2009 saw the continuation of excellent matchmaking in the sport of boxing dictated by the economic situations that have forced fans to be more picky with their entertainment dollars, forcing promoters to offer more attractive and competitive matchups to compete for the fan's attention. January 2009 produced the first fight of the year candidate between welterweights Andre Berto and Luis Collazo. This contest was in defense of Berto's WBC welterweight belt and was won by the champion by a closer than scored unanimous decision. This set up Berto for bigger fights to come down the road. The fight was topped the following week by the clear upset of the year as 'Sugar' Shane Mosley destroyed the seemingly invincible Antonio Margarito by 9th round knockout to claim the WBA welterweight crown.
What Frazier was to Ali, Juan Manuel Marquez may be to Manny Pacquiao as he continued to chase his nemesis up thru the weight classes following up on his 2008 destruction of long time world lightweight champion Joel Casamayor by meeting and defeating the young lion of the division Juan 'Baby Bull' Diaz in February by spectacular 9th round knockout which saw Diaz extend Marquez to his limits before the veteran could make the necessary adjustments to gain the win and continue to put the pressure on Pac-man to sign for a rematch. This fight was voted Ring Magazine's 2009 fight of the year. The world middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik came back from his 2008 loss to Bernard Hopkins at light heavyweight to defend his throne against unwilling Marco Antonio Rubio in which Rubio surrendered in a non effort after 9 rounds. Pavlik would not fight for the next ten months due to a serious staph infection to his left hand. One of the men whose name was brought up often as a potential mega fight for Pavlik was Joe Calzaghe. The long time super middlewight and light heavyweight champion announced his retirement on February 5th creating an opening for Chad Dawson, Bernard Hopkins, and Glenn Johnson to position for the number one spot at light heavyweight and the initiation of the Super 6 World Classis super middlewight tournament produced by Showtime to fill the void that Calzaghe left behind in that weight class.
April showers brought the end of the golden boy era for boxing as Oscar De La Hoya formally announced his retirement on April 14th. He was the top draw for the sport for the better part of two decades. Treated by every fighter within weight range as the golden fleece as a fight with De La Hoya was guaranteed to produce the biggest payday of a fighter's career and a box office bonanza both at the gate and PPV sales. A De La Hoya fight was more than a contest it was an event on the same level as the biggest fights the sport has ever known and it did not matter who his opponent was. De La Hoya will remain connected to the sport as an ambassador, promoter, and publisher. He was part of the sport's evolutionary bridge: Muhammad Ali to Sugar Ray Leonard, Leonard to Mike Tyson, and Tyson to De La Hoya. It was another end of an era this month as Winky Wright suffered one of his few conclusive losses in years, dropping a unanimous decision to punching machine and physical phenom Paul 'the Punisher' Williams.
May Answered the question of who would be boxing's next superstar after the departure of De La Hoya as the amazing Manny Pacquiao continued his rampage across weight classes challenging the world junior welterweight champion Ricky Hatton and producing the 2009 kncokout of the year in 2 rounds to claim the throne and acclaim as the top pound for pound fighter in the sport. This was just the beginning for him.
The ill wind that claimed the lives of many celebrities in 2009 blew hard through the sport of boxing in the month of July claiming the lives of three of the boxing's most legendary fighters. First there was the report of the death of hall of famer Alexis Arguello out of Managuas, Nicaragua. He was the mayor of Managuas and was found dead at the mayoral palace of an apparent self infliceted gun shot to the heart on July 1st. The Nicaraguan legend was a multi time champion in the lighter ranks and engaged in legendary fights with 'the Hawk' Arron Pryor, Ray "Boom Boom' Mancini and Ruben Olivares.
The final blow was delivered on July 25th when the sad news was recieved that Junior middlewight champion Vernon Forrest was gunned down in an attempted car jacking in Atlanta. The assailants were arrested and convicted of murder. An unfitting end to such a charitable and peaceful gentleman. Forrest was known for his charitable work with special needs children as well as his expolits in the boxing ring. He was the first man to cleanly defeat an in his prime and at the top of the world Shane Mosley at welterwight. He wasn't appreciated in most circles for what was at times percieved to be a boring style but he was a great technician who methodically broke down opponents or piled on points to victory. He was 38 years old at the time of his death and will be sorely missed as will all the boxing folk who passed on in the year of 2009.
The middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik returned from his injury induced lay off to finish off challenger Miguel Espino in an exciting brawl by 5th round TKO and his proposed challenger Paul Williams engaged in this writer's pick for fight of the year against Argentian Sergio Martinez, winning by a controversial unanimous decision that warrants a rematch. Negotiations seem to be back on for the previously cancelled Pavlik-Williams bout so Martinez may have to wait for his rematch.
What Frazier was to Ali, Juan Manuel Marquez may be to Manny Pacquiao as he continued to chase his nemesis up thru the weight classes following up on his 2008 destruction of long time world lightweight champion Joel Casamayor by meeting and defeating the young lion of the division Juan 'Baby Bull' Diaz in February by spectacular 9th round knockout which saw Diaz extend Marquez to his limits before the veteran could make the necessary adjustments to gain the win and continue to put the pressure on Pac-man to sign for a rematch. This fight was voted Ring Magazine's 2009 fight of the year. The world middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik came back from his 2008 loss to Bernard Hopkins at light heavyweight to defend his throne against unwilling Marco Antonio Rubio in which Rubio surrendered in a non effort after 9 rounds. Pavlik would not fight for the next ten months due to a serious staph infection to his left hand. One of the men whose name was brought up often as a potential mega fight for Pavlik was Joe Calzaghe. The long time super middlewight and light heavyweight champion announced his retirement on February 5th creating an opening for Chad Dawson, Bernard Hopkins, and Glenn Johnson to position for the number one spot at light heavyweight and the initiation of the Super 6 World Classis super middlewight tournament produced by Showtime to fill the void that Calzaghe left behind in that weight class.
April showers brought the end of the golden boy era for boxing as Oscar De La Hoya formally announced his retirement on April 14th. He was the top draw for the sport for the better part of two decades. Treated by every fighter within weight range as the golden fleece as a fight with De La Hoya was guaranteed to produce the biggest payday of a fighter's career and a box office bonanza both at the gate and PPV sales. A De La Hoya fight was more than a contest it was an event on the same level as the biggest fights the sport has ever known and it did not matter who his opponent was. De La Hoya will remain connected to the sport as an ambassador, promoter, and publisher. He was part of the sport's evolutionary bridge: Muhammad Ali to Sugar Ray Leonard, Leonard to Mike Tyson, and Tyson to De La Hoya. It was another end of an era this month as Winky Wright suffered one of his few conclusive losses in years, dropping a unanimous decision to punching machine and physical phenom Paul 'the Punisher' Williams.
May Answered the question of who would be boxing's next superstar after the departure of De La Hoya as the amazing Manny Pacquiao continued his rampage across weight classes challenging the world junior welterweight champion Ricky Hatton and producing the 2009 kncokout of the year in 2 rounds to claim the throne and acclaim as the top pound for pound fighter in the sport. This was just the beginning for him.
The sport's former glamour division remains a family affair as the Klitschko brothers maintain control of the heavyweight division. Wladmir Klitschko, the recognized world champion, only fought once in 2009 dispatching of Ruslan Chagaev in 10 rounds in June while Vitaly Klitschko had a far more productive year rubbing out contenders Juan Carlos Gomez (by 9th round TKO), Chris Arreola (10th round TKO), and Kevin Johnson (unanimous decision). Future challenges tot he two headed Ukranian monster may come from former cruiserweight champions David Haye and Tomas Adamek who both had break thru wins at heavyweight in 2009 (UD over ginat Nikolai Valuev for Haye and a 5th round TKO over Andrew Golota for Adamek) and a blast from the past as a very well conditioned David Tua knocked out Australia's top heavyweight Shane cameron in two rounds showing his old form. The only action of note for an American heavyweight this year was the premier of TYSON the documentary covering the life of the former heavyweight king Mike Tyson in April. A sad commentary on the American heavyweight boxing scene.
The ill wind that claimed the lives of many celebrities in 2009 blew hard through the sport of boxing in the month of July claiming the lives of three of the boxing's most legendary fighters. First there was the report of the death of hall of famer Alexis Arguello out of Managuas, Nicaragua. He was the mayor of Managuas and was found dead at the mayoral palace of an apparent self infliceted gun shot to the heart on July 1st. The Nicaraguan legend was a multi time champion in the lighter ranks and engaged in legendary fights with 'the Hawk' Arron Pryor, Ray "Boom Boom' Mancini and Ruben Olivares.Upon his retirement he had overcome drug addiction to become a political activist in his country and succesfully campaign his way into the mayor's office. He was 57 years old.
On July 11th the sport's ultimate warrior the beloved Arturo Gatti (37) was found dead in a Brazilian hotel room in what was ruled a suicide by Brazilian authorities. A ruling that is being disputed by the Canadian government and those who knew and loved the former champ. Few who saw his epic fights with Mickey Ward, Wilson Rodriguez, Ivan Robinson, and Gabriel Ruelas believe that Gatti would go down without a fight.
On July 11th the sport's ultimate warrior the beloved Arturo Gatti (37) was found dead in a Brazilian hotel room in what was ruled a suicide by Brazilian authorities. A ruling that is being disputed by the Canadian government and those who knew and loved the former champ. Few who saw his epic fights with Mickey Ward, Wilson Rodriguez, Ivan Robinson, and Gabriel Ruelas believe that Gatti would go down without a fight.
The final blow was delivered on July 25th when the sad news was recieved that Junior middlewight champion Vernon Forrest was gunned down in an attempted car jacking in Atlanta. The assailants were arrested and convicted of murder. An unfitting end to such a charitable and peaceful gentleman. Forrest was known for his charitable work with special needs children as well as his expolits in the boxing ring. He was the first man to cleanly defeat an in his prime and at the top of the world Shane Mosley at welterwight. He wasn't appreciated in most circles for what was at times percieved to be a boring style but he was a great technician who methodically broke down opponents or piled on points to victory. He was 38 years old at the time of his death and will be sorely missed as will all the boxing folk who passed on in the year of 2009.September marked the return of Floyd Mayweather Jr to the sport that made him famous as he took on undersized Juan Manuel Marquez who bypassed Jr Welterweight to come up four weight classes from his prime fighting weight to fight the former pound for pounder at welterweight. Mayweather's combination of speed and size were too much for the current lightweight king. With this victory Mayweather announced his intentions to once again climb back to the top of the pound for pound rankings.
October kicked off the start of the Super 6 World Boxing Classic, an innovative tournament involving the world's top six super middleweights fighting in a round robin tournament with a point system similiar to what is used for FIFA soccer tournaments. The top man becomes the undisputed super middleweight champion and an attractive opponent for any boxer near the weight class. The first round began on October 17th as Arthur Abraham KO'd Jermain Taylor in sudden fashion in the 12th round in Germany and Carl Froch squeaked by Andre Dirrell by split decision in England.
It continued in November as Andre Ward upset the favored Mikkel Kessler stopping him on cuts by the 11th round.
Also in November Manny Pacquiao cemented his stature as the fighter of the year by defeating welterweight champion Miguel Cotto by 12th round TKO. The match up was very intriguing as it would mark the first time that Manny would meet a full fledged welterweight in his prime who was as dominant as any in recent memory. The first three rounds were very competitive as Cotto attacked Pac-man with everything he had and made it seen like the Phillipine finally bit off more than he could chew. but the fiery Pacquiao hung tough and toppled Cotto twice before grinding him down gradually and stopping him in the 12th to secure the championship and the year.
Also in November Manny Pacquiao cemented his stature as the fighter of the year by defeating welterweight champion Miguel Cotto by 12th round TKO. The match up was very intriguing as it would mark the first time that Manny would meet a full fledged welterweight in his prime who was as dominant as any in recent memory. The first three rounds were very competitive as Cotto attacked Pac-man with everything he had and made it seen like the Phillipine finally bit off more than he could chew. but the fiery Pacquiao hung tough and toppled Cotto twice before grinding him down gradually and stopping him in the 12th to secure the championship and the year.
In December two old rivals, Bernard Hopkins and Roy Jones Jr, both had fights in 2009 in an attempt to set up a long awaited rematch in 2010 with mixed results. The beat played on for Hopkins as he pounded out a 12 round unanimous decision agaisnt Enrique Orneales but Jones could not keep pace as he was TKO's in the first round in Australia against home town favorite Danny Green. Jones had convinced himself that he was in top form by taking out faded fighters Omar Shieka (TKO 5) and Jeff Lacy (TKO 10th) earlier in the year but was sent crashing down to earth in the land down under.
The middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik returned from his injury induced lay off to finish off challenger Miguel Espino in an exciting brawl by 5th round TKO and his proposed challenger Paul Williams engaged in this writer's pick for fight of the year against Argentian Sergio Martinez, winning by a controversial unanimous decision that warrants a rematch. Negotiations seem to be back on for the previously cancelled Pavlik-Williams bout so Martinez may have to wait for his rematch.The year ended with a tease for boxing fans as deals were anounced and then cancelled, then rumored back on for the dream match between Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr. As of this writing the mathc appears to be dead, cause of death is the dispute over the method of drug testing which was prompted by Floyd Mayweather Sr.'s unfounded accusations of steriod use by Pacuiao. A March date was set for the fight and now it seems will be used for them to fight other fighters instead. Pacquiao has reportedly signed on for a tantalizing fight against rugged Joshua Clottey and Mayweather in typical Mayweather fashion may fight less than scintallating Mathew Hatton.
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