By Rick Reeno

The final votes for the best of 2004 are in and have been tallied up. The votes that were tallied for the winners in each individual category come from the whole team at BoxingScene.com. The results will be broken down by category and there will be some commentary from various members of the BoxingScene team with respect to the winner.

Nothing is more prestigious then Fighter of The Year. The winner of 2004's BoxingScene fighter of the year was unknown to most fans for most of his career and those that did know him, only regarded him as a tough journeyman at best.

This man truly went from the gutter to the penthouse in a span of 12 months. The 2004 BoxingScene fighter of the year is none other then Glen Johnson.

He started off the year with a decision win over Clinton Woods, two scheduled dates against Joe Calzaghe fell through and Johnson thought his shot at the big time was about over. During negotiations for a third date against Calzaghe, Johnson got a call that would change his entire career. Roy Jones Jr. wanted Johnson as a "safe" comeback opponent prior to facing Antonio Tarver in a third meeting, Johnson had other plans. In a bout where there was little hope in Johnson even putting up a good fight, Glen shocked the Boxing world. Unlike Tarver who had a shot to beat Jones, Johnson was thrown in as a lamb to be slaughtered and defeated Jones in more impressive fashion then Tarver.

Jones was dominated by Johnson from the opening bell and brutally knocked out in the 9th round. Jones did not even have the strength to lift up his head after being tagged by Johnson, this time the lamb beat the wolf silly.

Some thought this Cinderella journey would come to an end when Johnson signed to face the other man who knocked out Roy Jones, Antonio Tarver. Once again the heavy underdog, Johnson came into the fight with both hands blazing. Johnson never backed up, never stopped punching and kept coming forward the entire fight. The work ethic of Johnson was enough to convince two out of the three judges to give him the decision and make him the number one light heavyweight in the world. Johnson's never quit attitude and humble persona should be an inspiration for fighters all over the world.

Matteo Alderson - I got give it to Glen Johnson over Marco Antonio Barrera for a couple of reasons. First of all Johnson was a big underdog in his fights against Jones and Tarver while Barrera was only an underdog in the Morales fight. Also, after having went to war with el Terrible for 24 rounds on two prior occasions, the third fight was supposed to be a competitive grudge match. And yes it was an impressive performance, but Johnson’s career resurrection and complete metamorphosis from fringe contender to an HBO Undisputed Ring magazine champ makes him the fighter of the year.

Mike Indri - Glen Johnson, Not a more deserved fighter out there - battled throughout the years and hanged tough! Shocked people with his knockout of Jones and continued with his beating of Tarver.

Dave Sauvage - No question Glen Johnson. From obscurity to the top of the game. That it took so long for him to get his shot shows how corrupt the business of boxing really is. That he went so far so quickly shows how beautiful the sport of boxing can be.

Honorable Mention - Bernard Hopkins, Marco Antonio Barrera

The next category is the 2004 Fight of The Year. There were several great battles this year but only one fight stood out in front. When this bout was signed, few gave the winner a shot at victory and most felt the loser would score a knock out to win. Two Mexican rivals, two prior fights in two different weight classes, a victory a piece and a third meeting in a third weight class that would shake up the Boxing world. BoxingScene's 2004 Fight of The Year is Marco Antonio Barrera vs. Erik Morales 3.

Very few gave this fight a chance of being in the league of the first two battles and the two fighters put on a battle that surpassed the first two meetings in the eyes of some viewers. Morales, the number 3 pound for pound fighter in the world, was the heavy favorite in the fight. Most thought he would retire Barrera and go on to face Manny Pacquiao in early 2005. Barrera showed the entire world why you should never count him out. Fighting in a weight class that he admitted was above his natural weight and facing a rival weighing close to a welterweight, Barrera put on a performance of a lifetime. Marco boxed, brawled, moved, and countered his way to the most decisive win in the three meetings between him and Morales.

Tom Donelson - Morales-Barrera 3, this was a classic that will stand the test of time as an all time great.

Honorable Mention - Corrales vs. Freitas, Pacquiao vs. Marquez

The next category is Round of The Year. This category had a close race and there were many different opinions on who should win. In the end, only one round was good enough to capture the win. While the year ended off bad for the winner of the fight, he started the year off with a bang that rocked the entire Boxing community forever. The 2004 winner of BoxingScene's Round of Year goes to Antonio Tarver vs. Roy Jones Jr, round number 2. Jones appeared to many over the years as unbeatable, it took two rounds and one power shot from Tarver to change that perception forever.

Dave Wilcox - Tarver-Jones Jr. round 2 - Never thought I would see the day that Jones would be destroyed. (until the next fight..lol) Not the most exciting round, but certainly historical.

James Blears - Round two of Tarver-Jones when Antonio Tarver iced Roy Jones Jr and destroyed the myth.

Honorable Mention - Danny Williams vs. Mike Tyson Round 4, Trinidad vs. Mayorga Round 1

The next category is Upset of the year. There were plenty of upsets this year in Boxing and because of that, we had another close race. One upset shocked more people then the rest and got the award win here. The 2004 winner of BoxingScene's Upset of The Year goes to Antonio Tarver's two round KO win over the then indestructible Roy Jones Jr. While some gave Tarver a chance to win, noone could have ever predicted the fight would barely last two rounds with Tarver getting the win by KO.

Matteo Alderson - It has to be Antonio Tarver’s upset of Roy Jones. After seeing RJ play with world class fighters for over ten years I thought that Roy dropping back down to 175 for the first Tarver fight hurt his performance and that this time he would take the weight off properly and improve on his performance. Shockingly, he was knocked out in the second. Glen Johnson’s knock out of RJ was also surprising, but he did it after Roy had been knocked out in his previous fight and you never know how guys will respond to a knock out loss. Some guys like Lennox Lewis can come back, but other fighters like Pipino Cuevas just lose it. Thus Jones-Tarver was the upset of the year. By the way for all of you Roy Jones haters out there, he beat Hopkins, a 44-0 James Toney, and a slew of other fighters that had won or ended up winning world titles. Except for some old Sugar Ray Robinson fights, I have never seen a fighter as physically gifted as Jones.

Mike Indri - While Williams over Tyson was a huge surprise, Tarver resoundingly knocking out Roy Jones (everyone was expecting Jones/Tarver ll to be a carbon copy of Jones/Griffin ll) was far more meaningful.

Honorable Mention - Danny Williams' KO over Mike Tyson, Glen Johnson's KO over Roy Jones Jr.

The next category is Comeback of The Year, another close race. One fighter took such a beating in 2003 that he was written off the Boxing map, called old, dropped from pound for pound lists and urged by thousands to retire. He came back so strong in 2004 that he reclaimed a top spot on pound for pound lists all over the world. The winner of BoxingScene's 2004 Comeback of The Year goes to Marco Antonio Barrera.

Marco came back in 2004 to retire the elusive Paulie Ayala and also became the first man to stop him. He later went on to win a thrilling third fight with Mexican arch rival Erik Morales and captured the respect of the most vocal Barrera haters.

Tom Donelson - Left for dead after the PAC MAN defeat, Barrera beat Morales in an upset that stun pundits including yours truly

Honorable Mention - Diego Corrales, Kostya Tszyu

The next category is Rookie of The Year. In what I call an upset, Olympian Andre Ward with only one fight under his belt was the voting favorite for BoxingScene's 2004 Rookie of The Year.

Matteo Alderson - I know he has just one pro-fight and he looked a little sloppy, but Andre’s Ward gold medal performance in Athens makes him the rookie of the year. It’s always impressive when a fighter wins a gold at an Olympics that the Russians and Cubans are competing in. In addition, Andre is young, lengthy, and super quick. Watch he’ll do at least as much as David Reid. And I know a lot of people consider Reid’s career to be a disappointment, but he had a couple of good wins, became a world champ, and engaged in one super fight with Trinidad. It wasn’t that bad of a career. He did a hell of a lot more than Ricardo Williams and he only had one eye.

Honorable Mention - Kelly Pavlick, Ronald Hearns

The next category is Trainer of The Year. In what was a very tight race, one trainer stood out among the rest. The winner of BoxingScene's 2004 Trainer of Year is Buddy McGirt. McGirt trained Tarver for what would be the biggest win of his career with a second round KO over Roy Jones Jr. and led Arturo Gatti in another two round destruction over the very tough and undefeated Leonard Dorin.

Honorable Mention - Joe Goossen

The next category is Event of The Year. The winner had nearly a year of build up and during the entire road to the fight, very few thought it was actually going to take place. The winner of BoxingScene's 2004 Event of The Year is Oscar De La Hoya vs. Bernard Hopkins - Road To The Middleweight Title.

The minute Oscar said he was moving up to 160 pounds to face Bernard Hopkins, everyone thought it was a joke. After a poor showing against Felix Sturm in a double header with Hopkins, very few thought the September bout would actually take place. De La Hoya was the underdog for the first time in his career but, he wanted that undisputed middleweight crown in what would make him the top dog in a record breaking sixth weight class. De La Hoya wanted to be the man to defeat a fighter who had not been beat in over ten years and ruled an entire weight class with iron fists. Oscar knew that a win over Hopkins could possibly catapult him into the league of the very best fighters of all time.

Despite all the doubts, the fight actually took place and everyone was watching as the buy rate was through the roof. Oscar fought as good as he could against Hopkins but, he was just too small to compete with the naturally bigger Bernard. Bernard knocked out Oscar for the first time in his career with a single body shot to the liver.

Dave Wilcox - The fight wasn't much, but the hype leading up to it was Sugar Ray type stuff.

Tom Donelson - This was one of the more anticipated events and with De La Hoya's mastery of promotion, this event proved bigger than the actual fight, which ended in a Bernard Hopkins victory. Event of the year should not be confused with fight of the year.

Honorable Mention - Mike Tyson vs. Danny Williams, Ricardo Mayorga vs. Felix Trinidad

The last and final category is Promoter of The Year. BoxingScene's 2004 Promoter of The Year should not surprise anyone as the winner by a landslide is Golden Boy Promotions. They made some huge moves in 2004. Marco Antonio Barrera is at the top once again, Bernard Hopkins is now a partner in the company and will only be promoted by Golden Boy, their Latino Boxing series on HBO continues to do great numbers in the ratings and the company is now even getting involved with the biggest sporting event in the United States, the Super Bowl.

Dave Wilcox - I'll have to go with the Golden Boy here. He is slowly building a formidable stable and putting the wood to Arum and alike. Teaming up with Hopkins is a huge victory for Oscar. Fighters will start to flock to Golden Boy in 2005.

David Sauvage - Oscar de la Hoya, for trying his damndest to rewrite the language of boxing promotion, even if it's hopeless. "The fighters don't work for us," he keeps saying. "We work for the fighters." If only...

Tom Donelson - Okay, others may have produced better shows but Oscar managed to get Bernard Hopkins in the ring despite the fact that he received nearly three times the purse than the defending champ. His alliance with Hopkins and break from Top Rank will have profound effect upon the sport. Let’s face it, Golden Boy put the best program together. While Arum and Top Rank gets the credit, this was Oscar’s promotion and Arum was around for the ride and a little extra cash.

Honorable Mention - Don King, Bob Arum