OK, we’re just halfway through our awards, and plenty of other things occurred in 2006, so let’s get to the rest of our honors.
FIGHT OF THE YEAR
1- Somsak Sithchatchawal TKO10 Mayhar Monshipour: If this bout was televised in the States, we’d still be talking about it. Instead, it’s an internet/urban legend. If you haven’t seen this pitched battle, do yourself a favor and get a copy. It may not be Corrales-Castillo I, but it’s not far behind.
Monshipour was the epitome of courage in losing his WBA jr. featherweight crown to Sitchchatchawal, who may have had just as much taken out of him, as he would get blown out in three by Celestino Caballero in his next bout.
2- Israel Vazquez TKO10 Jhonny Gonzalez: You just gotta love fights where a guy gets off the canvas (twice) to come back to retain his title. It didn’t look good after Vazquez was put on the seat of his pants by a blistering Gonzalez left hook, but Vazquez – who speaks softly and carries a big stick – would just continue to grind on Gonzalez and stop him late with a series of well-placed power punches.
3- John Duddy W12 Yory Boy Campas: Hey, shouldn’t a young-up-and-comer like Duddy have a much easier time with a well-worn Campas? Absolutely, but it doesn’t take away from the fact that this contest was full of ebbs-and-flows and hard exchanges. After wading through some rough waters early on, Duddy’s youth and energy would take over late, but Campas’ was dangerous throughout.
4- Takashki Koshimoto W12 In Jin Chi: Personally, I thought Chi won this fight, but regardless, when this bout got heated up, and Chi figured out the Japanese southpaw, there were some great exchanges late in the fight. Chi just has a way of always being involved in action-packed bouts.
5- Antonio Escalante W10 Jose Hernandez: In this Telefutura classic, both Escalante and Hernandez threw leather at each other all night. Escalante, a Golden Boy prospect, has a lot to shore up defensively, while Hernandez showed later on in the year that his bouts are must-see TV.
6- Tomasz Adamek W12 Paul Briggs: In a rematch that could’ve gone either way, Adamek and Briggs showed that if they fought a thousand bouts, you’d get a fireworks show each and every time.
Honorable Mention: Jose Armando Santa Cruz W12 Edner Cherry, Eagle Kyowa W12 Rodel Mayol, Manny Pacquiao TKO10 Erik Morales II, Kermit Cintron TKO10 David Estrada, Marco Antonio Barrera W12 Rocky Juarez I, Glen Johnson TKO10 Oscar Diaz, Martin Honorio W12 Rogers Mtagwa
ROUND OF THE YEAR
1- Sergei Liakhovich-Lamon Brewster, round 6: There’s just something about seeing two big guys hurl leather at each other for three furious minutes. You don’t see action like this often enough in the sport’s glamour division. Liakhovich, in upsetting Brewster, showed that he can pitch just as well as catch in outworking Brewster.
2- Sithchatchawal- Monshipour, round 9: Actually, there are several rounds of this fight that could qualify for this honor. But it’s only appropriate that a round from this war was mentioned. Despite being out-gunned, Monshipour never stopped trying – unfortunately, the Thai challenger never stopped throwing.
3- Pacquiao-Morales, round 3: After getting sent to the canvas early by ‘the Pac Man’, Morales would have one last stand in his glorious career.
4- Santa Cruz-Cherry, round 8: Cherry is an action fighter and Santa Cruz is a guy who will never be a boxer, despite his tall, angular frame. In this exciting stanza, both fighters provided great drama with both getting buzzed at different times.
5- Koshimoto-Chi, round 12: In the final moments, both men defined the term, ’emptying the bucket’ as they let it all loose.
Honorable Mention: O’Neil Bell-Jean-Marc Mormeck, round7, Pac-Morales II, round 2, Escalante-Hernandez, round7, Adamek-Briggs II, round 8
THE ANDREW BYNUM AWARD (Prospect of the Year)
1- Jorge Linares: A classy boxer-puncher who is promoted in Japan by Akiro Honda. He has all the tools. Hopefully, we’ll get to see him in the States soon.
2- Daniel Jimenez: After upsetting Vicente Escobedo, he kept getting better and better in 2006. Pretty soon he’ll be a legitimate contender at 130-pounds.
3- Andre Berto: His power makes him more dangerous than Dick Cheney with a rifle.
4- Lamont Peterson: No, he’s not an exciting, eye-catching fighter, but he’s a very sound technician. Those are the types that have long-term success in the game.
TIE-5- Raul Martinez/Victor Ortiz: Martinez is the best young ‘small’ prospect fighting in America, while Ortiz is perhaps the best looking prospect from Oxnard, California since Fernando Vargas.
Honorable Mention: Anthony Dirrell, Juan Manuel Lopez, John Duddy, Kevin Johnson, Anthony Peterson
THE GAME VS 50 AWARD (Feud of the year)
1- Bob Arum vs HBO on June 10th: Believing that the date was his and Miguel Cotto’s, he went ahead and put on a pay-per-view show against the Time Warner monolith at Madison Square Garden. Meanwhile, about 100 miles down the road in Atlantic City, an HBO PPV show featuring Bernard Hopkins and Antonio Tarver would take place.
2- Golden Boy vs Top Rank: In 2006, the Cold War just kept getting more frigid, with no end in sight.
THE SAY IT AIN’T SO AWARD
Kronk Gym closing down: Seriously, this is like Ford closing up shop in Detroit.
THE MICHAEL JORDAN IN 1998 AWARD (for best finale – that wasn’t)
Bernard Hopkins: It seemed that the perfect way to go (and to keep his word to his deceased mother) would have been to walk away after his dominating win over Tarver. But what can you say, fighters fight.
THE CINDERELLA MEN AWARD (for most improbable runs)
Carlos Baldomir/Oleg Maskaev: Coming into the year they were either ‘has-beens’ or ‘never-weres’ but they each pulled monumental upsets that allowed them to be players and make some sizable paydays before they left the game.
THE McRIB AWARD (Comeback of the year)
Kermit Cintron: It wasn’t that long ago that he fell to pieces against Antonio Margarito. But in 2006, he would win a gut-check against David Estrada and win a vacant world title by stopping Mark Suarez. Dead and buried, he has seemingly found new life.
THE JULIO FRANCO AWARD (for still being around)
Evander Holyfield: Hey, he can still beat middling heavyweights and he can still draw a crowd.
THE EMILY’S REASONS WHY NOT AWARD (for worst show)
Jew Boy Promotions, July 5th: No, I’m not going Mel Gibson here, that’s the actual name of the jokers that put on this abomination of a show that was somehow televised on ESPN2’s Wednesday Night Fights. Everyone involved should be embarrassed. Let’s hope this outfit never gets another date.
This show featured more blowouts than an Iraqi minefield – and then, Unity Young!!!
THE DICK VERMEIL AWARD (for crying)
1- Floyd Mayweather after his bout with Baldomir: OK, just why was he so emotional, again?
2- Cory Spinks after his bout with Roman Karmazin: Spinks sure goes through the gamut of emotions from his walk-ins to his post-fight interviews. Maybe it’s Jim Gray?
THE MARC RATNER AWARD (for MMA involvement)
Gary Shaw: I don’t blame him; in this genre, fighters aren’t promoters, and networks don’t steal fighters (at least not yet, anyway.)
THE KENNETH LAY AWARD ( for shadiest dealings)
Murad Muhammad: OK, has everyone in Texas been paid yet for the Holyfield-Oquendo promotion? But hey, he’s offering Wladimir Klitschko $20 million to face ‘the Real Deal’.
THE HEAT-MAVERICKS GAME 3 AWARD (for best comeback)
1- David Diaz TKO10 Jose Armando Santa Cruz: Despite being behind on all three cards, the rugged Diaz just kept at it and eventually caught a fading Santa Cruz.
2- Shannon Briggs TKO12 Liakhovich: Briggs not only knocks out Liakhovich, he knocks him out of the ring.
3- Jose Hernandez TKO8 Jason Litzau: That’s why you keep punching like hell till the very end.
THE RICHARD DAWSON AWARD (for family feud)
1- The Duivens: When a late replacement was needed to face Harry Duiven Jr., his father and trainer stepped in and was stopped in two.
OK, now I’ve heard and seen it all.
2- The Mayweathers: One day, this award will be named after Floyd Sr. and Jr.
THE K-FED RELEASING AN ALBUM AWARD (for worst idea)
The WBC going back to open scorecards: Guys, it’s not the process that needs fixing. It’s those you have entrusted to fill out the scorecards that are the problem here.
THE JOSE LUIS CASTILLO AWARD (for not making weight)
1- Jose Luis Castillo vs. Diego Corrales III: And this time Corrales wouldn’t bite and go through with the bout.
2- Diego Corrales vs. Joel Casamayor III: How’s that for irony, huh?
THE CARMELO ANTHONY AWARD (for running away from a fight)
Cory Spinks in round 12 against Karmazin: Seriously, he looked like ‘Melo running away from Jared Jeffries after he clocked Mardy Collins.
THE HASIM RAHMAN/MIKE’S HARD LEMONADE AWARD (for most grotesque swelling)
Fernando Vargas versus Shane Mosley: All I can say is – ouch.
THE ROWDY RODDY PIPER AWARD (for stirring it up)
1- Ricardo Mayorga vs Oscar De La Hoya: He may not be able to fight much, but he can talk up an event, can’t he? He was the perfect foil for Oscar’s return.
2- James Toney vs Samuel Peter: As he posed death threats to Dino Duva and Ivaylo Gotzev, just paraphrase what Chris Rock said about that tiger attacking Siegfried and Roy: James Toney didn’t go crazy, James Toney went James Toney!!!
THE ISHTAR AWARD (for box-office bombs)
1- The Rahman-Maskaev PPV: Didn’t even do 75,000 buys.
2- The Tyson exhibition: It’s official, nobody gives a damn anymore.
THE JAMES FREY AWARD (for web of lies)
Winky Wright: OK, just how would he have explained his behavior to Oprah as his bout with Jermain Taylor was being negotiated and finalized?
THE TOM CRUISE-MATT LAUER AWARD (most contentious interview)
1- Brian Kenny-Floyd Mayweather: Brian Kenny, you don’t know nothing about boxing.
2- Larry Merchant-Mayweather: Larry, stick to broadcasting.
THE DULY NOTED AWARD (for oversight made my Steve Kim)
Arthur Abraham against Edison Miranda: More than a few of you mentioned that Abraham’s courageous win against the hard-punching ‘Pantera’ deserved a ‘Chris Simms’ award for courage.
No arguments here.
THE TOMMY JOHN AWARD (for torn rotator cuff)
Jeff Lacy: Let’s hope the injury he suffered against Vitaly Tsypko isn’t career threatening.
THE YESTERDAY I WAS LYING… AWARD (for changing your mind)
Bob Arum: Early in the year, while he was still promoting ‘the Pretty Boy’, he was telling everyone he was better than Ray Leonard. By December, as Mayweather had left him, he would tell everyone in sight that Miguel Cotto would murder him.
Hey, it is what it is.
THE FORD TAURUS AWARD (it’s over)
Mark Johnson, Sharmba Mitchell, Tim Austin, Teddy Reid, Arturo Gatti, Erik Morales, Vince Phillips, Kevin Kelley, Fernando Vargas, Carlos Hernandez
THE EDDIE FUTCH HUMANITARIAN AWARD (for best corner stoppage)
Nick Durandt – Silence Mabuza vs. Rafael Marquez, Oscar Suarez – Jhonny Gonzalez vs. Israel Vazquez, and James Bashir – Monte Barrett vs. Nicolay Valuev. Here, here to these trainers who had the courage and foresight to do the right thing.
THE RED AUERBACH AWARD (for cigar smoking)
James Toney: Speaking of which, long live Red, the game of basketball won’t be the same without him. As for Toney, it’s ironic that he once played ‘Smokin’ Joe Frazier in a movie, isn’t it?
THE RUSS HODGES AWARD ( best call of a dramatic moment)
Joe Tessitore in round three of Allan Green-Donnie McCrary, as McCrary – a huge underdog – nearly stops Green:” HOLY COW!!! OH MY GOD, OH MY GOD!!! WHAT A MONUMENTAL UPSET THIS COULD BE!!! CAN YOU BELIEVE THIS?!?! THIS WOULD BE THE BIGGEST UPSET IN YEARS!!!”
Eventually Green would survive and stop McCrary a couple of rounds later.
But seriously, could you imagine Tessitore’s reaction if the Stanford band had come into the ring?
THE RODNEY DANGERFIELD AWARD (for no respect)
Antonio Tarver prior to his fight with Bernard Hopkins: It got real tiresome hearing Tarver’s complaints of getting ‘no respect’. During the bout, Hopkins disrespected him for 12 rounds.
THE YO ADRIAN!!! AWARD (for most touching scene between husband and wife after a fight)
Jose Rivera after his fight with Alejandro Garcia: In one of the most human scenes of 2006, after his title winning tussle against Garcia, Rivera and his wife would embrace inside the ring.
Hollywood couldn’t have scripted it any better.
