Fighter of the Year: Manny Pacquiao
For the second year in a row our decision was made easy by Manny Pacquiao (50-3, 38 KO’s), the fighting pride of the Philippines and boxing’s worldwide breakout star.
During the calendar year, Pacquiao won two world titles in two weight divisions, putting an exclamation point on both performances by stopping his opponents.
After an incredible 2008, the pressure was on Pacman to deliver in 2009. He first stepped into the ring this year against lineal junior welterweight champion Ricky Hatton (45-2, 32 KO’s). Facing some doubters who felt his biggest wins the previous year were overrated, Pacquiao silenced the critics by knocking down Hatton twice in the 1st round.
The 2nd round appeared to be going better for the reigning champion, but then with less than 10 seconds remaining in the frame a Pacquiao straight left hand landed square on the face of Hatton, leaving him laid out in the middle of the ring barely conscious.
Having started his career at 106 pounds and having won titles as high as 140 pounds, Pacquiao ventured 7 pounds north to the welterweight division for a showdown with titleholder Miguel Cotto (34-2, 27 KO’s).
While Cotto had success early, Pacquiao found his rhythm. He scored a flash knockdown in the 3rd round, followed by a more resounding knockdown in the 4th. Pacquiao then methodically beat Cotto down for the remainder of the fight until referee Kenny Bayless called the bout to a halt at 0:55 of the 12th round.
It was Pacquiao’s 7th world title in his 7th weight division – a new record.
Pacman’s level of opposition has continuously increased over the past few years as well as the size of opponents. Next up is a probable pound for pound showdown with Floyd Mayweather in a fight that is forecasted to be the most lucrative bout in boxing history.
If it doesn’t happen, same on everyone involved. But when it does, it’ll be another opportunity for Pacquiao to further cement his legacy as not only one of the best of this generation, but as one of the greatest of all time.
KO of the Year: Pacquiao KO2 Hatton
Our criteria for knockout of the year is a KO that makes fans go “ooohhh” and “awww”, preferably against solid opposition in a fight appeared to be evenly matched.
Manny Pacquiao’s 2nd round one punch knockout of long reigning junior welterweight champion Ricky Hatton met those criteria and then some.
In hindsight, Hatton was in way over his head with Pacquiao. There was no way he could compete with the pound for pound king’s hand speed or boxing ability. On top of that, it certainly didn’t help that Hatton walked right at Pacquiao the entire fight.
However, the foresight going into bout was that this was as evenly matched and big a fight that could be made at the time. Pacquiao was coming off a huge 2008 and his last two wins were stoppages of lightweight titlist David Diaz and a stunning upset over Oscar De La Hoya in a welterweight fight. Hatton was coming off his best performance in years with an 11th round TKO of Paulie Malignaggi and with Floyd Mayweather Sr. working as his trainer; he was showing boxing ability and defensive skills previously unseen in his repertoire.
Despite Pacquiao’s big 2008, some people were questioning the quality of his wins. After all, Diaz was an alphabet titleholder who had a style tailor made for Pacquiao. He was a tough guy but a top 10 lightweight at best. De La Hoya was fighting at his lowest weight in several years when he fought Pacman and was both dehydrated and past his prime.
So what would happen when Pacquiao fought someone naturally bigger than him perceived to be the best fighter in the world in his weight class?
Pacquiao answered that question early and often. He scored two knockdowns in the opening round. Hatton got up buzzed but not completely out. Those knockdowns showed the difference between the two fighters hand speed more than anything. History showed us that guys could get dropped by Pacquiao several times in the 1st round and get back up to make it a fight. Juan Manuel Marquez did it, could Ricky Hatton too?
Nope.
After surviving the opening frame, Hatton was looking to get back into the fight. He was clearly having a better 2nd round than 1st round with less than 10 seconds left to go when all of a sudden, Pacquiao landed a straight left hand that left Hatton sprawled out and barely conscious in the middle of the ring.
“That is the most spectacular one punch shot of Manny Pacquiao’s incredible career”, said HBO commentator Jim Lampley.
It was a brutal display of blinding hand speed and powerful punching from Pacquiao that left Hatton barely conscious on the canvas. So brutal that Hatton was unable to do a post fight interview for TV while he regained his bearings and skipped the post fight press conference for a precautionary visit to a local hospital.
Pacquiao’s wins just seem to be getting more impressive by the fight.
2009 Fight of the Year- Paul Williams vs. Sergio Martinez
2009 was a fantastic year for action inside the ring. Andre Berto and Luis Colazzo waged war for 12 rounds in an exciting battle of young welterweights. Juan Manuel Marquez solidified his place as the best lightweight in the world with a come from behind TKO of young contender Juan Diaz. Bernard Dunne won a 122 pound title in Dublin against Ricardo Cordoba in a fight Irish boxing fans will be talking about for years to come.
Nevertheless, the Paul Williams (37-1, 27 KO’s) – Sergio Martinez (44-1-2, 24 KO’s) middleweight fight in Atlantic City on December 5th proved to stand out above the rest with excitement, drama and swings of momentum for both fights.
Making it all the more impressive was that this fight came completely out of left field, serving as a replacement the originally scheduled Williams’ fight with middleweight champ Kelly Pavlik that was canceled due to a nagging staph infection on Pavlik’s hand.
Williams and Martinez, both top junior middleweights, fought a few pounds north of the divisions they had won titles in. While it may have been a bout between the two top junior middles in the world, but it ended up being a middleweight classic.
In the opening round, things appeared to be going in favor of Williams whose handlers had christened him “the most feared man in boxing.” A left hand from Williams to Martinez’s temple scored a flash knockdown midway through the round.
However, the tide can turn rather quickly in boxing. Martinez came back with some heavy artillery of his own and with seconds remaining in the frame, Martinez landed a hard right hook that sent Williams to the canvas.
With each fighter tasting the canvas in the opening round, it set the tone for the remainder of the fight.
The two technically sound and skillful boxers waged war on each other. Despite exhibiting skill sets ala Floyd Mayweather, this fight was more reminiscent of Arturo Gatti vs. Micky Ward.
In the end, Williams won a Majority decision by scores of 115-113, an absurd 119-110, and 114-114.
Williams threw an exorbitant amount of power punches (631) and Martinez was more economic, but more accurate in his punch output throwing 638 total punches and landed 40% of his thrown blows to Williams 31%.
Here’s to hoping we see a rematch in 2010.
