2009 Year-End Awards

With the end of the year fast approaching, Mark Ortega, the newest addition to the FightFanNation staff, has put together a list of awards [serious and humorous] for the 2009 boxing year.

Fighter of the Year: Manny Pacquiao, who claimed a lineal title with a two-round destruction of Ricky Hatton in May for the 140-pound championship, then ventured up five pounds in a catchweight fight with Miguel Cotto and thoroughly outclassed him en route to a twelfth-round TKO victory in the biggest fight of the year.

Fight of the Year: Bernard Dunne TKO11 Ricardo Cordoba in a brutal March 122-pound title fight that did not feature fighters that were world class in terms of skills, but definitely two guys that were world class in terms of heart. Between the two, six knockdowns were traded, and Dunne was nearly out in the fifth after being dropped brutally twice. He recovered to claim victory in front of a raucous Irish crowd, the first time in 13 years a world title fight had been staged there.

The 'Round 9' Award: Round 12 of Taylor-Froch edges this one, as Taylor was closely but clearly ahead of Froch heading into the final round of their WBC 168-pound title fight on Showtime in April. Froch was able to drop Taylor brutally, who somehow made it to his feet and nearly survived until a barrage of punches landed, prompting the referee to stop the bout with seconds left. As dramatic of a round as you could ask for.

Alexis Arguello Lifetime Achievement Award: Although Juan Manuel Marquez is likely to continue fighting on in 2010, 2009 was a culmination of a career where the often underappreciated Marquez finally scored a massive payday by fighting the returning Floyd Mayweather, Jr. in September. He earned his way into that bout by impressively knocking out Juan Diaz in the best fight that took place on American soil in 2009, in front of a crazy crowd at the Toyota Center in Houston. Even though he was never in the fight against Floyd, he gave a game effort that you grew to expect from the Mexican warrior.

Comeback Fighter of the Year: Many would expect Floyd Mayweather, Jr. to be given this spot due to his return from a nearly two-year layoff to beat the outmatched physically Juan Manuel Marquez, who moved up two weight classes to fight Floyd. I think Danny Green's comeback was much more spectacular, as he also returned from a nearly two-year layoff to win a couple of tuneup fights before dismantling Roy Jones, Jr. in the first round of one of the biggest fights in Australian boxing history. Green, unlike Floyd, came into that fight a big underdog and may have ended the career of one of the best fighters of the past few decades. Green may have earned himself another good payday in 2010 off of his victory.

Promoter of the Year: Goossen-Tutor Promotions may only have three big names in the sport, but they gambled with all three in 2009 and came out ahead. Paul Williams beat Winky Wright in a safe fight before GT tried making a Kelly Pavlik fight for October, and then December. When Pavlik fell out yet again, Goossen was given the HBO date. They could have taken a much easier opponent and HBO would have accepted just to keep something on their airwaves, but they took an even more dangerous fight than the Pavlik one in fighting slick southpaw Sergio Martinez instead. Out of that we got a Fight of the Year candidate and even though many thought it was a toss-up who won, viewers came away with even more respect for “the most avoided fighter in the sport”. They took another big gamble by putting untested Andre Ward in the Showtime Super Six World Boxing Classic, and his first bout of the tournament he won a lopsided decision over one of the favorites to win it all, Mikkel Kessler, to claim the WBA title. Ward being thrown into the competition proves how much faith Goossen-Tutor has in Ward, and it paid off in '09. They gambled and lost on putting Chris Arreola in with Vitali Klitschko, but they deserve credit for getting him a title fight on the resume of beating a retired Jameel McCline and a not very good Travis Walker to get there. They could have sat on a ranking and waited until a more opportune bout came up, but they went for it in September. Eddie Chambers earned a shot at the heavyweight title in the first quarter of 2010 by going to Germany and defending his country on the 4th of July, utterly dismantling undefeated Alexander Dimitrenko to get a shot at the chinnier Klitschko next year. Goossen-Tutor definitely deserves their respect for what they did in '09, also developing a handful of prospects.

The KTFO of the Year: Manny Pacquiao KO2 Ricky Hatton in May. Easily the most brutal knockout of the past few years to occur on the big stage, as Pacquiao flattened Hatton with a picture-perfect left hook, possibly the best punch Pacquiao has landed in his entire career.

Buster Douglas Upset of the Year: Shane Mosley TKO9 Antonio Margarito in January. Many people, including myself, thought Mosley was marching to his doom when he agreed to fight the previously indestructible Margarito. From the opening bell, Mosley fought an incredible fight, utilizing a gameplan that smothered Margarito on the inside and allowed him to land quick hooks all night long. Mosley did what many people thought was impossible, stopping a guy who had eaten bombs from some of the biggest punchers in the division.

Most Surprisingly Entertaining Fight of the Year: When Paul Williams decided to fight Sergio Martinez when Kelly Pavlik pulled out at the last minute, many were expecting a tough fight for the most feared man in the sport, but few were expecting an exciting one. From the opening bell there were fireworks, as Martinez got dropped early in the round only to answer back with a thudding shot of his own to end the first. From there, it was a see-saw battle as both guys took momentum at different parts of the fight. Martinez hurt Williams quite a few times, and Williams nearly had Martinez out due to his aggressiveness, causing Martinez to wilt in the middle rounds. Both guys made it to the end of what was a very entertaining, close battle.

Boxing Isn't Dying Award: The Showtime Super Six World Boxing Classic was a key factor in boxing being back in the eye of the mainstream media. A truly revolutionary idea that brings together six of the top names at 168-pounds, it was something even casual fans were discussing, ultimately leading me to believe that the winner of this thing when it ends in 2011 will be a mega-star.

Jessie Burnett Can't Catch a Break Award: Sergio Martinez, who was robbed twice in one fight against Kermit Cintron [once of a KO, later of a decision], and then lost a hard-fought majority decision to Paul Williams with one scorecard being a completely asinine 119-110. Honorable Mention: Ali Funeka

Prospect of the Year: Super bantamweight prospect Rico Ramos [14-0] put everyone on notice with his fantastic performance against Alejandro Perez on ShoBox at the end of November. Ramos fought six times in 2009, and fought every possible kind of test a guy with under fifteen fights could. He fought a slick lefty, a face-first brawler, and a boxer-puncher, cementing himself as the best young American 122-pounder currently in the world. He may have not fought on the radar too much in '09, but his skills rate up there with any of the prospects that came out of the Olympics or are with top-tier promoters.

Father Time Award: Roy Jones, Jr., who deceptively fooled many of us into believing he should still be able to step into the ring, proved to all of us that it is time to hang them up when he was stopped by B-level Australian fighter Danny Green in less than a round. Jones was hurt by the first shot Green landed and never recovered, which hopefully put a thorn in the plans for Hopkins-Jones II.

Don King Event of the Year Award: This award is in honor of Don King, who may have screwed over a lot of fighters over the course of his career but you can hardly say he screwed over fans, often delivering enticing PPVs and double and triple-headers on premium networks during his prime. The best event televised on a premium network this year has to be the “Lightweight Lightning” PPV that was put together by Golden Boy Promotions in April. Although no big names participated, we got four well-matched competitive bouts at 135 pounds. Edwin Valero against Antonio Pitalua, Jesus Chavez against Michael Katsidis, Carlos Hernandez against Vicente Escobedo, and Julio Diaz against Rolando Reyes were all memorable bouts for one reason or another. Here's hoping we see more cards like this in 2010.

Ike Ibeabuchi Batshit Delusional Award: Speaking of Bernard Hopkins, he earns the award for being the sport's most delusional fighter in 2009, claiming that a Jones KO1 loss shouldn't put a damper in his rematch with Hopkins for early 2010. Hopkins tried making claims that Jones wasn't given the benefit of the doubt, and also referred to Australia as part of Europe. Not only does Hopkins need to buy a clue, but he also needs to buy a globe.

Riddick Bowe Conditioning Award: Super heavyweight Chris Arreola, who weighed 251 for a WBC title fight against Vitali Klitschko, then proceeded to learn nothing and come in at 263 against Brian Minto less than three months later.

Lou DiBella Prospect Developing Award: In 2009, many prospects for Golden Boy Promotions suffered humiliating and crushing defeats. Victor Ortiz, who they were touting as the next Golden Boy, suffered a crushing knockout loss to Marcos Maidana, Jorge Linares was kayoed in one by Juan Carlos Salgado in his Golden Boy debut, Vicente Escobedo lost to Michael Katsidis, Charles Huerta was stopped in a round by Derrick Wilson, who Golden Boy later signed and lost to a journeyman in his debut under their banner. Blame it on their talent evaluation or their matchmaking, but Golden Boy is not getting things done in terms of their young fighters.

'Thunder' Gatti Award: Many men would have looked for the easy way out against Joshua Clottey when a vicious cut opened up above Miguel Cotto's eye in the third-round of their brutal June welterweight title clash, but Cotto fought on bravely and even rallied in the final rounds to pull out a razor-thin disputable decision. He could have claimed the cut was too much for him and left with a no contest, but Cotto has proven he can handle adversity. Against Manny Pacquiao, Cotto fought bravely, and even though he was outmatched he never thought about quitting, even when his corner was telling him they were considering stopping the fight.

James Page Throwaway Prime Award: 154-pound prospect James Kirkland, for working his tail off to secure a contract with Golden Boy Promotions, proceed to fight one fight for them, and promptly get arrested for illegally possessing a weapon. Kirkland is serving a two-year sentence that could be reduced for good behavior. Many were touting him as the next big thing at junior middleweight.

Most Improved Fighter: Amir Khan went from being blasted out in 54 seconds at the end of 2008 against Breidis Prescott, to winning a world title in '09 and blasting out Dmitriy Salita in 72 seconds in his first title defense at the end of 2009. Khan, who was nicknamed “A Mere Con” by many in the hardcore boxing community, yet he went up a weight class after that devastating loss to earn a title with a wide decision victory over Andriy Kotelnik. Since joining up with Freddie Roach, Khan's skills have looked much improved, and he may be entering into a 140-pound tournament that will take place on HBO in 2010.

Carlos Baldomir Over-Achiever Award: Ironically a fellow Argentinian, Marcos Maidana, who emerged from obscurity to challenge Andriy Kotenlik for the WBA 140-pound title in February and lose a close, disputed decision in Germany before stopping can't miss prospect Victor Ortiz in an all-out war in June to earn the interim WBA title. Maidana was seen as little more than a caveman with a good punch before decking Ortiz, who many considered a future pound-for-pound threat.

Tampax Most Protected Award: Without question, Julio Cesar Chavez, Jr. is the most protected fighter out there that is able to fight on television in all of his bouts. Junior has been a pro for six years, running up his record to 41-0-1 against, at best, mid-level competition. The argument can be made that JCC Jr. is getting experience in since he had no amateur experience, which would be fine and dandy if he was doing it all off-television. Instead, we've been treated to seeing Chavez Jr. headline Top Rank PPVs against the likes of Jason LeHoullier and Luciano Cuello in '09 before landing a spot in the co-feature on the biggest PPV undercard of the year [Cotto-Pacquiao] against unheralded Troy Rowland. And now that it has become apparent that Junior needed some help to lose weight, testing positive for a diaretic, many are curious if we will see Junior stepup in competition anytime soon.

Outmatched Warrior Award: Harry Joe Yorgey, who was severely outmatched against Alfredo Angulo in an interim WBO 154-pound title fight on HBO in November, took severe amounts of punishment but ate his opponent's shots like a champion and survived many rounds on completely wobbly legs. Yorgey was a danger to his own health, and somebody should have stepped in before the brutal knockout shot that Angulo delivered to save this guy some of his brain cells. Honorable Mention: Brian Minto against Chris Arreola for going down swinging in the fourth round, getting dropped badly twice, and still making it to his feet before the fight was stopped.

John Ruiz Greco-Roman Wrestling Award: Since Ruiz has given up on his jab-and-grab technique in all of his recent bouts, with it he will relinquish his title as the most unappealing fighter in the sport. Andre Dirrell may have deserved a decision over Carl Froch in their Super Six tournament bout in October, but he did himself no favor by fighting the way he did in the last half of the fight, constantly holding and running against the outmatched athletically Froch.

Stevie Wonder Award: A tie between Pierre Benoist and Gale Van Hoy for the awful scorecards they registered for separate fights. Benoist found the fantastic back-and-forth stunner between Paul Williams and Sergio Martinez 119-110 in favor of Williams. That fight could have been one or two points either way, but finding only one solid round for Martinez is atrocious. Van Hoy scored Diaz-Malignaggi 118-110 for Diaz in a fight most felt Malignaggi won. Both of these guys deserve to be kept out of any big fights in the future.

Jimmy Hoffa Award [Where Did He Go?]: Many expected Kelly Pavlik to bounce back in 2009 after suffering a humiliating one-sided shellacking at the hands of Bernard Hopkins last October. Pavlik would fight just once, a mandatory defense in February against Marco Antonio Rubio, before disappearing altogether for the remainder of the year. Fights were signed or nearly-signed with both Sergio Mora and Paul Williams but fell through due to a nasty staph infection. Pavlik also was rumored to be battling depression and an alcohol problem, and even was close to fighting Williams on HBO early December before he had to pull out because of his injury again. Not long after, a fight was signed with the overmatched Miguel Espino. It's safe to say many people have been let down by Pavlik's campaign in 2009.

Out of Left Field Award: Antwone Smith [17-1-1] entered 2009 as just another young welterweight looking to make a splash. He was not under contract with any big names and fought four times in '09, twice going in as the opponent expected to lose. In his first fight on ESPN in February, he came in and shocked undefeated Norberto Gonzalez in a thrilling fight. He followed that up with an impressive decision win over solid B-level fighter Richard Gutierrez in May, whose previous losses had come only at the hands of Alfredo Angulo and Joshua Clottey. He was then signed by DiBella Entertainment and showcased on ShoBox in October, looking good in stopping undefeated but untested Henry Crawford.

Fraudley Harrison Award: Tyrone Brunson may go down as the worst 21-0-1 fighter to ever get a headlining fight on a Showtime card. He will forever go down in the record books as the world-record holder for most consecutive first-round knockouts to begin a professional career, notching nineteen. The record-setter came against a 3-14 fighter who was quoted as saying he “just wanted to make it out of the first round”. Imagine getting that kind of opponent in your nineteenth professional bout. In Brunson's first stepup in class, he suffered a third-round knockout at the hands of gatekeeper Carson Jones in December.