Naoya Inoue is Ring Magazine's Fighter of the Year...

[BenjaminLinus]

First of all, I agree, I'm not as sold on Ennis- like many on this site are......but that's a different conversation......

As far as Crawford.......

Y'all keep barking at Crawford about things out of his control..... Crawford has said multiple times since leaving Top Rank that he wants to fight 3x in the calendar year. He couldn't do it last year because after Spence beat Ugas, there was zero urgency to start the negotiations. Then when they did start, it went for 6 months only to get thrown out over certain details in the contract... Then this year, it took Crawford and Spence getting on the phone to iron out the details themselves to get the ball rolling. And for some strange reason, all of a sudden, PBC wants a "REMATCH CLAUSE" placed in the contract. Something they didn't have on any of the other unification bouts between Thurman/Porter, Thurman/Danny, Porter/Danny, Spence/Mikey, Spence/Porter, Spence/Danny, Manny/Spence (that ended up being Manny/Ugas), Ugas/Spence........NOT ONE of those fights were legally bound by a rematch clause........But Crawford/Spence couldn't happen unless it was agreed upon that the clause be in the contract.........

Then after Crawford wins the bout, the clause has to be activated within 30 days.....It took Spence 32 days to officially activate the rematch clause..... Then news broke that Showtime was hanging their gloves up on boxing, so now a new platform needs to take over the contract...... Crawford COULD NOT legally negotiate any other fight outside of a Spence fight for this year...... Crawford's accomplishment was by far THE BIGGEST SINGLE ACCOMPLISHMENT we have seen in decades.......2 top pound for pound undefeated champ in their prime facing off for the first undisputed at 147 in the 4 belt era........Obviously all the excuses as to why he was so dominant came in afterwards as it usually does after a Crawford fight....... 2x Undisputed, 3x Lineal, 9x world champion, 12 wins by stoppage in a row..... The single flaw against him not being fighter of the year......he only fought once.......Okay....

Shut yo ho ass up, boy.

[BenjaminLinus]

He wasn't damaged goods until the 2nd round of the Crawford fight..... Stop with the bull****. Only an idiot is consistently believing the nonsense that keeps being pushed once Crawford beats down their favorite fighter.

From Prescott to Gamboa to Postol to Indongo to Khan to Brook to Porter to Spence......each of these fighters were supposed to "expose" some weakness in Crawford and capitalize on it. Each of them had a story line that changed after they fought Crawford.......

Prescott was suppose to be too experience, Crawford wasn't ready for that stage.................Crawford outclasses him for 10 rounds...........Then Prescott was just "a journeyman".

Gamboa was an undefeated 3 division champion ranked #5 p4p by The Ring Magazine...........Crawford puts him on the mat 5x..............Then Gamboa's been out of the ring too long. He was too small to be fighting Crawford.

Postol was Freddie Roach's "next up" after Manny. Was suppose to expose Crawford...........Crawford 12-0'ed Postol...........Then Postol was a nobody because American fans didn't know who he was.

People claim Crawford was avoiding Indongo because he hinted to wanting to move up to 147........Crawford dominates him in 3 rounds..........Then... 'Who did Indongo beat to become champion'......

Amir Khan was suppose to be too quick for Crawford with decent ring IQ. Crawford's only chance at beating him was to catch him with a sleeper for a KO because of his weak chin......................Crawford not only puts him on the ground in the first round, but continues to outbox him for the next 5 rounds before Khan quits...............Then Khan was never a threat with a glass chin.

Kell Brook was suppose to be too big, too strong, too smart.............Crawford makes one adjustment and stops him in the 4th...............Then regardless of Brook saying he was in the best shape of his career coming off 3 wins.......2 by stoppage.......Brook was a shell of himself....damaged goods.

Oh, but Crawford was suppose to be scared to fight Porter. Porter was suppose to 'come to fight'....Guaranteed a KO, doubled down on it the week of the fight. Was suppose to put more pressure on Crawford than he's ever experienced in his life...............Crawford physically and mentally whipped Porter in 10...........Porter was 'too old' (regardless of Crawford being older). He was planning on retiring (though their was ZERO discussion of retiring before the fight). Porter was damaged goods (with no evidence of any major injuries through his entire career, no stoppage losses, etc.....).

Now we have Spence....the guy Crawford was suppose to be too small for. Light in the a$$. Spence was asked repeatedly was his plans was to beat Crawford....all he stated was he was going to BREAK HIM.......his strategy was to BREAK HIM....lol. Crawford showed up to Vegas a couple days before Spence. People were telling jokes on the forums and in comments stating Crawford looked drained, yet, the same folk claim they don't think he's gonna make weight because he was in a jogging suit in Vegas. What sense does that make. To claim he's too small, but he looks drained and is struggling to LOSE weight for a fight?..............We saw what Crawford did to him............Now we have all these B.S. excuses on why Spence wasn't able to BREAK Crawford..... Eye surgery that he waited 2 years and 3 fights to have? Cataracts, yet I still haven't see him wear a single pair of shades under the ultraviolet lights at any of the press conferences.

We as fans got to stop giving these grown a$$ men who choose to participate in this sport, a platform to whine and cry about getting their a$$ whipped. They given these excuses because some of us silly fans choose to believe and push the notion for them. Meanwhile we are discrediting the other fighters who worked hard for the accomplishments they got the night of.

What we see is that Spence has shown himself to be less than the most disciplined over his career. Heavy drinking, not the most favorable friends surrounding him (allegedly), often seen clearly overweight when not in camp, etc....... What we see in Crawford is much of the opposite. Consistently in the gym even when not in camp. Often in camp with other fighters giving pointers and/or sparring. Doesn't drink or club (with the exception of the parade that was thrown for him this year). Fact is, if you are a pro......be a pro....take care of yourself. If you don't, your body will tell on you. It's your own damn fault. PERIOD.

Inoue > Crawford

[SweetPbfAli]

Well deserved for Inoue. I think Bud had the best performance of the year but that didn't warrant fighter of the year.

[Str8.2.Da.Point]

Shut yo ho ass up, boy.

Such a ***** boy response.....Why TF are you even here clown. This is a boxing discussion and your ****** ass is acting emotional, why, because I said something negative about one of your favorite men you cheer for.......

Everyone's tough with a WiFi connection. ***** all you have to do is ignore my post if you have no real response to the FACTS I pointed out.

[Str8.2.Da.Point]

Well deserved for Inoue. I think Bud had the best performance of the year but that didn't warrant fighter of the year.

Agree.

Now that allegedly the rematch clause may be a nonfactor. Hopefully we can see him attempt to get the award this year. Like him or hate him, Crawford in the ring is great for the sport. Even if his opponent is someone that American fans don't approve of or know anything about.

I get that the bigger names in the sport warrant much more of a financial burden to those promoting and pushing the event, but I would love for the top guys to be active much more than what most of them do. For different reasons, I understand why.....but some individuals like Gary Russell Jr, Charlo, etc..... I don't like that they demand accolades and respect based on their being able to get in front of some YouTuber and campaign about how talented and valuable they are to the sport.

[Str8.2.Da.Point]

Inoue > Crawford

Um.....okay. Dumbass. Did you want an argument for this......Inoue is top 5 as well. You must've been a Spence Fanboy. It seems a great deal of y'all are new found Inoue fans because you don't want to congratulate Crawford for beating the dog **** out of your Man Crush......FOH.

[crimsonfalcon07]

F@ckin Errol and his bs rematch. What could've been

Been saying this in the Ennis posts. People hating on Bud when it's Spence that didn't defend against Boots, or any IBF except once in 4 years. It's Spence who put in the rematch clause. Spence who kept us waiting on the aforementioned rematch and kept Bud inactive while he had surgery. Probably Spence who will tie Bud up with lawsuits trying to keep his ****** rematch if it in fact expired in Dec.

My main issue is that I never felt Spence was P4P. People pretend he's some great win, but I didn't see it before the fight, I didn't see it during the fight, and I don't see it now. He's a good win but he was only P4P because he's in welterweight. Put him up against a 147lb Chocolatito and he'll get battered from pillar to post. That's what P4P means. Skill for skill, who's the best.

Anyways, cong**** to Inoue. Well deserved. I have him as FOTY and tied with Bud for P4P #1. If they were in the same division, that would be an insane fight.

[GhostofDempsey]

I don't have a problem with Inoue winning FOTY. Crawford only fought once last year, had he fought twice perhaps he edges out Inoue.

[hugh grant]

My main issue is that I never felt Spence was P4P. People pretend he's some great win, but I didn't see it before the fight, I didn't see it during the fight, and I don't see it now. He's a good win but he was only P4P because he's in welterweight. Put him up against a 147lb Chocolatito and he'll get battered from pillar to post. That's what P4P means. Skill for skill, who's the best.

.

Yes, I don't think people understand pfp. I think spence was considered pfp, because people thought a fight between spence and bud was a toss up who'd win, you pays your money you takes your choice type fight. And because bud is pf p they thought spence must be too, considering he might best bud? But not taking into consideration bud moved up 3 divisions already.
If spence was a pf p fighter he'd be favourite to best bud at 147

[ELPacman]

I want to say Inoue stayed busy and looked impressive while Crawford had 1 awesome win and say that's not enough to win FOTY. Though Inoue only had 2 fights, lol. It's crappy how infrequent fighters fight these days. It truly sucks to be a fan of boxing right now.

In my favorite boxing years, I could look forward to a Pac fight in January/February, another fight in May/June. Then finishing off the year in November/December with 3rd fight. 3 sounds like a lot, but that's not even a lot in comparison to fighters before the 2000s. They were so busy, they could fight once every 2-3 months if they had no injuries coming off their last fight.