Boxing in the 2000s

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| style="text-align:center;"| 1990s . Boxing in the 2000s . 2010s

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Lists of notable fights and other key news by year

=2000=

==February==

==March==

==April==

==June==

==July==

  • July 15 - Lennox Lewis defeat Francois Botha via 2nd-round KO to retain his WBC, IBF, IBO, Lineal Heavyweight Championship

==August==

==September==

  • September 2 - Erik Morales defeats Kevin Kelley by 7th-round KO to win the Interim WBC Featherweight Championship
  • September 2 - Diego Corrales defeats Angel Manfredy by 3rd-round TKO to retained his IBF & IBA Super Featherweight Championship
  • September 9 - Roy Jones Jr. defeats Eric Harding by 10th-round TKO to retained his WBC, WBA, IBF, and won the IBO Light Heavyweight Championship

==November==

==December==

=2001=

==January==

==March==

  • March 3 - John Ruiz defeats Evander Holyfield by unanimous decision to win the WBA Heavyweight championship. Ruiz, an American of Puerto Rican descent, becomes the first Hispanic world heavyweight champion.
  • March 24 - Oscar De La Hoya wins decisively against Arturo Gatti by knockout in five rounds in a non-title match.

==April==

  • April 7 - After a fourteen-minute introduction, Naseem Hamed loses to Marco Antonio Barrera by unanimous decision. Barrera, then known as a brawler, surprisingly easily out-boxed Hamed, who later retired after his next bout.
  • April 22 - Hasim Rahman defeats Lennox Lewis via 5th-round KO in South Africa and wins the WBC and IBF heavyweight titles. Rahman lands a hard right hand for the upset knockout.

==May==

==June==

==September==

==November==

==December==

  • December 15 - John Ruiz and Evander Holyfield fought to a draw for the WBA Heavyweight Championship

=2002=

==January==

==February==

  • February 2 - In his first fight after becoming Undisputed Middleweight Champion, Bernard Hopkins defends the WBA, WBC, and IBF titles against Carl Daniels.

==March==

==April==

==May==

  • May 18 - Micky Ward defeats Arturo Gatti in a very competitive non-title light welterweight bout. After getting knocked down in the ninth round Gatti came back and traded power punches with Ward. The fight was later named the 2002 Ring Magazine fight of the year.

==June==

==July==

==September==

==November==

  • November 23 - Arturo Gatti defeats Mickey Ward by unanimous decision in their second fight

==December==

=2003=

==January==

==March==

==June==

  • June 21 - Lennox Lewis defends his title as he defeats Vitali Klitschko by technical knockout in 6 due to a cut in Klitschko's left eye. Klitschko was up on all of the scorecards at the time of the stoppage. There is talk of a rematch, but Lewis instead retires.

==July==

  • July 12 - Ricardo Mayorga successfully defends his WBA and WBC welterweight belts as he defeats Vernon Forrest by controversial majority decision.
  • July 17 - Jeff Lacy (as an up-and-coming super middleweight) defeats Richard Grant to win the vacant NABA Super Middleweight title as well as the USBA and WBC Continental Americas Super Middleweight titles.

==September==

==November==

==December==

=2004=

==January==

==March==

==April==

==May==

  • May 8 - Manny Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Márquez fought for the Featherweight championship. Although he was knocked down 3 times in the 1st round, Márquez managed to control the succeeding rounds to earn a somewhat controversial draw. Márquez retained his WBA and IBF titles, while Pacquiao retained his Ring Magazine title.
  • May 15 - Antonio Tarver upsets Roy Jones Jr., knocking him out in the second round to take the WBC, WBA and WBO light heavyweight titles.

==September==

  • September 18 - Bernard Hopkins adds the WBO title to his undisputed middleweight status as he defeats Oscar De La Hoya by a bodyshot knockout in the ninth round. This is Oscar De La Hoya's only defeat by knockout, and the last knockout victory Hopkins achieved (All of Hopkins' victories after this will be by decision).
  • September 25 - Roy Jones Jr. gets knocked out for the second consecutive fight as he loses to Glen Johnson for the IBF light heavyweight title.

==November==

==December==

=2005=

==February==

==March==

==May==

==June==

==July==

==October==

==December==

=2006=

==January==

==February==

==March==

==April==

==May==

  • May 6 - Oscar De La Hoya returns from a 20-month break and defeats Ricardo Mayorga for the WBC super welterweight title.
  • May 11 - Former two-time heavyweight champion Floyd Patterson dies from complications of Alzheimer’s disease and prostate cancer.
  • May 20 - Marco Antonio Barrera defeats Rocky Juarez by split decision. Juarez was competitive throughout the fight, breaking Barrera's nose in the early rounds. The fight was originally announced as a draw, until it was later revealed that there were two scorecard tabulation errors.

==June==

==July==

==August==

==September==

==October==

==November==

=2007=

==January==

==February==

  • February 3 - Chad Dawson becomes WBC Light Heavyweight champion after defeating Tomasz Adamek by unanimous decision. Despite being knocked down from a straight right hand in round 10, Dawson dominates most of the fight with his speed.
  • February 10 - Shane Mosley becomes WBC Welterweight champion by defeating Luis Collazo by unanimous decision.
  • February 17 - Michael Sprott defeats Audley Harrison by third-round KO to win the European Union heavyweight title
  • Michael Katsidis defeats Graham Earl by 5th round retirement to win the vacant WBO interim lightweight title
  • Amir Khan defeats Mohammed Medjadi by 1st round KO.

==March==

  • March 3 - Chris John defeats Jose Rojas by unanimous decision to retain the WBA featherweight title.
  • March 3 - Miguel Cotto defeats Oktay Urkal by 11th round TKO to retain WBA welterweight title.
  • March 3 - Rafael Márquez moves up in weight class and defeats Ring Magazine and WBC Super Bantamweight champion Israel Vázquez by 7th-round technical knockout. Vazquez did not answer the bell after badly breaking his nose and having trouble breathing.
  • March 10 - Wladimir Klitschko defends his IBF Heavyweight title by defeating Ray Austin by 2nd-round knockout.
  • March 10 - Souleymane M'baye defeats Andreas Kotelnik by split decision to retain the WBA light welterweight title
  • March 17 - Jean-Marc Mormeck defeats O'Neil Bell by unanimous decision in their rematch to win the WBA, WBC, The Ring and lineal cruiserweight titles.
  • March 17 - Juan Manuel Márquez defeats Marco Antonio Barrera by unanimous decision to become the WBC Super Featherweight champion. In the seventh round there was controversy, as Marquez thoroughly dominated the round then got knocked down by Barrera. Referee Jay Nady ruled this a slip, then penalized Barrera for hitting while Marquez was on the canvas.
  • March 24 - Mikkel Kessler defends his WBA and WBC Super middleweight titles by defeating Librado Andrade by a shutout unanimous decision.

==April==

==May==

==June==

==July==

==August==

  • August 4 - David Díaz defeats Erik Morales by unanimous decision to win the vacant WBC lightweight title. This was Morales' fourth consecutive defeat and he would not fight again until 2010.
  • Ulises Solis defeats Rodel Mayol by 10th round KO to retain the IBF light flyweight title.
  • August 4 - Israel Vázquez defeats Rafael Márquez by technical knockout in the 6th round of their rematch to recapture the WBC super bantamweight title. The two traded punches throughout the fight before Vázquez dominated Márquez in the sixth round, causing the referee to stop the fight.
  • August 25 - Iván Calderón defeats Hugo Fidel Cazares in a split decision to win the WBO Light Flyweight title and to become The Ring Magazine Jr. Flyweight champion. This was Calderon's first fight at Light Flyweight.

==September==

  • September 1 - Ricardo Torres defeats Kendall Holt by 11th-round TKO to retain the WBO light welterweight title.
  • September 7 - Junior Witter defeats Vivian Harris by 7th round KO to retain the WBC light welterweight title.
  • September 29 - Clinton Woods defeats Julio César González by unanimous decision to retain the IBF light heavyweight title.
  • September 29 - Kelly Pavlik upsets Jermain Taylor by 7th round TKO to win the WBC, WBO and universally recognized middleweight championship. Pavlik was knocked down in the second round but rallied back against a tired Taylor.
  • September 29 - Chad Dawson defeats Epifanio Mendoza by 4th round stoppage to retain the WBC light heavyweight title
  • Joseph Agbeko defeats Luis Alberto Pérez buy 7th round RTD to win the IBF bantamweight title

==October==

==November==

==December==

=2008=

==January==

==February==

==March==

  • March 1 - Israel Vázquez successfully defends the WBC and Ring Magazine titles as he defeats Rafael Márquez by split decision.
  • March 8 - David Haye unifies the WBA, WBC, WBO, The Ring and lineal cruiserweight titles as he defeats Enzo Maccarinelli by a 2nd-round technical knockout.
  • March 8 - Samuel Peter wins the WBC Heavyweight title as he defeats Oleg Maskaev by 6th-round TKO.
  • Nate Campbell upsets Juan Díaz by split decision. Campbell becomes the unified WBA, IBF and WBO champion.
  • March 15 - Manny Pacquiao becomes the Ring Magazine and WBC super featherweight champion as he defeats Juan Manuel Márquez by split decision.
  • March 22 - Andreas Kotelnik defeats Gavin Rees by 12th round TKO to win his WBA light-welterweight title
  • March 22 - Joel Casamayor defeats Michael Katsidis by 10th-round technical knockout to defend the Ring Magazine Lightweight championship. In a thrilling back-and-forth fight, Casamayor knocked down Katsidis twice in the opening round, only to have Katsidis come back with a knockdown in the 6th. Casamayor knocked Katsidis down again in the 10th, hurting him in the process, and the referee called a halt to the contest.
  • March 27 - Verno Phillips defeats Cory Spinks by split decision to win the IBF light-middleweight title

==April==

==May==

==June==

==July==

  • July 3 - Hugo Garay defeats Yuri Barashian by unanimous decision to win the vacant WBA light heavyweight title
  • July 5 - Felix Sturm defeats Randy Griffin by unanimous decision to retain WBA middleweight title
  • July 5 - Kendall Holt defeats Ricardo Torres by 1st round TKO to win the WBO light welterweight title
  • July 11 - Daniel Santos defeats Joachim Alcine by 6th round KO to win the WBA light middleweight title
  • July 12 - Wladimir Klitschko defeats Tony Thompson by 11th round KO to retain the IBF, WBO and IBO heavyweight titles
  • July 26 - Antonio Margarito knocks out Miguel Cotto in the 11th to gain the WBA Welterweight title. Cotto managed to control the early rounds, but Margarito came back with relentless pressure, eventually winning one of the greatest fights of the year. But the handwrap controversy surrounding Margarito was later to call the victory's validity into question.

==August==

==September==

==October==

==November==

==December==

=2009=

==January==

==February==

==March==

==April==

==May==

==June==

  • June 13 - Miguel Cotto defeats Joshua Clottey by split decision to retain the WBO welterweight title
  • June 19 - Jean Pascal defeats Adrian Diaconu by unanimous decision to win the WBC light-heavyweight title
  • June 20 - Wladimir Klitschko beat Ruslan Chagaev by RTD in the 9th round. The fight was Klitschko's seventh defense of his IBO and IBF heavyweight titles and his third defense of his WBO heavyweight title. Klitschko also won the vacant Ring heavyweight and lineal titles. The crowd of 61,000 was the biggest boxing audience in Germany since Max Schmeling knocked out Adolf Heuser in front of 70,000 in Stuttgart in 1939.{{cite web|url=http://www.boxrec.com/media/index.php?title=Fight:1421575 |title=Wladimir Klitschko vs. Ruslan Chagaev – Boxrec Boxing Encyclopaedia |publisher=Boxrec.com |date= |accessdate=January 28, 2011}}

==July==

==August==

==September==

  • September 12 - Mikkel Kessler defeats Gusmyr Perdomo by fourth-round KO to retain the WBA super-middleweight title
  • September 12 - Iván Calderón defeats Rodel Mayol to defend his WBO light flyweight title for the fifth time. The two had previously fought to a draw.
  • Román Martínez defeats Feider Viloria by ninth-round KO to retain the WBO super-featherweight title
  • September 19 - Sebastian Sylvester defeats Giovanni Lorenzo by split decision to win the vacant the IBF middleweight title
  • September 19 - Floyd Mayweather Jr. dominates Juan Manuel Márquez in Mayweather's comeback fight, after retiring 21 months earlier. It was the first time Marquez had fought above the {{convert|135|lb|abbr=on}}. limit. There was some controversy over Mayweather being two pounds over the {{convert|144|lb|abbr=on}} weight limit, for which he later paid Marquez $600,000. The fight was aired the same night that UFC 103 was aired, however sold much better, with 600,000 more PPV buys.
  • Chris John defeats Rocky Juarez by decision after fighting Juarez to a draw earlier in the year. The fight was part of the undercard of Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Juan Manuel Márquez, and some journalists had thought it might turn out a better fight than the main event.[http://queensberry-rules.com/2009/09/rarified-air-previews-and-predictions-for-chris-john---rocky-juarez-ii-michael-katsidis---vicente-es.html ] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090924205947/http://queensberry-rules.com/2009/09/rarified-air-previews-and-predictions-for-chris-john---rocky-juarez-ii-michael-katsidis---vicente-es.html |date=September 24, 2009 }}
  • September 26 - Vitali Klitschko knocks out undefeated Chris Arreola in the 10th round. The fight was Klitschko's fourth defense of his WBC heavyweight title.

==October==

==November==

  • November 7 - David Haye beats Nikolai Valuev by points to become the WBA Heavyweight Champion.
  • November 7 - Chad Dawson defeats Glen Johnson in a rematch to win the WBC Light Heavyweight titled and retain the IBO Light Heavyweight title.
  • November 14 - Manny Pacquiao defeats Miguel Cotto by a technical knockout with 2:05 left in the fight to become the only boxer to win a world title in seven different weight divisions. As well as to win Cotto's WBO welterweight title.
  • Yuri Foreman defeats Daniel Santos by unanimous decision to win the WBA Super welterweight champion and become the first Israeli boxer to win a world title.{{cite web|url=http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-spw-boxing-undercard15-2009nov15,0,2165167.story |title=Israeli Boxing Champion – Yuri Foreman becomes first Israeli world champion – Los Angeles Times |publisher=Latimes.com |date=January 23, 2009 |accessdate=January 28, 2011}}
  • November 21 - Zsolt Erdei defeats Giacobbe Fragomeni by majority decision to retain the WBC cruiserweight title
  • November 21 - Andre Ward upsets Mikkel Kessler as part of the Super Six Tournament to become the WBA Super Middleweight Champion.
  • November 28 - Lucian Bute knocks out Librado Andrade at the end of the fourth round as part of a rematch between the two fighters.

==December==

References

{{Reflist}}

{{Boxing History}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Boxing In The 2000s}}

2000s

Category:2000s in sports