Boxing in the 2000s includes notable events about boxing which occurred between 2000 and 2009.
Lists of notable fights and other key news by year 2000 February February 19 - Erik Morales defeats Marco Antonio Barrera to unify the WBO and WBC super bantamweight belts. Was named fight of the year by Ring Magazine
March March 3 - Félix Trinidad defeats David Reid by unanimous decision for the WBA light middleweight title.
April April 1 - Chris Byrd wins the WBO Heavyweight title from Vitali Klitschko. April 8 - Uriah Grant knocked out Thomas Hearns in the third round to win the IBO Cruiserweight championship. April 15 - Fernando Vargas successfully defends the IBF light middleweight title against former WBA welterweight champion Ike Quartey April 29 - Lennox Lewis defends the IBF and WBC Heavyweight titles via 2nd-round KO against Michael Grant
June June 17 - Shane Mosley defeats Oscar De La Hoya by split decision for the WBC welterweight title.
July July 15 - Lennox Lewis defeat Francois Botha via 2nd-round KO to retain his WBC, IBF, IBO, Lineal Heavyweight Championship
August August 12 - Evander Holyfield defeats John Ruiz by unanimous decision for the vacant WBA Heavyweight title making Holyfield the only heavyweight in boxing history to win a portion of the HW title 4 times.
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 November 11 - Lennox Lewis defends the WBC and IBF Heavyweight titles in a lopsided unanimous decision against David Tua.
December December 1 - Bernard Hopkins defeats Antwun Echols by 10th-round TKO to retained his IBF Middleweight Championship December 2 - Félix Trinidad defeats Fernando Vargas by 12th-round KO to unify the WBA and IBF light middleweight titles. Trinidad was knocked down early in the fourth round to come back and defeat Vargas.
2001 January January 20 - Floyd Mayweather Jr. dominates Diego Corrales to successfully defend his WBC Super Featherweight title. Corrales was knocked down five times, before his corner threw the towel in the tenth round.
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 May 12 - Félix Trinidad beats William Joppy, by knockout in 5, to take the WBA middleweight title.
June June 23 - Oscar De La Hoya captures the WBC Light Middleweight title by unanimous decision against Javier Castillejo. July 13 - Micky Ward defeats Emanuel Augustus by 10-round decision and is named fight of the year by Ring Magazine July 28 - Roy Jones Jr. defends the WBC, WBA, and IBF light heavyweight titles against Julio César González by unanimous decision.
September September 29 - In a career defining performance, Bernard Hopkins defeats Félix Trinidad by technical knockout in 12, to successfully unify the WBA, WBC, and IBF titles to become the Undisputed Middleweight Champion.
November November 3 - Kostya Tszyu becomes the undisputed champion of the Light Welterweight division as he defeats Zab Judah by a dramatic second-round knockout in Las Vegas, Nevada. Judah was later suspended for 6 months and fined by the Nevada State Athletic Commission for attacking referee Jay Nady and hurling his stool toward the center of the ring after the fight was stopped. November 17 - Lennox Lewis recaptures the WBC and IBF Heavyweight title as he avenges his loss against Hasim Rahman by fourth-round knockout.
December December 15 - John Ruiz and Evander Holyfield fought to a draw for the WBA Heavyweight Championship
2002 January January 26 - Vernon Forrest upsets Shane Mosley by unanimous decision, to capture the WBC Welterweight title.
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 March 30 - In a rematch, Ricardo Mayorga defeats Andrew "six heads" Lewis by 5th-round TKO to capture the WBA welterweight title.
April April 20 - Floyd Mayweather Jr. moves to lightweight and wins by controversial unanimous decision against José Luis Castillo to take the WBC Lightweight title.
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 June 1 - Evander Holyfield defeats Hasim Rahman by technical decision in eight rounds. A welt the size of a golf ball formed on Rahman's head leading the referee to stop the fight. June 8 - Lennox Lewis defeats Mike Tyson by eighth-round knockout. The fight is overshadowed by its prefight melee, in which Tyson rushed Lewis and started a brawl. June 22 - In their rematch, Marco Antonio Barrera defeats Erik Morales by unanimous decision to take the WBC featherweight title.
July July 20 - Vernon Forrest defeats Shane Mosley in their rematch by unanimous decision, in Indianapolis to defend the WBC Welterweight title.
September September 14 - Oscar De La Hoya defeats Fernando Vargas by 11th-round TKO to unify the WBC and WBA light middleweight belts.
November November 23 - Arturo Gatti defeats Mickey Ward by unanimous decision in their second fight
December December 7 - Floyd Mayweather Jr. defends his WBC lightweight title as he defeats José Luis Castillo in their rematch.
2003 January
January 25 - Ricardo Mayorga knocks out Vernon Forrest by 3rd-round knockout, to unify the WBC and WBA Welterweight titles.
March March 1 - Roy Jones Jr. defeats John Ruiz by unanimous decision to win the WBA Heavyweight Championship. April
April 26 - James Toney defeats Vassiliy Jirov by unanimous decision to win the IBF Cruiserweight Championship.
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 September 13 - Shane Mosley defeats Oscar De La Hoya in their rematch to unify the WBC and WBA light middleweight title belts.
November November 8 - Roy Jones Jr. defeats Antonio Tarver by controversial majority decision to recapture the light heavyweight title. November 15 - Manny Pacquiao upsets Marco Antonio Barrera by eleventh-round technical knockout to earn the Lineal and Ring Magazine featherweight title.
December December 13 - Cory Spinks becomes the Undisputed Welterweight Champion after he defeats Ricardo Mayorga by majority decision.
2004 January January 17 - Zsolt Erdei defeats Julio César González to become the WBO Light Heavyweight titleholder
March March 13 - Winky Wright becomes the Undisputed Light Middleweight Champion after defeating Shane Mosley by unanimous decision.
April April 10 - Cory Spinks defends his undisputed welterweight title as he defeats Zab Judah by unanimous decision.
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 November 20 - Winky Wright beats Shane Mosley in their rematch to defend the light middleweight title.
December December 18 - Glen Johnson beats Antonio Tarver by split decision.
2005 February February 5 - Zab Judah knocks out Cory Spinks in nine rounds in Spinks's hometown, St. Louis, Missouri. Judah becomes the new Undisputed Welterweight Champion. Spinks had a dramatic ring entrance with rapper Nelly.
March March 19 - Erik Morales defeats Manny Pacquiao by unanimous decision.
May May 7 - Diego Corrales defeats José Luis Castillo by 10th-round knockout for the WBO-WBC lightweight title unification. Both men were exchanging brutal punishment throughout the fight, before a dramatic tenth round in which Corrales scored a TKO after getting knocked down twice. It won Fight of the Year. May 14 - Winky Wright beats Félix Trinidad by unanimous decision.
June June 4 - Ricky Hatton defeats The Ring champion and universally acknowledged #1 Light-Welterweight Kostya Tszyu by 11th-round TKO for the IBF Light-Welterweight title. After a highly physical battle, Tszyu was unable to come out for the twelfth round. June 18 - Antonio Tarver defeats Glen Johnson by unanimous decision in their rematch. June 25 - Floyd Mayweather Jr. comprehensively defeats Arturo Gatti by six-round technical knockout to capture the WBC Light Welterweight title.
July July 16 - Bernard Hopkins loses a split decision against Jermain Taylor, who becomes the new Undisputed Middleweight Champion.
September September 3 - Markus Beyer defeats Omar Sheika by unanimous decision, to retain the WBC super middleweight title. September 9 - Clinton Woods defeats Julio César González by unanimous decision, to retain the IBF light heavyweight title. September 10 - Zahir Raheem upsets Erik Morales by unanimous decision Manny Pacquiao defeats Héctor Velázquez by 6th round TKO September 17 - Marco Antonio Barrera defeats Robbie Peden by unanimous decision to unify the WBC & IBF super featherweight titles Jesús Chávez defeats Leavander Johnson by 11th round TKO to win the IBF lightweight title Shane Mosley defeats Jose Luis Cruz by unanimous decision September 24 - Wladimir Klitschko defeats Samuel Peter by unanimous decision in a IBF heavyweight title eliminator Miguel Cotto defeats Ricardo Torres by 7th round KO, to retain the WBO light welterweight title September 28 - Lamon Brewster defeats Luan Krasniqi by ninth-round stoppage, to retain the WBO heavyweight title
October October 1 - Antonio Tarver again beats Roy Jones Jr., this time by unanimous decision. October 1 - Chris Byrd defeats DaVarryl Williamson by unanimous decision, to retain the IBF heavyweight title James Toney defeats Dominick Guinn by unanimous decision.