It's
time to hand out the hardware. As an eventful 2012 comes to a close, one
crucial piece of business remains before we can comfortably enter the new year:
the Saturday Night Boxing Awards! Without further ado, here are your 2012 winners:
Fighter
of the Year: Nonito Donaire
Moving
up to the junior featherweight division, Donaire defeated a former
titlist (Wilfredo Vazquez Jr.), a current beltholder (Jeffrey Mathebula), the
number-one guy in the division (Toshiaki Nishioka) and another former 122-lb.
champion (Jorge Arce). Of Donaire's 36 rounds this year, I had him winning 32
of them. He scored seven knockdowns and dominated top competition. At the age
of 30, Donaire continues to improve and makes a strong case for being considered
among the top fighters in the sport (I have him ranked at #3). His finishing
left hook of Arce should make any year-end highlights package.
Fight
of the Year: Pacquiao-Marquez IV
After
a fascinating but rather tactical third installment of their series in 2011,
both boxers made some key adjustments going into their fourth fight. Pacquiao
decided to return to the more aggressive form that he exhibited in the first two
fights while Marquez focused on gaining strength and power; he was going for
the knockout. What followed was a scintillating battle fought on an incredibly
high level with striking changes in momentum. The fight featured three
knockdowns (Pacquiao down twice and Marquez once). The final Marquez
right hand was literally a shot hurt around the sporting world. It was an
unforgettable conclusion to a wildly entertaining fight.
Knockout
of the Year: Juan Manuel Marquez KO6 Manny Pacquiao
After
being knocked down in the fifth round and bloodied and badgered through most of
the sixth, Marquez unloaded one of the most pulverizing punches in boxing
history. At the end of the round, Pacquiao feinted with the jab and then rushed
in with another jab. Marquez didn't go for the feint and timed Pacquiao
perfectly with a devastating overhand right. Immediately, Pacquiao hit the
canvas. Lying on his back, he was out cold. For Marquez, who hadn't been able
to beat Pacquiao despite three close fights, his final right hand was career-defining, and one that will be talked about for generations.
Round
of the Year: Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. vs. Sergio Martinez 12
The first ten-and-a-half rounds of this fight were completely
dominated by Martinez, who put forth a masterful performance, mixing in boxing,
ring generalship, pot-shotting and beautiful power punch combinations. Chavez
was a bloody mess as the fight progressed. In truth, if he would have called it a night earlier in the match, it would have been completely understandable; he just wasn't competitive.
Finally,
towards the end of the 11th round, Chavez connected with a few right hands. In
the 12th, Chavez landed a right hand that drove back Martinez to the ropes.
Chavez then connected with left and right hooks on the ropes and Martinez went
down. With over two minutes left in the round, Martinez was in bad shape. His
legs, which had helped him all night, now betrayed him.
Chavez
moved in for the kill and unloaded with power punches. Calling to mind his
father's first fight against Meldrick Taylor, Chavez tried to erase a sure
defeat with a final-round knockout. The crowd was in a frenzy; boxing fans
around the world were on the edge of their seats, if they could sit at all. But
Martinez found his bearings by the end of the round and fired back. When the final
bell sounded, Martinez remained on his feet, if just barely. He had escaped.
This
round featured an essential element to secure the award: I was jumping around my
living room screaming like a lunatic. What more can be said? It was boxing at its
finest.
Upset
of the Year: Sonny Boy Jaro TKO6 Pongsaklek Wongjongkam
To
call Sonny Boy Jaro a journeyman might be an overstatement. He entered his
March fight against longtime flyweight titlist and future Hall of Famer
Pongsaklek Wongjongkam with a record of 33-10-5. Prior to the fight, you would
have been hard-pressed to find a distinguished win on Jaro's ledger. Anytime the Filipino
had faced a good fighter (e.g. Giovani Segura, Edgar Sosa, Pornsawan
Porpramook), he lost. In 2011, he had even been defeated by a 4-0 fighter.
Conversely, Wongjongkam came into the fight with a sterling record of 83-3-2. The Thai boxing master hadn't lost since
2007 and was in the midst of a twenty-fight unbeaten streak.
Nevertheless,
Jaro attacked Wongjongkam from the opening bell with a relentless body assault.
He scored repeatedly with hard right hands and left hooks to the body – more
than a few of them were low blows – and he earned knockdowns in the first and
third rounds. Even though Wongjongkam worked his way back into the fight,
Jaro's body shots took a huge toll on his legs. By the sixth round, Wongjongkam
couldn't hold up to Jaro's body attack. With Jaro scoring two more knockdowns in the
round, the fight was stopped. Instantly, Jaro became the year's most improbable
champion. He would go on to lose later in the year in a hard-fought battle against
Toshiyuki Igarashi, but for one night, he was a legend killer.
Trainer
of the Year: Rob McCracken
The
single best corner job of the year was Rob McCracken's work with Carl Froch in
his destruction of Lucian Bute. Coming off of a loss to Andre Ward
in the finals of the Super Six, Froch was an underdog against super
middleweight titlist Bute, who had finished up 2011 beating Glen Johnson far
more convincingly than Froch did earlier in the year.
McCracken
was a wise study of Bute. He observed that Bute was most successful as a pocket
fighter. His shots worked best from medium range and he realized that Froch
would probably be safe either completely in tight or on the outside. Secondly,
Bute did not have quick counter shots. Instead, all of his counters – left uppercut,
right hook and straight left hand – were long. Bute also needed his opponent
right in front of him to score. McCracken, in sizing Bute up, determined that
Froch shouldn't fight in the pocket whatsoever, a bold decision and it turned
out to be a winning one.
Froch's
performance in the ring was perfect. On the outside, he patiently waited to initiate offense and used lateral movement to keep Bute at bay. Froch would then rush
in with a series of power shots, most often his slinging right hand and left
hook. He would batter Bute with heavy punches and would then quickly get out of
the pocket. As the fight progressed, he would continue this pattern of rushing
in with power shots, eventually deciding to stay in close range, driving a retreating Bute
back to the ropes, where Froch would continue to land with hard shots.
Bute
couldn't defend himself from Froch's odd-angled punches and wasn't able to counter
consistently enough to stop the onslaught. By the fifth round, he went down
from an accumulation of power shots and the fight was over. Froch was masterful
and McCracken's game plan was a big reason for his success.
In
addition, McCracken's work with the British Olympic boxing team yielded five
medals for the host country, a wonderfully impressive haul. McCracken wasn't
just a mere advisor to the team; he was responsible for nurturing the squad,
working with the coaching staff and preparing the fighters, mentally and
physically, for the intricacies and pressures of Olympic boxing. The team's
performance was a resounding success.
I
know that many boxing observers have selected Robert Garcia as Trainer of the
Year, and he certainly had a very good year. Ultimately, what convinced me
regarding McCracken is that he took and underdog (Froch) and guided him to a
truly dominant performance. Garcia's top fighters, from Donaire to Rios to
Mikey Garcia, had very successful years, but I do have to take some points off
for Rios' listless performance against Richard Abril and Hernan Marquez's
knockout loss to Brian Viloria. All of Garcia's boxers did win the fights that
they were supposed to win, but Brandon Rios' victory over Mike Alvarado was the
only true 50/50 win for Garcia's stable of top fighters. Still, he had a very
fine year, as did Nacho Beristain, who came up with some winning adjustments
for Juan Manuel Marquez over Manny Pacquiao.
Promoter
of the Year: Golden Boy Promotions
I
certainly don't think that everything Golden Boy did this year was perfect.
There were far too many events that featured embarrassingly tepid ticket sales.
The company also has this bad habit of announcing future fights prematurely
(Alvarez-Ortiz!). However, Golden Boy has bested all its rivals in expanding
the possible for boxing in 2012. From creating an exciting new market in
Brooklyn with its series at the Barclays Center to bringing boxing back
to U.S. network television, Golden Boy has helped grow the sport in 2012 better
than any other entity. Golden Boy also convinced Showtime to broadcast more
undercard fights live. In addition, the company has announced a new series to start in South Florida
for 2013. Although Golden Boy didn't have the biggest fights of the year, the
company made many wonderful advances for the sport in 2012.
Network
of the Year: BoxNation
Promoter
Frank Warren undertook a big gamble in creating an all-boxing pay network in
2011. By the end of 2012, BoxNation has developed into one of the premier
international destinations for boxing fans. Hardly a week goes by without a
meaningful fight on the network, from Warren's own stable of British fighters
to the station's numerous broadcasts of Sauerland's European fight cards as
well as many of the premier American boxing contests. In addition, BoxNation's
studio team of Steve Bunce and Steve Lillis should be a model for other
networks. Both Bunce and Lillis are excellent conversationalists, well versed
in the sport and pithy. They also remember that boxing can be fun. I
hope that the network's good run continues in 2013. (Note: a number of the
Sauerland cards from 2012 featured only one broadcaster calling the fight. Surely, a decent
color analyst can be found.)
Referee
of the Year: Eddie Claudio
Claudio
played a vital role in one of the most intriguing fights of the year, Peter
Quillin's unanimous decision over Hassan N'Dam N'Jikam (henceforth, N'Dam).
Quillin scored six knockdowns (6!) but still the fight was competitive, with
all three judges giving Quillin only seven rounds in the contest. Quillin
notched two knockdowns in each of the 4th, 6th and 12th rounds. After each
knockdown, Claudio studied N'Dam and correctly determined that the fighter
could continue. Too often, referees reflexively stop a fight after a third
knockdown, but Claudio observed that N'Dam still had his legs and remained
competitive throughout the match. Claudio ignored the pro-Quillin crowd and
didn't succumb to giving an early stoppage to the hometown fighter. It was a
wonderful performance from a relatively obscure referee. Here's hoping for more
big-time assignments for Claudio in 2013.
Adam Abramowitz is the head writer and founder of saturdaynightboxing.com.
He is also a member of the Transnational Boxing Rankings Board.
Contact Adam at saturdaynightboxing@hotmail.com
@snboxing on twitter
Follow Saturday Night Boxing on Facebook:
He is also a member of the Transnational Boxing Rankings Board.
Contact Adam at saturdaynightboxing@hotmail.com
@snboxing on twitter
Follow Saturday Night Boxing on Facebook: