By Dave Lahr: WBC middleweight champion Sergio Martinez (46-2-2, 25 KO’s) has my vote for fighter of the year in 2010 for his wins over Kelly Pavlik and Paul Williams. Those performances were something special in that Martinez, 35, made two good fighters look bad in easy wins for Martinez. There are some boxing fans that think Manny Pacquiao deserves the award for his wins over Johsua Clottey and Antonio Margarito. I don’t see either of those wins as even being worthy enough to have Pacquiao mentioned in the top 100 contestants for this away.

Sorry, but I don’t see much value in Pacquiao beating a guy like Clottey, who was coming off of a loss to Miguel Cotto at the time that Pacquiao fought him. Clottey was never considered the very best fighter in the welterweight division, and him losing to Pacquiao frankly didn’t surprise me. I still remember Clottey having troubles with former super featherweight champion Diego Corrales in 2007. Corrales, fighting his last bout before dying in a motorcycle accident, moved up two divisions to fight Clottey and gave him problems.

As for Pacquiao’s win over Margarito, that didn’t surprise me either. Margarito looked like a shell of himself since his win over Miguel Cotto in 2008, and was stopped in the 9th round by then 38-year-old Shane Mosley in 2009. In Margarito’s fight before the Pacquiao bout, he struggled against a fighter by the name of Ricardo Garcia, beating him by a 10 round decision but looking timid, weak and incredibly slow. It was like watching a completely different fighter. Margarito’s once impressive punching power was all but gone. Where it went, I have no idea, but it was gone. Beating Margarito was nothing special.

Martinez, though, has looked great in his wins over Williams and Pavlik. Martinez easily defeated Pavlik in April. At the time, Pavlik was considered to be the best fighter in the middleweight division. Martinez beat him with ease. And in the Williams fight, Martinez knocked Williams out with a single left hand to the head. Williams was considered one of the top fighters in both the junior middleweight and then middleweight divisions at the time.