2007 is here and the votes are in from the TigerBoxing staff choosing the very best in boxing for 2006.
And the awards go to…
FIGHTER OF THE YEAR: MANNY PACQUIAO
Pacquiao single-handedly sent Erik Morales spiraling toward retirement with a pair of spectacular knockouts of the surefire Hall of Famer. In between his twin beat-downs of the legendary toughman, all Pacquiao did was dominate Oscar Larios. Pacquiao is poised to become boxing’s next breakout crossover superstar and the fighting outside of the ring between Top Rank and Golden Boy Promotions has only fueled the hype.
Runner-up: Bernard Hopkins
Long-time middleweight king Bernard Hopkins pulled off the most stunning achievement in many years by dethroning light heavyweight monarch Antonio “Mason Dixon” Tarver. Hopkins was coming off two straight close defeats to Jermain Taylor, improbably, he chose to jump two weight classes at age 41 to face the linear light heavyweight champion, who had just sent Roy Jones Jr. into oblivion. Not only did Bernard win, he demolished Tarver.
*
FIGHT OF THE YEAR: Sithchatchawal TKO 10 Monshipoor
There are far too many to choose from, ranging from Vadim Tokarev-Felix Cora Jr, Koki Kameda-Juan Landaeta I, Tomasz Adamek-Paul Briggs II, O’Neil Bell-Jean Marc Mormeck, Clinton Woods-Glen Johnson III, Israel Vazquez-Jhonny Gonzalez…but NONE were waged at the pace or intensity of Sithchatchawal’s tenth round stoppage of Monshipoor in Paris last March.
It was not televised on US television but you can see the fight on youtube.com.
Runner-up: Tomasz Adamek vs. Paul Briggs II
Anybody who didn’t see their first fight in ’05, find a copy. It wasn’t shown in the U.S., but it was overseas and it was pure action. HBO picked up the rematch and it was spectacular. These two make for tremendous fights. A skilled offensive fighter, Adamek also likes to mix it up, and he’s beaten all-brawl Briggs by two close decisions.
*
ROUND OF THE YEAR: Israel Vazquez vs. Johnny Gonzalez, Round 4
Fighting for Vazquez’s 122-pound title, Gonzalez, a bantamweight belt-holder, dropped the champ with a left hook 15 seconds into the fourth. Vazquez beat the count at 2, and 20 seconds later, he came back to rock Gonzalez with a left-right combination and the action continuing throughout the round. Gonzalez was cut and bloody by the end of the round.
Runner-up: Sithchatchawal vs. Monshipoor, Paris, France
Pick a round, any round…
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COMEBACK OF THE YEAR: Oscar De La Hoya
De La Hoya hadn’t had an impressive performance since his 2002 win over Fernando Vargas, and was coming off a near two-year layoff. The way he destroyed Ricardo Mayorga was the shot in the arm the sport needed. Kind of like when Michael Jordan returned to the Bulls after his one-year retirement in the mid-1990s.
Runner-up: Bernard Hopkins
For the same reasons Hopkins is our runner-up for Fighter of the Year, B-Hop gets our second place nod for his comeback from back-to-back losses to Jermain Taylor to dominate Antonio “The Line” Tarver.
*
KNOCKOUT OF THE YEAR: Briggs KO 12 Liakhovich
For 35 and a half minutes, Shannon Briggs waited. Despite almost no action, he somehow managed to exhaust himself. Just when we were ready to chalk it up as another disappointing performance by an American heavyweight, Briggs erupted, stopping Liakhovich, erasing a certain UD loss, and breaking the Eastern European stranglehold on the heavyweight title.
Runner-up: Calvin Brock KO 6 Zuri Lawrence
The February knockout in the sixth round of their fight in Las Vegas was spectacular in that Brock flat out knocks Lawrence out cold with just two seconds remaining in the round. It was a perfect shot to the chops that required smelling salts.
*
TRAINER OF THE YEAR: Emanuel Steward
All he did was take Wlad Klitschko from “left for dead” to the heavyweight title. He revitalized the career of Kermit Cintron, winning a world title in just his second fight training him. In his spare time, he helped expedite the development of Jermain Taylor while the rising middleweight star was facing the toughest schedule in the sport.
Runner-up: Freddie Roach
The LA-based Roach had his ups-and-downs this year, with disappointing performances by James Toney and Brian Viloria standing out as low-lights, but he gets this honor for his work with Pacquiao, who despite his immense talent and intensity, can’t be the easiest guy to work with his rock-star personality and reported wild, out of the ring lifestyle.
