Who is the Fighter of the Year so far in 2009?

[Sam D. Menace]

roy jones for winning a belt in yet another weight class

[Fox McCloud]

The winner of Pacquiao-Cotto will have a strong case with the win over Hatton respectively Clottey...

I think it's pretty clear that the winner of that fight is FOTY.

I have no idea who it would be at this point. Possibly Pacquiao based on his one win over Hatton. The field is pretty weak at this moment. If not him, Vitali... Gomez and Arreola is pretty solid.

[The Hammer]

to be honest..id have to say vitali if he wins in december..no other champion has fought 3 times this year and if he wins by ko in dec he'll be 3-0-3kos all three being title fights

Good choice.

[street bully]

so people are voting manny for winning one damn fight???lol..in that case i nominate floyd mayweather

Lol, **** outta here with that **** homie. Pacquiao is fighting Cotto and if he wins he beat two P4Pers in one year in two new weight division.

[dans]

Vitali's 2 wins over Arreola and Gomez aren't Fighter of the year caliber. I would be more likely to give the nod to Adamek than Vitali. 3 wins, 2 KOs, and he won the Ring Magazine title.

I forgot that the Johnson fight is in December. That being said, Vitali will have a strong case.

[The Underboss]

If Pac gets through Cotto...then he'll take it (for the 2nd year).

[Ryn0]

Contenders
*If they win
Vitali - Arreola, Gomez, Johnson*
Pacquiao - Hatton, Cotto*
Williams - Wright, Pavlik*

IMO Pacquiao if he beats Cotto should win it. Gomez, Arreola and Johnson were all prospects in the HW division.

[JakeNDaBox]

I wholeheartedly agree with any argument made o/b/o Vitali...

That said, I have a hard time seeing most publications looking very far beyond the outcome of Pacquiao-Cotto.

If Pacquiao wins, you can take to the bank that he's the popular choice.

If Cotto wins, then it could come down to what happens in Pavlik-Williams.
- If Pavlik wins, then it's between Cotto and Vitali
- If Williams wins, he becomes an instant candidate, if not front runner.

Vitali's greatest asset is that he'll have defended three times, all against perennial top 10 contenders. But the drawback is that whom he faced isn't exactly murderer's row, just three good fighters (relatively speaking).

Pac beating Hatton was a historic event. Beating Cotto means he'll have defeated the lineal 140 lb champ and no worse than a top 3 welter.

Williams beating Pavlik is a big deal. Perhaps the Wink fight is merely beating a name and not a fighter anywhere close to his best, but the manner in which he defeated him is still amazing.

[rochemback]

If Pacquiao wins, I agree. Especially if he wins impressively, as he did against Hatton.

But Cotto is fighting someone moving up from a smaller weight division, and although he narrowly won against Clottey, he was not impressive in that fight.

I disagree, I think a win over Pacquiao will look more like an accomplishment than Mayweather-Marquez, especially if Cotto doesn't mess up with the catchweight as Mayweather did. What would hurt him is Quintana being impressive against Clottey in December, but until then he gets the benefit of Clottey's toughness and "hard to look good against"-ability.

[aristotlemoses]

I think it should be Vitali. 3 fights 3 kos if he wins by that fashion against Johnson. Plus he's a little older and still looking great.