By Gerardo Granados: As always, I want to thank all the anonymous fighters who at all the corners of the world put up great fights to please us, the fight fans. This 2021 we got more than enough fights to enjoy.
But not everything was that great, as the circus events kept on being portrayed as main events by major boxing media puppets, leaving deserving real prizefighters out of the spotlight.
This year Gervonta Davis got exposed as a one-dimensional fighter. We also saw how Canelo Alvarez, who moved up from the welterweight division, still relies on a freakish punch power and not on his overall boxing skills to beat a much better boxer in the name of Caleb Plant, and also witnessed how Kronos finally ended Manny Pacquiao´s boxing career.
Oh yes, another year went by wasted by the application of the same ineffective policies to deal with the same problem they promised that would be fixed with their magic wand.
Let´s announce the 2021 Boxingnews24 Award winners:
The heinous Robbery of the Year goes to Robson Conceicao vs. Oscar Valdez. After having tested positive for peds, Valdez wasn’t only not suspended; but still was allowed to defend his WBC super-feather strap instead of getting stripped from it. Then Oscar got unexplainable favorable scores against Conceicao, such as 115-112 x2 and a statue size ludicrous 117-110.
Mismatch of the year goes to Kubrat Pulev versus Frank Mir. It is odd, but the info of this bout disappeared from Boxrec. But hey, you can still find a video of it if you are interested to see Mir, a former UFC heavyweight champion to get knocked out by a merciful Pulev in less than one round.
This year, the 42-year-old Mir debuted, losing a unanimous decision to an over-the-hill Steve Cunningham last April. On his second pro boxing bout, he was fed to the 40-year-old but still experienced – dangerous Pulev. This type of fight is dangerous and must be prevented at all costs.
Trainer of the year goes to Ben Davison.
Female boxer of the year goes to the undisputed and undefeated WBC – WBA – IBF – WBO lightweight Queen Katie Taylor.
Upset of the Year goes to Sandor Martin’s victory against Mikey Garcia. I am sure no one thought that Martin would not only defeat but could have imagined that Sandor would dominate the experienced Garcia the way he did.
KO of the year goes to Jose Zepeda’s first-round merciless destruction against Josue Vargas. There were other beautiful KOs this year, and I bet the reader might disagree with my pick, but for me, this was the best of all.
Fighter of the Year goes to Josh Taylor for conquering the super lightweight division, winning a unanimous decision against Jose Carlos Ramirez.
The Tartan Tornado wasn´t unexplainably ahead in the scorecards or was clearly outboxed – outclassed, and then landed a freak powerful lucky punch in the 11 round to stop his opponent.
No, the newly crowned undisputed 140-pound Champion controlled the fight and showed the skills of a real top-pound-for-pound boxer. Special mention to Aleksandr Usyk for his domination of Anthony Joshua to conquer the WBA – IBF – WBO heavyweight titles.
Fight of the Year goes to the Tyson Fury versus Deontay Wilder 3; this trilogy resulted in a thrilling battle that will be remembered in years to come.
No serious fight fan could have missed this one. Special mention to Chocolatito Gonzalez vs. Gallo Estrada 2 and Sam Eggington vs. Bilel Jkitou epic battles.
I want to congratulate the 2021 Boxingnews24 Awards winners and wish the reader a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.