Brian O. Blake’s 2010 Year-End Boxing Awards (Part II)

Added on Jan 05, 2011 by Brian Blake in

Boxing

Here we go with the finale of the highlights of 2010 in the world of boxing…

Upset of the Year: Jason Litzau vs. Celestino Caballero

Along with Martinez’ stunning KO of Paul Williams, this award was a pretty easy one. No one expected much from Jason Litzau when he signed to fight former champion Celestino Caballero. After all, Litzau had previously failed to deliver when taking on the game’s elite. Such wasn’t the case in his post-Thanksgiving clash with Caballero. Litzau changed his life and career forever when he scored an upset split decision win over Caballero.

Worst Decision of the Year: Beibut Shumenov vs. Gabriel Campillo II

These two fighters clashed in mid 2009 resulting in a majority decision win for Campillo giving him the WBA portion of the light heavyweight title. Just over five months later they slugged it out again. Officially Shumenov exacted revenge and regained the title that he had lost. Unofficially, Campillo is the uncrowned champ as everyone that viewed the bout, with the exception of the three judges scoring it, noted that Campillo should have been given his rightful victory after his 12 round performance.

Promoter of the Year: Bob Arum/Top Rank Promotions

Having the one of the biggest attractions in all of sports in Manny Pacquiao helps to make the job of a boxing promoter quite a bit easier. Two of the biggest events in terms of Pay-Per-View numbers came from Pacquiao in his bouts this year against Joshua Clottey and Antonio Margarito in March and November, respectively. What really separated Arum from the pack in 2010 was his decision to turn down the large sums of money offered up by Vegas casinos to host a fight in order to explore untapped venues. Both of Pacquiao’s 2010 bouts took place in Arlington at the new Cowboys stadium while another of Arum’s fighters, Miguel Cotto, took Yuri Foreman’s junior middleweight crown in front of thousands of fans in the stadium that now houses the New York Yankees. Kudos to Arum for throwing Las Vegas and the fight game a curveball and taking his show on the road.

Trainer of the Year: Freddie Roach

Just as I stated with Arum winning the Promoter of the Year award, I can say the same of Freddie Roach receiving the honor of 2010′s Trainer of the Year. Having Manny Pacquiao is a huge plus. The pair of them made history as Pacquiao won an unprecedented eighth world title in that many weight classes with Roach in his corner. Yet the owner of the Wild Card Boxing Gym has enough on his plate even if Pacquiao weren’t around. When Roach isn’t making history with the Filipino phenom he’s shaping the likes of Amir Khan into one of boxing’s most well-rounded fighters and one of the game’s brightest stars. You can also look at Julio Cesar Chavez, Jr., who for years has been scoffed at for living off of the name and legacy of his father, and see that since hooking up with Roach has become a legitimate threat to his division.

Fighter of the Year: Segio “El Maravilla” Martinez

“El Maravilla”, which translates to “The Marvel”, not only is the nickname of current World Middleweight Champion, Sergio Gabriel Martinez, but it’s a word that best describes his marvelous 2010. Coming off of his hotly contested and debated loss to Paul Williams to close out 2009. Following just the second loss of his career, Martinez elected not to comeback against a cupcake opponent to boost his ego and record. He moved up in weight and went directly for then champion, Kelly Pavlik. Martinez was viewed as a solid fighter heading into the bout, but the one sided score and the ease in which Martinez dismantled Pavlik came at a bit of a surprise. Following his championship winning performance he rematched Paul Williams in what resulted as my 2010 KO of the year. Many fighters had superb years, but Martinez’ wins over the former middleweight champ and one of boxing’s most dangerous and avoided fighters in Pavlik and Williams, respectively, puts Sergio Martinez rightfully at the top of the list in 2010.