Junior lightweight star Manny Pacquiao has received the Edward J Neil Fighter of the Year award for 2006. His trainer, Freddie Roach, has also been honoured. The Filipino fighter won the main award at the 82nd annual Boxing Writers Association of America’s dinner at the Copacabana, New York City.
He received it for his two stoppage victories over Erik Morales and a points win over Oscar Larios.
Roach received the Futch-Condon award for trainer of the year. It was presented to him by trainer/promoter Tommy Gallagher.
The March 2006 match in Paris between Somsak Sithchatchawal and Mahyar Monshipour was chosen for the Harry Markson award for fight of the year.
Monshipour, who was stopped in the tenth round of a brutal fight, losing his WBA junior featherweight belt, was handed the award by Bernard Hopkins.
HBO’s Larry Merchant received the James J Walker award for long and meritorious service. Merchant said “This award is most meaningful to me because it comes from the boxing writers”.
Former WBA heavyweight champion John Ruiz presented Lee Samuels and Ricardo Jimenez, from Top Rank, with the Marvin Kohn “Good Guy” award.
New York State Athletic Commission chairman Ron Scott Stevens received the James A Farley award for honesty and integrity in boxing.
Kevin Iole, of the Las Vegas Review-Journal, received the Nat Fleischer award for excellence in boxing journalism.
The Sam Taub award for excellence in broadcast journalism went to Showtime’s Steve Albert.
Snippets
IBF light heavyweight champion Clinton Woods has withdrawn from his June 23 rematch with Julio Gonzalez because of a trapped nerve in his left elbow. The injury will require surgery.
Former WBC bantamweight champion Carlos Zarate, 56, is recovering after a heart attack. The Mexican fought in the late 1970s.
Former Spanish light welter and welterweight champion Jose Gonzales Dopico died recently at the age of 62.
Dopico lost to top-class Frenchman Roger Menetrey in 1973 when challenging for the European welterweight title. He also fought classy boxers such as Jorgen Hansen, Jean Josselin, Jose Luis Pacheco and Roger Zami.
Austrian sports writer and TV commentator Sigi Bergmann has written a book on the life of former European light welter and welterweight champion Hans Orsolics.
Orsolics, 60, fell on hard times after he retired from boxing but in 1986 Charley Kiechbaum wrote a song about the former champion. The song became a hit and Orsolics, who sang the lead vocals, earned good money.
He turned his life around after going into rehab to cure a drink problem.
