2014 Individual Performance of the Year

Yes, astoundingly.

Not that I would've voted for it, but seems a fairly obvious nomination.

Vasyl fans dropped the ball on that one.

 

Bundu had beaten good welterweights.

What featherweights did Russell beat?

 

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo!

I wholeheartedly concur. This is the problem, I think, Nonito Smoak for instance has been having with this process (or was, think we're on the same page by now) - distilling performances based on...well performance, and not just name value.

Recent form of the opponent and how you look dispatching them factor in and can matter just as much as the opponent's standing heading in. Absolutely. There is kind of a murky formula to it, with all of those components in the equation and given whatever subjective multipliers you feel in your best judgment correspond with how weighted each factor deserves to be.

Russell Jr. was a) less accomplished in his weight division than Bundu was in his (I'm the biggest Johnny "Greatest Active Chin In Boxing" Ruiz fan you'll find, but he was Russell's best win at that point, and in no way does he compare with...well, anybody that Bundu beat in his Euro title reign), b) hadn't demonstrated, because of that lack of top-notch competition, that he was any better than Bundu in h2h/p4p terms, and c) his tactics against Lomachenko were idiotic, whereas Bundu fought very cleverly against Thurman.

Bundu was the more decorated man, with more proven h2h worth, and put on a better performance losing than Russell did. (look at the damn connect stats! - or if you're not a believer in stats, watch the fights yourself. Russell missed a boatload of punches, and Lomachenko connected a high %; meanwhile Bundu was very conservative in his output but also didn't embarrass himself the way Russell did with all those misses and consequently didn't have to pay with getting countered as much, as Thurman landed at the much lower clip than Loma...)

Right. That's because of how Bundu fought. When somebody is that negative you adjust your expectations. You don't look for "pretty". You look for effective...and Thurman kept his cool and remained effective, doing enough to win every round in a poised manner with Bundu proving to be as frustrating as possible.

You grade on a curve.

Russell came at Lomachenko spraying quick-handed flurries and basically saying "counter my ass, please! " - providing a much lower degree of difficulty to "look pretty" (or effective).

They are...but Hopkins isn't? :huh

Before you say "Yeah but Hopkins has fought at a high level until just recently before this recent one-sided loss" - well, yeah. So have both Narváez and Bundu. That same exact statement applies to all three.

That's a pretty ridiculous double-standard. Why is he an exception? Hopkins is significantly greater than Narváez (let alone Bundu) and his longevity and career in general stand above the rest, but he isn't the only boxer to maintain a high h2h value into advanced age. They may not be in the infield with him but Narváez and Bundu are in the same ballpark as far as "ageless wonders" go. He is the greatest example, but he isn't the only one.

Neither had Bundu or Narváez.

Wait - you think Narváez was "dominated" by Donaire? :blood

Narváez made a complete fool of Donaire, a total and complete jackass. That was his intention - get paid for basically showing up and punish Donaire for his penchant for picking on smaller and/or perceived-to-be-shopworn opponents. Narváez laughed his way back to Argentina. He did everything he set out to do in that match-up. He basically traded away his zero for the payday he never would have received at home in his natural weight class. He felt he was owed something, and may not have been wrong (distasteful as it may be to some fans to see a world champion mock the sport by running around the ring playfully with no intention of engaging, knowing he just came for the check - in this case it may be excused, if not entirely condoned, given the background of both Donaire & Narváez).

Narváez being dominated was absolutely something never seen before. Donaire - while on most p4p lists - failed to do it. Inoue - in his eighth pro bout - succeeded.

Notoriously feather-fisted, eh, Boxrec warrior?

Because his KO% is low? Well guess what? Lots of guys have low KO%s but start coming on late in their careers showing they did indeed have power all along (or developed it along the way) but have improved their technique or ramped up their aggression, whatever the case may be: Hozumi Hasegawa, Lee Selby, etc.

Let's review:

Only person to ever knock out Rafal Jackiewicz (Brook stopped him on his feet, and Branco retired him in his corner) in sixty bouts, with a body shot.

Dropped Gavin with a body shot.

Only person to knock out Lee Purdy (Alexander retired him)

Only person to ever stop Moscatiello.

Demolished El Massoudi in two minutes, faster than anyone ever has.

I wouldn't exactly say feather-fisted. He is a sharp counter-puncher with adequate power, he just doesn't usually seek the knockout as a rule.

As for Thurman being forced on the backfoot, you're exaggerating if that's how you're hoping to classify the entire night. Thurman was made to respect Bundu's counters at times, yes, but it was Thurman by and large attempting to make the fight and Bundu not cooperating. (but still cooperating to more of an extent than say, Narváez did with Donaire, as Bundu at least did land some spiteful counters to get Thurman's attention)

2nd place.

 

Frankie Gavin

Daniele Petrucci

Stefano Castellucci

Lee Purdy

Ismael El Massoudi

Rafal Jackiewicz

Antonio Moscatiello

Was on his way to beating Abis (knocked him down) when it ended prematurely and became a NC/TD.




If you don't think anyone there is "any good", hey... enjoy your insanely high standards. I don't ever want to see you praising anyone that's strictly European level, though.