By Cliff Rold

Before the year felt like it had really even begun, Andre Berto and Luis Collazo were slugging it out on January 17 for the WBC Welterweight title.  It was, even that early, already a candidate for Fight of the Year.

It wouldn’t be the only candidate before the year was out.  It didn’t even stay much of a contender.  There are years where Berto-Collazo could have made a case but this was not one of them.

Amidst in and out of ring tragedies, debates, and controversies, boxing remained at its best within the confines of the squared circle.  The old complaint that the ‘best don’t fight the best’ in boxing was out the window as many of the very best did just that for the full calendar year.  From Bantamweight to Jr. Welterweight to Super Middleweight, the entire scale often felt like it was in on the action.

And, in naming a Fight of the Year, action is what it’s all about.  There were a number of strong candidates, and a close call in discussion among the editors, but ultimately the contest which looked like it would be the fight of the year when it ended on February 28, 2009 turned out to be just that.

Fight of the Year: Juan Manuel Marquez-Juan Diaz

Marquez entered the contest the reigning lineal Lightweight Champion of the World, making his first defense of the crown he’d won in September 2008 by becoming the first man to stop Cuban great Joel Casamayor.  Juan Diaz had lost only one of his 35 professional contests after unifying three of the major Lightweight title belts and was coming off a strong win over contender Michael Katsidis.  When Nate Campbell, the man who took Diaz’s belts, lost them on the scales and moved up to Jr. Welterweight just two weeks before Marquez-Diaz, it left this bout as a showdown between the two clear top men at 135 lbs.

The fight had a little bit of everything in its build.  Diaz, the Mexican-American college kid, attempting a defining victory in front of his Houston fans; Marquez, the aging Mexican lion, looking to further stamp himself every bit the Hall of Famer contemporaries Marco Antonio Barrera and Erik Morales became before him, perhaps partly because they weren’t matched with him.  As recalled in Jake Donovan’s post-fight report , the fight exceeded expectations.     

A Fight of the Year contender was promised going in, and both fighters did their damndest to live up to the hype from the opening bell. As expected, Diaz took the fight to Marquez, who remained calm under pressure in gladly accepting the role of counter puncher. What Marquez was forced to accept, however, was a frenetic pace. Both fighters combined for nearly 200 punches thrown in the opening round.

The action didn’t slow one bit in the second, much to the delight of the capacity crowd on hand. Even more to their pleasure was Diaz pinning Marquez to the ropes, landing a left hook in the corner and going on the attack. Marquez was momentarily shook but eventually did what he always does best – regroup, readjust and take the fight to center ring towards the end of the round.

Things threatened to slow down in the third, but Diaz went into perpetual motion mode late in the round, forcing yet another shootout. Marquez fought well moving backwards, outlanding his younger foe for the first time in the fight.

The violent two-way action spilled over into the fourth, drawing plenty of ooh’s and ahh’s as both fighters continued to let their hands go at an incredible rate. Marquez managed to throw more in the round and land the more telling blows.

Diaz came back with a vengeance in the fifth, targeting Marquez’ midsection. Marquez spent much of the round with his back touching the ropes, as Diaz never stopped throwing. By round’s end, Marquez was cut around the right eye, though it didn’t prevent him from digging deep and outworking Diaz by a considerable margin in the sixth.

The instructions from Diaz’ corner heading into the second half of the fight were to not allow the older fighter to ever again outwork him. The younger fighter didn’t quite follow orders in the seventh, but was competitive enough to force Marquez to fight at a much busier than desired pace, with his mouth agape as the round wore on.

Whatever transpired in the minute between rounds seemed to work wonders for Marquez, who came out rejuvenated in the eighth. Repeated left hooks landed to the body, as Diaz struggled to get his offense going while contending with a cut over his right eye. Marquez set traps along the ropes, inviting Diaz in then unloading with combinations. A left hook stunned Diaz late in the round, but Marquez remained poised, landing to the body then sliding backwards to avoid any potential incoming.

Two-way action returned in the ninth, with Diaz resuming his role of the aggressor. It worked well for him at fight’s start, but would ultimately prove to be his downfall. Diaz repeatedly charged forward, but it was Marquez’ combination punching that proved to be the overwhelming difference.

The beginning of the end came when an uppercut froze Diaz in his tracks with about 45 seconds left in the round. Marquez hesitated on a left hook, and instead threw a 1-2 upstairs, followed by another uppercut that led to the bout’s first knockdown.

Diaz took an eight count from referee Rafael Ramos, whose presence was hardly noticed for much of the fight. He would be needed moments later, when Diaz was overwhelmed by a body attack and the mother of all right uppercuts to flatten him. No count was needed, as the fight was waved off the moment his head slammed against the canvas.

The official time was 2:40 of round nine.

It wasn’t quite as good as the other Lightweight battle to take top honors this decade (Diego Corrales-Jose Luis Castillo I).  It was still great on its own terms.

If the fight lost just a touch of shine near the end of the year it was only because neither man looked the Herculean part again this year that they did in February.  Marquez moved up to Welterweight only to be shut out by a returning Floyd Mayweather.  Diaz fought Paulie Malignaggi twice in catchweight bouts between the Lightweight and Jr. Welterweight divisions, winning a controversial decision and then losing a clean one.

Those results should have no bearing on how this classic is recalled and over the long term will not.  The two best Lightweights in the world acted like it for nine rounds.  The rest of us were lucky to witness it.

Honorable Mention

Bernard Dunne-Ricardo Cordoba and Juan Manuel Lopez-Rogers Mtagwa : While they happened months, even nations, apart, these two fights are grouped together for one reason.

They happened at Jr. Featherweight.

This has been a decade blessed by the members of the 122 lb. ranks.  Without the Lightweight classic, one of these two bouts is the fight of the year, giving the division a sweep of half the decade along with Marco Antonio Barrera-Erik Morales I, Somsak Sithchatchawal-Mahyar Monshipour, and the second and third Israel Vasquez-Rafael Marquez wars.  Heck, it could have been six had Israel Vasquez-Oscar Larios II not had to compete with the first Arturo Gatti-Mickey Ward classic in 2002.

Instead, the division settles for four of the last ten.  That’s not so bad and these two savage attractions were a fitting way for the division to close its epic decade.  Both Dunne-Cordoba and Lopez-Mtagwa were great for different reasons.

Dunne was a local rooting favorite in Ireland in March but entered the underdog against the more experienced Cordoba.  Dunne fought with fury from the start, dropping Cordoba in the third and looking on his way to victory but the Colombian WBA titlist was just getting started.  He turned the tables on Dunne in the fifth, dropping him twice and appearing near to victory.  Instead, Dunne responded by willing himself back into the fray, finally sending Cordoba to the floor three times in the eleventh to end a brutal classic.

Unlike Dunn, Lopez came into his October contest with the wind at his back, his 12-loss opponent assumed a lock for defeat number 13.  Early on, it looked like the foregone conclusion would be just that.  Mtagwa was fighting hard, but Lopez’s speed and combinations were carrying the day.  A quick, iffy knockdown call in round five gave Lopez an early and commanding lead.

Mtagwa shrugged it off, kept coming, and by the last third of the bout had Lopez on his heels repeatedly.  He hurt him in the ninth; hurt Lopez worse in the eleventh.  By the final round, Lopez was summoning every ounce of courage he had to stay on his feet and make the final bell.  He did, and when he got there Lopez found his early lead enough to keep the undefeated mark he brought into the contest.  It was a fight that brought the ‘assured future superstar’ Lopez back down to Earth a bit and raised the stock of the rugged Mtagwa, allowing both their own wins by night’s end.

Paul Williams-Sergio Martinez : On December 5, fans were treated to a somewhat disappointing (on paper) replacement contest that ended up likely being better than what everyone was originally looking forward to.  Williams was supposed to be challenging World Middleweight Champion Kelly Pavlik but the fight fell apart due to outstanding medical issues for Pavlik.

In stepped the WBC Jr. Middleweight titlist Martinez for a non-title tilt at 160 lbs.  It was a classic from round one forward.  The lightning fast southpaw didn’t get off to the start he wanted, dropped by a Williams left for a flash knockdown but avenged the slight with a left of his own late in the opening frame and dropping Williams hard near the ropes.  Williams was hurt but beat the count.

Neither man would feel the floor near their back again but it wasn’t for lack of trying.  In a scorer’s nightmare, they would keep their feet and take the measure of each other with bursts of speed and offense for the next eleven rounds.  Williams threw more; Martinez was more accurate.  Both drew steady, earned applause.

At the end, Williams would emerge victorious with one judge scoring the contest even, another at seven rounds to five for Williams…and Pierre Benoist saw it 11-1 for Williams, leaving the outcome stained despite the quality of the action.  Everyone could live with the first two scores; almost no one save Benoist saw the rationale for the third.  It is a classic not yet ended, no real victor truly declared.

It’s a fight we might all just see again in 2010, meaning 2010 would already be off to one hell of a start.

More Honorable Mention: Light Heavyweights Jean Pascal and Adrian Diaconu gave boxing fans not one but two outstanding battles in 2009.  In the first, Pascal won the WBC crown but not without Pascal coming off the floor to give him hell.  In the second, Pascal worked through a badly separated shoulder without taking a backward step…In Japan, Nobuo Nashiro held on to his WBA Jr. Bantamweight belt in a rousing draw versus former World Jr. Flyweight champion Hugo Cazares ...and of course, Berto and Collazo deserve their tip of the cap for starting the year in style.

Cliff Rold is a member of the Ring Magazine Ratings Advisory Panel and the Boxing Writers Association of America.  He can be reached at roldboxing@hotmail.com