No Mas Fighter of the Year - The Candidates
Not surprisingly, three of our candidates for No Mas Fighter of the Year participated in three of the four bouts that are candidates for No Mas Fight of the Year. The nominees are listed below in alphabetical order:
Man, it is a testament to the kind of year we had in boxing that there is even a legitimate discussion about Fighter of the Year given the 2007 that Cotto had. A tune-up dismissal of the rugged Urkal (no tomato, Oktay, not by a longshot), and then back-to-back fights with the two most ballyhooed speed merchants in the sport not named Floyd. The Zab fight is a serious FOY contender, and the Sugar Shane fight fell just short. And let me just say this about Cotto/Mosley - it was contested at about as high a level of boxing, in terms of speed, skill and power, that I have seen since De La Hoya/Mosley I. Cotto's 2007 put him right on the precipice of stratospheric super-stardom - all he needs to get over the hump is the magic summons from Money May.
Juan Diaz
4/28 - RTD 8, Acelino Freitas
10/13 - TKO 9, Julia Diaz
Look, a Baby Bull! I inclued Diaz on the list just to give him the honor of being nominated. The fighters he's up against had such gigundous years that it's hard to see him walking away with the gold statue. Nevertheless, 2007 was the year that the Baby Bull's star was born, and that's a star that could burn brightly for a long, long time. I like to measure Fighter of the Year not just by a fighter's great bouts, but also by looking at where he started the year and where he finished it. On that score, Juan Diaz had a stupendous 2007, going from a question mark, a sideshow volume fighter, to a major attraction with three belts in his pocket and a legitimate claim as the best lightweight in the world. His next fight has not yet been made, but one has to imagine that 2008 will see him head into the PPV money. For myself, I'd much rather see Manny Pacquiao fight the Baby Bull than either Oscar or David Diaz.
Floyd Mayweather Jr.
5/5 - SD, Oscar De La Hoya
12/7 - TKO 10, Ricky Hatton
Any other year and you would have to give Floyd the Fighter of the Year award without even thinking twice about it. He moved into elite territory in 2007, territory occupied by only a select few in the 20 years (Oscar, Tyson, Evander, Chavez), that realm of mega-stardom where every one of his bouts is an event. The Oscar fight singlehandedly brought boxing back into the spotlight. 24/7 was a big part of that, and you could argue that were it not for Floyd's Money May persona (whatever you may think of it), those shows would have been pretty dull viewing. So he saves the sport, wears the most ill sombrero in the history of stone cold gangstas, handles a charging Oscar in the boxing event of the millennium and then finishes off the year by finishing off Ricky Hatton in a maestro performance. So what exactly does a man have to do to win Fighter of the Year anyway? Unfortunately, I'm afraid all of that, massive as it was, just wasn't quite enough for Mr. Cash Money in 2007, but I'll say this right now - he beats Cotto next year, he doesn't have to do another damn thing to be FOY in 2008.
Kelly Pavlik
1/27 - KO 8, Jose Zertuche
5/19 - TKO 7, Edison Miranda
9/29 - TKO 7, Jermaine Taylor
Look, let's cut to the chase here. Floyd's magnificent KO of Hatton clouded the picture ever so slightly, but the fact remains that this is essentially a two-man race - Pavlik and Cotto, Cotto and Pavlik. Each fought three times in 2007 and had two brilliant, career-defining performances. Each has a very sound Fighter of the Year argument. In Pavlik's case it is the distance traveled, from the undercard of a Jorge Arce fight in January to recognized middleweight champion and PPV headliner. In Cotto's case it is the quality of competition. Pavlik may have been the underdog in his fights with Miranda and Jermaine, but in my eyes both of those guys were highly overrated and ready to be exposed. Cotto, meanwhile, beat Zab and then Shane Mosley, an astounding accomplishment in back-to-back fights. It's tough people - I'm very curious to hear how the No Mas faithful come down on this one. Send in your comments and emails and we will weigh the arguments with great care. And if you want your voice to be counted, do it soon - the No Mas Fight and Fighter of the Year will be announced this Friday.
Miguel Cotto
3/3 - TKO 11, Oktay Urkal
6/9 - TKO 11, Zab Judah
11/10 - UD, Shane Mosley
3/3 - TKO 11, Oktay Urkal
6/9 - TKO 11, Zab Judah
11/10 - UD, Shane Mosley
Man, it is a testament to the kind of year we had in boxing that there is even a legitimate discussion about Fighter of the Year given the 2007 that Cotto had. A tune-up dismissal of the rugged Urkal (no tomato, Oktay, not by a longshot), and then back-to-back fights with the two most ballyhooed speed merchants in the sport not named Floyd. The Zab fight is a serious FOY contender, and the Sugar Shane fight fell just short. And let me just say this about Cotto/Mosley - it was contested at about as high a level of boxing, in terms of speed, skill and power, that I have seen since De La Hoya/Mosley I. Cotto's 2007 put him right on the precipice of stratospheric super-stardom - all he needs to get over the hump is the magic summons from Money May.Juan Diaz
4/28 - RTD 8, Acelino Freitas
10/13 - TKO 9, Julia Diaz
Look, a Baby Bull! I inclued Diaz on the list just to give him the honor of being nominated. The fighters he's up against had such gigundous years that it's hard to see him walking away with the gold statue. Nevertheless, 2007 was the year that the Baby Bull's star was born, and that's a star that could burn brightly for a long, long time. I like to measure Fighter of the Year not just by a fighter's great bouts, but also by looking at where he started the year and where he finished it. On that score, Juan Diaz had a stupendous 2007, going from a question mark, a sideshow volume fighter, to a major attraction with three belts in his pocket and a legitimate claim as the best lightweight in the world. His next fight has not yet been made, but one has to imagine that 2008 will see him head into the PPV money. For myself, I'd much rather see Manny Pacquiao fight the Baby Bull than either Oscar or David Diaz.Floyd Mayweather Jr.
5/5 - SD, Oscar De La Hoya
12/7 - TKO 10, Ricky Hatton
Any other year and you would have to give Floyd the Fighter of the Year award without even thinking twice about it. He moved into elite territory in 2007, territory occupied by only a select few in the 20 years (Oscar, Tyson, Evander, Chavez), that realm of mega-stardom where every one of his bouts is an event. The Oscar fight singlehandedly brought boxing back into the spotlight. 24/7 was a big part of that, and you could argue that were it not for Floyd's Money May persona (whatever you may think of it), those shows would have been pretty dull viewing. So he saves the sport, wears the most ill sombrero in the history of stone cold gangstas, handles a charging Oscar in the boxing event of the millennium and then finishes off the year by finishing off Ricky Hatton in a maestro performance. So what exactly does a man have to do to win Fighter of the Year anyway? Unfortunately, I'm afraid all of that, massive as it was, just wasn't quite enough for Mr. Cash Money in 2007, but I'll say this right now - he beats Cotto next year, he doesn't have to do another damn thing to be FOY in 2008.
Kelly Pavlik
1/27 - KO 8, Jose Zertuche
5/19 - TKO 7, Edison Miranda
9/29 - TKO 7, Jermaine Taylor
Look, let's cut to the chase here. Floyd's magnificent KO of Hatton clouded the picture ever so slightly, but the fact remains that this is essentially a two-man race - Pavlik and Cotto, Cotto and Pavlik. Each fought three times in 2007 and had two brilliant, career-defining performances. Each has a very sound Fighter of the Year argument. In Pavlik's case it is the distance traveled, from the undercard of a Jorge Arce fight in January to recognized middleweight champion and PPV headliner. In Cotto's case it is the quality of competition. Pavlik may have been the underdog in his fights with Miranda and Jermaine, but in my eyes both of those guys were highly overrated and ready to be exposed. Cotto, meanwhile, beat Zab and then Shane Mosley, an astounding accomplishment in back-to-back fights. It's tough people - I'm very curious to hear how the No Mas faithful come down on this one. Send in your comments and emails and we will weigh the arguments with great care. And if you want your voice to be counted, do it soon - the No Mas Fight and Fighter of the Year will be announced this Friday.
posted by Large at 12:14 PM
15 Comments:
Great summary, and I agree with eveerything you said.
I think the tiebreaker between Pavlik and Cotto is that Pavlik left no doubt, brutally knocking out two guys who had never been KO'ed. Cotto/Mosley could have gone either way (I had Cotto, but it would be hard to be outraged with a draw or even a Mosely victory).
Yes, Mosley is the best fighter of all their opponents, but that difference (margin of victory) should be enough.
Kelly Pavlik: 2007 Fighter of the Year!
I wish HBO would do a 24/7 on Pvalik/Taylor 2 to build up a young star- that would be really interesting
To me you're playing an expectations game here if you go for Pavlik over Mayweather. Pavlik was the breakthrough fighter and he deserves that honor, but Floyd was the fighter of the year. I mean, just think about it this way. Twenty years from now This will be Floyd's year. The biggest fight in history, and the biggest non-heavyweight, non-oscar fight in history. For sheer magnitude Floyd gets the bonus points.
Now we get to the actual boxing here. First, Cotto, who I think has a better argument. Throw out Urkal and we're left with Judah and Mosley.
So let's compare Cotto-Mosley, vs. Oscar-Floyd. I say the opponent is about equal, Mosley's a bit older than Oscar, Oscar's a bit bigger, and they're about the same level past their prime. Floyd, to me, won the fight cleaner, but to me it's basically a push.
Now the Hatton-Judah comparison is to me where Floyd gets the big advantage. Judah had lost his last two fights, was largely maligned, and still managed to rock Cotto and took two brutal (and to my mind, intentional) nut shots before he disintigrated. Good win, but to me Judah was damaged goods.
Hatton, on the other hand was an undefeated pound for pound fighter, arguably one of the top ten junior welters ever, (it's a very week division historically, but still) and Floyd escaped completely unscathed with an all-time highlight real finish to top it off. It was also an infinitely bigger event than the Judah fight.
Don't start with me about Pavlik. Yes, the Taylor win was great, but c'mon, Taylor had barely squeeked one out vs. Spinks and hasn't had a great performance in about three years now.
Basically, you cannot f*ck with what Floyd did this year. It's like one of those season's when they gave the MVP to somebody who wasn't Jordan because they were bored of giving it to Jordan. Floyd just had the most profitable year in Boxing history, and cemented his place among the upper echelon of ALL-TIME fighters. You can't give it to a guy like Pavlik who is a wildly entertaining and personable guy, but is... let's be honest, not going to be anything more than he is. This is really a no brainer in my opinion, and one of those things that will be exceedingly clear in hindsight.
Yikes! My apologies for the atrocious spelling, I got a call and didn't even give a cursory look. Apologies.
I actually agree with anonymous. Its not every year a fighter solidifies himself as an icon for a generation and Floyd did that. There will be title defenses and other tough fights for Pavlik and Cotto, in 2008 and beyond, but I'm going to have to go with Floyd here.
Damn you Anonymous! You stole my thunder with the Jordan analogy. Floyd could certainly win the award every year, but I guess you're just gonna have to call Pavlik the '93 Barkley since he's getting my vote.
First of all, the Zertuche KO was one of the coldest that I have ever witnessed. Secondly, (and it's easy to forget about this now) no one wanted to fight Miranda at the time he met Pavlik. Kelly jumped at the chance and exposed him. And third and most important, Pavlik picked himself off the deck against Taylor and stopped him in dramatic fashion.
Obviously, you can't go wrong by choosing Money May, but because he made the biggest leap (and all three of his fights were exciting enough to have my pops yelling at the TV throughout) I'm ridin' with Pavlik.
if he only won dancing with the stars!
PBF
Floyd had amazing performances this year on the biggest of stages so I've gotta go with him. His importance to the sport - bringing boxing back into the mainstream, if only for two short stretches - is the stuff fans and ultimately historians should never forget.
That said, these claims that he deserves the award (or heavy consideration) every year ala Jordan don't make much sense. I'd give it to him in '98 and '07, for sure. Maybe let him sniff it in '01. But that's it.
With all due respect to PBF, he was SUPPOSED to win the two fights he won. Yes, they were huge events and yes the Hatton KO was great, but he was the decided favorite in both those fights. As Denny Green would say, "he is what we thought he was." In the eyes of hardcore boxing fans, did this year really make you think that much more of PBF (than you already did)?
Pavlik was an underdog in the last two fights, on the other hand, and as Large pointed out was fighting on undercards in January.
Throw in the fact that he fought three times instead of two (and got three knockouts), and Pavlik HAS to be the fighter of the year. I rest my case
I'm really impressed with the debate here, although surprised that it's boiled down to a Floyd/Pavlik rather than a Cotto/Pavlik argument.
Very interesting breakdown of the Floyd vs. Cotto question, Anonymous, but I take issue with it on two counts. I have become more impressed with Floyd's performance against Oscar over time, and yes Floyd was fighting out of his weight class, but still - Oscar did not press the issue in that fight nearly the way Shane did against Cotto. Shane fighting the fight he brought to Cotto against Oscar fighting the fight he brought to Floyd and I think Shane stops Oscar in seven. So though I agree with you that Shane and Oscar are for the most part a push, on those two given nights they weren't. Cotto prevailed over a much more determined and more difficult opponent.
As for Zab v. Hatton, I'm having none of it. Hatton couldn't beat Luis Collazo at 147. He is simply not a welterweight, and to be honest I think he's incredibly overrated even as a 140. Zab, meanwhile, though spotty it's true, remains phenomenally talented and even gave Floyd himself all he could handle for about four rounds. Plus, he represented in that Cotto fight, dug deeper than I ever thought he could. Cotto's win over Zab was infinitely more impressive to me than Floyd's win over Hatton.
Charles, I also think Floyd had a decent argument for FOY in 2006.
What we get into here is a difficulty in defining our terms. What is Fighter of the Year supposed to reward anyway? It means different things for everyone, but I must admit, the "where did they start, where did they finish?" question has always been a central component for me.
Even on that score, however, Floyd versus Pavlik is a tough call.
I'll pick Cotto. I think it has been his year. I mean, where was he at the beginning of this year and now he is wildly recognised as the best welterweight out there not named Mayweather and as THE hope to dethrone the pretty boy. When I compare that to his status before the Judah and even Mosley fight.. lots of people were picking against him in boths bouts.
I also like his opponents just a bit more than the ones Floyd or Kelly faced. I mean, Floyd had Oscar who had fought 6 rounds the last 3 years, hadn't won an important fight since 2000 (?) and who most importantly didn't want to risk his promoter-face for a chance to beat Floyd. And Ricky Hatton.. well he had the will but the tools were missing and everybody knew that. Before the fights everybody was picking floyd, wasn't the same with Cotto.
Regarding Kelly.. yeah, great year, no question. But still, I thought Miranda was overrated the day he lost to Abraham. There was only one jaw-drop... err -breaking moment in that fight for Miranda, and that was it. And Jermain.. I mean, he has his merits, but his last fights were stinkers and he wasn't really superman.. and still, with any other ref in the ring than the crazy Steve S. this bout would have been stopped in round 2 and Kelly would be back repairing his house in Youngstown.
So... Fighter of the Year, Miguel Cotto.
Cotto.
With some love for Katsidis.
Let me preface by saying I am an unabashed fan of both Pavlik and Cotto. I've been a fan of Cotto's ever since he made a completely superfluous cameo on the P.R. episode of No Reservations with Anthony Bourdain. And Pavlik...Pavlik is the sort of guy that non-boxing fans can become a fan of. Not just because of his persona (which, right or wrong, runs counter to the average person's concept of what a boxer "is" but also his fighting style. Its exciting, and more than that, its pretty simple to understand. The average person could sit and watch Pavlik-Taylor and get more out of it than, say, Calzaghe-Kessler. That fight, while technically superior perhaps, is probably not going to leave the average sports fan with that lingering feeling of "HOLY SHIT WHAT DID I JUST WITNESS" that Pavlik-Taylor did. And that feeling is going to keep people tuning in and buying PPV's.
I think both Cotto and Pavlik deserve to be crossover stars, with their own 24/7's and expanded coverage on ESPN. I believe that both will be in consideration for FOY's in the years to come.
But the simple fact is, they are dining at the table that Floyd set this year.
So, my FOY is Floyd, with much love to the other two.
I have to vote Cotto on this one
I vote Cotto as well. Not only did he put together 3 fantastic fights against tough competition, but not getting the vaunted No Mas award will make Floyd feel dissed, not retire, and make the Cotto fight for next September.
Someone in his posse must read this, right?
miguel cotto - fighter of the year 2007
Post a Comment
<< Home