FIGHTER OF THE YEAR
KellyPavlik, Miguel Cotto, Floyd Mayweather, Joe Calzaghe
Kelly Pavlik (32-0, 29 KO’s)
Pavlik can and should be the new face of boxing in 2008.
He had a remarkable year, with three dramatic victories over Jose Luis Zertuche, Edison Miranda and Jermain Taylor. Pavlik has not only the talent, and the determination to win, but also that indefinable thing that can be called heart.
His three fights this year were all spectacular. His punishment of Jose Luis Zertuche was cringe inducing, ending in the 8th with the kind of knockout where you hope no one ends up in the hospital. Pavlik hit Zertuche with a right hand and he was asleep before he hit the ground. Edison Miranda’s fight with Pavlik was a surprise to many given the Colombian’s tough rep, but Pavlik was so dominant that Miranda’s corner was ready to stop the fight before referee Steve Smoger stepped in midway through the 7th.
And the jewel in the crown: his 7th round technical knockout of HBO fave Jermain Taylor. Pavlik made an amazing comeback after a near disaster in round 2. You could almost see him thinking in his corner between the 2nd and 3rd rounds, “This is NOT what I came here for”. He went home with the WBC middleweight title belt, although his trainer Jack Loew forgot his paycheck in the hotel room in Atlantic City. Another story that personifies the humble Pavlik.
Pavlik is now set for a March rematch with Taylor and then can get on to bigger and better things. Pavlik has the potential to bring fans back to the sport in 2008; the same fans who would rather support a decent, down to earth fighter like Pavlik, than a trash talking, money throwing narcissist like Floyd Mayweather.
CANADA’S FAVORITE SOUTHPAW – CANADIAN FIGHTER OF THE YEAR
Lucian Bute – 21-0, 17KO’s
You could say that Lucian Bute is in the sexiest division in boxing, sharing the top 10 lists with the likes of Joe Calzaghe and Mikkel Kessler. This is part of the reason that Bute came out on top as the Canadian Fighter of the Year, but more importantly, Bute continued his ascendancy in the ranks in other ways, building up a huge fan base and demonstrating time after time his remarkable charisma, not to mention his unmistakable talent.
Bute started his road to the IBF title with a UD win over Sergey Tatevosyan in January, continued on to his mandatory in June against wily Sakio Bika, (another UD win) then finished off the year in triumph, with his brutal 11th round KO of beltholder Alejandro Berrio. All in Montreal. All in front of 13,000 or so adoring fans. As Joe Tessitore put it “There is a little something extra special in the love affair between the Montreal fans and Lucian Bute” There was also something special in the emotion that Bute showed after winning the title, thanking the audience at the Bell Centre in French and Romanian, hugging his longtime trainer Stephan Larouche, and looking to all the world like a guy whose dream had just come true.
Bute’s promoter InterBox has taken a methodical approach to building their champions, which could explain why they have been so successful in 2007. Look for their next star to be light heavyweight Adrian Diaconu, (24-0) as he finally meets WBC belt holder Chad Dawson, a much anticipated match up that was scuttled earlier this year due to a Diaconu hand injury.
Runner’s Up: Joachim Alcine, (30-0, 19KO’s), Steve Molitor (25-0, 10KO’s)
Canada has not one, not two, but THREE world title holders right now. Joachim Alcine’s WBA junior middleweight win over Travis Simms in July might not have been pretty, but he got the job done, and brought the belt back to Montreal. His first defense went smoothly, a strong win against Alfonso Mosquera. He even had his own theme song, a la Ricky Hatton. And Steve Molitor, the veteran of the group, is the fighter who started it all by winning the IBF super bantamweight title in late 2006. He single-handedly kept the boxing scene in Ontario alive in 2007, successfully defending twice this year in his home province. (more…)
