Sometime in the first quarter of this year?right after Manny officially bagged the 2006 Fighter of the Year award?I wrote about an urban legend centering on the so-called Fighter of the Year jinx.
It didn?t, of course, originate from me, but I featured it and received quite a generous cache of animated responses. For those of you who missed that column, here?s a brief synopsis.
At the turn of this millenium, all fighter-of-the-year awardees suffered bad luck the following year. It came in various forms. Disastrous losses. Stagnating careers. Injuries. Troubles outside the ring.
Let?s recall what ill-luck befell the winners:
2000 winner Felix Trinidad suffered his first career loss via knockout at the unforgiving hands of Bernard Hopkins the following year. He is never the same fighter again.
In turn, 2001 fighter of the year Bernard Hopkins fights everywhere but inside the ring as he gets entangled in legal woes and manages only one fight against nondescript Carl Daniels in 2002.
2002 winner Vernon Forrest, a technically sound fighter who handed Shane Mosley his first two defeats, gets shellacked inside three rounds by cigar-smoking, beer-guzzling Nicaraguan Wildman Ricardo Mayorga. He tries again in a rematch a few months later but fails to get the ?W.?
2003 winner James Toney is plagued by injuries. In his only bout for 2004, he suffers a torn bicep against Rydell Booker, and resorts to boxing with one arm for the remainder of the bout.
2004 winner Glen Johnson gets beaten by Antonio Tarver in a rematch and returns to the doldrums of anonymity from which he sprung forth.
2005 winner Ricky Hatton engages in a life and death struggle with Luis Collazo as he moves up to welterweight- his lone fight that year. He gets the win albeit controversially. He also gets mugged in China and his Rolex watch stolen.
BUST-A-JINX. How was 2007 for Manny Pacquiao? Let?s see. He fights Jorge Solis and beats him by KO. He gets kayoed by Rep. Darlene Antonino-Custodio at the electoral polls in May. He comes to Cebu to train for his fight against Barrera, and plays basketball during weekends. He then beats up Barrera, winning by unanimous decision. He also starts writing his own column and towards the end of the year, gets tapped by Nike to be one of its international endorsers.
Hmmm. Not bad. The foregoing exploits were not enough to merit the Fighter of the year award but it?s certainly enough to bust the jinx. Good work Manny. But we hope 2008 will be an even better year for you.
FLOYD IS IT. Ring Magazine, widely recognized as the bible of boxing, reportedly gave the nod to Floyd Mayweather Jr. and I would have to agree–although with some reservation.
His victory over Oscar dela Hoya was far from convincing. In fact, that would have to be the most difficult fight of his career to date. That it came via split decision is damning evidence that the judges at ringside were in disagreement. But since we all have to go by what the record book says, a win is a win is a win.
However, his subsequent victory over then undefeated Ricky Hatton was what clinched it for him. It was a masterful display of boxing superiority.
Thus, by virtue of his wins over elite fighters like de la Hoya and Hatton, Floyd Jr. finishes 2007 as the fighter of the year and number one, pound-for-pound.
A close second would have to be Miguel Cotto who dished out exemplary performances in knocking out Zab Judah and shading Shane Mosely. A far third would probably be the ?Baby Bull? Juan Diaz who defeated both Acelino Freitas and IBF lightweight champ Julio Diaz via the short route.
LAST ROUND. It?s on Atty. Dionisio Ca?ete, a supreme grandmaster of Eskrima and a supremely wonderful guy. Cheers! ([email protected])
