You had Floyd Mayweather vs. Victor Ortiz, Manny Pacquiao vs. Juan Manuel Marquez III, and Miguel Cotto vs Antonio Margarito II all taking place during the second half of the year.

Although each of the aforementioned fights had memorable outcomes: Mayweather’s "sucker punch" KO; Pacquiao "winning" another close, somewhat controversial decision, and Cotto exacting his bloody revenge, none of these fights produced memorable action or virtuoso performances.

But the fighter (of the year) and fight (of the year) made this year "all good," when it was all said and done. Please hold your applause and comments to the end.

2011 Fighter of the Year

When Showtime announced its groundbreaking Super Six semi-round robin tournament aimed at determining the best super middleweight in the world, I knew I’d inevitably declare its winner as the fighter of the year. Sure, the tournament was not without it’s shortcomings, from fighters dropping out (namely Andre Dirrell, Mikkel Kessler and Jermain Taylor) to some being excluded for contractual reasons (Lucian Bute).

But it did provide a substantial enough canvas for the fighter of the year Andre Ward to paint masterpieces at the expense of Kessler, Allan Green, Arthur Abraham and Carl Froch.

Not only did Ward win, he mad it look easy. And he made my fighter of the year selection very easy as well.

2011 Fight of the Year

Now this decision was not as easy as the Ward selection. For me, it comes down to two fights*: Andre Berto vs. Victor Ortiz and Alfred Angulo vs. James Kirkland.

Should I go with Berto-Ortiz, that featured both men being dropped, getting up, dropping the other man, and battling and surviving 12 action-packed rounds? Or should I anoint Angulo-Kirkland for its early, massive knockdown by Angulo and Kirkland’s inhuman recovery and eventual destruction of "El Perro" inside the distance.

Berto-Ortiz and Angulo-Kirkland are what boxing used to be all about. Both fights featured two young fighters in their prime being matched early in their careers. They put themselves in harms way to leave their mark in the ring as well as with the fans. And they both weren’t on PPV!

My choice for the fight of the year is Andre Berto vs. Victor Ortiz because both men took the other’s best shots and lived to see the bell with the fight hanging in the balance.

Happy New Year fight fans and freaks!

*There are countless other less glamorous gems but my selection only includes major title fights covered on this blog in 2011.

And without further adieu, they are: the five worst boxing decisions that I have ever witnessed in "real-time," during my short span here on this green orb that they call earth.

1. Jose Luis Ramirez W SD Pernell Whitaker.
2. Park Si-Hun W (3-2) Roy Jones, Jr.
3. Pernell Whitaker D PTS Julio Cesar Chavez.
4. Lennox Lewis D PTS Evander Holyfield.
5. Courtney Burton W SD Emmanuel Augustus.

The benefactors of these decisions have been crossed out just so you’re clear.

The stench of Williams-Lara will wear off soon enough. And when it does, I may be forced to re-visit this list and considering adding it to this infamous quintet.

It was only fitting that the super-human Manny Pacquiao (now 52-3) turned Margarito’s face into something resembling the Scream mask. And this was done without the benefit of plaster of Paris — the substance found in Margarito’s hand wraps before the Shane Mosley fight.

To make matters worse, Margarito and his crew showed poor taste (and that’s being kind) with their pre-fight mocking of Pacquiao’s highly-respected trainer Freddie Roach, who’s afflicted with Parkinson’s disease. The "Pac Man" seemed hell-bent on making Margarito pay for this sin as well, and boy did he ever over twelve masochistic, repetitive rounds. The fight was never in question during fight nor was it beforehand.

Most people want to point to Margarito’s bloody win over Miguel Cotto as the fight in which he was possibly aided by "plaster knuckles." But the "fight freak" like me hearkens back to an ESPN fight nearly five years ago, when his opponent Sebastian Lujan nearly lost an ear for his troubles.

I’ll confess that I am not following due process of law in judging Antonio Margarito for his alleged boxing crimes. But as I have said time and time again, this is not a court of law. My fight insight tells me that Margarito’s beating at the hands of Manny Pacquiao last night was a measure of ring justice being served.

Author’s Note: Despite my unforgiving sentiments above, I do pray and hope that Antonio Margarito fully recovers (i.e. physically) from this fight.

So what’s next for Juan Manuel Marquez in the wake of his bounce-back win against Juan Diaz?

Since Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao have had a harder time settling on a date than Oprah and Stedman, it only seems natural that Marquez would be the ideal replacement. Just to be clear, he’d be best suited as Pacquiao’s next opponent. We have already seen how the Mayweather-Marquez scenario plays out and that particular sequel would not be welcomed.

One could argue that Juan Manuel Marquez has always been Manny Pacquiao’s most ideal opponent from a matchmaking standpoint. One, they have a history of very close, entertaining fights. Two, both men have the ability to draw thousands of Filipino (Pacquiao) and Mexican (Marquez) fans and high-rollers, to Las Vegas, Nevada.

And three, it’s a fight, outside of Mayweather-Pacquiao, that the boxing public would actually buy as a legitimate superfight.

Memo to Bob Arum: Manny Pacquiao-Juan Manuel Marquez III qualifies as a superfight, not Pacquiao-Margarito.

Earth to Ja Dawson: Get real!

Ja Dawson to earth: Isn’t it OK to be able to dream a little? 

Today’s post is dedicated in loving memory of James B. Dawson.

With an assist from my boxing fight predictor (see the screenshot below) as well as an agreeable style matchup,  Miguel Cotto vs Yuri Foreman turned out to be easy money.