The 2000s have come to a close and with many great years behind us, it's time to take a look at who stood out as the most prominent and influential fighter of the past decade. As we ring in the new decade, let us look back at the best fighters of the decade and their accomplishments as well as the few fighters who came close, but just couldn't make the cut. 

Bernard Hopkins (50-5-1, 32 KO)

Accomplishments: Two-division champion; 20 defenses of Middleweight title.

Stand-Out Performance: Hopkins UD12 Pavlik (10-18-08)

Though it hasn't always been pretty to watch him, Hopkins has proven that he is not only the fighter of the decade, but easily one of the greatest fighters of all time. Even performing at a high level past the age of 40, Hopkins continues to wow the skeptics and expands on a career that will be remembered throughout history. With a record 20 defenses at Middleweight, a title at light heavyweight and a lineal title in each weight class, it's hard not to pick the old master.

In this decade alone, Hopkins toppled Felix Trinidad, Oscar de la Hoya, Kelly Pavlik, Antonio Tarver, and Winky Wright, while falling short to only Joe Calzaghe and Jermain Taylor. The Calzaghe and Taylor losses were extremely close and Hopkins, even at the age of 45, has only suffered one clear-cut loss early in his career to Roy Jones Jr. Hopkins dominated the Middleweight division for many years and even now, he continues to terrorize the pound-for-pound lists.

If anything can be taken away from the many achievements of the Executioner, it's that a rematch with Jones never happened. Hopkins inexplicably asked for a 50-50 split of the purse when talks began in 2002, when Jones was still the bigger star, but to his credit, as Jones began to decline, so did the general interest for a rematch. While many can say that Hopkins has handpicked his way to late success, he was never favored against Tarver, Trinidad, Calzaghe or Pavlik, but he still found a way to win regardless.

Although we may see another Floyd Mayweather or Manny Pacquiao sometime in our lifetime, I honestly don't think we'll see a fighter quite like Hopkins for a long time. His contributions to the sport may not be well received or appreciated because of how he fights, but Hopkins is easily the best fighter over the age of 40 and could easily compete and succeed in any era.  He is the fighter of our time and a symbol of how something amazing can happen in boxing.


CLICK HERE TO CHECK OUT A DECADE OF FIGHTERS TO REMEMBER PT. 1 - FEATURING JOE CALZAGHE, VIC DARCHINYAN AND IVAN CALDERON

CLICK HERE TO CHECK OUT A DECADE OF FIGHTERS TO REMEMBER PT. 2 - FEATURING MARCO ANTONIO BARRERA, ISRAEL VAZQUEZ AND VITALI KLITSCHKO

CLICK HERE TO CHECK OUT A DECADE OF FIGHTERS TO REMEMBER PT. 3 - FEATURING FLOYD MAYWEATHER JR., SHANE MOSLEY AND MANNY PACQUIAO