2005 Boxing Wrap-up

30.12.05 – By Michael Montero: Well the year is coming to an end, and everywhere you look you’re seeing articles featuring “Best of the Year” awards. I thought I’d put my spin on it, and choose some categories that you may not have seen yet. So here we go…

The “DUH!” Awards: (awards that don’t need a vote b/c they’re obvious)

Corrales-Castillo I – DUH! Obviously winner for fight of the year, round of the year (two or three times over) and the best “free” fight.

Showtime – DUH! Obviously the winner for network of the year. They smoked HBO’s ass, in my opinion, and are lined up for an even better start in 2006.

Green-Codrington – DUH! Obviously the winner for KO of the year, and for ignorant, embarrassing post-fight behavior at the same time. Jaidon Codrington and his crew spent weeks talking trash about Allan Green before the fight, yet it only took Green 18 seconds to make Codrington look really stupid. Of course, the insanity that took place in the ring after the brutal KO, via the Chin Checkers Crew, made him look even worse.

EastSideBoxing – DUH! Obviously the best boxing website out there. OK, maybe I’m being partial, but this really is a great site b/c the fans get to have a voice here. People can respond to articles, praise their favorite fighters, and diss their least-favorite.

Blowout of the year:

Brewster-Golota – in front of his adopted hometown fans, the Foul Pole showed once and for all that he must have a screw lose upstairs somewhere. Most of us (this writer included) were expecting a good fight, and actually looking forward to this one, but it was over in a minute – literally. Fantastic blowout victory for Brewster.

Best hook of the year: (two-way tie)

Hatton Maussa – if you didn’t get a chance to see this fight, do yourself a favor and try to grab a copy somehow. Hatton’s left hook that KO’d Maussa in the ninth round was just plain nasty. Hatton showed why he’s the man 140, and solidified his position as fighter of the year.

Corrales-Castillo II – say what you will about “Weight Gate”, the hook that Diego Corrales ate in the forth frame was sick and it probably would have dropped him had he weighed 200 pounds.

Most Over-hyped fight:

Gatti-Mayweather – do I really need to elaborate here? In fact, I think I should have given this fight a “DUH” Award for mismatch of the year. The promoters (and HBO) hyped this thing up to be a real battle, even though the “experts” told us it would be a one-sided beat down. Guess what? For once, the experts were right.

Tarver-Jones III and Taylor-Hopkins II get honorable mentions here. Both were more about guys showing up for paydays and fighting scared then the supposed grudge matches that they were sold to us as.

Best PPV fight:

Morales-Pacquiao – for once a PPV fight lived up to the hype! This outstanding contest was definitely worth the cash, and I firmly believe that the rematch will be as well.

Worst PPV fight:

Barrera-Fana – most of you probably don’t know who Mzonke Fana is, and believe me, there’s good reason why. How was this a PPV fight? Can anybody, excluding die-hard Barrera fans, explain this to me?

Best Heavyweight fight:

Brewster-Krasniqi – it’s a shame that the best heavy fight of the year was not televised in the United States. And promoters wonder why the Heavyweight Division garners as much interest in the USA as the International Dart Championships…

Klitschko-Peter gets an honorable mention here. Big punching, big heart, plenty of drama, and it was free – what’s not to like there?

Top five Heavyweights: (it’s looking pretty bleak, folks)

1) Lamon Brewster – has solidified himself as the top guy with Vitali Klitschko now retired.

2) James Toney, Hasim Rahman, Wladimir Klitschko – one guy is fat and has no power, the other has power but no chin, the other is very talented but mentally fragile.

3) Chris Byrd, John Ruiz – tired, fading, boring, but still better than most of ‘em out there…sadly.

4) Calvin Brock, Sultan Ibragimov – these guys REALLY need to fight this year. Both of them are currently in the mix and a big win in ’06 could make either the new favorite.

5) Everybody else – yes it’s really that bad to be a heavyweight fan right now.

Top heavies that really need to move down to Cruiser:

1) Vassiliy Jirov – wouldn’t you love to see him fight Mormeck? Man that would be a good scrap. Once considered “the man” at Cruiser, now he’s a Heavy punching bag.

2) Juan Carlos Gomez – was an undefeated WBC belt holder at Cruiser but what’s he done since moving up? He’d be instant player under 200 pounds.

3) Eliseo Castillo – watching his “fight” with Wladimir Klitschko in April was like watching a 15 year-old kid beat up his 8 year-old brother. This guy would be a top contender at Cruiser.

So there you have it folks. Have a wonderful New Year’s holiday and be safe – ciao.

mike@michael-montero.com