Fighter of the Year - Naoya Inoue
It was a tight race for FOTY until literally the last day of the year of December 31st, when Naoya Inoue absolutely destroyed the durable, never KO'd before Omar Narvaez, who won his first title in 2002. Oh and did I mention Inoaue moved up TWO WEIGHT classes to take on Narvaez?!?
"At just 21 years of age, there seems to be absolutely no limit to the heights Inoue can soar. The prodigious boxer moves to 8-0 (7KOs) with the title winning effort, which came two full weight divisions above his previous fighting weight at 108 lb. Title wins in two separate weight classes after just eight pro fights is also a world record."
During this historic run, the young man captured his first belt in April of 2014, only his 6th proffessional fight, destroying Adrian Hernandez in round 6 for the WBC World light flyweight title . Followed by a TKO11 title defense against Thai boxer Samartlek Kokietgym in September, and capped off with the hugely impressive TKO2 victory over only once beaten Omar Andres Narvaez on Demember 31st.
Narvaez has held the WBO World super flyweight title for nearly a decade, 21 title defenses, one of the longest streaks in boxing. His lone loss was back in 2011, when Narvaez moved up in weight himself against Nonito Donaire. Since he moved up in weight, his super flyweight title was obviously not on the line. In that fight, a prime, much bigger and stronger, Nonito Donaire never hurt Narvaez and appeared to struggle with him for most of the 12 round fight that Nonito won by decision. Inoue on the other hand, moving up two weight classes, absolutely raped Narvaez, knocking him down in the first round and finally stopping him in the 2nd. It was a complete mismatch.
Runner ups: Terrence Crawford.
Huge year for the unbeaten Nebraskan. Winning his first belt in March, The WBO World lightweight title against Ricky Burns. Followed by a knock out title defense against the then unbeaten Cuban sensation Yuriorkis Gamboa. And finished the year with an easy decision win over Raymundo Beltran.
Knock out of the Year: Amir Mansour KO7 over Fred Kassi
Brutal. Heavyweight power. Unconscious, dropped like a sack of potatoes flat on his face. This is what we love to see!
VERY CLOSE Runner up: Carl Froch TKO8 George Groves
A great rivarly needs a great finish and that's exactly what Carl Froch delivered us. After a contraversial stoppage to a great first fight, the second promised to live up to expectations, both men promising KO's. In the end, Froch killed the rivarly with a single punch, putting an end to any talk of a rubber match.
Check out the top 20 KO's of the year HERE if you haven't already.
Event of the Year
Froch vs Groves II at Wembley Stadium
Sorry Floyd & Manny, but this year the biggest event happened across the pond where 60,000 tickets were sold in under an hour and a further 20,000 tickets were made available, making this the biggest ever attendance for a boxing match in Britain since the Second World War. That's 80,000 blokes screaming at the top of their lungs drunk off the arses trying to encourage their guy to win. Now THAT is an event!
Upset of the year
Miguel Cotto TKO10 Sergio Martinez
Sergio Martinez was bigger. He was faster. He was a middleweight while Cotto was a "blown up" junior middleweight who really should still be a welterweight. Cotto already lost to the biggest names; Pacquiao, Floyd and then a loss to Austin Trout seemed to show us father time has caught up with Cotto and his best days were far behind him. When the news broke he signed to fight Martinez, it appeared he was clearly cashing out for one last big payday against the Lineal Middleweight champion Sergio Martinez. Or so that's what we thought. Cotto destroyed the Martinez from the moment the first bell rang. Whether or not it was because of Sergio's age, his injuries or Cotto's skill, the fact is none of us saw Martinez getting ass raped in that fashion.
Highlights here.
Sure, there were a few Cotto faithful fans or Martinez haters that predicted a Cotto win, but no one could have predicted Cotto absolutely destroying Martinez in the opening round the way he did. The fight could have been stopped in round 1, that's how bad it was for Martinez.
Fight of the year
Terence Crawford TKO 9 Yuriorkis Gamboa
Gonna be honest - 2014 didn't really have many stand out fights as far as all out action goes. It was a down year in that department. Still, even though there weren't any truly GREAT fights, there were plenty of very good ones. For my own personal reasons I chose Crawford vs Gamboa because the fight completely shifted, the level of skill (these are two highly gifted athletes, undefeated fighters - not two bums standing in front of each other with no defense). A lot was on the line with this fight. And the thing is, they didn't have to fight each other, there was no reason to other than to fight. But they did anyways. And it produced absolute fireworks.
Some other good fights if not equally/better fights:
-Francisco Rodriguez Jr vs Katsunari Takayama, August 9
-Lucas Matthysse vs John Molina, April 26
-Curtis Stevens vs Tureano Johnson, April 4
-Orlando Salido vs Terdsak Kokietgym, September 20
-Robert Guerrero vs Yoshihiro Kamegai, June 21
Round of the Year
Tommy Coyle vs Daniel Eduardo Brizuela Round 11
I may revise this, but for now going with this, watch for yourself:
Robbery of the year
Danny Garcia (W12) v Mauricio Herrera
Danny ‘Swift’ Garcia lost clean and clear to Herrera in his own "home" country. It was shameful the judges gave the victory to the wrong man. But that alone isn't the worst part - the worst of all of this is Herrera was robbed yet again only months later against Jose Benavidez! "The decision was met with immediate outrage, disbelief not just in the decision, but that he only managed to win four rounds on two cards and three on the other, despite outlanding and outworking Benavidez for most of the evening."
If the judges correctly gave Herrera these two wins, he would have been in the race for "Upset of the year" as well as "Fighter of the year". Instead, the poor guy now has lost two in a row and both of those two fights are considered "Robbery of the Year". I cannot remember another time in recent times where another fighter of significant value such as Herrera could be nominated for Robbery of the year, twice, in the same year. Let's all hope the guy gets better luck in 2015!
Disapointment of the year - Andre Ward
At the end of 2011, Andre Ward defeated Carl Froch, making it clear to everyone on the planet he was, without any doubt, the best 168 pound fighter in the year. Not only was he the best Super Middleweight, a serious debate emerged that not only was he the best in his division, perhaps he's the best boxer in the world. The overall consensus was Ward was the #2 fighter in the world, only a tiny bit behind Floyd Mayweather. The sky was the limit for the Oakland native. And in 2012, after being out most of the year due to a shoulder injury, he seemed to prove this once again by beating down 31-1 Chad Dawson. Again, 2013 was followed by another injury, inactivity and only a single fight, essentially a tune up against Edwin Rodriguz. 2014 however, not a single fight. As a result of his innactivity, over a year without a fight or even a fight on the horizon, he's been removed from boxing's ratings, his pound 4 pound status dropped.
2014 was completely wasted by sueing his promoter unsuccessfully. All would have not been lost if only Ward would have stepped in the ring - but his diva ways led him to rejecting a Carl Froch rematch because he didn't want to travel to the UK, where as you can see above with 80,000 fans at Wembley Stadium, would have been a smash hit with the fans, but he insisted they fight in the states. "Stay busy" fights as well as title fights against Dirrell, Bika and a number of other ranked SMW's were all rejected by Ward, insisting he is a PPV calibar fighter. Hopefully in 2015 Ward comes back down to earth and realize he's not a cash cow, although making $2 million dollars a fight on regular HBO is still much better than what most guys are making.
Runner up: James Kirkland
Like the fighter above, James Kirkland spent all of 2014 not fighting. Legal issues, promotional issues and simply poor decisions have left Kirkland training at the gym, hoping for an oppurtinity to come his way. James Kirkland is must watch TV, win or lose he will give the fans everything he possibly has. And that's exactly why we want to see him back in the ring ASAP!
It was a tight race for FOTY until literally the last day of the year of December 31st, when Naoya Inoue absolutely destroyed the durable, never KO'd before Omar Narvaez, who won his first title in 2002. Oh and did I mention Inoaue moved up TWO WEIGHT classes to take on Narvaez?!?
"At just 21 years of age, there seems to be absolutely no limit to the heights Inoue can soar. The prodigious boxer moves to 8-0 (7KOs) with the title winning effort, which came two full weight divisions above his previous fighting weight at 108 lb. Title wins in two separate weight classes after just eight pro fights is also a world record."
During this historic run, the young man captured his first belt in April of 2014, only his 6th proffessional fight, destroying Adrian Hernandez in round 6 for the WBC World light flyweight title . Followed by a TKO11 title defense against Thai boxer Samartlek Kokietgym in September, and capped off with the hugely impressive TKO2 victory over only once beaten Omar Andres Narvaez on Demember 31st.
Narvaez has held the WBO World super flyweight title for nearly a decade, 21 title defenses, one of the longest streaks in boxing. His lone loss was back in 2011, when Narvaez moved up in weight himself against Nonito Donaire. Since he moved up in weight, his super flyweight title was obviously not on the line. In that fight, a prime, much bigger and stronger, Nonito Donaire never hurt Narvaez and appeared to struggle with him for most of the 12 round fight that Nonito won by decision. Inoue on the other hand, moving up two weight classes, absolutely raped Narvaez, knocking him down in the first round and finally stopping him in the 2nd. It was a complete mismatch.
Runner ups: Terrence Crawford.
Huge year for the unbeaten Nebraskan. Winning his first belt in March, The WBO World lightweight title against Ricky Burns. Followed by a knock out title defense against the then unbeaten Cuban sensation Yuriorkis Gamboa. And finished the year with an easy decision win over Raymundo Beltran.
Knock out of the Year: Amir Mansour KO7 over Fred Kassi
Brutal. Heavyweight power. Unconscious, dropped like a sack of potatoes flat on his face. This is what we love to see!
VERY CLOSE Runner up: Carl Froch TKO8 George Groves
A great rivarly needs a great finish and that's exactly what Carl Froch delivered us. After a contraversial stoppage to a great first fight, the second promised to live up to expectations, both men promising KO's. In the end, Froch killed the rivarly with a single punch, putting an end to any talk of a rubber match.
Check out the top 20 KO's of the year HERE if you haven't already.
Event of the Year
Froch vs Groves II at Wembley Stadium
Sorry Floyd & Manny, but this year the biggest event happened across the pond where 60,000 tickets were sold in under an hour and a further 20,000 tickets were made available, making this the biggest ever attendance for a boxing match in Britain since the Second World War. That's 80,000 blokes screaming at the top of their lungs drunk off the arses trying to encourage their guy to win. Now THAT is an event!
Upset of the year
Miguel Cotto TKO10 Sergio Martinez
Sergio Martinez was bigger. He was faster. He was a middleweight while Cotto was a "blown up" junior middleweight who really should still be a welterweight. Cotto already lost to the biggest names; Pacquiao, Floyd and then a loss to Austin Trout seemed to show us father time has caught up with Cotto and his best days were far behind him. When the news broke he signed to fight Martinez, it appeared he was clearly cashing out for one last big payday against the Lineal Middleweight champion Sergio Martinez. Or so that's what we thought. Cotto destroyed the Martinez from the moment the first bell rang. Whether or not it was because of Sergio's age, his injuries or Cotto's skill, the fact is none of us saw Martinez getting ass raped in that fashion.
Highlights here.
Sure, there were a few Cotto faithful fans or Martinez haters that predicted a Cotto win, but no one could have predicted Cotto absolutely destroying Martinez in the opening round the way he did. The fight could have been stopped in round 1, that's how bad it was for Martinez.
Fight of the year
Terence Crawford TKO 9 Yuriorkis Gamboa
Gonna be honest - 2014 didn't really have many stand out fights as far as all out action goes. It was a down year in that department. Still, even though there weren't any truly GREAT fights, there were plenty of very good ones. For my own personal reasons I chose Crawford vs Gamboa because the fight completely shifted, the level of skill (these are two highly gifted athletes, undefeated fighters - not two bums standing in front of each other with no defense). A lot was on the line with this fight. And the thing is, they didn't have to fight each other, there was no reason to other than to fight. But they did anyways. And it produced absolute fireworks.
Some other good fights if not equally/better fights:
-Francisco Rodriguez Jr vs Katsunari Takayama, August 9
-Lucas Matthysse vs John Molina, April 26
-Curtis Stevens vs Tureano Johnson, April 4
-Orlando Salido vs Terdsak Kokietgym, September 20
-Robert Guerrero vs Yoshihiro Kamegai, June 21
Round of the Year
Tommy Coyle vs Daniel Eduardo Brizuela Round 11
I may revise this, but for now going with this, watch for yourself:
Robbery of the year
Danny Garcia (W12) v Mauricio Herrera
Danny ‘Swift’ Garcia lost clean and clear to Herrera in his own "home" country. It was shameful the judges gave the victory to the wrong man. But that alone isn't the worst part - the worst of all of this is Herrera was robbed yet again only months later against Jose Benavidez! "The decision was met with immediate outrage, disbelief not just in the decision, but that he only managed to win four rounds on two cards and three on the other, despite outlanding and outworking Benavidez for most of the evening."
If the judges correctly gave Herrera these two wins, he would have been in the race for "Upset of the year" as well as "Fighter of the year". Instead, the poor guy now has lost two in a row and both of those two fights are considered "Robbery of the Year". I cannot remember another time in recent times where another fighter of significant value such as Herrera could be nominated for Robbery of the year, twice, in the same year. Let's all hope the guy gets better luck in 2015!
Disapointment of the year - Andre Ward
At the end of 2011, Andre Ward defeated Carl Froch, making it clear to everyone on the planet he was, without any doubt, the best 168 pound fighter in the year. Not only was he the best Super Middleweight, a serious debate emerged that not only was he the best in his division, perhaps he's the best boxer in the world. The overall consensus was Ward was the #2 fighter in the world, only a tiny bit behind Floyd Mayweather. The sky was the limit for the Oakland native. And in 2012, after being out most of the year due to a shoulder injury, he seemed to prove this once again by beating down 31-1 Chad Dawson. Again, 2013 was followed by another injury, inactivity and only a single fight, essentially a tune up against Edwin Rodriguz. 2014 however, not a single fight. As a result of his innactivity, over a year without a fight or even a fight on the horizon, he's been removed from boxing's ratings, his pound 4 pound status dropped.
2014 was completely wasted by sueing his promoter unsuccessfully. All would have not been lost if only Ward would have stepped in the ring - but his diva ways led him to rejecting a Carl Froch rematch because he didn't want to travel to the UK, where as you can see above with 80,000 fans at Wembley Stadium, would have been a smash hit with the fans, but he insisted they fight in the states. "Stay busy" fights as well as title fights against Dirrell, Bika and a number of other ranked SMW's were all rejected by Ward, insisting he is a PPV calibar fighter. Hopefully in 2015 Ward comes back down to earth and realize he's not a cash cow, although making $2 million dollars a fight on regular HBO is still much better than what most guys are making.
Runner up: James Kirkland
Like the fighter above, James Kirkland spent all of 2014 not fighting. Legal issues, promotional issues and simply poor decisions have left Kirkland training at the gym, hoping for an oppurtinity to come his way. James Kirkland is must watch TV, win or lose he will give the fans everything he possibly has. And that's exactly why we want to see him back in the ring ASAP!
