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The Best
Of 2007
By Nat Gottlieb Courtesy of HBO.com
It was a great year for
boxing, and picking the best-of-the-best was delightfully
difficult. The year was packed with excitement from start to
brilliant finish. Here is one opinion on the cream of this
year's bumper crop.
FIGHT OF THE YEAR
Taylor-Pavlik
There were several terrific fights, but
for sheer drama and significance, none quite matched the
classic showdown in September between reigning middleweight
champion Jermain Taylor and unbeaten knockout artist Kelly
Pavlik. It was a highly-anticipated fight with several
subplots, and lived up to its billing.
Taylor had looked like the next
superstar attraction when he beat Bernard Hopkins twice for
the middleweight title in 2005. But in his next three
fights, Taylor seemed to regress, managing a draw with Winky
Wright and then looked uninspiring beating two junior
middleweights who had moved up in weight class.
While Taylor was floundering, the Top
Rank-promoted Pavlik had knocked out tough Mexican Jose Luis
Zertuche, and then duplicated the feat in stunning fashion
against Edison Miranda, who had been seen as the next
middleweight champion after losing a controversial decision
to belt-holder Arthur Abraham in Germany. So when Taylor
agreed to fight Pavlik, the stage was set for high drama.
Could Taylor redeem himself and win back his fans, or would
Pavlik, young and hungry, score his break-out victory?
The fight itself was filled with action,
and the drama of ebb and flow. Working well behind his jab,
Taylor rocked the challenger with an overhand right in the
second round, and followed that with a flurry of heavy shots
that finally dropped the challenger to his knees. It looked
like Pavlik was ready to go.
But when Pavlik got up, Taylor seemed to
have run out of steam, and couldn't put the challenger away.
Over the next four rounds, Pavlik regained his composure and
the two boxers kept trading leather. Behind on all three
scorecards after six rounds, Pavlik suddenly found his
rhythm. With 59 seconds to go in the round, he landed a
jab-right hand combo that stirred the crowd and seemed to
stun the champion. Pavlik kept his foot to the pedal, and
nailed Taylor with a vicious right cross on the chin which
buckled his knees. Taylor retreated to the corner, but
Pavlik was right on him.
Pavlik unleashed a seven-shot volley,
followed by two more left hooks to the head and Taylor's
legs gave way as he fell to the floor. Referee Steve Smoger
didn't even bother with a count. He rushed between the two
fighters and stopped it. Kelly Pavlik was middleweight
champion of the world.
RUNNERUP
Traditionally, Fight of the Year is
awarded to barnburners that are non-stop brawls. The two
Vasquez-Marquez fights certainly fit that criteria, and
either bout could have won this award. But even though their
fights were more exciting than Taylor-Pavlik, they lacked
the significance of the middleweight match. Marquez won the
first fight, Vasquez the second. What did it prove? What did
it define? The division was not shaken up by the fights, as
was the case when Pavlik beat Taylor. Vasquez is 29 years
old with 46 fights, Marquez is 32 with 41 bouts. Both have
been stars and will remain so as long as their bodies hold
up. Pavlik is 25 and his victory breathed new life into
boxing. That ultimately swung the award to Taylor-Pavlik.
FIGHTER
Kelly Pavlik
There were several who had legitimate
claim to this title, but Pavlik's three knockout victories
in 2007 really ignited fans and shook up the entire
middleweight division. Boxing now has a young 25-year-old
champion with the kind of thunder in his hands that fans
flock to see. At 6'2 1/2, he also has the potential to fill
out his gangly frame and move up one or two more divisions
at some point and shoot for more titles. For sheer
excitement, and the possibility of super stardom looming,
Kelly Pavlik (32-0) earned Fighter of the Year.
A very close second was the undefeated
welterweight champion Miguel Cotto (31-0), who knocked out
the German, Oktay Urkal and former champion Zab Judah before
capping the year by defeating future Hall of Famer Shane
Mosley in a classic boxer-puncher match.
Also in the running was Joe Calzaghe
(44-0) for his brilliant victory over Kessler, and
lightweight Juan Diaz (33-0), the exciting, high-volume
puncher who knocked out both Acelino Freitas and Julio Diaz
to unify three of the division's four titles.
TRAINER
Enzo Calzaghe
This was the sweetest of years for Joe
Calzaghe's father. While Joe had been criticized by the
tough British media for many years because of the so-called
lack of quality of his opponents, Enzo was looked upon as a
one-trick pony, a trainer who had a champion so naturally
talented that anybody could train him.
Then in November Enzo got his revenge.
To England came undefeated Dane Mikkel Kessler with his two
championship belts. Joe put on a master class and scored a
unanimous decision over the game Kessler that left the Brit
media tripping over itself to hurl superlatives at father
and son.
But that was not the only accomplishment
for Enzo in 2007. In July, the Calzaghe-trained Gavin Rees,
all 5'3 of him, gave away six inches to junior welterweight
champion Souleymane M'baye, yet pulled off a major upset by
unanimous decision. The combined record of Rees' five
previous opponents was 68-138-10.
Calzaghe has a third champion in his
growing stable of top fighters, the cruiserweight Enzo
Maccarinelli. Enzo sent out Maccarinelli three times in 2007
to successfully defend his title, including a victory over
former cruiserweight world champion Wayne Braithwaite.
Before he began training with Calzaghe,
Maccarinelli was a one-dimensional brawler. Calzaghe turned
him into a classic boxer-puncher and a champion.
RUNNER-UP
Evangelista Cotto
Miguel Cotto's uncle prepared the former
140-pound champion extremely well for his first full year as
a welterweight. Cotto successfully defended his 147-pound
title three times against incrementally tougher opposition.
Stoppages of Oktay Urkal and Zab Judah set the stage for his
biggest victory of all, a 12-round unanimous decision over
three-division champion Sugar Shane Mosley. Evangelista did
a brilliant job of honing Cotto's dormant boxing skills, and
ultimately it was Cotto's ability to utilize his jab and
fight at a distance for a change that proved the difference.
MANAGER
Cameron Dunkin
Dunkin is one of those rare managers who
knows how to patiently bring along a young fighter -- and
sticks to his guns. He also has a knack of finding young
boxers whom other managers did not have on their radar.
In past years, Dunkin has developed the
champions Stevie Johnston, Johnny Tapia, Marc Johnson, Danny
Romero, Eric Morel and the late Diego Corrales.
Dunkin had the kind of year other
managers can only dream of. In 2007, three of his boxers won
their first world titles - Pavlik, Steve Luevano and Nonito
Donaire. Within the space of two weeks, Dunkin pulled off
two major upsets. On July 7, he stunned people when he sent
the unheralded Filipino Donaire to take on the brash
knockout artist and unbeaten flyweight champion Vic
Darchinyan. It looked like a terrible mismatch. But after
what had been a close fight over the first four rounds,
halfway through the fifth Donaire pulled a shocker, knocking
Darchinyan into Neverland with a single left hook to the
chin.
One week later, Dunkin sent
featherweight contender Steve Luevano to England to
challenge unbeaten champion Nicky Cook (27-0) on the Brit's
own turf. Luevano took the title with an eleventh-round
knockout.
Dunkin also manages our Prospect of the
Year, Victor Ortiz, and has unbeaten lightweight Jose Miguel
Aguiniga (31-0) poised for a title fight in 2008.
PROSPECT
Victor Ortiz
Just 20 years old, Ortiz (20-1-1, 15KOs)
is another can't miss star in the making from the Dunkin-Top
Rank factory. Like Cotto and Pavlik, Top Rank has brought
this junior welterweight along at just the right pace.
The hard-hitting southpaw has a solid
amateur background and very complete set of boxing skills.
Coming from Oxnard, CA, the same town as Fernando Vargas, he
is often compared to "Ferocious" because their styles are
similar. Like Vargas, who won his first world title at 21,
Ortiz looks positioned to equal that feat late in 2008.
Ortiz, has only two inconsequential
blemishes on his record. Two years ago he was disqualified
in the first round against a journeyman when he dropped his
opponent after the boxers were coming out of a clinch. In
January of this year, a clash of heads in the first round
left Ortiz with a nasty gash and his bout with another
unbeaten prospect, Marvin Cordova Jr., was halted and ruled
a draw.
What bumped Ortiz above several
outstanding prospects were his performances in his last two
fights, both impressive victories over seasoned veterans,
Emmanuel Clottey and former champion Carlos Maussa. Clottey,
the brother of welterweight contender Joshua Clottey had
only been knocked out once before in 31 fights, a TKO defeat
six years ago against then unbeaten Alex Trijullo (25-0).
Ortiz dominated Clottey for nine rounds before scoring a TKO
with one second left in the 10-round fight.
Maussa, who upset Vivian Harris two
years ago to win a world title, was knocked out by Ortiz in
a brutal, first round assault on the under card of Cotto-Mosley.
Maussa had only been knocked out twice, by Ricky Hatton and
Cotto, and those champions had taken nine and eight rounds
respectively to do it.
RUNNER UP:
Andy Lee (13-0), the unbeaten Irish
southpaw boxing out of Emanuel Steward's Kronk Gym, is a
sensational boxer-bunch with a wealth of gifts and a
sure-fire future champion. A 2004 Olympian, he was signed
out of the Games by Steward, who said at the time he had
seen only two boxers worth grabbing, Lee and Amir Khan. Lee
came to the U.S. to fight and has been living in Steward's
three-story home in Detroit, along with another Kronk super
prospect, the unbeaten cruiserweight Jonathan Banks, and
welterweight champion Kermit Cintron. Lee fought seven times
this year, but not against the level of competition that
Ortiz did. With his height and Steward-honed skills, Lee has
greater potential than Ortiz, but has yet to be tested.
PROMOTER
Top Rank dominated boxing in 2007, and
at 76, the still-innovative Bob Arum found ways to make his
fight cards more appealing to fans at a time when boxing was
struggling to remain relevant.
Top Rank put on the most competitive and
exciting fights more consistently than anyone else. Its
fighters won three straight major fights in a row: Pavlik
knocked out Taylor; Manny Pacquiao out-boxed Marco Antonio
Barrera, and Cotto beat Mosley (Pacquiao/Barrera and Coto/Mosley
where co-promoted by Golden Boy Promotions). Years of
careful nourishing paid off with Pavlik and Cotto, who
emerged as superstars by year's end. Top Rank also sent out
Steve Luevano to win his first world title, and brought
Ortiz to the brink of a championship fight in the coming
year. It also stepped up the level of competition for
24-year-old, unbeaten super bantamweight Juan Manuel Lopez,
the next great Puerto Rican star, who won six times.
Not only did Top Rank make some great
match-ups, it outclassed all opposition in putting on strong
under cards so that fans were entertained, top to bottom.
Arum also successfully produced three of his own
pay-per-view shows and each was injected with music, faster
pacing and aggressive marketing. With Cotto, Pavlik,
Pacquiao and Ortiz, Top Rank arguably has four of the best
young fighters in the U.S. under its banner and several
can't-miss prospects waiting in the wings.
UPSET
Nonito Donaire
Donaire (19-1) had some pretty stiff
competition for this award from Rees and Gerry Penalosa. To
appreciate how stunning Donaire's knock out of the
heavy-handed Darchinyan (28-0) was, look at the records of
his three previous opponents: He beat Kevin Hudgins (5-9)
just two months before facing Darchinyan; prior to Hudgins
he defeated Oscar Andrade (35-24-1) and Jose Luis Cardenas
(5-6-1). Donaire literally came out of nowhere. Ironically,
both Darchinyan and Donaire are promoted by Gary Shaw, who
is not afraid to take risks with his fighters. Shaw had
taken the little known Aussie, Darchinyan, and in one year
got him the kind of superstardom very few lower-weight
fighters experience. Now Shaw has a new one.
RUNNERUPS
Rees, a Welchman, was given zero chance
to beat junior welterweight champ M'baye (31-1-1). And
rightfully so. Rees (27-0) had never remotely faced anyone
of M'baye's experience and talent, yet the diminutive Rees
convincingly beat the much taller champion by unanimous
decision.
The 35-year-old Penalosa (52-6) had won
the flyweight title in 1997, lost it the following year and
then tried in vain four times over the next nine years to
win another belt. His fourth attempt was against super
bantamweight champion Daniel Ponce de Leon last March, a
fight Ponce de Leon won by unanimous decision. In August, he
received yet another seemingly hopeless chance against
rugged young bantamweight champion Jhonny Gonzalez. Penalosa
was behind on two cards after six rounds, but in the seventh
he caught Gonzalez with a single, stinging liver shot and
knocked him out to finally regain a belt.
KNOCKOUT
Nonito Donaire
His one-punch knockout of Darchinyan was
as shocking to Vicious Vic as it was to fans. Donaire's
counter left hook put Darchinyan down on the canvas. In a
sickening spectacle, the bloodied champion rose at the count
of seven, but his legs quickly gave way and he careened
across the ring like a pinball before collapsing on the
ropes, out on his feet. So devastating was the blow that
Darchinyan later admitted he had no clue he had been knocked
out until after he saw the replay. Now that's a KO!
COMEBACK
The Sport of Boxing
With mixed martial arts coming on like a
runaway train, the networks, promoters and managers all came
together at last to put on one of the finest series of big
fights in several years, proving yet again that the sport is
far from dead. The fall fights were as great as they come:
Taylor-Pavlik, Pacquiao-Barrera, Cotto-Mosley and
Mayweather-Hatton. Great match-ups are what fans want, and
they got them. Here's hoping the powers-that-be build on
their success.
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