It is time to announce the first annual Wilson awards for 2009. The awards are given in many different catergories, including fighter of the year, fight of the year, ko of the year and performance of the year. There are many other awards, but we will start with the major awards.
Fighter of the Year: Do we even need to debate this one? Manny Pacquiao wins the first annual Wilson. All Manny did this year was destroy the best 140 pounder in the world, Ricky Hatton, and one of the best 147 pounders in Miguel Cotto. Not bad for a year’s work. If he decides to bless us and stay in boxing another year or two, we may have to rename the hall of fame the hall of Manny.
2nd Place: Vitali Klitschko. This was hard because there were so many boxers that had good years. The only reason he gets second is because he is the one heavyweight that will fight anyone. It doesn’t hurt in my book that he is willing to fight three or four times a year. Wladimir may have the tools, but Vitali has that little something extra that most heavys don’t poccess anymore, cojones.
Fight of the Year: Andre Berto vs Luis Collazo. A fight of the year winner should be a fight that has many ebbs and flows and is in doubt until the final bell. That is exactly what we got in the Berto-Collazo fight. Berto was the up and comer and Collazo was the guy that had lost his two biggest fights, one to Shane Mosley and one to Ricky Hatton. Collazo was thought to be a slick fighter with little punch. But he rocked Berto on numerous occasions and had Andre holding on. Two judges had Berto up by a point at the end. One last note, this is probably the fight that made Berto the hit and grab fighter he is now. He appears unwilling to take risks since Collazo almost beat him.
2nd Place. Paul Williams vs Sergio Martinez. Again, a tough call. Williams was thought to be the most avoided fighter in boxing, that was until Martinez showed what angles, speed and determination can do. Williams fighting at 160 may not be his best option. His long neck resembled a bobblehead doll when Sergio landed. Williams may want to stake his claim at 147 or 154. Many picked Pacquiao-Cotto as their fight of the year. But the second half of the fight was all Manny and the outcome was never in doubt after round 5.
KO of the Year: Manny Pacquiao vs Ricky Hatton. Many thought that Hatton’s youth, movement and strength would give Manny problems. We never found out if that would have been the case because Manny took matters into his own hands, or fists, early in the fight. The end came in round two that left Ricky completely out in the center of the ring. I’m not sure, but I think my television moved up and down when the punch landed.
2nd Place: Shane Mosley vs Antonio Margarito. You are not suppose to stop the Tijuana Tornado. You may beat him, but you’ll never stop him. Especially if you’re a fighter that most believed had seen better days. Mosley patiently picked his shots and late in the fight bombarded Tony with an array of punches that saw Margarito slump to the floor. The fight would be a great training tool to show young fighters how to close the show when you have an opponent hurt. Honorable mention has to go to Arthur Abraham and his incredible fight ending right that should send Jermain Taylor into retirement.
Dark Horse of the year: Lucian Bute. The man is a world champion, but unless you live in Canada you are probably not real familiar with him. This super middleweight has boxing skills, is not afraid to trade and has a devastating body punch. In 2008 he won a controversial hometown decision over veteran Librado Andrade. Bute, pronounced Boo-tay, ran out of gas late in the fight and was the beneficiary of long count when he was knocked down at the end of the fight. Since then, Bute has kayoed Fulgencio Zuniga with a thunderous bodyshot. Zuniga could be heard grunting as the shot landed, and was finished seconds later. He recently had a rematch with Andrade. He put Librado down with a hook and finished him with what else, a bodyshot that had Andrade down for several minutes. He is now fighting on HBO and is learning english, Don’t be surprised to see him as a fighter of the year candidate next year.
2nd Place: Marvin Sonsona. He recently vacated his super flyweight belt when he could no longer make weight. In that fight he fought to a draw with veteran Alejandro Hernandez. Moving up in weight may make him stronger and show the flashes of brilliance he showed when he won the belt. The 19 year old is a rangy boxer who can trade when necessary. Given more time and schooling he may be the next big thing to come out of the Philippines.
Performance of the Year: Shane Mosley vs Antonio Margarito. Not many gave Shane a chance. Especially since he was coming off of a loss to Miguel Cotto and a tougher than expected kayo win over faded Ricardo Mayorga. Add in the fact that Margarito was coming off of a career, now somewhat tainted, win over Miguel Cotto. It should have been a long night for Mosley. Instead, what we got was vintage Sugar Shane. The win should have propelled him into bigger fights, but the win actually earned him the title of most avoided fighter in 2009.
2nd Place: Marcos Maidana vs Victor Ortiz. It was another HBO night to showcase Vicious Victor Ortiz. He had a great story, good skills and good power. Someone forgot to tell Maidana that the story line had him losing. The two traded knockdowns in round one. Marcos went down two more times in round two. All he did after that was to keep fighting. He finally busted up and hurt Ortiz in round six. The story of the fight was Ortiz quitting after getting hurt. It should of been how the hard hitting Maidana refused to lose.
Other Notable awards and winners:
Best value for the ticket price: Manny Pacquiao. The energizer bunny should be so lucky to have that kind of nonstop energy.
Story of the Year: The sad and untimely deaths of Arturo Gatti, Alexis Arguello and Vernon Forrest. All were great fighters and more importantly, great ambassadors for boxing. R.I.P.
Upset of the Year: Mosley over Margarito.
Round of the Year: Paul Williams-Sergio Martinez, round 11 and Marcos Maidana-Victor Ortiz round 1.
Comeback of the Year: Shane Mosley and Michael Katsidis.
Promoter of the Year: Bob Arum. Dealing with so many egos makes getting fights done a hard job. Arum somehow does it.
Event of the Year: A tie between Pacquiao-Cotto and Pacquiao-Hatton. Some of the biggest fan bases on the planet collide to make these megafights megevents.
