The No Mas F.O.Y. - Let the Debate Begin

It's that time again people - the time for year-end lists left and right, top ten appendectomies of 2007, top fifty screen passes for a six-yard gain, best double anal, top ten Aerosmith concerts before a sporting event, etc.

We here at No Mas care about two year-end awards and two only:

1. Fighter of the Year
2. Fight of the Year

So we begin with topic one. I'll lay out our candidates for Fight of the Year tomorrow.

We're giving you five choices for Fighter of the Year, but this is definitely a democracy, so if you want to suggest a write-in candidate, by all means, write him (or her, if you absolutely must) on in. Leave your selections and your arguments as a comment or send them to us as an email. We'll publish the winners with some of your best quotes next Friday, December 29th.

Aight. The starting five, in alphapbetical order. Let's go to the videotape:

1. Carlos "Tata" Baldomir - Okay, okay, he finished his boxing year with an all-around pantsing by a one-handed Floyd. But still, this is some serious Rocky shit that transpired right here and should be given legitimate consideration on that front. Holms was a dirt-poor journeyman fighter for most of his life who sold feather dusters on the side in his native Argentina just to feed his family. He gets a shot to fight Zab, presumably to serve as a walking punching bag and give the Brooklyn boy a light workout in front of the hometown Garden crowd as a tune up for Zab's mega-bout with Floyd. Instead, Tata ruins everyone's night by pushing Super Judah all over the ring and winning a much-deserved unanimous decision. Then, seven months later, Tata takes his hard head to A.C. and pounds down Arturo Gatti in front of his home crowd. Yeah, Floyd turned his carriage into a pumpkin in November, but nevertheless, this was hands down the best Cinderella story in boxing since Buster Douglas.

2. Miguel Cotto - Right now you're probably scrolling back over Cotto's 2007 in your mind and saying to yourself, "wait a second... Large wants to give Cotto FOY for shutting up Paulie Malignaggi?" Well yes, that's part of it. But more than anything, I think that by next year at this time Cotto is going to be a superstar. It looks like his summer 2007 bout with Antonio Margarito is on (unless one of them pulls a Zab Judah, that is) and that fight will get some major attention in the boxing universe. This was a big year for Cotto, two defenses of his light welter crown, one a high-profile beatdown of Malignaggi, and then a step up to 147 to win the WBA welterweight title by punishing Carlos Quintana. I think that work, along with what it has set up for his future, all makes this Puerto Rican brawler worthy of FOY consideration.

3. Wladimir Klitschko - Another one that I know has you scratching your head. "But Large, you hate Clinch-ko, straight up hate his ass." Yes. I do. No doubt. Actually he seems like a decent guy, but his ring style is insufferable. But look, I love boxing, and the game is suffering mightily right now for the disheveled nature of the heavyweight class. And whether I like it or not, Wlad made a big move towards proving himself as the true heavyweight champ in '06, and may well be on his way to unifying the belts in '07. Two huge, convincing stoppages on the year for the Klinch - seventh-round destructions of Chris Byrd and my man Calvin Brock. I'm not a fan, I've made that clear. But I give the man his due on a breakthrough year.

4. Pretty Boy Floyd Mayweather - Two fights for Floyd in 2006, and neither really tested him that much. The Zab fight would have had more juice if Zab hadn't already thrown up a turd against Baldomir. Nevertheless, for a fighter of Super Judah's speed and savvy, the ease with which Floyd dispensed with his ass (and don't give me that "he should have knocked him out" shit, because he was well on his way to the stoppage when the melee broke out) was impressive. Ditto what Floyd did to Baldomir - a guy who punished both Judah and Gatti, and Floyd made him look him like one of the Polish numbskulls in my neighborhood trying to find his way home after a long night at the Krakow. Add to that that he made the fight of the millennium with ODLH for '07 and you have a first-rate candidacy for FOY - a great year for the pound-for-pound king and the seeds sown for a legacy-making superfight.

5. Manny Pacquaio - Last but not least. It's gonna be very tough to argue against Pac Man in '06. He fought the last two thirds of an epic trilogy with Erik Morales, both of them knockouts, with a dominant performance against the very competent Oscar Larious sandwiched in the middle. Manny Pacquiao is quite possibly the biggest fighter in the world right now, and he's achieved that kind of star wattage at 130 pounds. When a little guy has that kind of stature, you know he's something special. A Barrera/Pacquiao rematch is a possibility in '07, and for the true fight fan, that is every bit as exciting a bout as Floyd/Oscar. All of these factors make the case airtight for Pac Man as the 2006 FOY.