Right now the 140-147 lb division is deep and has had some great fights
Floyd, Pac, and Marquez
Timothy Bradley, Amir Khan, Danny Garcia, Zab Judah, Lucas Matthysse, Devon Alexander, Lamont Peterson, Marcos Maidana, Adrian Broner, Ruslan Provodnikov, Victor Ortiz, Andre Berto
Obviously you can't watch most of the fights but I really like reading about the end of the bare-knuckle era. John L. Sullivan is one of the most interesting/important martial artists of all time IMHO.
Early 1900's boxing was SO pure, and just introduced Jack Johnson as the first black heavyweight champion.
The 1930's and 1940's were arguably the best when you consider the competition at heavyweight,
Of course the 50's and 60's were great as well when you had Rocky Marciano, Floyd Patterson, Ezzard Charles, but then you got the 60's with Frazier, Ali, Liston
But then the 70's had Ali, Frazier, Holmes, Norton, Spinks, George Foreman
The 90's were alright but not as good compared to the above genres, you had Tyson, Holyfield, Lewis, an exciting return of Big George, but that's about it.
If I had to pick one decade, I'd go with the 70's. The olden days hold a lot of weight with me though b/c it was all about beating the biggest guys with winning by finish.=pure.
80's. All names fought everyone. Guys moved divisions to make great fights happen. NO FUCKING WAY Manny and Floyd don't fight each other if it were the 80's. No way. (Forget there were other fighters). If they were the two top fighters within one division of each other......they would have to fight because everyone else was.
Heavyweight was a little weak but other than that the 80's was the golden age of boxing.
The 80's had some great fights from Flyweight up to 175lbs. Of Course Leonard, Hagler, Hearns, Duran and Benitez were the greatest group. The 90's had some wars at the forum, and HBO boxing after dark started on Marco Antonio Barrera vs Kennedy McKinney's epic war. I think people sleep on the welterweights after Leonard. Donald Curry, Milton McCrory, Simon Brown, Marlon Starling and Buddy McGirt were all good fighters, and are better than anything Floyd has out there to face right now. 90's heavyweights had some battles with Tyson, Lennox, Evander, Michael Moorer and Big George. Can't remember what year it was, but the Derrick Jefferson- Maurice Harris fight was as wild and as spectacular And as sudden of an ending as you'll ever see. 2000's had Gatti-Ward series, and the greatest fight I personally ever watch live in Diego Corrales-Jose Luis Castillo. Boxing has been a great sport for a long time. It's definatley on the downside right now, but can hopefully return to the glory it once had.