This past year marked the turning of a corner for boxing fans. The corner was the waning prospects for a superfight-to-end-all-superfights between Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr., who had traded places at the top of the pound-for-pound rankings for years, and just happen to be close to each other in weight. Disappointment over the failure of the fighters and their promoters to make this match has hung like a dark cloud over the sport since 2010.
The corner on that disappointment was finally turned when Pacquiao lost two fights this year (see below), and Mayweather turned in a less-than-spectacular performance in winning his sole fight of 2012 against Miguel Cotto. Now fight fans can stop mourning a matchup that is not going to happen (and has lost its relevance even if it does), and start appreciating what the sport has to offer beyond Pacquiao-Mayweather. A look at the best (and, admittedly, the less-than-best) of 2012 is a good place to start.
Fighters of the Year: Nonito Donaire and Juan Manuel Marquez Yeah, I know ? there should only be one Fighter of the Year. But the accomplishments of Donaire and Marquez balance each other out to the point where I find it impossible to choose one fighter over the other. Donaire had a banner year in 2012, winning four fights ? two by decision and two by knockout. Each opponent in those bouts was either a title-holder or a top contender. Under ordinary circumstances, a ledger like that would have made Nonito a shoo-in for Fighter of the Year. But ? Marquez scored a spectacular, one-punch knockout win over Pacquiao, who was still considered the pound-for-pound best by many despite his controversial decision loss to Timothy Bradley in his previous fight. Marquez also took a decision over the respectable Serhiy Fedchenko earlier in the year. In a comparison between an outstanding, multi-bout body of work versus a single super-spectacular accomplishment, I had to reward both. If that?s a cop-out, so be it.
Fight of the Year: Juan Manuel Marquez KO 6 Manny Pacquiao The fourth encounter between a pair bitter rivals ? a visit to the canvas by each of the participants ? a single, perfectly-timed punch that rendered its recipient face-down and senseless ? In terms of its style, substance and significance, Pacquiao-Marquez IV was, hands-down, the Fight of the Year for 2012. Its closest rival was Brandon Rios? seven-round TKO triumph over Mike Alvarado, but brutal as that bout turned out to be, it was still a level below Marquez?s shocker.
Upset of the Year: Sonny Boy Jaro KO 6 Pongsaklek Wonjongkam Marquez?s six-round kayo of Pacquiao was stunning, but Jaro?s six-round kayo of long-time WBC flyweight king Wonjongkam was stupefying. Wonjongkam went into the March matchup with an 83-3-2 record, and had not been defeated since 2007. Jaro, at 33-10-5, labored so deep in the shadows of fellow Filipinos Pacquiao and Donaire that you would have needed a spotlight to find him. But the spotlight did, indeed, shine on Jaro on March 2, when he took on the Thai Wonjongkam in Thailand. And Jaro came through with a career performance, dropping the champion twice before putting him on ice in the sixth frame. In his next fight, Jaro lost a split decision to Toshiyuki Igarashi. Even so, Sonny Boy?s victory over Wonjongkam will stand as one of the greatest upsets of all time, right up there with Buster Douglas? beatdown of Mike Tyson.
Inspirational Win of the Year: Johnathon Banks KO 2 Seth Mitchell To say that Banks was distracted coming in to his bout with undefeated heavyweight prospect Mitchell would be the undisputed champion of understatements. Banks? long-time friend and trainer, Emmanuel Steward, had recently died of diverticulitis. That left Banks to take over the training of heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko for a defense against Mariusz Wach. Hardly the best circumstances for him to focus on his own upcoming contest. Besides, Banks was supposed to be just another stepping stone for Mitchell, who was touted as America?s best heavyweight hope. Well, the stepping stone turned into a huge stumbling block as Banks floored Mitchell three times in the second round, winning by stoppage in that frame. Banks won one for Emmanuel, who must have been smiling from the other side.
Rip-off of the Year: Timothy Bradley W 12 Manny Pacquiao Bad decisions have been part of boxing since the time the Queensberry Rules came into effect. There were certainly some stinkers this year, such as IBF light-heavyweight champion Tavoris Cloud?s ?win? over Gabriel Campillo. But the stench that rose from Bradley?s split-decision ?victory? over Pacquiao was enough to make the rest room at a skunk convention smell like a bouquet of roses. Although Bradley?s performance was creditable, very few observers thought it was sufficient to defeat Pacquiao. Of course, at the time no one thought of this setback as the precursor to Pacquiao?s downfall against Marquez. As for Bradley, he hasn?t been able to secure another bout since the Pacquiao robbery.
Comeback of the Year: David Haye When Haye announced his retirement in the wake of his pathetic performance against Wladimir Klitschko last year, the prevailing response was, ?Don?t let the door hit your ass on the way out, Davey.? Indeed, there didn?t seem to be much reason for ?The Hayemaker? to lace up the gloves again. But subsequently, trash talk from fellow British heavyweight Dereck Chisora provided sufficient motivation for Haye to return to the ring. Chisora had gone the distance with big hitters like Vitali Klitschko, Tyson Fury and Robert Helenius, and it appeared he would do the same with the undersized Haye. But Haye fought with a ferocity not seen from him in years, and he knocked Chisora out in the fifth round. The win doesn?t mean Haye will stand a better chance against either of the Klitschko brothers. But it restores much of the reputation he lost when he ran from Wladimir for 12 rounds.
Progress of the Year: Danny Garcia This was a three-horse race, with Garcia nosing out fellow rising stars Brandon Rios and Adrien Broner. Interestingly, all three fight within a few pounds of each other. Rios and Garcia are junior-welterweights while Broner is ? for now ? a 135-pounder. During 2012, Rios scored a fight-of-the-year quality stoppage over Mike Alvarado, and Broner hung a highlight-reel kayo on Antonio Demarco. But Garcia?s knockouts of borderline star Amir Khan and fading legend Erik Morales were enough to enable him to edge the other two for progress honors. Imagine this trio fighting each other in a ?Thrilling Three? round-robin in the coming years. Promoters, please ? make it so.
Flop of the Year: Mike Jones Jones came into 2012 as a highly touted member of the new wave of welterweights who were poised to pick up where the likes of Pacquiao, Mayweather, Cotto, etc. left off. Sporting a gaudy 26-0 record with 19 KOs, he was offered a chance to fight for the vacated IBF title in March. His opponent was shopworn ex-junior-welterweight champion Randall Bailey. Sure, Bailey was still a dangerous puncher. But at 37, his best days were behind him. For Jones, Bailey represented an opportunity to pick up a major belt and add a semi-big name to his record. The fight didn?t turn out that way, though, as Bailey dropped Jones in the 10th round, then stopped him in the 11th. Jones hasn?t fought since. Guess he?s still picking up the pieces.
All-in-all, 2012 was a fine year for the sweet science. With new stars emerging, 2013 promises to be even better ? especially with the Pacquiao-Mayweather monkey finally off the sport?s back.
Charles R. Saunders is the author of several books including Sweat and Soul: The Saga of Black Boxers in the Maritimes from the Halifax Forum to Caesars Palace, as well as the Imaro series of fantasy/adventure novels. Considered by many to be one of the leading authorities on boxing in Canada, he is the current Vice-President of Boxing for the Society of North American Sports Historians and Researchers. His award-winning novel, Damballa, which centers around a fictional heavyweight title bout, is available at Amazon.com.
