After hours of deliberation the staff and regular contributors at FightFan.com got their picks in for the best of the best in 2006. See who Ace Freeman, Joe Bruiser, Chris Trimble, Russ Anber, and “Iceman” John Scully gave top honors to in the inaugural edition of FightFan.com’s Year End Awards!
December 29, 2006
FIGHT OF THE YEAR:
ACE FREEMAN: Somsak Sithchatchawal vs. Mahyar Monshipour
Don’t let anyone tell you fighters you may not have heard of don’t apply for this distinction. This fight took place in March of this year, and was at the time for the WBA Super Bantamweight title. Think Ward vs. Gatti – round nine – for ten full rounds. Well maybe not that spectacular, but you get the idea. Both of these fighters are stars in their respective home countries of France and Thailand, and both were top ten ranked Super Bantamweights at the time. If fantastic fights like those in the Ward Gatti trilogy can be bestowed with the honor of being labeled Fight of the Year, so can this blood and guts title fight. If you haven’t seen it, email me and I might be able to point you in the right direction. That’s how good this fight was.
JOE BRUISER: Manny Pacquiao vs. Erik Morales II
You know, the easy pick would be to go with the Sithchatchawal-Monshipour fight, and it is probably deserving because it was a classic blood and guts affair in the vein of Ward-Gatti, but the Pacquiao-Morales rematch was a fight that was on my radar since seeing the first one live at the MGM Grand, and it exceeded all expectations in my opinion.
Their second fight was a back and forth battle where both fighters gave their all, with everything on the line, on the world stage. And I remember being on the edge of my seat until the unrelenting “Pacman” started to take over and became the first man to ever stop “El Terrible,” so my vote goes to this fight.
RUSS ANBER: Somsak Sithchatchawal vs. Mahyar Monshipour
I’m giving it to this one. Great fight.
CHRIS TRIMBLE: Somsak Sithchatchawal vs. Mahyar Monshipour
Moore vs Macklin or Campas vs Duddy – I spent ages wondering which was better. They were both great fights; fast-paced, exciting, back and forth – everything a fight fan needs! But another viewing of Sithchatchawal vs Monshipour meant that any such debate was pointless; this is the fight of the year! Not since Morales vs Barrera I have I seen a fight fought at such a relentless pace. Sithchatchawal threw 56 uppercuts in the first round alone and there was no let up at all until the finish. I don’t think there’s been another fight this year where two fighters gave as much as these two did. They fought as if their lives depended on it, Monshipour the ageing warrior champion waging his last campaign against the hungry young pretender to his crown. Monshipour was downed in the first round but got back up and fought his heart out. After that first round not an inch was given, back and forth they raged endlessley, each fighter looking just one big punch away from finishing the job. It was one of those fights where you don’t even bother to score the rounds because you’re enjoying it too much and trying to work out who won what is only going to make your head hurt. I was clueless as to who the victor would be right up until the finish when the bloodied and bruised Sithchatchawal – who had taken beating for most of the tenth round – rallied to a stoppage win with a dozen unanswered left hands and a definitive right.
Every once in a while you get two fighters who lay absolutely everything on the line and earn the title Fight of the Year. I doubt these guys are big enough to get Ring’s accolade, but they sure as hell have got mine.
“ICEMAN” JOHN SCULLY: Jose Rivera Wpts Terra Garcia
For me it was Jose Rivera beating Terra Garcia for WBA 154 pound world title. Jose walked right through the big bombers punches, dropped him 5 times and pinned him with his first legitimate loss”
FIGHTER OF THE YEAR:
ACE FREEMAN: Manny Pacquiao
Before the beginning of this calendar year, Erik Morales had never been truly and legitimately knocked down, never mind stopped. In 2006, Manny Pacquiao floored Erik Morales a total of FIVE times in just thirteen rounds. Pacquiao stopped Morales in ten rounds in January, and took just three rounds in November. In between was a thorough and sustained battering of Oscar Larios over 12 rounds, winning a one sided decision that saw the durable Mexican hit the deck twice. Manny Pacquiao affirmed his place in the upper echelon of Boxing’s Pound for Pound list, and is this year’s “Fighter of the Year”
JOE BRUISER: Manny Pacquiao
In 2006, “The Pacman” showed tremendous development and improvements to go along with his giant heart and lightning fast punches, and big time punching power. Stopping Erik Morales twice and shutting out former champ Oscar Larios was more than enough to seal the deal.
RUSS ANBER: Manny Pacquiao (hon. mention to Bernard Hopkins)
I’ve got to give two nods here. First off, based on his dominating performances is Manny Pacquiao. I think overall he has to be the fighter of the year for the number of times he fought, and the domination he showed in the ring.
However as a side bar to that, the exploit of the year was Bernard Hopkins coming out of a semi-retirement moving up two weight classes and dominating a guy who was regarded the best in that division. I think he deserves mention.
CHRIS TRIMBLE: Miguel Cotto
Every poll I’ve seen regarding this category has Manny Pacquiao winning by miles. I would argue that beating a clearly shot Erik Morales twice (did we really need the second one?) and then failing to stop the much smaller Oscar Larios – stepping up two weights after a three round beating off Israel Vasquez – does not make you worthy of fighter of the year. Unfortunately, it’s been a pretty poor year and if it wasn’t for Cotto, he’d win fighter of the year by default. Top fighters don’t seem to fight more than twice and if they do at least one of their opponents will be useless. Miguel Cotto I feel, is the exception to the rule.
Cotto had an awful 2005. He was wobbled by DeMarcus Corley, struggled at times against Mohammad Abdulaev and looked close to losing against Ricardo Torres. One of the most touted prospects in recent memory was getting a lot of criticism and people assumed 2006 would be the year where he got found out. Boy did he prove them wrong. Gianluca Branco was a top ten rated light-welterweight with just one loss on his record, a 2004 defeat to a not quite shot Arturo Gatti. He’d given Gatti all he could handle and had proven he had a good chin and could bang a bit. Cotto wiped him out in eight rounds. Three months later he fought Paul Malignaggi, an undefeated prospect with a very bright future in the sport. Malignaggi has slickness to burn and many believed that the “Magic Man”’s skills would hand Cotto his first defeat. It was not to be, despite clearly struggling with the weight Cotto won a unanimous decision and shattered Malignaggi’s cheekbone. If it wasn’t for Arthur Abraham and his broken jaw, Malignaggi would’ve won the prize for most mangled face of the year. But two good wins against good opposition isn’t enough, Cotto needed a star performance against really top rate opposition. In his final fight of the year, stepping up to Welterweight and fighting unbeaten Carlos Quintana he delivered just that. Cotto was sensational in battering the well regarded Welterweight, stopping him in five rounds and becoming the WBA Welterweight champion. It was one of the best performances of the year against very tough opposition and that’s what puts Cotto over the top for me.
KNOCKOUT OF THE YEAR:
ACE FREEMAN: Demetrius Hopkins KO9 Michael Warrick
Demetrius Hopkins isn’t known as a puncher, but a right hand over top a double jab turned into one of the most vicious KO’s of the year. Warrick went immediately limp and fell to the canvass like a sack of flower.
JOE BRUISER: Shane Mosley KO6 Fernando Vargas
After watching Shane pound on Vargas’ face with right hands over and over in their first fight and not seem to be able to really hurt him, it was great to see him essentially end the fight with a single textbook left hook in the rematch. I’m not sure how many people picked him to stop Vargas with a shot like that, but I’m thinking it wasn’t a lot.
RUSS ANBER: Jose Andres Hernandez KO8 Jason Litzau
Two reasons: it was a helluva shot, and the fact Hernandez was behind in the fight. That was a spectacular one punch KO.
CHRIS TRIMBLE: Jamie Moore KO10 Matthew Macklin
I’m a fan of one-punch KOs. To me nothing is better than that one big shot which catches someone clean to the jaw and has them out cold before they even hit the canvas. The kind of shot that referees don’t even bother to count because it’s clearly all over. Moore did that here. After nine and a half rounds of brutal fighting Jamie Moore threw and awesome left hand that turned Macklin’s lights right out. A truly vicious KO worthy of Julain Jackson. Macklin was worryingly unconscious for ten minutes following the shot but fortunately was ok.
TRAINER OF THE YEAR
ACE FREEMAN: Freddie Roach
Freddie Roach continues to live up to his title as one of the top trainers of the sport juggling many top fighters in his busy schedule. The adjustments Manny Pacquiao made in developing his right hand and footwork are a direct result of Roach’s work. Other highlights include Israel Vasquez’s stellar win over Jhonny Gonzalez, the re-emergence of Peter Manfredo at Super Middleweight, and many others including red hot prospects Rey “Boom Boom” Bautista, and Vanes Martirosyan.
JOE BRUISER: Freddie Roach
Freddie must train more champions (and soon-to-be champions) now than anyone else. 2006 was a great year for Roach, despite that fact that James Toney didn’t “win” a fight, due to the improvements he brought out of Pacquiao, as well as the big wins he got out of Pacquiao, Vasquez and Bautista.
UPSET OF THE YEAR:
ACE FREEMAN: Nobuo Nashiro TKO10 Martin Castillo
Martin Castillo was widely regarded as one of the premiere fighters in the lower weight classes. A masterful boxer, Castillo had mega fights looming with the likes of Jorge Arce and other highly touted fighters in and around Super Flyweight. But those plans are now on hold as Castillo was shockingly upset by 7-0 Nobuo Nashiro of Japan.
JOE BRUISER: Bernard Hopkins UD Antonio Tarver
It was nice to see Hopkins show that he was not finished in beating Antonio Tarver for the Undisputed Light Heavyweight Championship of the World. And the fact that he moved up two weight classes at the age of 41 to do it was truely remarkable. However, what really amazed me was the way he did it; by shutting out Tarver and scoring a KD in the process.
RUSS ANBER: Bernard Hopkins UD Antonio Tarver
Again I’m going to go with Hopkins over Tarver.
CHRIS TRIMBLE: Carlos Baldomir UD Zab Judah
I don’t think anybody anywhere saw this coming and it’d be upset of the year if this didn’t get the nod! Zab Judah was in the ascendency following his defeat of Cory Spinks and people were placing him on pound for pound lists and saying that he was the best fighter around Welterweight not called Mayweather. He’d just wiped out Cosme Rivera in three rounds and the unknown Baldomir was expected to go the same way. How wrong we all were! I sat and watched with my jaw to the floor as the biggest upset since Lewis-Rahman I unfolded before my eyes. Mr. Pound for Pound had just got his ass handed to him by a journeyman. Cinderella Man ain’t got nothing on this.
FIGHTCARD OF THE YEAR:
ACE FREEMAN: Barrera-Juarez II (Golden Boy Promotions)
Another prime candidate for Fight of the Year featured 122lb Champion Israel Vasquez climbing off the deck twice to stop up and comer Jhonny Gonzalez in a dramatic finish. And that was the under card. Another good scrap between buzz saw Jorge Barrios and highly touted Joan Guzman (Guzman won a split decision) was also a warm up to Marco Antonio Barrera clinically dismantling a game but over matched Rocky Juarez in a rematch of a closely contested fight from earlier in the year.
JOE BRUISER: Barrera-Juarez II (Golden Boy Promotions)
Even though the main event failed to live up to the expectations created by their first encounter, mostly because MAB was able to completely outbox and outclass his opponent this time, the undercard was worth the price of this PPV all by itself. The Vasquez-Gonzalez fight was a classic, and the Guzman-Barrios fight was extremely entertaining as well, especially with all the bad blood between those two.
CHRIS TRIMBLE: Barrera-Juarez II (Golden Boy Promotions)
Promoter Oscar De La Hoya called this the best fight card in ten years. It didn’t quite live up to that but it still ruled damn hard! Barrera vs Juarez II was one of the years most anticipated bouts and whilst not the war people expected we saw a boxing masterclass by Barrera and I certainly wouldn’t call it dull. Barrios vs Guzman again didn’t live up to the hype but was still a very good fight. Guzman really broke out as a top fighter here and made a strong claim to being the best fighter in the division. Vasquez vs Gonzalez was quite simply one of the best fights of the year. Wonderfully exciting, lots of knockdowns and a great comeback win by Vasquez. There wasn’t another card this year which had three fights that looked this good on paper and whilst it only half delivered, each featured a great performance by one of the best fighters in the world and that makes this easily the best card of the year for me. And don’t forget the four round Jorge Paez Jr vs Derrick Campos match. The mini-Foreman vs Lyle nearly stole the show.
MOST PROMISING PROSPECT / UP AND COMER:
ACE FREEMAN: Paul Williams (32-0, 24 KOs) welterweight
Although Williams probably made the jump from prospect to contender this year, his three impressive stoppage victories televised on HBO this year earn him this distinction in my eyes. Williams started out the year dishing out a one sided beating to a highly touted fellow Welterweight prospect in Walter Matthyesse, then annihilated Sharmba Mitchell in four rounds, and capped things off by battering a late substitute Santos Pakau on the Mayweather Baldomir under card. Look for Williams to fight for the WBO Welterweight title in early 2007.
JOE BRUISER: Paul Williams (32-0, 24 KOs) welterweight
“The Punisher” stepped up his level of competition bigtime n 2006 and things didn’t look that much different for him. He has an amazing workrate, a hard-to believe height and reach advantage, a stellar chin, and good power. He also has the ability to mix up his punches and throw from many different angles. He’s pretty much a stylistic nightmare for anyone else in the division, and I have a feeling that he’ll still be undefeated and possibly have a title by the end of 2007.
RUSS ANBER: Lucien Bute (18-0, 16 KOs) super middleweight
That’s tough because at what point does a guy go from a prospect to a contender. If I’m thinking which guy from this year will win a title next year, I’d have to go with Lucien Bute. I think he’s a very promising fighter.
CHRIS TRIMBLE: John Murray (19-0, 9 KOs) lightweight
John Murray first stood out as a fighter at the end of last year when he won the WBC Youth Lightweight in a great scrap with Nacho Mendoza. In 2006 he’s continued to show just why he’s Britain’s best kept secret. He fought three times this year and won them all confortably. No big names yet but he’s still learning the trade. What impresses me about Murray is his work ethic. He’s not cocky and arrogant like his rivals Amir Kahn and Kevin Mitchell, he just gets his head down and gets on with. And he looks pure class. He doesn’t have great power or speed but he’s got tremendous workrate and great maturity and attitude. He stays cool under pressure and sticks to his gameplan. Boxing, brawling, he can do it all and you don’t get fancy showboating with Murray, he’s no nonsense. Something of a rarity these days I think. He reminds me of Michael Brodie except he’s got a better chin. Unfortunately he’s had a few problems this year with an injury and fighters pulling out against him so we maybe haven’t gotten to see the best of him, but there’s no doubt in my mind that this kid is gonna make huge waves in 2007.
