I’m just throwing myself on the mercy of the Court of Boxing Opinion. I am just pleading guilty with an explanation and the explanation is stupidity. Sure, either unbeaten American Golden Boy Andre Ward–genuflect when you speak of this righteous Christian warrior–or lunch pail British scrapper Carl “Cobra” Froch will get attention and votes for the 2011 Fighter of the Year after their Showtime Super Middleweight Tournament final Satursday night in Atlantic City. In fact, if their contrasting styles and their indomitable fighting spirit combine favorably their fight may be a good candidate for Fight of the Year, their respective trainers (Rob McCracken, Froch, and Virgil Hunter for Ward) may earn the year’s top trainer honor and perhaps BOTH of them will get seriously considered for 2011’s best fighter accolade. But my candidate trumps the two 168 pounders just as he outdid our two and only worldwide superstars in the past 12 months meaning he topped Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao. It would give new meaning to the phrase and to the title, Fighter of the Year, if the boss scribes and their bosses with the Boxing Writers Association of America tapped my candidate, Dewery Bozella. That’s right, the 52-year-old ex-convict from Newburgh, NY, the guy who kept on fighting–minute by minute, hour by hour, day by day and so on–through 26 long and dark years of wrongful imprisonment. Winning a four round bout, his pro debut at his advanced age, in Los Angeles in November under the Chad Dawson-Bernard Hopkins main event was a terrific achievement, a four handkerchief human interest story that went far beyond the limited borders of the hardcore boxing fans. You might say that Bozella is a longshot candidate, that Nonito Doniare Jr. or James Kirkland (another ex-convict but with no claims of wrongful conviction) or the terrific Thai, Pongsaklek Wonjongkam, should earn the pugilistic plaudit. Wonjongkam only went 6-0 this year, has won 83 pro bouts and he’s certainly not chopped mee krob. Truth is, Fighter of the Year is a wide open lottery going into Froch-Ward and any other significant fight that may transpire before it becomes 2012. But sometimes you’ve got to think outside the box or, in this case, the cell. Bozella fought for his freedom. He somehow clung to his dream of becoming a pro boxer even after some perjuriious witnesses sealed his fate with their courtroom lies. He found some crusading lawyers who joined his worthy cause and, in the end, the truth came to light and the justice system made a tardy but heartwarming correction.
