By Jake Donovan
If there’s a single item that can help put into perspective how terrific of a year it’s been for boxing, it’s the honoring of 2009’s Fighter of the Year.
In most other years, fighters such as Vitali Klitschko, Tim Bradley and Andre Ward warrant consideration for top honors for the campaigns each have led in the past 12 months.
But 2009 was not like most other years. It was a year in which terrific fights were made and the history books were rewritten.
The latter has everything to do with the Fighter of the Year category slowly but surely becoming a one-man race as the year unfolded, despite what on paper appeared to be stiff competition from the aforementioned fighters.
But when all was said and done, the names on that list were no match for Manny Pacquiao, who once again ends a year with BoxingScene.com’s Fighter of the Year award in tow.
Once again, as in this year marks the third time in the past four years that the Filipino southpaw has been granted such honors.
The old phrase “third time’s a charm” isn’t exactly applicable here, as it’s normally reserved for those who’ve twice fallen short of a particular goal before getting it right on the third try.
But for Manny Pacquiao, the third Fighter of the Year honor stands above his previous two because 2009 was about making history.
Twice.
When 2009 began, the sport was faced with a daunting task – finding a way to reinvent the wheel. Ratings were way down across the board. The current pay-per-view business model was finally recognized as severely flawed, with an alarming number of a la carte telecasts failing to hit their target.
It wasn’t until May 2 did the boxing public endure its first major pay-per-view telecast, a night that coincided with the return of 2008’s Fighter of the Year. Pacquiao wasn’t to be found in a prize fight since the career-ending beating he dished out against Oscar de la Hoya almost five months prior.
The de la Hoya fight was the only fight in 2008 in which Pacquiao didn’t fight with a major title at stake, but proved to be by far the most significant from a financial standpoint. Even with the rumored and eventual return of Floyd Mayweather, it was Pacquiao who was viewed as the sport’s biggest attraction as we entered the new year.
And that was before his historic run.
It was a testament to his greatness that Pacquiao was tabbed as the betting favorite for his challenge of the World super lightweight crown against long-reigning champion Ricky Hatton, who’d never lost at the 140 lb. weight limit in which he’s spent nearly his entire career.
Hatton’s only loss came at the hands of Floyd Mayweather, Jr., 17 months prior in a failed bid to capture the welterweight crown. He never came close to losing at 140, including a dominant 11th round stoppage of the very capable Paulie Malignaggi in his most recent performance.
None of that mattered once the opening bell rang for the May 2 main event at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada. It took Pacquiao all of six minutes to make history, flooring Hatton three times en route to a devastating second round knockout that will score even more honors for the Filipino southpaw.
Even in an era where title belts are a dime a dozen, Pacquiao became just the second fighter in boxing history to win a championship in six separate weight classes, joining his previous victim Oscar de la Hoya.
Where Pacquiao separated himself from the rest of the pack was in the category of genuine (lineal) championships. His wresting of the 140 lb. crown makes him the only fighter in boxing history to turn that trick in four weight classes, having previously done so at flyweight, featherweight and super featherweight.
Six months later, Pacquiao would once again make his way to the history books. With an alphabet title at stake, his 12th round stoppage of Miguel Cotto gave him a championship in a record-breaking seven weight classes, having also achieved alphabet glory at super bantamweight and lightweight in addition to the four lineal championships.
As was also the case in the Hatton fight, Pacquiao entered as the betting favorite despite moving up in weight against Cotto, whose resume boasted a who’s who of the welterweight division for the past three or so years.
Unlike the Hatton fight, Cotto threatened to make things competitive in the early going. Despite hitting the deck in the third round, the Puerto Rican refused to wilt, coming back hard in what proved to be one of the best rounds of the year.
Unfortunately for Cotto, it went all downhill from there. Pacquiao scored another knockdown in the fourth, and grew increasingly dominant with each passing round, to where Cotto’s objective was no longer to win, but to last the full 12, no matter how much punishment he had to absorb in order to get there.
Pacquiao – as well as referee Kenny Bayless – had other ideas, the latter having seen enough less than a minute into the final round.
The historical implications went well beyond Pacquiao winning a belt in a seventh weight class. The sold-out event generated nearly $70 million in PPV revenue on the strength of 1.25 million buys, giving the Filipino icon over 2 million units sold in his two fights in 2009.
Pacquiao’s presence was enough to dominate the headlines in the mainstream media all throughout fight week, even bringing back into the fold several major publications who’d long ago had turned their backs in the sport in mistaking it for a dying industry.
Ranking fighters in an all-time sense is a practice normally reserved for those who are truly retired from the sport, since it’s easier to judge a fighter’s career as a whole rather than try to place a moving target.
Pacquiao has reached the point where we can no longer help but to seriously consider his rightful place among the very best in boxing history.
And for the third time in the past four years, he’s achieved enough in a single 12-month period to earn the title, Fighter of the Year.
HONORABLE MENTION
The gap between one and two was greater this year than any other in recent memory, but it doesn’t mean that Pacquiao was the only one to lead a 2009 to remember.
Rare is the occasion when we can get the sport’s best fighters in the ring more than once or twice per year. The common thread to be found in four of the “Best of the Rest” honorees is that they fought three times or more, including a pair of titlists who thrice stepped into the ring against perennial Top 10 competition.
While the heavyweight division continues to fall well short of capturing past glory, nobody can deny that Vitali Klitschko is dancing as hard as he can to arouse interest.
The 38-year old Ukrainian hasn’t looked back ever since returning in October 2008 following a four-year hiatus (and earning Comeback of the Year honors in the process). His year included a ninth-round stoppage of former cruiserweight champion Juan Carlos Gomez; a 10th round stoppage of previously unbeaten Chris Arreola; and a shutout victory over yet another previously undefeated Top 10 contender Kevin Johnson to end the year.
Had his eighth round stoppage of Samuel Peter come 12 weeks later, it’s quite possible that Klitschko and Pacquiao trade places. Instead, he settles for top runner-up honors as he continues to do his part to clean out the heavyweight division.
That the 140 lb. division is chock full of talent everywhere you turn makes Tim Bradley’s run in 2009 that much more impressive. The supremely conditioned Californian stated his case as the best active 140 lb. fighter on the planet over the course of the past 12 months.
He showed heart as well as skill in twice climbing off the canvas to outpoint Kendall Holt in their alphabet unification match in April. The rest of the year proved to be less taxing, easily turning back the challenges of Nate Campbell and Lamont Peterson.
Perhaps the most surprising breakthrough campaign of 2009 belongs to that of Andre Ward. The lone active U.S. Olympian to have captured Olympic gold, Ward racked up four wins this past year, none more impressive than his shockingly lopsided upset technical decision win over Mikkel Kessler this past November.
Ward entered Showtime’s Super Six World Boxing Classic as the greatest wild card. His relatively light level of competition left a lot to be desired for a fighter of his amateur credentials, but his skill level and pure athleticism left plenty of room for potential.
Several boxing experts regarded Ward as a live underdog against Kessler, though few predicted that he would win in a rout. That’s exactly how it played out, with Ward not only netting his first major championship, but advancing from wild card to a strong favorite to land in the Super Six finals, if not win it all, when all is said and done.
Jake Donovan is the Managing Editor of Boxingscene.com and an award-winning member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. Contact Jake at JakeNDaBox@gmail.com .