Floyd Mayweather may still be showing no inclination to get in the ring with Manny Pacquiao, and David Haye’s prospective tilt at the Klitschkos is still mired in far too many financial politics.
But 2010 produced some performances to remember in the boxing ring, be they heady nights in Las Vegas, the wild and woolly Prizefighter competitions or the slick amateurs with 2012 in their sights. Here we single out the best of the year just gone:
BRITISH FIGHTER OF THE YEAR:
1 AMIR KHAN: Khan finally silenced his critics with his epic win over Marcos Maidana in Las Vegas earlier this month, battling back from the brink in the 10th round to cap a year which also saw a slick win over Paulie Malignaggi.
2 JAMES DEGALE: Degale’s simply magnificent ninth round win over Paul Smith to claim the British super-middleweight crown proved what amateur aficionados knew all along: he has what it takes to make it big in the pro ranks too.
3 RICKY BURNS: Burns’ domestic-level career took an unlikely turn for the better when he seized his chance to win the WBO super-feather crown in a classic in September before going on to make a successful first defence.
WORLD FIGHTER OF THE YEAR:
1 FERNANDO MONTIEL: No-one had a more perfect year than the unheralded Mexican bantamweight, who scored four early knockout wins including one in Japan over Hozumi Hasegawa to add the WBC title to the WBO belt he already owned.
2 SERGIO MARTINEZ: The sport hailed a new star in sharp-punching Argentinian Martinez, who outpointed Kelly Pavlik for the WBC middleweight crown, then retained it in a devastating second round stoppage of former foe Paul Williams.
3 MANNY PACQUIAO: What is there left to say about ‘Pac-Man’? Pacquiao outpointed the teak-tough Joshua Clottey before moving up again to score an epic win over Antonio Margarito. No wonder Mayweather is keeping his distance.
BRITISH FIGHT OF THE YEAR:
1 AMIR KHAN v MARCOS MAIDANA: Despite clattering the big-punching Maidana to the canvas in the first round, Khan was pushed to the limit and was almost out on his feet in the 10th round before recovering to eke a points win.
2 RICKY BURNS v ROMAN MARTINEZ: In an unlikely classic, Coatbridge’s Burns claimed the WBO super-featherweight title after rallying from a first round knockdown to outpoint Martinez at the end of an all-action slugfest.
3 CARL FROCH v MIKKEL KESSLER: Froch suffered the first defeat of his career but lost little of his credibility after a brutal battle in Denmark, in which the sharper work of the home favourite allowed him to overcome a cut eye and triumph on points.
WORLD FIGHT OF THE YEAR:
1 GIOVANNI SEGURA v IVAN CALDERON: In an all-action light-flyweight unification contest, Segura battled back from a bad start to stop the previously unbeaten champion with a body shot after seven and a half exhilarating rounds.
2 MANNY PACQUIAO v ANTONIO MARGARITO: Once again Pacquiao proved that size does not matter as he moved up to the light-welterweight division to deal a savage beating to the dangerous Margarito through 12 utterly unforgiving rounds.
3 SERGIO MARTINEZ v PAUL WILLIAMS: In a rematch of their previous fight won by Williams on points, Martinez scored a stunning upset when he ended one and a half rounds of top action by knocking out Williams with a single left hand.
AMATEUR FIGHTER OF THE YEAR:
1 LUKE CAMPBELL: Campbell began as second choice at featherweight behind Iain Weaver but reigned unbeaten through a year which culminated in a stunning 23-6 win over his great rival at the GB Championships in November.
2 THOMAS STALKER: The Liverpool lightweight earned a silver medal at the European Championships in Moscow then turned it into gold at the Commonwealth Games in Delhi with a series of dominant displays.
3 SIMON VALLILY: Big-punching Middlesbrough heavyweight Vallily was the star of the Delhi Games as he blew away his competition including a concussive first round knockout of Northern Ireland’s Steven Ward to take gold.
AMATEUR FIGHT OF THE YEAR:
1 ANTHONY OGOGO v VIJENDER: Ogogo won a dramatic Commonwealth Games brawl with the Indian superstar in Delhi via two penalties in his favour in the final 15 seconds, leading to angry scenes and a furious protest which was rejected.
2 DUDLEY O’SHAUGHNESSY v GLEN FOOT: O’Shaughnessy claimed the ABA welterweight title in a storming final. After an 18-18 draw and with countback deadlocked at 40-40, the judges’ verdicts decreed the West Ham man champion.
3 NATASHA JONAS v AMANDA COULSON: In one of the finest adverts for women’s boxing you will see, Coulson dragged back an early deficit against her rival only to lose when Jonas connected with the last punch of the contest.
