKO victory in the 10th round on January 20, 2001.

Vs. Arturo Gatti 

Mayweather overwhelmed WBC junior welterweight champion Arturo Gatti on June 25, 2005.

Simply put, Mayweather did whatever he wanted, whenever he wanted. His combinations shot out of his hands and landed at will. But the resilient Gatti fought on. Five-punch combinations, six-punch combinations thudded against the flesh of a helpless target.

The way Gatti blocked these violent combinations with his face was hard to watch—and outright inhuman.

And Gatti’s trainer Buddy McGirt could take it no more. He stopped the bout at the end of Round 6.

Mayweather was recognized as the best 140-pound fighter in the world and recorded an utter drumming over a Hall of Famer. 

4-2. Manny Pacquaio

Manny Pacquiao could have appeared all over this list. But that would have been too easy. So forgive me if I might have missed your favorite Pacquiao shellacking.

I went with his conquest of belts at lightweight, junior welterweight and welterweight.

Vs. David Diaz

Pacquiao’s only fight at lightweight ended in a hauntingly beautiful knockout. He destroyed WBC lightweight champion David Diaz in June 2008.

He battered his opponent throughout the fight and never let up. Pacquiao’s world-class hand speed was on full display.

And in the ninth round, his knockout power made an appearance. A right jab-left hook combination ended Diaz’s night, sending him face first to the floor.

Vs. Ricky Hatton

Hatton was 45-1, one of the top-10 pound-for-pound fighters and the best junior welterweight in the world when he faced off with Pacquiao in May 2009.

Which makes what happened all the more impressive.

With the IBO light welterweight title on the line, Pacquiao wasted no time in finding his rhythm, dropping Hatton twice in the first round.

And in the second round, the boxing world stood witness to the single most destructive one-punch knockout of the decade. Pacquiao lit Hatton up with perfect left hand—plastering the British superstar to the canvas.

We wouldn’t see Hatton in the ring for another three years.

Vs. Miguel Cotto

Beginning his professional career as a 106-pound 16-year-old, Pacquiao made his way to a title fight at 147 pounds.

Puerto Rican star Miguel Cotto stood between Pacquiao and a title in his seventh weight class in November 2009. 

And Pacquiao shoved him aside without mercy.

He never gave his opponent an inch, clobbering Cotto every step of the way. He landed 276 power punches to Cotto’s 93 and knocked him down in the third and fourth rounds.

And in Round 12, the referee saw enough, stopping the bout with 2:05 left to go. 

1. Joe Calzaghe vs. Jeff Lacy

They called one fighter in this clash a 168-pound Mike Tyson. They called the other a light-hitting “slapper.” Whom do you think was on the wrong side of the most lopsided title fight of the last decade?

The date was March 4, 2006, and a superfight was set to commence.

It was a unification bout between WBO super middleweight champion Joe Calzaghe and IBF champion Jeff Lacy, but this was for much more than a couple of mere belts. This was for divisional supremacy.

The event was coined “Judgment Day” and was the biggest super middleweight fight since Roy Jones Jr. and James Toney touched them up 11 years prior. As it turned out, it wasn’t even a fight but rather a complete massacre.

Lacy was the future; he looked like a superhero, with muscles on top of other muscles, and he carried dynamite in both hands. He was everything the boxing world craved—and everything Calzaghe was not.  

But it made no difference to the “Pride of Wales.”

In front of thousands of cheering fans, Calzaghe all but tossed a perfect game. It’s hard to convey with words just how flawless he was that night. 

Does Lacy’s vandalized face maybe get the point across? 

From the opening bell, Calzaghe’s fists found their target. He literally won every frame of the fight, unloading blitzing combinations all over Lacy. And we’re not talking about your standard three or four-punch combinations—but like only the “Italian Dragon” can—six, eight and even 10 and 12-punch combos.

He neutralized every bit of his opponent’s offense as well, ducking and rolling out of the way of most of Lacy’s punches and leaving him to swing at nothing but empty air.

By the end of the first round, Lacy's nose was bleeding. By the end of the fourth, a cut had opened up over one of his eyes. By the end of the sixth, his eyes were  swollen shut. 

Going into the ninth, Lacy couldn't even remember what round it was. 

It was complete domination, an entire decade’s worth of lopsidedness courtesy of Calzaghe—all wrapped up into one metaphorical slap to Lacy’s face.