The media and the sports publications are announcing their 2009 best of awards. They are reminding us of the reason our sport is so great. But sometimes some of the things that made the year so great are lost or forgotten.
The year passes quickly so here are some of the events that you may remember or possibly forgot about in 2009. Included are some of the upsets, slugfests and mega fights of the first half of 2009.
January
10th Karoly Balzsay wins a 12 round decision over Denis Inkin to win the WBO super middleweight title.
17th Andre Berto and Luis Collazo put on one of the best fights of the year. Each man is hurt during the fight. Berto holds on to win a decision.
19th Jose Torres dies of a heart attack at the age of 72. Torres was the former light heavyweight champion who was inducted into the hall of fame in 1997. As an author he wrote biographies on Muhammad Ali and Mike Tyson. Truely one of boxing’s class acts.
24th Shane Mosley stops Antonio Margarito in a huge upset. The fight was proceeded by Team Mosley finding Margarito wearing illegal handwraps before the bout. Margarito was subsequently suspended for one year.
30th Former heavyweight champion Ingemar Johansson dies of Alzheimers at the age of 76.
February
5th Legendary cutman Chuck Bodak dies at the age of 92. Bodak worked with Muhammad Ali, Julio Caesar Chavez, Thomas Hearns and Evander Holyfield. to name a few.
7th Vic Darchinyan stops Jorge Arce in 11 rounds. Arce’s trainer didn’t help matters by not knowing how to fight a southpaw. Arce was continually going to his right which put him right in the line of fire as Darchinyan constantly landed straight lefts.
14th Sergio Martinez is robbed twice as he receives a draw against Kermit Cintron. Cintron was knocked down once and took the ten count only to have the ref overturn his own decision. This was after Cintron complained that he went down from a headbutt. Replays show it was a clean punch and Martinez should have gotten a kayo victory. Then the judges scored the fight a draw that should have been a clear cut decision for Sergio. These are the kind of decisions that hurt boxing.
21st Kelly Pavlik and Miguel Cotto come off of their first career loses with easy wins over somewhat less than stellar opposition. Pavlik wins by 9th round knockout and Cotto stops his opponent in the fifth.
28th Juan Manuel Marquez withstands an early bombardment from Juan “Baby Bull” Diaz and comes back to stop Diaz in round 9. The fight is another early candidate for fight of the year.
28th Chris John comes to America and wins a close decision in Rocky Juarez hometown of Houston, Texas. Or so everyone, but the judges, think. John is ripped off and the fight is called a draw. John would get his revenge later in the year.
March
13th Lucian Bute defends his super middleweight title with a spectacular stoppage of Fulgencio Zuniga in the 4th round.
14th Amir Khan tries to put his lone defeat behind him by taking on Marco Antonio Barrera. Barrera’s best days are way behind him and Khan stops him on cuts in the 4th.
April
18th Nonito Donaire knocks out Raul Martinez in the 4th round.
19th Undefeated junior middleweight prospect James Kirkland is arrested in Texas on weapons charges. The ex felon’s career seems to be put on hold indefinitely.
24th In a surprisingly good fight, Cory Spinks wins a 12 round decision over Deandre Latimore.
25th Juan Manuel Lopez batters veteran Gerry Penalosa around the ring until trainer Freddie Roach mercifully stops the fight in the 9th.
25th Super middleweight Carl Froch appears on his way to losing a decision when he stops Jermain Taylor with just seconds left in the fight.
May
1st Lightweight prospect Urbano Antillon stops Tyrone Harris in the 5th round.
2nd Manny Pacquiao destroys junior welterweight champion Ricky Hatton in the 2nd round. It was the first mega fight of 2009. Pacquiao would go on to fight Miguel Cotto. Hatton has not fought since.
30th Kermit Cintron hands HBO star in the making Alfredo Angulo his first loss.
30th Andre Berto wins easily over undersized Juan Urango. Berto makes it a dull affair by constantly clinching. Ring magazine notes that Berto has the quicest clinch in boxing.
June
13th Miguel Cotto outworks tough Joshua Clottey to win a 12 round decision in New York City. The win sets up a fight with Manny Pacquiao in November.
20th Wladimir Klitshko wins a boring decision over Ruslan Chagaev. The fight does nothing to enhance the reputation of the heavyweight division.
27th Marcos Maidana survives the first two rounds to come back and hand HBO and Golden Boy prospect Victor Ortiz a loss. Ortiz’s heart comes into play when he says in a postfight interview, “I don’t think I deserve to get beat up like that.”
Fighters inducted into the International Boxing Hall Of Fame in Canastota, New York:
Heavyweight Lennox Lewis, Bantamweight Orlando Canizales, Junior lightweight Brian Mitchell, middleweight William “Gorilla” Jones, welterweight “Mysterious” Billy Smith and middleweight Billy Soose.
