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On September 29th in Atlantic City, trailing on the scorecards and forced to rally after climbing off the deck in the 2nd, the 8 to 5 underdog Pavlik turned up the heat to score a 7th round TKO over Taylor to win the WBC and the WBO middleweight titles. Despite getting dropped early in the 2nd, Pavlik continued to back the champion up and force Taylor to counter off the ropes after the challenger repeatedly landed staccato left jabs and straight right hands to the face with extra cheese. Pavlik was merciless after getting leveled and he repeatedly won a number of exchanges courtesy of straight right crosses, chopping right hands and whistling rights that continued to richochtted off Taylor’s profile. Bleeding from the nose the challenger repeatedly blasted away at the champion throughout the 6th, and Taylor was forced to give ground under Pavlik’s relentless attack. In the next round, the challenger rocked Taylor with two more laser-like left jabs followed by a riveting right cross, flush on the chin that turned the champion’s face to mush. With the fans on their feet and screaming, Pavlik again caught the champion in the corner and nailed Taylor with a crushing left uppercut to the chin followed by a seven-shot volley to the face. A right uppercut followed by two clubbing left hooks to the side of the skull drove Taylor into the floor just as referee Steve Smoger stepped in to stop the fight. The champion crashed to the canvas on his backside as Smoger jumped between the fighters and waved off the title fight at 2:14 of the seventh round. With three stunning victories in 2007, Kelly Pavlik rightfully earned the honor as the BT’s Fighter of the Year.

Honorable Mention: Joe Calzaghe. The 35-year-old Pride of Wales fought twice in 2007 and scored two victories. In April, the undefeated WBO super middleweight king scored a one-sided third round TKO over the outgunned Peter Manfredo Jr. Calzaghe returned to the ring in November to face the undefeated Dane Mikkel Kessler, who owned both the WBA & WBC belts. Fighting in front of 51,000 enthusiastic fight fans at Millennium Stadium, Calzaghe answered every charge from the hard-hitting Kessler rocking the previously unbeaten Dane several times and hammering his way to a convincing 12 round unanimous decision to earn the title as the world’s best 168-pound champion.

Honorable Mention: Floyd Mayweather Jr. “Pretty Boy” scored two huge wins in 2007 and added the moniker “Money” to his repertoire. In May, Mayweather scored a close 12 round split decision over Oscar De La Hoya, to win the Golden Boy’s WBC 154-pound belt. Mayweather returned in December and notched an electrifying 10th round TKO over the previously undefeated Englishman Ricky Hatton, as boxing’s version of the “money man” retained his WBC welterweight belt.

Fight of the Year: Any time you get two undefeated fighters swinging from the heels and landing shots with a title on the line you have a shot at fight of the year honors. That was the case last September in Atlantic City, when Kelly Pavlik climbed off the deck in the 2nd round and later in the fight with blood flowing from his nose trapped Jermain Taylor on the ropes and jacked the WBC middleweight champion with a brutal volley of hammering punches. In a fight that could have gone either way several times over the course of the contest, Taylor finally crumbled to the canvas and Pavlik was the new middleweight world champion.

Brawl of the Year: In a made for television reality series based on boxing, Sakio “The Scorpion” Bika traded knockdowns with Jaidon Codrington in the 1st, before scoring an electrifying eighth round TKO to capture the third-season finale of “The Contender” and claim the $750,000 jackpot. Boston fight fans were treated to a back alley brawl that saw both warriors take turns landing brutal shots that would have put most super middleweights on the deck and ended the evening. After both men stood toe to toe and traded wicked shots throughout the finale, Bika’s looping blasts eventually caught up with Codrington and spun him around and into the ropes in the eighth round. The fighter from Cameroon connected with three more hammering blows to the head and referee Dick Flaherty finally waved off the fireworks at the 2:18 mark.

Knockout of the Year: This past July in Atlantic City, IBF welterweight champion Kermit “El Asesino” Cintron hammered out the fifth ranked challenger Walter “El Terrible” Matthysse in under two rounds to retain his title. Working with riveting right crosses, the 27-year-old Cintron dropped the challenger from Argentina late in the first round to mark the first time Matthysse had ever been on the deck. Cintron floored the challenger in the opening seconds of the 2nd, and then dropped and stopped Matthysse with a crushing left hook to the jaw followed by a whistling right hand on the head. With the Argentine boxer flat on his back referee Earl Morton waved off the bout at 29-seconds of the second round and awarded the knockout victory to the impressive young welterweight champ.

Huge underdog Nonito Donaire captured the IBF/IBO flyweight titles with a brutal fifth-round knockout over
defending champ and previously undefeated Vic Darchinyan. Photo: Tom Casino/SHOWTIME

Upset of the Year: Seven to one underdog Nonito “The Filipino Flash” Donaire dropped and stopped the previously undefeated IBF flyweight champion Vic “The Raging Bull” Darchinyan to score a stunning and memorable fifth round knockout. Donaire connected with a classic counter left hook to the jaw that sent Darchinyan crashing to the canvas. The bloody champion managed to rise for a moment at the count of seven but his legs quickly gave way and he careened across the ring before collapsing into the ropes out on his feet. Referee Eddie Claudio quickly waved off the count at 38-seconds of the fifth round and awarded the younger, bigger and taller of the Donaire brothers the IBF championship. The historic victory set off a wild celebration in Filipino communities throughout California and in Manila and the Donaire hometown of General Santos City in the province of South Cotabato.

Bloodiest Draw: This was not a fight for the squeamish or the feint of heart. The Frenchman Jean Paul Mendy and the Pride of Mansfield, Ohio, Anthony Hanshaw hammered away at each other for twelve grueling rounds and at the end of the night with blood splattered on the canvas and with the fans standing and screaming the result was a draw. A rematch may be in the offering; however, it will take a while for Hanshaw to heal. The undefeated super middleweight sustained a brutal gash over his right eye that opened a vicious diagonal cut running north to south on his forehead after an accidental headbutt from Mendy in the final round put the conclusion of the contest in jeopardy. Hanshaw controlled the fist half of the bout but Mendy rallied down the stretch to pull even and notch the draw after twelve very heated and demanding rounds.

Worst Training Workouts: James Toney and his boardinghouse reach. Sam Peter dominated his fight from the outset last January and rocked the rotund 234-pound Mr. Toney, who claimed that he had spent considerable time training and working on his diet with Tae Bo infomercial guru Billy Blanks. Judging once again from Toney’s waistline and his performance, he would have been better served by watching Tom Emanski’s Fundamentals of Baseball, video collection.

Juan Manuel Lopez
Photo: Tom Casino/SHOWTIME Hottest New Prospect from Puerto Rico: Juan Manuel Lopez. The 24-year-old super bantamweight out of Caguas, Puerto Rico, had six fights in 2007 and he won them all on either TKO’s or knockouts.

Hottest Prospect out of Oxnard: “Viscous” Victor Ortiz. After starting the year and getting cut very badly from a Marvin Cordova elbow in a 1st round no-contest; the talented southpaw came back to score four straight KO’s and finished off 2007 with a first round destruction of Carlos Maussa, in Madison Square Garden.

Biggest Hotdog: Referee Joe Cortez.

Power Outage: Heavyweight Zuri Lawrence still has never scored a knockout in his 13 year pro career.

Best Light Heavy: Chad Dawson captured the WBC 175-pound belt by defeating the previously undefeated Tomasz Adamek from Poland, in February. Dawson came back to score wins over Jesus Ruiz (TKO 6) and then Epifanio Mendoza (TKO 4).

He Just Keeps Winning: California heavyweight Chris Arreola may not be the perfect looking banger but the big guy from Riverside, California scored 4 more KO’s in 2007, to run his record to 22-0, with 20 KO’s.

Best Ring Card Girls Worst Fight: When the highlights of a boxing card are the ring card girls, the celebrities in the crowd and enough cleavage to increase the overall height of the Santa Monica Mountains, well, you’re in for a tough night for geographers and strained necks. Rand McNally should be so lucky. Southpaw heavyweight hopeful Tony “The Tiger” Thompson pounded out a one-sided and rather lackluster ten round unanimous decision over his Uzbekistan counterpart Timor Ibragimov, at the Playboy Mansion in Beverly Hills. Hey, how many Bunnies have you ever met?

West Virginia Rules: Former WBO heavyweight world champion Tommy “The Duke” Morrison returned to the ring for the fist time in eleven years and scored a second round over TKO over John Castle. Morrison was compelled to retire from the sport after testing positive for the HIV virus back in 1996. However, after several tests were submitted, the State of West Virginia granted Morrison a license and he was allowed to continue boxing. Morrison maintained that his earlier test had been false positives and that he had never contracted HIV.

Best Nicknames Battle. Darnell “Ding-A-Ling Man” Wilson climbed off the deck following a second round knockdown to rally and score a third round TKO over former IBF cruiserweight champion Kelvin “Concrete” Davis. Worst Beating: Nate “The Galaxy Warrior” Campbell relentlessly pounded out a one-sided 12 round unanimous decision that seemingly had him winning every round against the outgunned southpaw Ricky Quiles. The bout could have been stopped as early as the tenth round, however, Quiles’ cornermen, referee Jorge Alonso and the local Florida boxing officials let the merciless pounding continue until the final bell.

Best Undercard Bout: 39-year-old veteran middleweight Darrell Woods scored a scintillating eight-round majority decision over Samuel Miller. The 14-year-pro Woods upset the previously undefeated prospect Miller with riveting right hands down the middle. However, Miller started the fireworks in the1st, by jumping on his opponent in the opening seconds of the fight and rocked and then drove Woods into the corner with a volley with whip-like right hands to the head. Looping overhand rights and roundhouse left hooks staggered Woods and almost drove him through the ropes in the opening round. It was a different story in the 2nd, as Woods began finding the range with his right hand and with 44-seonds to go in the round, he rocked Miller with a clean right cross to the jaw. The shot hurt the Colombian and he attempted to hold on, however, Woods continued to pull the trigger. With 10-seconds to go in the round, Woods caught Miller in the corner and nailed him with a laser-like right hand square on the jaw. Miller collapsed along the ropes and crumbled to the canvas coming to rest on his hands and knees. Both men continued to tee off on each other with thundering shots but Woods simply landed the harder punches to win a very entertaining eight-rounder.

Best Champion We Don’t Talk Enough About Miguel Cotto: The WBA welterweight king defended his belt three times in ’07, scoring a 11th round TKO over Oktay Urkal, a scalding 11th round TKO over Zab Judah and finally a brilliant hard fought 12 round win over Shane Mosley. Cotto is a classy guy and one of the stars in the sport.

World War I & World War II: In March, it was a night for shattered noses and broken dreams. Rafael Marquez captured the WBC super bantamweight after breaking the titleholder Israel “Magnifico” Vazquez nose in the 1st, and the champion valiantly struggled with his breathing until he was finally forced to retire after the seventh round. It was a different story last August in the rematch, as Vazquez hammered out a brutal sixth round TKO victory over Marquez. These two warriors are set to square off for the third time in March 2008.

Timber! Ray Austin Out On His Feet
Photo courtesty of Klitschko.com Gravity Is Thy Name (Great KO’s): IBF heavyweight champ Wladimir Klitschko landed four consecutive left hooks off of Ray Austin’s skull and ended the evening at 1:23 of the second round. Hard hitting Russian junior middleweight Andrey Tsurkan turned out the lights with one classic left hook to the chin and Sammy Sparkman ended up flat on the deck. Sparkman’s mouthpiece went sailing across the ring on impact, as his knees buckled and he crashed to the floor flat on his back out cold at 1:02 of the 9th round. Darling Jimenez floored Mike “The Powerful” Anchondo in the 2nd, and then in the next round he trapped Anchondo on the ropes and leveled him with a crushing left hook flush on the jaw. Anchondo crashed to the canvas face first unconscious and was counted out by referee Joseph Cooper at 2:05 of the third round. It was a classic knockout; the type that turns heads, jaws and stomachs in an instant. Swinging from the heels with just about every shot, Adrian Diaconu dropped his opponent twice in the 2nd and then finished off Rico Hoye to score a bloody third round TKO to capture the WBC light heavyweight title eliminator. After flooring the Detroit light heavy twice in the previous round, Diaconu nailed Hoye with a searing lead right cross followed by a savage left hook that ripped open his left eyebrow. Blood began pouring from the wound but Hoye remained upright, as Diaconu reloaded and then scored with another flurry of leather. Dazed and with blood cascading from the cut, Hoye dropped to one knee and referee Michael Griffin quickly halted the one-sided action at 32-seconds of the third round.

Undefeated cruiserweight Aaron Williams scored one of the more spectacular knockouts of 2007 by blasting his opponent De Leon Tinsley almost completely out of the ring. In a battle scheduled for six heats, Williams caught and rocked Tinsley with a hard left hook to the jaw at 1:49 of the second round. The shot wobbled Tinsley and Williams unloaded a crushing right hand to the jaw that had his opponent out on his feet. Williams managed to score with another left hook to the head and a brutal straight right cross to the chin, as the 36-year-old Tinsley careened across the ring. Tinsley bent forward at the waist and then fell awkwardly through the ropes landing unconscious on the apron. Fortunately Tinsley’s body literally came to rest right in front of the several Connecticut State boxing officials, who put up their hands and arms in time to cushion his fall. Referee Joe Cusano immediately waved off the bout at 1:18 of the third round and awarded knockout victory to the impressive 21-year-old Mr. Williams. In a brutal and bloody cruiserweight encounter, Darnell “Ding-A-Ling Man” Wilson captured the USBA belt by scoring a savage 11th round knockout over Nigeria’s Emmanuel Nwodo. Wilson caught Nwodo on the ropes with a crushing left hook to the jaw and the Nigerian fighter jackknifed backwards to the canvas with his legs still pinned underneath him. Nwodo was out before he crashed to the floor and referee David Fields immediately waved off the count at the two-minute mark of the 11th round.

WBO super bantamweight champion Daniel Ponce de Leon successfully defended his crown for the fifth time by scoring an electrifying first round TKO over the previously undefeated 21-year-old Rey Bautista, from Cebu City, in the Philippines. The southpaw titleholder Ponce de Leon from Chihuahua, Mexico floored Bautista with a sharp right jab followed by a wicked left cross to the chin with less than a minute to go in the opening round. Bautista hit the deck and went down on to one knee while staggering into the ropes. The Filipino challenger took the mandatory eight-count but he still seemed wobbly on his feet when the action resumed and Ponce de Leon opened up with another hammering volley. Three more straight left crosses on the button dropped the challenger for the second time and with Bautista down on one knee and against the ropes referee Jon Schorle waved off the contest at 2:30 of the first round. Southpaw IBF featherweight king Robert “The Ghost” Guerrero leveled Martin Honorio with a wicked left hand to the jaw within the first minute of their title fight. The challenger Honorio was able to beat the count but his hard wiring and balance were gone and after he staggered to his feet, referee Tony Weeks wisely called a halt to the title fight and awarded Guerrero a TKO victory at 56-seconds of the opening round.

John Duddy & Anthony Bonsante mix it up in Erin Go Brawl
Photo: Ed Mulholland/Irish Ropes Best Irishman in pursuit of a world title: Middleweight contender John Duddy

Worst Decision Of 2007: If you ever wonder what happened to two of the infamous “The Blind Mice,” well, wonder no longer; they are employed as boxing judges. The stench wafting west out of New York and across the country can be traced to a brutally bad 12 round split decision victory by Joel “El Cepillo” Casamayor over hard luck Jose Armando Santa Cruz. With the victory, the 36-year-old Cuban born boxer Casamayor retained his lightly regarded WBC interim lightweight belt. For almost the entire evening, Casamayor retreated, held, wrestled and then gave away more ground then when this nation was trying to settle Oklahoma. The angular Santa Cruz kept the pressure on the fleeing fighter the entire night and in fact even scored a knockdown in the first round, although replays revealed that the challenger dropped the off balance Casamayor with a clean left hook to the Cuban’s left elbow. Santa Cruz repeatedly landed the harder and cleaner blows throughout the contest by continually scoring with long right hands to Casamayor’s skull. The former Cuban Gold medal winner at the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona, Spain had not fought in 13 months and at times it appeared as if Casamayor was not only hampered by ring rust but he had been coated by corrosive oxidation over his entire body. A number of times in the showdown for the World Boxing Council interim 135-pound championship, Casamayor never threw a punch but rather greeted Santa Cruz with open arms and just held on until referee Steve Smoger separated the non-combatants. In the 8th, Santa Cruz jolted the lackluster Casamayor with a whistling right hand to the jaw and then drilled the former amateur star with a whip-like left hook flush to the chin. Fighting with his gloves down and turtle-like reflexes, Casamayor proved to be an easy target for Santa Cruz’s wide sweeping looping shots. Nevertheless, at the end of the evening, both judges Frank Lombardi and Ron McNair had Casamayor remarkably winning 114-113. Judge Tony Paolillo scored the bout 114-113 for Santa Cruz but even that card was exceptionally off.

Bad Decisions: Undefeated junior welterweight Demetrius “The Gladiator” Hopkins won a highly controversial ten round unanimous decision over Steve “2″ Pounds” Forbes, on a bad night in Las Vegas. The fight was seemingly close with Forbes landing the harder and cleaner shots by a narrow margin. However, the nephew of Bernard Hopkins, somehow managed to post a victory in a fight that the verdict had a decided ripe smell about it. Hopkins seemed to be on the short end of most the exchanges throughout the evening. However, when the verdict was announced to the crowd, the USBA 140-pound titleholder remarkably not only had won the fight but he had done so by such a large margin that the crowd loudly booed what can only be described as an odious decision. Judge Robert Hoyle scored the bout 118-110, while Dalby Shirley had it 117-111 and Glenn Trowbridge tallied 118-110, also for the lackluster Mr. Hopkins. Bad Decisions Dishonorable Mention: Almazbek “Kid Diamond” Raiymkulov scored a 12 round split decision over the heavy underdog Miguel Angel Huerta, in Rochester, New York. The southpaw Huerta scored early and often and his steady assault turned Raiymkulov’s face into a series of cuts, bruises and purple welts by the 9th round. Raiymkulov came on late in the fight to steal rounds, however, with 2:10 to go in the 11th, Huerta dropped the off balance native of Kyrgyzstan, flat on the wallet with a thundering counter straight left to the chin. The crowd saluted both boxers with warm applause for their efforts at the conclusion of the entertaining lightweight bout, however, the reaction turned to loud and angry boos when the verdict was announced. Don Ackerman scored the 114-113 for Raiymkulov, while Ruben Garcia had it 116-111 Huerta and Frank Adams gave the edge to Raiymkulov 114-113 for the narrow and tainted victory.

Down But Not Out: In Minneapolis, Minnesota, Art “The Polish Warrior” Binkowski got dropped three times in the 1st but rallied to score a stunning 8th round TKO over Raphael Butler. With one-minute to go in the bout, Binkowski hammered Butler with a clean right hand flush on the chin. Trapped in the corner and on the ropes, Butler’s skull snapped straight back and Binkowski unloaded a withering flurry of clubbing right hands and left hooks until flooring his opponent with two right uppercuts and a final right cross to the jaw. Butler crashed to the floor face first but managed to stagger to his feet with his mouthpiece hanging halfway out of his open mouth at the count of four. Butler spit out his mouthpiece and it was dutifully replaced by the referee Gary Miezwa. Once again Butler ejected his mouthpiece and the referee was forced to wave off the contest at 2:33 of the 8th round.

Sad Night, Sad Ending: Last April in Springfield, Missouri, Diego Corrales was knocked down late twice against Joshua Clottey and ended up on the short end of all three judges’ scorecards by a commanding margin. Over the course of his eleven-year pro career the boxer from Sacramento, California was knocked down a total of 13 times. No one could question Diego Corrales’ heart and his willingness to battle, however, coming off his third straight defeat, one wondered about the wisdom of letting him to continue to fight. One month later to the day, the 29-year-old former world champion was killed in a motorcycle accident.

Diego “Chico” Corrales
Photo: Tom Casino/SHOWTIME

Best Crowd: 51,000 fight fans turned out to see Calzaghe and Kessler square off at Millenium Stadium in Cardiff, Wales.

Worst Haircut: Leave it to the man with the “Golden Halo” sporting a hairdo that can best be described as Dutch Post Modern, Raymond “Hallelujah” Joval; a talented middleweight from Amsterdam in the Netherlands.

Best names on an Undercard: Heavyweight Zack Page scored a 5th round TKO over southpaw Troy Beets, at Packard Music Hall, in Warren, Ohio.

Bloodiest Title Fight of the Year: Blood continued to flow from the opening round until the conclusion of the WBC super featherweight title fight and almost all of it belonged to the challenger. An accidental clash of heads in the in the 1st, opened a nasty gash over Rocky Juarez’s left eye and for the remainder of the evening he found himself on the business-end of the champion Juan Manuel “Dinamita” Marquez’s relentless accuracy and the short end of the judges’ scorecards. The 34-year-old champion Marquez repeatedly tattooed the hard luck challenger Juarez with rocketing right crosses and spine twisting body shots that could turn most internal organs into pulp, while grinding out a decisive and commanding 12 round unanimous decision.

Bloodiest Title Fight 1 A: WBC super flyweight titleholder Cristian Mijares dominated and turned the heavy-hitting and wild swinging Jorge Arce into a bloody gargoyle. Mijares repeatedly landed wicked volleys and seemingly got the best of the heavy favorite Arce from the opening round. Whistling shots from the champion along with an accidental clash of heads resulted in Arce looking like a third rate actor in a teenage slasher movie. With blood cascading down Arce’s face from a nasty gash on the bridge of his nose and several smaller cuts around his eyes, the challenger’s blood turned the champion’s snow white trunks into a pinkish hue. Mijares continued to tattoo Arce with riveting right hooks and brutal left hands to the face in the later rounds, while a number of people in the first few rows ringside bore the traces of Arce’s blood on their sports coats and dresses. The title fight went the required distance and the bloody Arce finished the fight on his feet and was embraced by the winner Mijares at the conclusion of the contest.

Bloodiest Title Fight 2 A: There are a number of legendary Puerto Rican sports heroes led by Roberto Clemente, Felix Trinidad, Carlos Ortiz, Orlando Cepeda and Wilfredo Gomez. You can now add to that list the name of WBA welterweight champion Miguel Angel Cotto. With blood pouring from a cut in his mouth and over his right eye, Cotto was relentless in defending his crown and scoring a brutal and bloody 11th round TKO over Zab Judah. The champion strayed south of the border twice in the 1st and the 3rd rounds with low blows that sent Judah to the deck in agony and the champion lost a point following the second stomach churning foul. Nevertheless, Cotto continued his assault against the former undisputed 147-pound champion and repeatedly outmuscled and ripped into Judah with stunning left jabs, riveting short right crosses and enough body shots to make most ringsiders wince. The 26-year-old WBA king pummeled the challenger with wicked volleys and forced Judah to take a knee with little over a minute to go in the ninth round. Judah attempted to return fire but Cotto’s withering attack floored the challenger flat on his back early in the 11th, with a sharp right hand to the head followed by a neck snapping left uppercut to the jaw. Moment’s later, after catching the Brooklyn southpaw on the ropes with several more scalding shots including a searing left uppercut to the head followed by a clubbing left hook to the skull, referee Arthur Mercante Jr. jumped between the boxers to save Judah from any further punishment.

Bloodiest Title Fight 3 A: The world’s best 130-pounder Manny “Pac Man” Pacquiao turned up the heat after suffering a nasty gash in the corner of his left eye and with blood streaming down his face scored an electrifying eighth round knockout over challenger Jorge “Coloradito” Solis. The cut was caused by an accidental clash of heads in the 6th, but with blood continuing to cascade down his profile, the Filipino national hero Pacquiao began unloading his heavy artillery. The former 122, 126 and 130-pound world champion began tattooing the undefeated Solis with wicked right hooks to the jaw and jolting left crosses to the head. Solid hit the deck flat on his back and seemed to be on the verge of getting counting out until he rolled to an upright position at the count of nine. With a number of Filipino fight fans in attendance in Texas, Pacquiao continued to let his hands go and seconds later he dropped Solis for the second time from a flurry of punches that finished off the challenger with a riveting uppercut to the chin. Again the Solis crashed to the floor and the momentum of his body carried him out on the ring apron and partially under the ropes. Referee Vic Drakulich counted Solis out at 1:16 of the eighth round.

Stinker of the Year: After this one last May in Tulsa, Oklahoma at the Million Dollar Elm Casino, they needed to air out the building. It was an ugly fight pure and simple. Dressing it up with prose would be like putting perfume and a top hat on a rather large corpulent Oklahoma sow. Lightweight Zahir Rheem is a lazy fighter and despite his obvious physical talents he seemingly just went through the motions in posting a one-sided ten round unanimous decision over Cristobal Cruz. Raheem won by a convincing margin on all three cards but that’s only because judges don’t take off points for lack of style and effort.

Stinker of the Year 1A (Phew): Former WBC and IBF heavyweight world champion Hasim “The Rock” Rahman scored a lackluster ten round unanimous decision over Taurus “Bull” Sykes that had the locals reaching for the gas masks. The legendary late thoroughbred trainer Charlie Whittingham was fond of saying that strawberries and racehorses can go bad over night. That same logic can be applied to heavyweights, it’s just that sometimes it can take them a lot longer to become overripe. You can call it decline, you can call it decay but ultimately in the end it is difficult to escape the stink.

Stinker of the Year 2A: You can forget about the sleep aid Ambien, just put two third tier heavyweights together in the ring and you have the same effect. Fres Oquendo scored what can only be described as a pitiful effort over Cuban import Elieser Castillo to record a ten round unanimous decision. The best shots that Oquendo landed over the course of the 30 minutes of somnambulism were several semi-accidental head butts that opened wounds over both of Castillo’s eyes. For those not aware of the somnambulism or noctambulism it is a sleep disorder where the sufferer, in this case Oquendo and Castillo engage in activities that are normally associated with wakefulness while they are asleep or in a sleeplike state.

James Kirkland looks on after knocking Allen Conyers through the ropes. Referee Ray Corona stopped the bout at 2:56 of the first round and awarded Kirkland his 21st victory and 18th knockout.
Photo: Dwight McCann/SHOWTIME Thank You Showtime’s for James Kirkland: Four fights in 2007, one decision and three KO’s, including a bombs away slugfest in November from the Chumash Casino, in Santa Ynez, California. The 23-year-old southpaw headliner from Austin, Texas, Kirkland, (21-0, 18 KO’s) recovered from a first round knockdown to rally and drop Alan Conyers (11-3, 9 KO’s) twice before referee Ray Corona signaled an end to the fireworks at 2:56 of the opening stanza.

Nightmare Alley: At the end of the fight Australian tough guy Michael Katsidis looked like ground chuck. His left eye was a bloody mess and totally swollen shut. There were no less than three deep slices around his left eyelid and also a gruesome gash underneath his right eye but the fighter who looked like he had escaped from a teenage slasher movie had his hand raised in victory over the dazed Czar Amonsot. Despite suffering a serious cut over his left eye in the second round, Katsidis rallied and dropped the bleach blonde Amonsot, twice despite fighting with a mug that can best be described as a crimson mask. With blood splattered all over the ring, on the canvas and on each other, Katsidis repeatedly drilled the native of Tagbilaran, Bohol, in the Philippines with wicked and punishing salvos. By the end of night, there was so much of Katsidis’ blood in Amonsot’s hair that it had turned to a ghoulish pinkish hue. With the stunning and bloody win Katsidis captured the WBO lightweight interim title and also the attention of boxing insiders who were taken aback by his Tony Zale-like valor and determination.

Oklahoma Travesty: Undefeated super middleweight George “Comanche Boy” Tahdooahnippah (7-0, 6 KO’s) scored a brutal and frightening first round knockout over Mike “Action” Jackson (11-15, 8 KO’s). Previously, the 36-year-old Jackson, Hatfield, Arkansas had been KO’d 12 times and at the 1:06 mark, Tahdooahnippah landed a searing right cross to the jaw and his opponent crashed to the floor slamming into the canvas. With his legs crossed and twitching while he lay on the floor, Jackson appeared to be unconscious prior to crashing to the floor. The referee Gerald Ritter took one long look at the fallen fighter and waved off the fight at 1:55 of the opening round, in a bout that should not even have been licensed by Oklahoma. Hatfield was placed in a neck brace and he was removed from the ring on a stretcher. Given that the unfortunate Mr. Hatfield had been TKO’d, or simply knocked out eleven times in his 17 fights, there was more than enough blame to pass around.

Golden Retirement: Arturo Gatti, Erik Morales, Marco Antonio Barrera & Fernando Vargas.

Worst Trunks: Alan Conyers’ black & white pinto trunks capture the worst award. However, Puerto Rican cruiserweight Francisco “The Wizard” Palacios, looked like he had liberated an old red and blue sequined pair from Hector “Macho” Camacho. They were bad enough to make even the Village People blush.

Best Body Punch: Trailing on all three judges’ scorecards for the entire fight, Gerry Penalosa had been eating leather from the opening bell, however, with seconds remaining in the seventh round the challenger nailed WBO bantamweight champion Jhonny Gonzalez with a classic left hand to the liver. Gonzalez took a step back and then went down as if he had been hit by recoilless rifle fire. The champion dropped to all fours with his head looking straight down into the canvas. Gonzalez managed to make it to his knees but in silent agony and unable to get any air he was counted out by referee Pat Russell at 2:45 of the seventh round. Upon Further Review: The New York State Athletic Commission changed the ruling in a ‘no-contest” between Delvin Rodriguez and Keenan Collins. Either a clean counter right hand, or a second round clash of heads opened a nasty gash over Collins’ left eye. With blood curling down the side of Collins’ face the fight was halted and ruled, “no-contest” after the second stanza of a bout scheduled for ten heats. Referee Eddie Claudio maintained the wound was the result of an accidental headbutt, however, ringside monitors appeared to reveal it was a punch rather than Rodriguez’s skull that opened the cut that forced the fight to be stopped. After viewing the videotape, the contest was changed to a 2nd round TKO victory for Rodriguez.

Reversal of Fortune: Victor Oganov climbed through the ropes at the Emerald Queen Casino with a perfect record and 26 straight KO’s. He exited cut and bleeding and needing a steady hand to help him back to his dressing room. Luck in professional boxing can change swiftly and without mercy and no one knows that axiom better than the previously undefeated Russian super middleweight Oganov. Colombia’s Fulgencio Zuniga rallied from a controversial first round knockdown to drop and stop the WBO’s number-eighth ranked contender Oganov and score a bloody ninth round TKO. Zuniga came into the Tacoma showdown with just two losses on his record. Back in 2003, he dropped a 12 round unanimous decision to Daniel Santos for the WBO junior middleweight belt and in October of 2005, Zuniga was TKO’d in nine round by the hard-hitting Kelly Pavlik. Nevertheless, the battle tested Zuniga simply had too much heat on his shots for Oganov and he repeatedly teed off on the Russian after climbing off the deck in the opening round.

A victorious Andre Ward strikes a pose after his 14th consecutive pro victory. Photo: Tom Casino/Showtime

Time to make a move in 2008: Andre Berto, Anthony Peterson, Lamont Peterson, Andre Ward, Julio Cesar Chavez Jr, Abner Mares and Urbano Antillon.

Pure Heat & Heart: WBA, IBF and WBO lightweight champion Juan “Baby Bull” Diaz. Wins over Acelino Freitas (TKO
and Julio Diaz (TKO 10) leave little doubt the 24-year-old Mr. Diaz is one of the best in the sport.

The Kid Can Whack: Undefeated 21-year-old junior middleweight Vanes “Nightmare” Martirosyan (17-0, 12 KO’s) is a kid to keep an eye since he started training with Ronnie Shields. Martirosyan is from Abovyan, Armenia but he now lives and fights out of Glendale, California. If Shields can develop his jab to go along with Martirosyan’s jackhammer right cross it will be interesting to see how far this guy’s talent takes him.

That’s All Folks: The beer was still ice cold, the seats not even warm and the previously undefeated heavyweight Travis Walker only threw two punches. Yep, that’s right two shots. The fight lasted exactly 15 ticks on the clock. Dancing With The Stars should be over so quickly. Welcome to Palookaville, USA, which on this Friday night under an ominous sky doubled as the California State capital city of Sacramento. T.J. Wilson, who must have been double parked wasted no time, in point of fact hardly any time at all in registering a TKO at 15-seconds of the first round over the stunned Walker. With the victory, Wilson captured the lightly regarded IBA Continental Americas heavyweight title. It should be also pointed out it almost takes as much time to describe the dubious belt that Wilson was awarded, as it did for him to win the fight. The southpaw Wilson lumbered across the ring as soon as the bell rang and unloaded a torrent of thundering roundhouse shots that drove Walker back into the corner. Two clubbing overhand lefts to the head followed by a right hook pinned Walker on the ropes. Wilson fired another half dozen shots that all seemingly caught the 28-year-old Walker flush on the jaw and chin. When the last two shots landed Walker’s shoulder slumped, his hands dropped and his head sagged awkwardly looking down directly at the floor. Veteran referee Raul Caiz jumped between the fighters and waved off the contest, as Walker momentarily rocked sideways on shaky legs. The Sacramento fight fans lustily booed Caiz decision to stop the exceptionally brief encounter that had been scheduled for 12 rounds.

Most Fouls: In a bruising and foul filled eight round lightweight encounter, Josesito Lopez hammered out a grinding unanimous decision over the veteran Tyrone Harris. There were enough low blows, choke holds, takedowns, lacing and rabbit punches to even embarrass the late Harry Greb. Referee Bobby Howard more than earned his money in a lightweight encounter that had just about everything but drop kicks and fly half-mares. There was no love lost between either fighter and in the early going; the southpaw Harris shoved his opponent to the floor with a forearm to face to straighten up Lopez. Harris then followed with a leg trip that sent the Riverside, California boxer crashing to the deck. Harris repeatedly strayed south of the border and eventually the referee Howard deducted a point for his lack of accuracy and manners. There was a great deal of holding and Lopez retaliated by nailing Harris with a wicked head butt that caught his opponent flush in the face, as he drove the lefthander back into the ropes. Not to be outdone, Harris answered with a variety of rabbit punches that rocketed off the back of Lopez’ skull and could have only pleased Bugs Bunny. Nevertheless, Lopez landed the harder and cleaner shots to win the contest on all three judges’ scorecards and post the bruising victory. There are no plans to exchange Christmas cards.

Best right cross: Vernon Forrest.

Gone but not forgotten: Jackson Bussell, Angelito “Lito” Sisnorio, Anis Dwi Mulya, Hank Kaplan, Hugo Pastor Corro, Von Clay, James Oyebola, Jim Hegerle, Sugar Cliff, Jimmy Martinez, Nestor Carlos Jimenez, Deeden Kengkarun, Carol Castellano, Marv Jensen, Joey Olguin, Johnny Gonsalves, Yvon Durelle and Diego Corrales.

Year In Review Archive: 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006

Source: 2007 Boxing Year in Review