Another nomination, although not an obvious one, I think should be WBC super bantamweight champion Oscar Larios. He beat Willie Jorrin at the back end of last year in 1 round for the WBC title, and has since made 3 defences of the title this year as well as one non title fight. He's been busy, and as fought twice over in Japan this year against solid contenders, and won. Although his competition hasn't been mind blowing, he's won a title in dramatic fashion, kept busy, and has fought guys all over the world. His year hasn't been as great as Toney, Mayorga, Pacquaio etc. but he's still been pretty impressive.
Bantamweight champion Rafael Marquez is perhaps another worthy nomination.
World Boxer of the Year
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Eric the Viking
- Heavyweight
- Posts: 1354
- Joined: 03 Apr 2003, 21:40
Gotta be Toney for me. Pac-man gets upset if the /year for the way he dominated MAB, but one impressive fight doth not a FOY make. Mayorga is in the running, but beating the same guy twice (like Forrest beating Mosley twice) is just a wee bit suspect IMO when it comes to awarding laurels.
Jones made history (or at least a part of it) by beating Ruiz, but Ruiz was a weak champ (though I don't slag him off as a "bum" as so many others do - he was a legit top-five HW). Coming back down to light-heavy and beating the consensus top contender there (no way was Tarver a "weak" champ, he simply didn't earn his belt by beating the top guy, but that wasn't his fault) was impressive, despite the fact that it was a very close fight. Only Jones is held to such a different standard from everyone else that when he's not flat-out dominating his opponent, it's taken to mean that he's losing.
Also, in no way should the unsubstantiated doping allegations be held against him - Richard Hall also tested positive for something in that fight, and the incompetetent Indiana commission had not saved specimens to be able to do a second round of tests and thus rule out false positives, which are quite common with these types of tests. Jones admitted to taking an over-the-counter nutritional supplement which as it turns out (but which was not every clear from the long list of ingredients on the supplement) contains the herbal stimulant ephedra (Ma Huang), which is banned by many sports organisations but is not an androgenic drug (i.e. a steroid.) It's the kind of thing a fighter might take to lose fat and help him make weight, which makes sense since the Jones/Hall fight was at 175 and both walk around between fights well above 175. Jones tested clean in Nevada (whose drug testing policies and results are a matter of public record) for the Ruiz fight, and if there had been an incentive for him to take steroids, it would have been for that fight, rather than the Hall fight.
I'm sick of people (mostly Jones haters looking for any reason to discredit him) bringing up these unsubstantiated drug tests - it's not like he hasn't been tested multiple times before and after the Hall fight. What ever happened to innocent until proven guilty? Or does that only apply when it's someone you like?
But back on-topic: Right now it's Toney for me. Even if you're for giving the nod to Mayorga, you should wait until December 14th.
Jones made history (or at least a part of it) by beating Ruiz, but Ruiz was a weak champ (though I don't slag him off as a "bum" as so many others do - he was a legit top-five HW). Coming back down to light-heavy and beating the consensus top contender there (no way was Tarver a "weak" champ, he simply didn't earn his belt by beating the top guy, but that wasn't his fault) was impressive, despite the fact that it was a very close fight. Only Jones is held to such a different standard from everyone else that when he's not flat-out dominating his opponent, it's taken to mean that he's losing.
Also, in no way should the unsubstantiated doping allegations be held against him - Richard Hall also tested positive for something in that fight, and the incompetetent Indiana commission had not saved specimens to be able to do a second round of tests and thus rule out false positives, which are quite common with these types of tests. Jones admitted to taking an over-the-counter nutritional supplement which as it turns out (but which was not every clear from the long list of ingredients on the supplement) contains the herbal stimulant ephedra (Ma Huang), which is banned by many sports organisations but is not an androgenic drug (i.e. a steroid.) It's the kind of thing a fighter might take to lose fat and help him make weight, which makes sense since the Jones/Hall fight was at 175 and both walk around between fights well above 175. Jones tested clean in Nevada (whose drug testing policies and results are a matter of public record) for the Ruiz fight, and if there had been an incentive for him to take steroids, it would have been for that fight, rather than the Hall fight.
I'm sick of people (mostly Jones haters looking for any reason to discredit him) bringing up these unsubstantiated drug tests - it's not like he hasn't been tested multiple times before and after the Hall fight. What ever happened to innocent until proven guilty? Or does that only apply when it's someone you like?
But back on-topic: Right now it's Toney for me. Even if you're for giving the nod to Mayorga, you should wait until December 14th.
Last edited by Eric the Viking on 05 Dec 2003, 13:14, edited 2 times in total.
