This is going to be "Fight Of The Year"....

[GG Marquez]

During the build-up to Manny Pacquiao - Miguel Cotto, everybody kept saying that this would be a Fight Of The Year (FOTY) candidate. I agreed. Two guys who like to trade and engage and make it a back-n-forth fight. Miguel had been in those types of fights with both Shane and Margarito. Manny always wants a shoot-out.

But it got me to thinking. When and how did FOTY go from being "most important fight" to "Biggest War".

Here are some former FOTY's

Frazier-Foreman: This wasn't a fight, it was a prison ****. George knocked Smokin' Joe down a half-dozen times in a round a half and Joe was never in it ("down goes Fray-jah"). Thoroughly and completely one sided and over in a few minutes. Would we ever think of Pacquiao-Hatton as FOTY today?

Leonard-Hagler: A close fight? Definitely. A disputed decision? Eternally. An exciting fight? Not in your dreams. Ray didn't want to engage at all. SRL's plan was to stay away, then come in periodically to shoeshine and fluyrry and steal the rounds in the last 30 seconds. Throughout the fight, Hagler was coming forward and saying "Fight me, you b!tch". And Ray would shake nis head "no'. SRL had a (brilliant) plan, stuck with it, and enhanced his resume.

Ali-Foreman: Rumble in the Jungle. This was another fight that was more "meanngful" than it was "exciting". If you haven't seen this in its entirety, never again should you call yourself a boxing fan. Ali played the rope-a-dope technique where he waited for the younger/stronger Foreman to wear himself out a bit before he went to work with just a couple of hard counters that finished an exhausted George. But for the first six rounds, it was miserable to watch if you like back-n-forth exchanges.

How did our perception of FOTY go from those fights above to the Gatti/Ward, Vasquez/Marquez, Barrera/Morales prototypes that we expect today?

Have boxing fans changed that much? What changed?

[-Antonio-]

Holyfield/Tyson is another good example. Not the best fight of the year, just the most meaningful.

[S.G.]

interesting observation and to be honest i never even realised the subtle change myself.

maybe we just haven't had important fights of the same magnitude of past days and as such fights between lesser names can overtake the big ones as the single must see fight of year through pure entertainment value

[Syf]

Pac Cotto was my FOTY so far, even though it didn't end up the 12 rounds of all out war people expected it to be.

[MidnightSpecial]

i think in 10 or 15 years this fight will have its place in history as a significant victory. i think its the fight that opened up most doubters eyes and showed pacquiaos true greatness. Also its the fight that set up one of the biggest hyped fights of all time...Mayweather vs. Pacquiao

[PittyPat]

Pacquaio-Cotto wasn't even close to being fight of the year, and I knew it wasn't going to be (even though I wrongly predicted the outcome).

Marquez-Diaz, however, is definitely worthy of that accolade.

[S.G.]

Marquez-Diaz, however, is definitely worthy of that accolade.

Agreed. It was highly entertaining, there was an incredibly high skill level on display and they're pretty big names in their own right.

[GG Marquez]

Pac Cotto was my FOTY so far, even though it didn't end up the 12 rounds of all out war people expected it to be.

Nah. Marquez-Diaz was a better fight than Pacquiao-Cotto.

The pac-Cotto fight was over after round 5. Marquez -Diaz was more competitive, had more momentum shifts, and the ending was better with the highlight-reel KO.

[Shattered Jaw]

Cotto was on his bike. If they had stopped it in round 9 when Cotto was getting pumelled it would have a stronger case for FOTY.

The first 6 rounds were incredible though. Amazing exchanges.

[GG Marquez]

Holyfield/Tyson is another good example. Not the best fight of the year, just the most meaningful.

True, true. I should have included that. Thanks. Holyfield-Tyson was not that good of a fight.

Nice avatar. Sexy.