The No Mas Fight and Fighter of the Year

NO MAS FIGHT OF THE YEAR
Manny Pacquiao v. Erik Morales
WBC Super Featherweight Title
January 21, 2006
Thomas and Mack Center, Las Vegas

We watched this fight again last week on HBO and it left no doubt in our minds that this was the Fight of the Year. The handspeed, the rapid-fire combinations, the power, and the will on display in this showdown were simply beyond belief. It featured two of the best and most exciting fighters of this era, one of them an aging Mexican legend, and one a rising Filipino superstar, both household names in the boxing world. The legend, Morales, gave it all he had, and led the bout early on the strength of his indefatigable jab and some courageous toe-to-toe pounding. But he lost steam in the middle rounds, at which point Pac Man avenged his only loss of the millennium by handing Morales the first legitimate knockdown of his career, and then his first stoppage with a tenth-round TKO. If we were awarding a No Mas Round of the Year, it would have been a tie, rounds two and six from this bout, in each of which either one of the principals could have been knocked out if he were a lesser man. In the end, it was a punishing fight with two distinct chapters, it was the second leg of an historic trilogy, and it was the beginning of the end for one great warrior, and the beginning of the next phase of mega-stardom for another. For all of these reasons, it is the No Mas Fight of the Year by unanimous decision.

NO MAS FIGHTER OF THE YEAR
Carlos Baldomir

Pacquiao is the obvious choice for Fighter of the Year, and trust us, we have no problem with Pac Man winning that honor from Rafael at ESPN, from SI, and probably from The Ring. But the No Mas Fighter of the Year is Carlos Baldomir. Think of it this way - if you take 2006 away from Pacquiao, what do you have? Still one of the most electrifying, most talented and most recognizable athletes in the sport, still someone who does great PPV numbers every time he laces up his gloves, still someone shaping up to be one of the all-time greats. But before 2006, Carlos Baldomir was next to nothing in the fight game, and he may return to that status in the coming year. Nevertheless, we fight fans will remember his name for a long long time, and that is solely because of two bouts in 2006 when he shocked the world. We all love the Rocky movies, but in our hearts we also know they're a modern fantasy, a Cinderella cartoon of sport. And yet for ten months of this year, Carlos Baldomir was the real deal, Rocky come to life, an Argentinian hack with slow feet and next to no skills, with nothing really but an incredibly hard head and the will of a rhinoceros. On that alone, he went from retired feather duster and human punching bag to welterweight champion of the world and a huge payday against Floyd Mayweather. Of course, Floyd pantsed him - after all, this ain't Hollywood. But still, what a run, what a year, what a story. It's the kind of thing we live for in boxing, a genuine triumph of the spirit, and with that in mind, we are proud to call Carlos Baldomir the No Mas Fighter of the Year.