Goodbye 2006, and hello 2007. Boxing is a great sport because there is no boxing season. The sweet science is on display all year round, every month. The end of the calendar year is a symbolic place for us to reflect on the historic achievements in 2006 and to look ahead to the upcoming bright spots. In RSR’s End of the Year awards, the Fighter of the Year Award went to Manny Pacquiao, well deservedly, but he was not the only one who had a positive, noteworthy year. Below I am giving some press to the boxers who deserve recognition for helping out the sport of boxing in 2006, as well as some fighters to look out for in 2007.
Manny Pacquiao
My personal candidate for fighter of the year also won the Ringside Report Award as voted on by all of the writers at RSR. Some do not give Manny full credit for taking out Erik Morales because “El Terrible” appeared past his prime and had definitively lost to Zahir Raheem. Why I do give him full credit is because Morales had beaten Manny one year prior and I do not believe that he was as shot as many think. A Pacquiao victory was not a foregone conclusion heading into these fights, especially fight number two. Morales was always “up” for his fights with Manny and a great fighter always has enough to return close to his true form if he trains and wants it bad enough.
Another way to look at it is that Pacquiao headlined perhaps the two biggest PPV’s of the year and won both by KO. Plus, I also am impressed with Manny’s “tune up” fight. He took on an excellent former world champion in Oscar Larios; a win that, in my eyes, was on par with any of, say, Juan Manuel Marquez’ wins in 2006. Even when he is taking easy fights at home, Pacquiao is being matched tough.
Wladimir Klitschko
With the state of the heavyweight division, to have any heavyweight in contention is kind of a joke. Klitschko makes the list because he successfully recovered his reputation. So many people hopped off of the Klitschko bandwagon after the much publicized KO losses. However, Wladimir has gone on a tear as of late, taking on nobody but top 10 contenders and coming out victorious. He got by the hot heavyweight, Samuel Peter (which was actually the tail end of 2005), smoked the longest reigning champ Chris Byrd, and bamboozled up and coming contender Calvin Brock.
There is no doubt that Wladimir is the top heavyweight, the man to beat, and the guy with the best chance to unify the glory division, because of his body of work in 2006. I am not saying that he is the savior, but he deserves credit where credit is due and gives heavyweight addicts at least a little bit to look forward to.
Miguel Cotto
Cotto was pretty active in 2006, fighting three times, all against solid opponents. Miguel has been steadily feasting on top 20 level opponents for a few years now, so he deserves kudos for never taking on complete scrubs or no names. Miguel has been such a force that just lasting the distance against him has been difficult (only Paul Malignaggi was able to do it last year). Malignaggi still has a big upside and could be a quality world champion some day. If you can say that about a fighter after he is clearly beat then the guy who beat him must be good. Miguel showed off his boxing skills and physical strength brilliantly against Gianluca Branco, beating the once beaten Italian contender into submission. Then, the way that Miguel dominated Carlos Quintana fresh off of Quintana’s upset of Joel Julio was a great way to punctuate the year for the rising Puerto Rican star.
Joe Calzaghe
Funny how Joe C did not get much consideration for fighter of the year despite dominating in a super middleweight unification fight. There are no excuses, if, and, or but, Joe spanked Jeff Lacy from post to post and Lacy may never be the same after the shellacking that he took. Any win of that magnitude and you have to at least mention Calzaghe’s name when speaking of fighters who had good years. I agree though that Joe falls short because he did not fully take advantage of his great victory. Instead of heading right into another marquee fight, say a unification with Mikkel Kessler, he fought Sakio Bika. Essentially, Calzaghe had one great win and then did nothing, which is not enough to surpass other boxers who had multiple quality wins.
Five names to look out for in 2007
Miguel Cotto
Last year he had a solid year, but this could potentially be the blow up year for Cotto. He is a star in the making with the talent, strength, and intelligence to flirt with greatness. While he was taking out solid contenders in Paulie Malignaggi and Carlos Quintana, he is primed and ready to step up his competition that final notch to where he is fighting other elite fighters. His promoter, Top Rank, says that they are ready and willing to take Cotto to the next level so watch out for big opportunities for Miguel. Already there is talk of a quasi Superfight between Cotto and WBO Champion, Antonio Margarito (assuming that both get by their upcoming mandatory challenges). If all goes well, Cotto could potentially parlay a win over Margarito into a mega super duper fight with the likes Ricky Hatton or Floyd Mayweather.
Juan Manuel Marquez
He had a rough start to 2006, losing a decision to Chris John, but rebounded well with two KO victories, proving to the boxing world that he was not slipping. Marquez makes this list because he appears to have won the Marco Antonio Barrera sweepstakes. The two Mexican warriors are tentatively slated to fight sometime in March. Barrera has looked vulnerable recently so age might finally be catching up with the “Baby Faced Assassin.” Juan Manual has pursued a match with Barrera for years to no avail. That was smart matchmaking on the part of Marco Antonio’s people in my opinion. Marquez would have always given Barrera trouble, but with Barrera’s skill diminishing with time, Juan Manual will have a field day. A win over Barrera will open up all doors for Marquez, including the much anticipated rematch between him and Manny Pacquiao.
Floyd Mayweather, JR.
Mayweather had an unremarkable year in 2006, fighting good fighters but not partaking in blockbuster mega fights like we expect from the Pound for Pound King. That trend changes next May when Mayweather will fight in the biggest money fight of his career against the “Golden Boy,” Oscar De La Hoya. Just about every opponent of De La Hoya’s has come away with some kind of celebrity so this is the perfect fight for Floyd who desperately wants his commercial success to equal his prowess in the ring. I am skeptical about Mayweather’s insistence that the De La Hoya fight will be his last. He claims that he has nothing else to prove but that is not the case at all. He has unfinished business before he hangs up the gloves, especially since Miguel Cotto and Antonio Margarito are going to determine the true number one contender.
Ricky Hatton
Ricky “Fatton,” as the English endearingly call him, had a terrible year last year, only fighting once and just barely scraping by with a controversial decision. He tested the waters at 147 pounds and realized that junior welterweight was the correct weight class for him. That is a wise decision for Hatton, who has been dominant at that weight class. Next up for him is a title defense against Juan Urango (who Hatton should handle fairly easily). After that, assuming that he picks up his activity, that top contenders in the division are lining up to take on the Ring Magazine Champ. Junior welterweight is not as deep as it once was, but it still has some good depth with guys like Demetrius Hopkins, Junior Witter, Juan Lazcano, and the always dangerous, Vivian Harris, roaming around. Plus, the dynamic duo of Jose Luis Castillo and Diego Corrales are new to the neighborhood and are always fun. Hatton has the potential to have a great year if he fights often and picks his opponents bravely.
Rafael Marquez
The younger Marquez brother also has a chance to make a huge splash in 2007. He is already proven himself as the best bantamweight in the world. With nothing else to prove he is doing what a pound for pound candidate should do, which is to move up in weight and challenge the best in other weight classes. Rafael is talking with 122 pound kingpin, Israel Vazquez, in what would be a sensational match up if it comes to be. This potential fighter of the year selection works both ways too, meaning that if Vazquez happens to come out on top then he would be a strong candidate in Rafael’s place. Since Marquez is the one moving up in weight he has the most potential to shake up the pound for pound rankings.
