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![]() Boxing is a sport with no seasons, no set period where all heads turn in its direction and watch the best out of seven games or an entire Sunday evening in January. Boxing can be seen a couple times a month on the premium networks and quite often at least once a week on regular cable. Throw in a pay-per-view card a month and that’s the closest to a “set schedule” boxing fans can expect. For the most part, boxing, like the way we toll time on ourselves, is measured in years. This isn’t a rule or any sanctioning body’s mandate from on high. It’s just something that’s always done. The Ring magazine, the widely accepted conscience of the sport, has always given annual awards and so has most everyone else. The web page where you found this story was lit up with 2003 retrospectives and awards over the last two weeks. So a year seems to be the accepted time period. We’re past the first week of 2004 already. Time flies. Most of us are still catching ourselves accidentally writing 0 3 when we write the date and we’ve already seen Acelino Freitas move up to 135 and Kassim Ouma become the best of the 154 pounders in line for a title shot. With Jermain Taylor and Nate Campbell set to fight tonight we’re leaping forward into January with both feet and 2004 is looking good. So, at the risk of repeating a lot of the same awards and selections for the Best This and That, what follows is this writer’s opinion of the BEST AND WORST OF 2003. It’s more a list than an article, but there are numerous ramblings about my own selections and there’s the airing of some of my grievances with what went down in `03. Best wishes to all for 2004. ![]() Honorable Mention: ![]() ![]() Vitali Klitschko, Antonio Tarver and both Marquez brothers also deserve recognition for having a great 2003. Upset of the Year Manny Pacquiao KO11 Marco Antonio Barrera Corrie Sanders KO2 Wladimir Klitschko Ricardo Mayorga TKO 3 Vernon Forrest tied with Cory Spinks W12 Ricardo Mayorga ![]() Rocky Juarez KO10 Antonio Chelo Diaz with the minutes waning in a fight that may have been close, Rocky Juarez uncorked one of the best left hooks thrown this year and put Chelo Diaz to sleep in a crumpled heap over his corner. ![]() The final round knockdown was about as spectacular as it gets. The bout joined Dwight Muhammad Qawi versus Evander Holyfield as one of the very best cruiserweight title fights of all time. Honorable Mention: Scott Pemberton vs Omar Sheikaok, so neither of these guys is the best fighter in their division, they’re still solid contenders who fought a scorcher at Foxwoods, in the same ring where Jirov and Toney brawled. With Pemberton down twice and nearly out on his feet in the eleventh, only his busy jab and perhaps the New England location of the fight helped him win a close split decision. In two weeks they’ll fight again and you can expect more fireworks, but don’t be surprised if Sheika stops this one from getting to the hands of the judges. ![]() ![]() ![]() Luis Perez-Felix Machado 1 and 2why the exciting rematch was on the un-aired portion of Don King’s marathon card I don’t understand…oh wait, it was probably to make room for Ruiz-Rahman! ![]() HBO’s Legendary Nightswhen first announced this series sounded like a mouth-watering look back at some amazing fights. It turned out to be more of a teaser that just made you search for videotapes of the fights they featured. There was painfully little actual fight footage in these docudramas and only the Chavez-Taylor show really impressed this fan. But hell, as far as I’m concerned HBO scored really big later in the year with Carnivale. HBO’s World Championship Boxingthe best boxing coverage on TV fell short this year and with the addition of Al Bernstein to Showtime, HBO’s stranglehold at the top of the business is slipping. There were just too many nights where you were better off turning the sound all the way down in order to get a less clouded view of what was actually happening. The gang treated too many close fights like blowouts (i.e. Mosley-DeLaHoya, Campbell-Casamayor and Forrest-Mayorga 2) and they have got to stop their fascination with Compubox statistics. Punch stats are intriguing but they are simply a quantitative look at a fight and there should be a margin of error included with the display of these stats. I refuse to believe that Compubox operators are always one hundred percent accurate. Adding a graphic that states the numbers listed may be off by plus or minus a few punches will only help the statistics’ credibility not undermine it. Black Eye of the Year: Bob Arum and Oscar DeLaHoya’s pleas for judging investigations after the Mosley fight Dishonorable mention: Laila Ali versus Christy Martin Talk of Mike Tyson versus K1 Fighter Bob Sapp Fighters to watch in 2004: O’Neil Bellhe’s a cruiserweight but don’t hold that against him, this guy is exciting. His fight with Mike Tyson look-a-like Kelvin Davis was one of the 10 best this year and his destruction of Derrick Harmon last month was equally impressive. If he fights Wayne Braithwaite soon we might end up with another great cruiserweight bout in 2004 that rivals this past year’s Jirov-Toney. Dominick GuinnGuinn is far more skilled than the much ballyhooed Joe Mesi and much more likely to propel himself into the title picture than Buffalo’s favorite son. Guinn has some lapses in focus and motivation during fights but since when has there been a decent heavyweight prospect without a few psychological wrinkles? 2004 Wish-List: Mike Tyson versus Don King-if Mike doesn’t have the self-discipline to work through a full camp to fight Clifford Etienne forget about Roy Jones. Mike needs money, that we know, but wouldn’t it be a lot less risky for him and the sport if he goes through with the lawsuit versus King and enjoys his retirement? Roy Jones Jr. versus James Toney 2, Antonio Tarver 2 or Bernard Hopkins 2If Roy doesn’t fight one of these three former foes this year he needs to retire. Leave Tyson alone, beating him now would mean next to nothing. Don’t waste our time, Roy. Floyd Mayweather Jr. versus Juan Lazcano or Ricky HattonOk, so Pretty Boy wants to move up in weight, fine but don’t leave without fighting Lazcano first! That match-up is the only one that would settle who the best at 135 really is. But if Floyd must move up I can’t imagine a more exciting match-up than Mayweather-Hatton at 140. Sugar Shane Mosley versus Kassim Ouma assuming Mosley emerges the victor against Wright, this match-up should be an exciting one that would be a MUST for the big room at MSG. Manny Pacquiao versus Erik Moraleslet’s hope Pac-Man fights Marquez too but I think he’ll match-up better with El Terrible and there’s no way the folks at Compubox will be able to keep track of the leather thrown in this one. And a few more while we’re at it Jeff Lacy versus the winner (or even the loser) of Pemberton-Sheika 2 Juan Diaz versus Courtney Burton Luis Perez versus Mark “Too Sharp” Johnson CONTINUE: Doghouse Boxing's POUND-FOR-POUND BEST IN BOXING Alex Pierpaoli has been obsessed with the Sweet Science for the past 18 years and is both a fan and a writer. He has a degree in English from the University of Maine. Send comments or questions to: mmhagler@comcast.net |
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