Year-end award debates always bring out the passion in boxing fans. And this year Fighter of the Decade is added to the mix, which ramps up the intensity even further.
The Boxing Writers Association of America has released it’s nominees for 2019 and the decade of the 2010s, which has kicked off the conversation.
Who is Fighter of the Year? The ageless Manny Pacquiao? Canelo Alvarez? What is the Fight of the Year? The five nominees were all thrilling. And Fighter of the Decade? That one takes some long, hard thinking.
Here are my winners in the main categories and the reasons I selected them.
FIGHTER OF THE DECADE
This one is particularly important, in my opinion, because the winner will be seen as the best of something akin to an era. And once the decision is made, it’s etched in stone.
First, here are the records of the nominees during the decade (in alphabetical order):
Canelo Alvarez 23-1-1 (16 KOs)
Wladimir Klitschko 11-2 (7 KOs)
Floyd Mayweather 10-0 (2 KOs)
Manny Pacquiao 12-4 (1 KO)
Andre Ward 11-0 (3 KOs)
I think it comes down to two fighters: Floyd Mayweather and Andre Ward.
Canelo Alvarez? The Mexican superstar has faced more elite opponents in the decade than any of the other nominees and he has won consistently.
The problem is that he hasn’t given a great performance against any of his best opponents, he arguably lost to Erislandy Lara and Gennadiy Golovkin in their first of two fights, and he was thoroughly dominated by another nominee, Mayweather.
I have a lot of respect for Alvarez but he is not the fighter of the decade.
Klitschko? He finished the 2010s with an embarrassing, one-sided loss to Tyson Fury and a gallant effort in a knockout loss to Anthony Joshua. Pacquiao? The worst record among the nominees, a one-sided loss against Mayweather and a one-punch knockout loss to Juan Manuel Marquez eliminates him.
That leaves Mayweather or Ward.
A vote for “Money” makes sense. He handled each of his opponents easily, with the exception of his first of two fights with Marcos Maidana. And he won clearly even in that meeting.
The same can be said of Ward, who emerged as a star by cruising through the Super Six World Boxing Classic in 2009-11. He, too, had no trouble with subsequent opponents, his exception being Sergey Kovalev in his first fight. Ward knocked out Kovalev in their rematch.
So where do I land? I lean toward Ward. I think he faced his best opponents when they were younger and fresher than Mayweather’s top foes, although Mayweather’s victory over Alvarez might’ve been the most-dominating performance of the 2010s.
And, finally Mayweather’s victory over MMA star Conor McGregor to run his record to 50-0 probably shouldn’t hurt his standing. I’ll say this, though: It leaves a bad taste in the mouths of many to this day.
Again, my vote goes to Ward.
FIGHTER OF THE YEAR
Here are the nominees and the opponents they defeated:
Canelo Alvarez – Daniel Jacobs (UD 12), Sergey Kovalev (KO 11)
Naoya Inoue – Emmanuel Rodriguez (KO 2), Nonito Donaire (UD 12)
Manny Pacquiao – Adrien Broner (UD 12), Keith Thurman (SD 12)
Errol Spence Jr. – Mikey Garcia (UD 12), Shawn Porter (SD 12)
Josh Taylor – Ivan Baranchyk (UD 12), Regis Prograis (MD 12)
I think this is Alvarez’s year. He defeated Daniel Jacobs by a unanimous decision in May, although the fight was close. And he closed out the year by moving up two divisions and knocking out Sergey Kovalev in the 11th round last month.
Alvarez’s performance against Kovalev wasn’t great – the fight was tight on the cards at the time of the stoppage – but the ending was spectacular.
I think Alvarez’s principal rival for the award is the ageless Pacquiao, who, at 40 years old, easily outpointed Adrien Broner and then defeated Keith Thurman by a unanimous decision.
That’s a fine year but, if we want to quibble, the smallish Broner has never performed well at welterweight and Thurman was still in the process of coming back from a long layoff, although the latter victory by Pacquiao was still special.
Errol Spence also had a good year, outpointing Mikey Garcia easily and then eking out a decision over an inspired Shawn Porter. In my opinion, though, Garcia was too small and the Porter fight was too close for Spence to get the award over Alvarez or Pacquiao.
Josh Taylor’s victories over Ivan Baranchyk and Regis Prograis were impressive enough to push him onto some pound-for-pound lists but he didn’t accomplish quite as much as the leaders here.
And I probably wouldn’t have included Naoya Inoue as a nominee because he struggled against a fighter (Donaire) whose best days are far behind him. I’m sure the Japanese star earned points by fighting through injuries against an inspired veteran, which to me was impressive but not enough to make him Fighter of the Year.
FIGHT OF THE YEAR
Gennadiy Golovkin UD 12 Sergiy Derevyanchenko
Naoya Inoue UD 12 Nonito Donaire
Manny Pacquiao SD 12 Keith Thurman
Andy Ruiz KO 7 Andy Joshua I
Errol Spence Jr. SD 12 Shawn Porter
Josh Taylor MD 12 Regis Prograis
I’m voting for Errol Spence vs. Porter. Again, all of these fights were entertaining. And I think the most dramatic of the bunch was the first Ruiz vs. Joshua meeting because of stunning nature of the upset and Ruiz’s domination.
However, in terms of sustained, back-and-forth action in what could’ve been a draw, nothing topped Spence vs. Porter. Porter was at his very best, pushing Spence to his absolute limit from beginning to end. Neither fighter could’ve fought harder than they did, which is all we can expect in any matchup.
TRAINER OF THE YEAR
Jay Deas/Mark Breland
Derrick James
Brian McIntyre
Eddy Reynoso
Manny Robles
I think this is Eddy Reynoso’s year, too.
I have to admit that I reserved judgment on Reynoso for years because he didn’t have a track record before Alvarez. Finally, however, I have to acknowledge that Reynoso has done a good job with primary protege.
He also trains Ryan Garcia and Oscar Valdez, who went 2-0 and 3-0, respectively, in 2019.
All in all, 2019 was very kind to Reynoso. And he deserves to be recognized.