And the winner is…

I’m sure most pundits will be giving their fighter of the year accolade to Juan Manuel Márquez following his scintillating destruction of Manny Pacquiao earlier this month  However, in effect I pre-empted that by honouring Márquez at the end of last year (after he’d been robbed – once again - in the 3^rd Pacquiao fight: http://floatlikeabutterflysting.blogspot.co.uk/2011/12/and-winner-is.html)

Instead, my 'alternative' fighter of the year award (aka The Fran) for 2012 goes to Andre Ward. At the very end of 2011 he dished out a one-sided beating to the very capable Carl Froch, winning the ‘Super 6’ tournament and proving he is far and away the best super middleweight in the world. Now, I’m generally not a huge fan of the ‘intermediate’ divisions – super this and junior that. However, in his only fight of 2012, Ward completely outclassed the light heavyweight champ Chad Dawson (in his first fight since defeating the legendary Bernard Hopkins – in my mind Hopkins’ only legitimate defeat in almost 20 years). So Ward is effectively the undisputed light heavyweight king – without actually having ever fought at 175 pounds. Not only is he deserving of The Fran, he may well be the best (active) fighter, pound for pound, on the planet.

That's the way to do it

After falling victim to three dubious decisions, Marquez decided to take the judges out of the equation - congratulations to him:

http://espn.go.com/boxing/story/_/id/8728470/juan-manuel-marquez-knocks-manny-pacquiao-6th-round

Bet Pacquiao now wishes he'd taken that fight with Mayweather when he had the chance...

And the winner is...

My 'alternative' fighter of the year award (aka The Fran) for 2011 goes to Juan Manuel Márquez. Three times he’s fought Pacquiao (deemed by so many to be the pound for pound king). On at least one, if not two, and possibly even all three occasions, he’s won the fight. But the judges keep on letting him down. The fight this year saw possibly the worst decision of them all (Tim Smith of New York's Daily News wrote that Márquez "was robbed by judges who were either blind or corrupt"). He may not be a winner according to the record books, but Marquez is definitely deserving of The Fran.

Where have all the good kings gone?

Boxing has become a complete joke - too many titles, top fighters ducking each other, Don King...

It used to be my favourite sport, but now there are perhaps two or three fights a year in which I have much interest - hence the paucity of recent posts on this blog. I am intrigued by Pacquiao v Marquez III later this month, and would relish a Mayweather-Pacquiao fight (if it ever happens), but there is little else to get excited about.

My interest in boxing has become comparable to my interest in music - I pine for the glory days of my youth: the 1980s! I've just read Four Kings: Leonard, Hagler, Hearns, Duran and the Last Great Era of Boxing by George Kimball which is excellent. I hadn't realised that Hearns had broken his right hand during that phenomenal first round against Hagler, so basically fought the rest of the fight on guts. Them were the days.

Like I said...

Floyd Mayweather proved last night that he is, undoubtedly, the greatest fighter in the world. Despite coming close to being knocked out by Mosley in the second round (which is why those 4/1 odds were worth a little flutter), Mayweather went on to give a boxing masterclass. Before the fight, Mosley could justifiably claim to be one of the two best Welterweights in the world - but he was completely outboxed by the greatest. Sure, many pundits will continue to argue that Pacquiao is the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world. But if the two ever get together in the same ring, I can only see one winner. Bring it on.

New Year Wishes

1/ Philadelphia Eagles or Arizona Cardinals to win the Superbowl (or at least get through the first round of the play-offs)
2/ France to win the FIFA World Cup (further devaluing an already tarnished competition)
3/ Mayweather and Pacquiao to stop bickering and have the damn fight (which Mayweather would win easy)
4/ David Haye to fight (and beat) one of the Klitschko brothers
5/ Phil ‘the Power’ Taylor to win BBC Sports Personality of the Year