Wednesday night’s episode of Rope a Dope Radio will be reviewing the past year and discussing the coveted year end awards. Fighter of the year, Fight of the year, Knockout of the year and Round of the year. Topics which are due to spark off red hot debate so phone in and have your say, all are welcomed and your voice will be heard. Details will be listed at the end of this article, yes article I can’t advertise such a topic without having my say; so here is the past year through the eyes of the boxing historian.
Fighter of the year. I’m not sure if anyone told pretty boy Floyd, but he was Walking the path trodden by few and well on his way to emulating the great Marvin Hagler who was awarded fighter of the year for four consecutive years 1983-1986. Mayweather secured the top spot in 2005 after the p4p king Bernard Hopkins was twice on the wrong end of a decision against Jermain Taylor, Floyd reigned supreme on the throne but went into temporary retirement 2008. Waiting in the wings was Filipino dynamo Manny Pacquiao who gave us a total different fighting style of high octane crowd pleasing action. Pacquiao gets my vote for fighter of the year, he only fought twice in 2009 but boy did he make them count.
A devastating second round knockout of Manchester’s Ricky Hatton at Junior Welter, then the Filipino was on the move again challenging for yet another title in yet another weight. Miguel Cotto was the opponent and the visibly smaller Pacquiao inflicted a heavy beating on the Puerto Rican on his way to securing the WBO welterweight title. Mayweather had since came out of retirement and both he and Pacquiao where competing in the same division. A match up was inevitable, a March 13 date has been set with a few details like location to be ironed out; as soon as the fight was announced in principle the blogosphere went into meltdown.
Fight of the year Well the last award was relatively easy, but I always struggle with fight of the year, unless of course we rewind to 2005, the Diego Corrales vs. Jose Luis Castillo war had every ingredient required to win the award hands down, multiple knockdowns, cuts, swings in momentum and even moments you had to assure yourself your eyes were not deceiving you and what you were witnessing was really happening.
Paul Williams vs. Sergio Martinez gets my vote for this award. Both regarded as the most avoided fighters in the sport today and both southpaws. The two fighters gave everything they had in there Dec 5th bout, early knockdowns and savage exchanges witnessed both fighters severely tested. The courage and bravery displayed by both was something to behold. Oh before I forget, thank you Kelly Pavlik for pulling out of your Dec 5th bout with Williams, otherwise this fight would not have taken place. (Click here to View)
A worthy mention to Ryan Rhodes vs. Jamie Moore, Juan Manuel Marquez vs. Juan Diaz.
KO of the year. Manny Pacquiao’s chilling second round knockout of Ricky Hatton was sensational, Hatton never seen the left hand which left him lay out on the canvas at the MGM Grand Casino. The knockout was devastating and had many at ringside fearing the worst as Hatton lay motionless on the canvas for several minutes. Thankfully the Hitman made a full recovery, however his future is uncertain as he has not fought since the devastating loss in May. (Click here to View)
Round of the year. Once in a while an award can be won in some obscure venue somewhere in the world, far away from the glitz and glamour in a non title fight. Paul Samuels vs. Cello Renda took place at the Fenton Manor sports complex, Stoke, UK. The bout was scheduled for eight rounds in the middleweight division, but only went three. Renda introduced Samuels to the canvas in the first round; however my award goes to round two. The second round gave us something rarely witnessed in a ring, both men were loading up on their shots when they both simultaneously landied left hooks, both went to the canvas. You had visions of the famous Rocky scene where they had to beat the count to win. In this case they both beat the count; Samuels won the fight in the third round. The two are scheduled to fight again on the 15th January. (Click here to view)
