Three one-sided world title defenses. And all three times discouraged opponents were pulled out of the fight to avoid further punishment. WBO junior lightweight world champion Vasyl Lomachenko separated himself from the pack in 2017 to not only win Fightnews.com®
Fighter of the Year honors, but also to make a strong argument for the #1 position in the P4P rankings.
Lomachenko. In April, Loma stopped WBA featherweight champion Jason Sosa after nine rounds. In August, he returned to halt Miguel Marriaga after seven rounds. And finally, in a December showdown between two two-time Olympic gold medalists, Lomachenko dominated Guillermo Rigondeaux forcing the highly regarded Rigo to quit after six rounds.
Lomachenko beat out Terence Crawford and Srisaket Sor Rungvisai, who both went 2-0 in 2017.
WBC/WBO junior welterweight champion Crawford had wins over Felix Diaz in May, and then unified the 140lb division with a spectacular KO over WBA/IBF champion Julius Indongo in August. He later relinquished the belts to move up to welterweight.
Srisaket scored a controversial majority decision over Roman “Chocolatito” Gonzalez in March to win the WBC 115lb belt, then after an immediate rematch was ordered, Srisaket brutally knocked out Chocolatito in September.
ppl sleeping on melindo. if he wins thats two champs he beat plus a good recent champ. belts aside all three good fighters. but some obscure tiny guy who doesnt fight in the us is always gonna struggle in these year end awards. he at least would deserve a strong mention.
Lomachenko is so damned great, and willing to fight anybody at his weight, that he deserves FOTY honors.
But he did more last year cuz Rigondeaux did nothing in that fight...
Last year he beat Rocky Martinez to become the fastest 2-Division champion in history - and he beat Nicholas Walters, an undefeated and universally respected Championship caliber fighter who destroyed Nonito Donaire.... Fans looked forward to the Lomachenko-Walters fight for years, and it was a big disappointment.... Lomachenko can only control what he does... He can't control whether his opponent bags the fight to prevent any chance of getting knocked out.
VL beats 2 ordinary fighters and a talented but aging ( and vastly undersized) boxer, and it's enough to cop the prestigious FOY award.
Hell, back in 1997, De La Hoya beat FIVE very talented fighters (Miguel Angel Gonzalez, Sweet Pea Whitaker, David Kamau, Macho Camacho and Wilfredo Rivera) and it still wasn't deemed good enough to win FOY.
Holyfield won it with just 2 wins---Mike Tyson in the Bite Fight and the rematch with Moorer. But at least those were victories over ex-heavyweight champs.
Lomachenko's year seems pretty pedestrian in comparison. It pays to have the ESPN hype machine in your corner.
SenorPipino wrote: ↑26 Dec 2017, 00:01
VL beats 2 ordinary fighters and a talented but aging ( and vastly undersized) boxer, and it's enough to cop the prestigious FOY award.
Hell, back in 1997, De La Hoya beat FIVE very talented fighters (Miguel Angel Gonzalez, Sweet Pea Whitaker, David Kamau, Macho Camacho and Wilfredo Rivera) and it still wasn't deemed good enough to win FOY.
Holyfield won it with just 2 wins---Mike Tyson in the Bite Fight and the rematch with Moorer. But at least those were victories over ex-heavyweight champs.
Lomachenko's year seems pretty pedestrian in comparison. It pays to have the ESPN hype machine in your corner.
Nomassiah is not being measured against ODLH or Holyfield.
I think Lomachenko is a phenomenal boxer. Even he doesn't consider the win over Rigo as anything special, considering the size, age, and fact that Rigo only fought 3 rounds in the last 3 years. It is his to win in anyone's book though next year if he beats Berchelt and Mikey Garcia.
Crawford is in the same boat, being phenomenal but lacks the top pfp guy to have on his resume. I thought he would win it because he was the first guy in 15 yrs to become undisputed champ.
GGG has Canelo and Jacobs, and at his age that is pretty incredible.
Joshua has (what looked before the fight) an inactive, shot 41yr old Wlad as his best win.
Roberto Duran, when he was the same age as Rigo at 37, moved up to middleweight and won a world title.
Duran's early fights were at 122.
Yet people say Rigo's moving up from junior featherweight to super featherweight was a big deal. But Loma is a small guy too. Do people realize Rigo actually had a reach advantage over Loma?
gilgamesh wrote: ↑25 Dec 2017, 18:34
I'd say that's a stretch. There's at least 3 fighters that had a better year than Loma.
Freedom2013 wrote: ↑27 Dec 2017, 15:11
Roberto Duran, when he was the same age as Rigo at 37, moved up to middleweight and won a world title.
Duran's early fights were at 122.
Yet people say Rigo's moving up from junior featherweight to super featherweight was a big deal. But Loma is a small guy too. Do people realize Rigo actually had a reach advantage over Loma?
gilgamesh wrote: ↑25 Dec 2017, 18:34
I'd say that's a stretch. There's at least 3 fighters that had a better year than Loma.
Who had a more impressive year than Loma?
Srisaket Sor Rungvisai and Anthony Joshua. Milan Melindo as well if he wins on the 31st.
Joshua and Loma you could debate are about even or perhaps Loma is slightly ahead, but I don't think either of them beats Sor.
Freedom2013 wrote: ↑27 Dec 2017, 15:11
Roberto Duran, when he was the same age as Rigo at 37, moved up to middleweight and won a world title.
Duran's early fights were at 122.
Yet people say Rigo's moving up from junior featherweight to super featherweight was a big deal. But Loma is a small guy too. Do people realize Rigo actually had a reach advantage over Loma?
Last edited by Badhusker on 27 Dec 2017, 16:05, edited 1 time in total.
Freedom2013 wrote: ↑27 Dec 2017, 15:11
Roberto Duran, when he was the same age as Rigo at 37, moved up to middleweight and won a world title.
Duran's early fights were at 122.
Yet people say Rigo's moving up from junior featherweight to super featherweight was a big deal. But Loma is a small guy too. Do people realize Rigo actually had a reach advantage over Loma?
gilgamesh wrote: ↑25 Dec 2017, 18:34
I'd say that's a stretch. There's at least 3 fighters that had a better year than Loma.
Who had a more impressive year than Loma?
@ Freedom Will you be criticizing Loma for not achieving what Duran has done too? Loma started at a higher weight, has the same height and reach as Duran. He should have no trouble winning a middleweight title at age 37 if he is as good as you think he is. He should also be able to get over 100 wins.
I don't think Loma will achieve half of what Duran has.
I see that three outlets have named their Fighter of the Year, and all 3 have selected a different fighter.
We have Fightnews going with Lomachenko, Boxingnews awarding it to Golovkin, and now ESPN has honored Crawford.
This should bring tears of joy to Crawford, who was whining a few weeks ago that he deserves the FOY award.
Whatever.
It just underscores my argument that no one boxer had a particularly noteworthy 2017. Several had some nice accomplishments, but nothing really stands out.
I'll stick with the Thai, Sor Rungvisai, as FOY.
He twice beat a guy who was at the top of many P4P lists. And he did it the second time in devastating fashion.
Freedom2013 wrote: ↑27 Dec 2017, 15:11
Roberto Duran, when he was the same age as Rigo at 37, moved up to middleweight and won a world title.
Duran's early fights were at 122.
Yet people say Rigo's moving up from junior featherweight to super featherweight was a big deal. But Loma is a small guy too. Do people realize Rigo actually had a reach advantage over Loma?
gilgamesh wrote: ↑25 Dec 2017, 18:34
I'd say that's a stretch. There's at least 3 fighters that had a better year than Loma.
Who had a more impressive year than Loma?
Srisaket Sor Rungvisai and Anthony Joshua. Milan Melindo as well if he wins on the 31st.
Joshua and Loma you could debate are about even or perhaps Loma is slightly ahead, but I don't think either of them beats Sor.
Joshua beat an inactive age 41 formerly great but faded boxer who was coming off a loss. Not a bad win, but not as good as Loma's win over Rigo if you look at it objectively. Loma dominated, while Joshua was nearly stopped in a back-and-forth slugfest.
Badhusker wrote: ↑27 Dec 2017, 16:04@ Freedom Will you be criticizing Loma for not achieving what Duran has done too? Loma started at a higher weight, has the same height and reach as Duran. He should have no trouble winning a middleweight title at age 37 if he is as good as you think he is. He should also be able to get over 100 wins.
I don't think Loma will achieve half of what Duran has.
In some ways, he has already achieved more. He was the outstanding boxer in the 2008 Olympics and won two gold medals. He probably has the best amateur record of all time. He's won world titles in two weight divisions with fewer pro fights than anyone in history.
He started in the pros much later than Duran, and Arum was only getting him two fights a year for several years, so he will never reach 100 pro wins. But neither did Mayweather and many others.
Badhusker wrote: ↑27 Dec 2017, 16:04@ Freedom Will you be criticizing Loma for not achieving what Duran has done too? Loma started at a higher weight, has the same height and reach as Duran. He should have no trouble winning a middleweight title at age 37 if he is as good as you think he is. He should also be able to get over 100 wins.
I don't think Loma will achieve half of what Duran has.
In some ways, he has already achieved more. He was the outstanding boxer in the 2008 Olympics and won two gold medals. He probably has the best amateur record of all time. He's won world titles in two weight divisions with fewer pro fights than anyone in history.
He started in the pros much later than Duran, and Arum was only getting him two fights a year for several years, so he will never reach 100 pro wins. But neither did Mayweather and many others.
It is not easy to demonstrate how to make a disingenuous argument in two short paragraphs, but you accomplished it.
Tanzio wrote: ↑28 Dec 2017, 01:42It is not easy to demonstrate how to make a disingenuous argument in two short paragraphs, but you accomplished it.
Nothing disingenuous in my post. You just don't like Lomachenko for some reason.
I have no problem with Nomassiah. What I have a problem with are confused alt reich animal rights activists using a boxer”s (admittedly) tremendous amateur record as a proof of greatness and an excuse for a weakness in his record, in almost the same breath.
Freedom2013 wrote: ↑27 Dec 2017, 15:11
Roberto Duran, when he was the same age as Rigo at 37, moved up to middleweight and won a world title.
Duran's early fights were at 122.
Yet people say Rigo's moving up from junior featherweight to super featherweight was a big deal. But Loma is a small guy too. Do people realize Rigo actually had a reach advantage over Loma?
Who had a more impressive year than Loma?
Srisaket Sor Rungvisai and Anthony Joshua. Milan Melindo as well if he wins on the 31st.
Joshua and Loma you could debate are about even or perhaps Loma is slightly ahead, but I don't think either of them beats Sor.
Joshua beat an inactive age 41 formerly great but faded boxer who was coming off a loss. Not a bad win, but not as good as Loma's win over Rigo if you look at it objectively. Loma dominated, while Joshua was nearly stopped in a back-and-forth slugfest.
For the record I'd pick Srisaket Sor Rungvisai over everybody right now. He was the underdog in both fights with Chocolatito, and absolutely wrecked him the 2nd time.
1st one was questionable, but was an amazing Fight of the Year contender kinda fight, 2nd one was emphatic.
Nomassiah is not being measured against ODLH or Holyfield.
As do I.
What I have a problem with are confused alt reich animal rights activists using a boxer”s (admittedly) tremendous amateur record as a proof of greatness and an excuse for a weakness in his record, in almost the same breath. 