2009 in Review: Fighter of the Year & other awards & videos!

Thx. Updated!

 

Comeback of the year:
Amir Khan, TD5 Barrera, UD12 Kotelnik, TKO1 Salita

Boxing is a cruel sport: not in any other sport a single loss can be career-changing, so when they say "it’s how you come back", you know it’s not just a cliché. The UK’s hugely talented young star, Amir Khan was crushed in just 54 seconds last September by unknown Colombian Breidis Prescott, and since Khan’s chin was a big issue before, the Olympic medalist’s young career was in tatters. So who would’ve predicted Khan’s next 12 months? Amir however quickly teamed up with famed trainer Freddie Roach and after a tune-up, he started 2009 with a biggie: a 12 round lightweight bout vs. ring legend Marco Antonio Barrera.

The Mexican, despite showing his age and being outsized at 135, was no tune-up: Marco looked at Khan as a stepping stone as much as Khan looked at him. On his mind was - and still is - the 4th division championship, something no Mexican has ever achieved. Our polls suggested that the fight was too early for Amir: more than 60% predicted Barrera by knockout. But Khan was too fast and too sharp from the very beginning, and when a clash of heads a few minutes in opened a huge cut on the top of MAB’s face (and a small on Khan’s), it became even worse for the legend. Speed, age, energy level and clear vision proved to be a too big edge for Khan who won every second until the fight was stopped and a technical decision was announced in R5. There was no stopping here: Frank Warren quickly secured a world title fight vs. The Ring top5 light welterweight Andreas Kotelnik (coming off a Marcos Maidana victory), and Khan - not having fought at 140 pounds before with our polls suggesting it’s a 50-50 fight - dominated the skilled Ukranian from start to finish to win a shut-out. So just 10 month off his crushing defeat, Amir was a legit LWW champion, and closed the year in (Prescott) style: it was his turn to blow out an opponent in just a minute. Unbeaten mandatory Dmitry Salita was down hard just 10 second into the fight, and Khan just blew him away after a second knockdown. Who would’ve predicted such a year?

Other candidates:
- Jean Pascal 2xUD12 Adrian Diaconu
- Danny Green TKO1 Roy Jones Jr.
- Brian Viloria KO11 Ulyses Solis
- Paulie Malignaggi UD12 Juan Diaz
- Nishioka Toshiaki TKO3 Jhonny Gonzalez
Underrated comeback: Robert Stieglitz TKO11 Karoly Balzsay


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Brave effort of the year

Boxing is often a calculated sport meaning the fighters with the strong promotional/TV backing are usually satisfied with okay match-ups and minor risky bouts. However, fortunately for us fans, a few took a huge risk with excellent chance of losing when they didn’t really have to: here they get a big RESPECT for their effort in 2009. No particular order.
- LW champion Juan Manuel Marquez taking on WW Floyd Mayweather at 147lbs
- Former FlyW and reigning LWW champ Pacquiao taking on WW champ Miguel Cotto at 145lbs
- LHW champ Zsolt Erdei taking on CW champ Giacobbe Fragomeni on short notice at 200lbs
- LMW champ Sergio Martinez taking on P4P-er Paul Williams at 160lbs on short notice
- Jermain Taylor participating in Super Six and taking on KO artist Arthur Abraham coming off the bad Carl Froch loss
- Undisputed SFlyW champ Vic Darchinyan taking on BW champ Joseph Agbeko
- MW/SMW Enrique Ornelas taking on Bernard Hopkins at 175lbs
- Roy Jones Jr. taking on KO artist Danny Green in Australia at CW catchweight of 180lbs despite the Hopkins fight being signed
- ring veteran & BW champ Gerry Penalosa taking on KO artist Juan Manuel Lopez at SBW
- 8-0 LHW contender Beibut Shumenov taking on LHW champ Gabriel Campillo
- LWW champ Juan Urango taking on WW champ Andre Berto

 

Thx Boo. But hey, I need to view it first before adding to the FOTY candidates, and I have no idea where to get a copy. But it should not be discussed here if you know what I mean.

 

Nishioka finally picks up world title after 15 years, upsets Gonzalez in 1st defense:
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Amir Khan makes Prescottesque statement:
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Bravery turned wrong: Jones loses to dangerman Danny Green in Australia:
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You might be right, one of the 10 most popular ESB words in the title could create some extra attention, such as "Fraud", "steroid" or "exposed", I guess "2009 in review" is not offensive enough.