Showing no signs of getting long in the tooth, the sublime beauty and finesse that he brings to the table simply remains unmatched?
?I knew boxing before I knew anything else.??Floyd Mayweather Jr.
??I train extremely hard and I?m dedicated to my craft. I?m a hard worker and nothing beats hard work. I?m doing VADA testing, not for anybody?s sake but mine.??Timothy Bradley
?To become a world champion you must take risks, I came to his hometown. My team told me from the get-go I would be a world champion. I needed to win for Freddie. I miss him. I just needed to stay calm. I am a world champion like Leonard and Duran. I made him not want to fight me anymore.??Ruslan Provodnikov on his win over Mike Alvarado
?When Ann [Wolfe] tells me to do this or do that, I just do it, no matter how hard it is.??James Kirkland
?You see what I do. They can take it for a few rounds, but they ain?t gonna take it for 12 rounds.??Keith Thurman
?There?s one thing, however, that remains certain: Ms. Ross remains boxing?s biggest enigma. And I, for one, feel kind of bad for her. Deserved or not, the woman?s taking a whole lot of heat after a long time spent in the trenches.??Sean Crose
Fighter of the Year : Floyd Mayweather Jr. In a year when Timothy Bradley gained redemption, Danny Garcia shined and surprised, Gennady Golovkin (the Euro Pacquiao) won four times, slick and talented Guillermo Rigondeaux won just about every round he fought, Sergey Kovalev totally destroyed his opposition (Ismayl Sillakh as Exhibit One) , Mikey Garcia won two world titles in two divisions, and Adonis ?Superman? Stevenson lived up to his nickname, one man firmly remained the straw who still stirs the drink.
Showing no signs of getting long in the tooth, Floyd Mayweather Jr. (45-0) dominated Robert ?The Ghost? Guerrero, who had not lost a fight in over seven years in over four different classes, and then handily beat long-undefeated Saul ?Canelo? Alvarez (42-0-1), a bigger, younger, and stronger fighter. Junior remains the No. 1-ranked pound-for-pound fighter and nothing he did this year suggests that will change in the near future. The sublime beauty and finesse that he brings to the table simply remains unmatched.
Fight of the Year: Bradley vs. Provodnikov. After the Pacquiao debacle, Timothy Bradley had something to prove and when he set forth on his quest for approbation, the fans witnessed a warrior who could stay in with anyone including Siberian monster Ruslan Provodnikov. Prov?s power almost took out Tim in the thrilling final round, but the gassing ?Desert Storm? weathered the assault and took a razor thin win?one that greatly enhanced the reputation of both fighters. This one had ebb and flow, knockdowns, and toe-to-toe exchanges that had the crowd in shock and awe. Provodnikov later showed just how tough he (and by extension Timothy) is when he stopped another rugged guy in Mike Alvarado.
Knockout of the Year: Undefeated prospect David ?Nino? Rodriguez (36-0) was winning on two of the cards when ?opponent? Darnell ?The Ding-A-Ling Man? Wilson (24-17-3) cut Rodr?guez in the sixth and final round and then went after him with crunching left hooks?his signature punch. It looked like the now exposed David would survive forcing the fight to the cards for a decision victory, but then Wilson swung a big left with seconds remaining and it landed flush sending Rodriguez down and out as referee Lindsey Page waved off matters without a count at 2:59 of the final stanza.
Yes, Adonis Stevenson?s KO of Chad Dawson was sudden and startling, Sergey Kovalev?s destruction of Ismayl Sillakh was scary, and GGG?s KO of Macklin was decisive. But this one was far more dramatic because it snatched victory from the jaws of defeat, saved a career for Ding-A-Ling, and exposed Nino.
Round of the Year: Round One Magomed Abdusalamov vs. Mike Perez. What the round may have lacked in excitement, comparatively speaking, it made up for in significance. The Rebel started fast throwing over 95 punches as both men exchanged aggressively setting the tone for the rest of this fateful and savage encounter. Mago suffered severe, albeit camouflaged damage in the round, but also meted out his own fair share of punishment as both men traded heavyweight bombs. Mike hurt Magomed early and, despite Abdusalamov?s courage and resolve, outboxed him down the stretch for a points win. Said Mago, ?In the first round, I hit his head with my left hand, and after that I couldn?t make a fist and I couldn?t operate with my left like I wanted to?But a champ is a champ, and he was a great champion tonight.? The affable Perez was equally effusive in his praise for Mago.
Of course, we now know that the damage was far more than a broken hand?or broken nose. Sadly, Mago remains in a medically-induced coma in critical condition with brain damage and we can only pray that he recovers.
Trainer of the Year: Barely edging out Freddie Roach, Robert Garcia wins Trainer of the Year for the third straight year as he works with and/or molds younger brother Mikey Garcia, Nonito Donaire, Marcos ?Chino? Maidana, and Brandon ?Bam Bam? Rios, among others. Robert?s work with younger brother slick Mikey and with the hard-nosed Maidana borders on genius. He also has, many others under his wing, too numerous to list here as his boxing academy continues to put Oxnard front and center on the boxing map?largely because his fighters are very good at doing a certain thing in particular; namely, winning. But like that other guy at the end of the movie ?The Downhill Racer,? Abel Sanchez bears watching in the future.
Upset of the Year: Although Jhonny Gonzalez shocking first round KO over Abner Mares was an eye-popper and Marcos Maidana?s beatdown of Adrien Broner was unexpected, few even knew who South African Simpiwe Vetyeka (26-2) was until he forced undefeated Chris John (48-1-3) to quit on his stool after six rounds of dominance. For the first time in his long 15-year career, Chris was defeated, as Vetyeka broke the veteran?s will in Australia. Earlier in the year, Vetyeka pulled off another starling upset by stopping Daud Cino Yordan in Jakarta making the South African arguably the most disliked person in Indonesia.
Comeback of the Year: James Kirkland. After a long layoff of 20 months, the Ann Wolfe-trained Mandingo Warrior survived a shaky first two minutes in Atlantic City and then, as he did two years earlier against Alfredo Angulo in Cancun, proceeded to pound game Glen ?Jersey Boy? Tapia from pillar to post winning a TKO victory and putting himself well into the mix.
Best New Boxing Announcer: Paulie Malignaggi. The very capable Antonio Tarver is a hard act to follow but Paulie has done it. Not only does he point out things that others miss, he can be a great teacher to those who want to learn the subtleties of the sweet science. His calls on the Broner-Maidana fight were as good as it gets.
Breakthrough Fighter of the Year: Keith ?One Time? Thurman (22-0, 20 KOs). This welterweight?s ability to adjust as required and to punch from angles is remarkable as is his KO power. He is the quintessential boxer/puncher and he also has a solid defense. In short, it?s hard to find fault with Thurman and his recent demolition of Jesus Soto Karass did nothing to diminish this assessment. Thurman has emerged as a legitimate contender and one who can and will be dangerous for anyone at 147 or 154 pounds.
Closet Classics of the Year (3): In a blistering war and a classic case of changing momentum, Poland?s Krzysztof ?Diablo? Wlodarczyk (49-2-1), the WBC cruiserweight champion, got off the floor to knock out unbeaten Rakhim ?Machine? Chakhkiev (16-0 coming in) at the Dynamo Palace of Sports in Moscow. This was Diablo?s seventh cruiserweight title fight victory and undoubtedly his most meaningful.
Honorable Mention: The fight between aging Andrew Golota (41-9-1) and aging Przemyslaw ?Chemek? Saleta (43-7) when they put on a surprising and brutal brawl in front of over 14,000 rabid fans in ERGO Arena in Gdańsk, Poland on February 26, 2013. The fight resulted in both men going back into retirement, but they went back in honor. Both put forth a valiant effort with Golota?s being reminiscent of his all-out efforts against Kevin McBride and Mike Mollo. And to his credit, he went out on his shield. Golota has had a career full of ups and downs, but this loss was not one of the downs.
Honorable Mention: ?Merciless? Mike Mollo (a Chicago favorite son) and Polish bad boy Artur ?The Pin? Szpilka (a fan favorite in his native Poland as well as with the massive Polish community in Chicago) fought a blood and guts pier six on February 1 of this year at the UIC Pavilion in Chicago, one in which both men hit the deck and one in which Mollo lost by KO but nevertheless came out a winner in the eyes of the fans for the grit he displayed during the fight.
Worse Decision of Year: Mayweather over Alvarez by MD. C.J. Ross, who had Bradley beating Pacquiao 115-113, assures herself, deservedly or not, a place in boxing infamy by scoring this one 114-114.
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