Before you scroll down to see my pick for fighter of the year and pass any judgment, please read my selection criteria first. My criteria are simple. 1) The fighter of the year must have beaten at least two fighters who had top ten Ring ratings at the time. 2) The fighter of the year must have defeated at least two of his opponents by unanimous decision or knockout. 3) The fighter of the year must have captured at least one Ring championship belt. As you can see, I not only subscribe to the Ring magazine, but also to its rating system. Their system is not perfect, but it is sure better than the often curious ratings I have seen released by the IBF, WBA and WBC.
The 2007 Fighter of the Year is…Kelly Pavlik (32-0, 29 KO). The reasons are simple: 1) he beat two top three-rated middleweights this year - Ring Middleweight Champion Jermain Taylor (27-0-1, 17 KO) and Edison Miranda (28-1, 24 KO); 2) he knocked out both men in impressive fashion in the seventh round, and 3) he captured the Middleweight Championship in the process. Add it up, and you have my fighter of the year.
I know you are wondering why I did not select boxing’s best and richest active fighter, Floyd Mayweather, or boxing’s fastest-rising superstar, Miguel Cotto, as my fighter of the year. If my selection criteria is not clear enough to you, drop me a line and I will gladly explain why.
If you read the title of this post and do not agree with it, you simply have not watched much boxing this year. Hearkening back to the golden age of the early 1980’s, when the best welterweights in the world seemed to face each other regularly, the division is once again sizzling. Future legends of the ring Sugar Ray Leonard, Roberto Duran, Thomas Hearns and Wilfred Benitez formed a magnificent quartet, battling for supremacy at 147 and 154 pounds. Nearly 20 years later, a new Fantastic Four, including Floyd Mayweather (38-0, 24), Miguel Cotto (31-0, 25), Paul Williams (33-0, 24 KO), and Antonio Margarito (35-5, 25 KO), has emerged.
Based on their striking similarities in terms of accomplishment, fame, style and substance, I decided to pair the active fighters with their predecessors. What you will read below may surprise you.
#1 Pretty Boy Floyd Mayweather & Sugar Ray Leonard.
Like Leonard before him, the Pretty Boy has a million dollar smile, an Olympic gold medal in his collection, and quickness that would be the envy of any feline. However, the comparisons end there. For starters, Mayweather is simply not as exciting to watch as Leonard was. Sugar Ray combined amazing physical skills with an indomitable warrior’s spirit that produced high-drama in many of his superfights against boxing’s best (Duran, Hearns and later Hagler). By putting himself in harm’s way, Sugar Ray endeared himself to boxing diehards and casual fans alike. Of late, the Pretty Boy doesn’t seem to be as willing. Maybe the names Cotto, Williams and Margarito change that.
#2 Miguel Cotto & Roberto Duran.
Looking for debilitating body-punching? Watch Cotto or Duran. Trying to sell out Madison Square Garden? Invite Cotto or Duran. Expecting the fight of year? Buy tickets for a Cotto or Duran fight. Cotto’s rabid Latino fan base, bone-crushing body-punching and relentless pressure reminds me so much of Roberto "Hands of Stone" Duran. Both fighters’ subtle boxing skills are constantly overlooked, but their opponents are usually felled as a result of them. Cotto has a ton of work to do to even come close to Duran’s accomplishments, but coming off of his career-defining win over future Hall of Famer Shane Mosley, he is definitely on the right track.
#3 Paul the Punisher Williams & Thomas the Hitman Hearns.
These two lanky warriors bring freakish height in comparison to their adversaries. Standing at an unusually tall 6′1" with a "Mr. Fantastic-like" reach of 82", Paul Williams is a matchup nightmare for any welterweight in the world (just ask his latest victim Antonio Margarito). Although he lacks the one-punch power of the Hitman, he throws and unusually high number of punches without getting fatigued. Ultimately, both men prove that height is right, especially at 147 pounds. Because of this fact, like Thomas Hearns before him, expect Paul Williams to be avoided like a 28 Days Later zombie.
#4 Antonio Margarito & Wilfred Benitez.
First off, both fighters couldn’t be more different, stylistically. Benitez used exceptional hand and foot speed to bedazzle his opponents while Margarito uses pressure and volume punching to beat them into submission. Additionally, Benitez has Hall of Fame pedigree and accomplishments (winning a world title at 21 years old and beating the legendary Roberto Duran close to his prime) that Margarito could only dream of having.
However, beneath the surface, both fighters have some striking similarities. Benitez had the backing of rabid, die-hard Boriqua boxing fans while Margarito has an almost underground following of boxing junkies, particularly Mexican-Americans on the West Coast. But more than anything, I feel that both fighters were plagued by being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Were it not for various Sugars, Golden Boys and Pretty Boys, both mens’ stars would have probably shone brighter.
Note: I left the powerful Kermit Cintron (too green), venerable Sugar Shane Mosley (too old) and immensely popular Ricky Hatton (too small) off the list, but the outcomes of the Mayweather-Hatton fight in December and the Williams-Cintron showdown in February will definitely have an impact on my opinion.
My answer to the title of this post is not a simple one. In many ways, rooting for a fighter based on where s/he comes from, especially if that place is your birthplace, hometown or country, is a common practice that has taken place for centuries across many sports. From the Olympics to the World Cup, rooting for athletes because they share a common ancestry or nationality with you is not only accepted, it is often endorsed by the countries that participate.
Do I think that rooting for a boxer based on such criteria is acceptable? Well, yes and no. It is my belief that once you begin rooting for a fighter based on traits that have nothing to do with their individual skill or talent, you may be headed down a path that was not originally intended. At best, this road can be filled with nationalism; at its worst, it can reek of jingoism.
Here are the reasons why I think caution must be applied when rooting for fighters based on nationality:
1) "It’s us versus them."
Due to the individual, one-on-one nature of the sport, boxing fans often form a personal bond with their favorite fighters that is rivaled by few sports. Anyone who has ever watched a Manny Pacquiao fight, where proud Filipino fans are rooting for their national hero to vanquish his latest Mexican challenger, or a Ricky Hatton fight, at which many rabid British fans have traveled thousands of miles to see their pride and joy lay a beatdown on an American fighter, it is clear that while boxing matches often represent avenues for fans to express national pride, they can also lend themselves to fans expressing an "us versus them" mentality in how they view the match in particular, and the sport in general.
2) "We’re good at this; they’re good at that."
How many times have you watched a boxing broadcast and heard an announcer say something like, "Mexicans can take a great punch," or "British fighters fight very conventional, sometimes too conventional." Like all stereotypes, some of these assessments have hints of the truth, but cannot be applied to each and every case. For every iron-chinned Mexican boxer (e.g. Julio Cesar Chavez, Sr.), there are glass-chinned ones (e.g. Fernando Vargas). For every conventional British boxer (e.g. Lennox Lewis), there have been fluid, unorthodox ones (e.g. Naseem Hamed). If you bet on Jeff Lacey (American) to beat Joe Calzaghe (British) a couple of years ago, I don’t need to tell you why stereotyping fighters is not only a bad philosophy, it can also lighten your wallet.
3) "They fight, so we must fight."
In rare cases, the conflicts that take place in the ring between the fighters themselves lead to violent confrontations between the fans watching the fight (like the ugly ringside brawl at the Riddick Bowe (American) and Andrew Golota (Poland) heavyweight fight back in 1996). In short, the individual battle in the ring can occasionally lead to a group battle outside of it. Sadly, many soccer fans are well aware of this unfortunate phenomenon.
Rooting for fighters who represent "us" is natural and, for many, a source of pride. However, if taken too far, this pride can lead to division, stereotyping and, in rare cases, violence. I leave you with a few words of advice on this matter: simply enjoy boxing for its entertainment value; respect its gladiators for their courage and skill, and root for the best boxer to win regardless of where s/he comes from. It’s a nifty little concept that has enhanced my viewing pleasure over the years.
Do the names Glass Joe, Kid Quick and Mr. Sandman mean anything to you? If they do, you are probably a GenXer, a boxing fan, and a former or present video game addict. I am proud to say that I fit all of the criteria. If you cannot relate, you will read my words, gain further insight into the mind of a "child of the 80s," and may even want to buy or rent a boxing video game. If you can relate, you will read this and hopefully join the debate.
Dust off your old PlayStation, plug in your new PS3, read my rankings, and decide if you agree with them or not.
The Top Five Boxing Video Games of All-Time
5. Mike Tyson’s Punch-Out!!
In 1987, the star power of Mike Tyson and the brand name of Nintendo Entertainment’s Punch Out joined to form one of the more popular video games in recent memory. It was a match made in heaven, but any fight that involved Mr. Sandman was not too shabby either. Pick up a copy for old time’s sake or if you simply want a visual reminder of how great Mike Tyson was. Between this game, ESPN Classic, and this nifty YouTube video, vintage Mike Tyson is in full effect.
4. Fight Night (2004)
This game is the natural evolution of Knockout Kings, making it the natural leader in the boxing video game space. Its graphics and fighter directory are unmatched (for now). And yes, you can still rent or buy itfor next to nothing.
3. Boxing (Atari 2600)
Cheesy? Yes. Primitive. Sure. Classic. Most definitely. Although not the first of its kind, this early entrant into the boxing gaming world was the first credible boxing game. For me, this is where it all started. And who says Activision is dead? They still offer a PC version of the game!
2. Knockout Kings
At the time of the first release of this series, it was perhaps the most comprehensive, visually-appealing boxing video game ever created. Not only were the graphics great, but it was the first game to include a "who’s who" of the sport’s greatest fighters in the game. Who would win in a mythical matchup between Sugar Ray Robinson and Marvelous Marvin Hagler? Here, you could find out.
1. Punch-Out!!
This game got its start in the arcade before it made its way into the friendly confines of gamers’ homes. It spawned as many sequels as Star Wars, and was the first boxing video game that had true cross-over appeal. The phrase "body blow, body blow" still resonates to this day. I actually found this copy while surfing the Web. If you stumble upon a PC version, please let me know.
This week it was announced that the October 6 heavyweight title (WBA) fight at Madison Square Garden between Oleg Maskaev and Samuel "the Nigerian Nightmare" Peter was postponed. Are you shocked? If you are, then you probably believed that Oleg Maskaev never saw the video of Sam Peter starching Jeremy Williams below. Believe me, he has seen it, and so has his promoter Dennis Rappaport.
I am no doctor, nor will I question the legitimacy of the back injury that Maskaev suffered during pre-fight training. However, it is clear to me, that certain actions leading up to the postponement, make it easy to wonder what is really going on. Just in case you wondered how I felt, I’ll keep it simple: Maskaev and his handlers never wanted the fight to begin with. Check out the following events and I will let you be the judge:
1. Sam Peter impressively wins his rematch against James Toney in January of this year; a bout that was supposed to serve as the eliminator for the belt that Maskaev currently holds, but Maskaev’s promoter delays contract talks on the fight and instead seeks a more lucrative fight with former titlist Vitali Klitschko.
2. When the fight with Peter was finally mandated by the WBC after lengthy legal threats, Rappaport finally relented but sued the WBC because he was unhappy with Maskaev’s share of the purse split.
3. And of course, Maskaev now has a herniated disc and a bulging disc in his back. So there you have it, my evidence on why Maskaev-Peter was never meant to be. That leaves us with the prospect of seeing Samuel Peter face a retread like Hasim Rahman, or even worse, John Ruiz for a paper heavyweight title on October 6.
The good news: Filipino sensation Manny Pacquiao meets Mexican legend Marco Antonio Barrera on the same night in a rematch of their featherweight showdown nearly four years ago. So you see, boxing is not dead, it’s just the heavyweights that are.
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