I'd give boxer of the year to Timothy Bradley. He came in for some pretty heavy stick following his 'victory' over Pacquiao last year. He came through an incredible war against Provodnikov and handled Marquez fairly comfortably in the second half of the fight.
I would have picked Carl Frampton for British fighter of the year if he hadn't followed up his victory against Martinez with a horribly one sided affair against Parodi.
Fight of the year for me was either Bradly Vs. Provodnikov or Rios Vs. Alvarado II.
hurlock wrote:Froch came back from the wilderness to take out bute & then back from the death to retain his title v groves, respect where it's due... Come on!
chad wrote:Who would you go for in those categories Horse?
I'd give boxer of the year to Timothy Bradley. He came in for some pretty heavy stick following his 'victory' over Pacquiao last year. He came through an incredible war against Provodnikov and handled Marquez fairly comfortably in the second half of the fight.
Bradley or Provodnikov. I scored the Bradley vs Provodnikov fight to Provodnikov by one point, so I give him the nod.
chad wrote:I would have picked Carl Frampton for British fighter of the year if he hadn't followed up his victory against Martinez with a horribly one sided affair against Parodi.
I'd say Martin Murray for his performance against Martinez, he spoiled it with his lackluster performance against Khomitsky though.
chad wrote:Fight of the year for me was either Bradly Vs. Provodnikov or Rios Vs. Alvarado II.
Fighter of the year - Guillermo Rigondeaux - Completely schooled a top 10 P4P fighter in Donaire, bar one punch in the 10th, then shut out Agbeko to cap off the year.
British fighter of the year - Few contenders for this one with Burns having a poor year, Froch with a poor performance against Groves, Murray spoiled his chances with the Khomitsky performance and the likes of Brook, Fury and Frampton haven't been active enough to justify it. There are quite a few contenders for it though with Maccarinelli, Selby, Billy Joe Saunders, Crolla, Liam Smith, Stuey Hall, Butler, Chisora and Gavin all having good years. A couple of controversialish stoppages rule Chisora out for me, plus a lackluster performance against Avila, although 4 fights and 4 stoppages is good going considering he only returned in April, Liam Smith staked a late claim beating Ochieng and a fantastic performance against Mark Thompson, but it's fighter of the year and he only really got going in September. If Anthony Crolla got the nod against Mathews he would have been in with a real shout, but the draw rules him out for me. Butler started the year with three stoppages, including a one punch KO of Anwar Alfadi, then finished with two shutout points wins, but his opposition hasn't been good enough to justify him being fighter of the year. Saunders comprehensively beat Hall and O'Sullivan, then edged out Ryder to cement domestic dominance, but Hall isn't really a middleweight and while O'Sullivan was unbeaten, the only notable fighter on his record was Hall and that was a tight decision victory for him and Billy Joe struggled at times against Ryder. Gavin had a good year winning the Lonsdale belt outright, but Pryce took the fight at late notice and Welborn in truth, belongs at area title level. Throw in that by his own admission he performed poorly against Barnes and he hasn't done quite enough to win it for me. That leaves Lee Selby and Stuey Hall, Selby's had a brilliant year with four wins, beating three unbeaten fighters and a brilliant performance against Martin Lindsay, but for me Stuey Hall deserves it for his performance against Malinga alone, maybe there are more deserving winners, but could anyone really begrudge him being named fighter of the year after winning a world title in a tough, gruelling battle against an opponent who never stopped coming forward.
Anyone who thinks Froch isn't fighter of the year. Especially when they then go on to say Barker/Murray are. You may think Froch was losing but the above 2 actually did lose FFS
If you switch off the anti froch switch you will realise that what ever you think of the way he won against groves, he was on his arse and yet won, retained etc etc murray barker frampton etc no competition
Hall what with his age and history of this and that and he had not much change would have a shot for a fairytale story but froch for sure
No way Kirkland-Tapia was fight of the year in my view. It was a one-sided fight after one freaking round and the inevitably of Kirkland winning stripped the fight of any meaningful competitive drama. Powell is right in calling it a horror story though, as the fight was stopped 2 rounds too late, and Tapia was badly hurt when Smoger was indecisive about stopping it in the final moments.
I can see an argument for Floyd being fighter of the year, but it's hardly a clear case as Powell suggests. I suspect most of those who think it is really overrate Alvarez.
expe wrote:Fighter of the year - Guillermo Rigondeaux - Completely schooled a top 10 P4P fighter in Donaire, bar one punch in the 10th, then shut out Agbeko to cap off the year.
Horse, you're right to question the selections, but I think we have to remind ourselves that it's the DM rather than a dedicated boxing periodical. If Jeff wants to keep his job, he has to pitch to the readership of that paper, and that means keeping things simple and familiar. That's a tricky skill to consistently pull off successfully.
Shut out Donaire, a guy comfortably top 10 in pretty much everybody's P4P rankings, and then took Agbeko apart like no one before him has. He isn't the most exciting fighter, but he possesses skills that many an ATG would be envious off. Honourable mentions to Adonis Stevenson & Floyd Mayweather.
British fighter of the year - Carl Froch
Dubious stoppage over Groves, but that was through no fault of his own. Did everything he had to in that fight and scraped the win. nobody has wins as good as Kessler & Groves from these shores and thats a fact. Honourable mentions to Chisora & Selby.
I consider myself a Bradley fan but against Prov if the ref had called the KD early on...the one he said was a push...and Tim then stumbled around the ring... Then Tim loses that fight.
Aden wrote:Horse, you're right to question the selections, but I think we have to remind ourselves that it's the DM rather than a dedicated boxing periodical. If Jeff wants to keep his job, he has to pitch to the readership of that paper, and that means keeping things simple and familiar. That's a tricky skill to consistently pull off successfully.
I agree with what you're saying, but interestingly, Boxing News chose Mayweather as their fighter of the year, and Froch as their British FOY.
Fighter of the year - No doubt Rigondeaux beat Donaire who is one of the best p4p fighters. He done it with ease.
British Fighter of the Year - Callum Smith, he has moved through levels incredibly. Definitely the fighter of 2013. Closely followed by Stu Hall
Fight of the year - Rigondeaux v Donaire might not be the most exciting but this is boxing and these 2 were top of the tree. Again closely followed by Mayweather v Alvarez both fights boxing at its best
handsofstone wrote:without doubt fight of the year was Omar Figueroa vs the Japanese fella whose name escapes me
The Japanese guy whose name ive also forgot lol was one of the toughest little bastards ive seen in my life! He took an absolute shellacking in that fight!
daviddee wrote:
Fight of the year - Rigondeaux v Donaire might not be the most exciting but this is boxing and these 2 were top of the tree. Again closely followed by Mayweather v Alvarez both fights boxing at its best
That's just being a deliberate boxing hipster. Donaire v Rigo was an exhibition but it was in no way the best fight of the year. I can slightly accept the Mayweather v Alvarez fight as again it was exhibition stuff, but at least Floyd is somewhat enjoyable to watch.
Coco wrote:I can't see how people can vote against PBF or Froch
I just don't get how Froch could be fighter of the year after taking a beating from Groves for the first 6 rounds, to me it should be for whoever has performed best throughout the year and while Froch is undoubtedly the best fighter in the country, numerous fighters have turned in better performances than him.
