‘Fighting Words’ — Is Fighter of the Year Down to Four? More? Or Just Two?

This tends to be the time of 12 months once we can slim down the ultimate candidates for Fighter of the Yr, even when there are nonetheless two months left of motion to go.

Most fighters are completed for the 12 months and received’t return to the ring till 2022. The remainder of the motion has been scheduled — and we will take a look at the calendar to see what outcomes would lead to sure names being added or faraway from the checklist.

That checklist, at first look, should embrace these three names to start out:

Tyson Fury.

Oleksandr Usyk.

The winner of the upcoming match between Canelo Alvarez and Caleb Plant.

It’s attainable that the Fighter of the Yr for 2021 will both be one of many two heavyweight champions, or one of many two males who’s vying to turn into the undisputed tremendous middleweight champion.

There are a handful of different probables and possibles. We’ll get to them later on this article.

Fleshing out the remainder of the checklist, the most effective potential candidates, is a little more tough this 12 months than within the pre-pandemic occasions.

Too many boxers have solely fought as soon as in 2021. For a handful, that one victory is notable and commendable — however there may be nothing else on their ledgers for the 12 months to take them above and past the opposite nominees.

That contrasts with lots of the previous Fighter of the Yr award winners. Listed below are the Ring and the Boxing Writers Affiliation of America winners from the last decade pre-pandemic:

RING MAGAZINE

2010 — Sergio Martinez (UD12 Kelly Pavlik, KO2 Paul Williams)

2011 — Andre Ward (UD12 Arthur Abraham, UD12 Carl Froch)

2012 — Juan Manuel Marquez (UD 12 Serheii Fedchenko and what actually made this 12 months, his KO6 of Manny Pacquiao)

2013 — Adonis Stevenson (KO6 Darnell Boone, KO1 Chad Dawson, TKO7 Tavoris Cloud, TKO6 Tony Bellew)

2014 — Sergey Kovalev (KO7 Cedric Agnew, TKO2 Blake Caparello, however the award really got here from his UD12 of Bernard Hopkins)

2015 — Tyson Fury (TKO8 Christian Hammer and the true standout win, UD12 Wladimir Klitschko)

2016 — Carl Frampton (SD12 Scott Quigg, MD12 Leo Santa Cruz)

2017 — Vasiliy Lomachenko (TKO9 Jason Sosa, TKO7 Miguel Marriaga, TKO6 Guillermo Rigondeaux)

2018 — Oleksandr Usyk (MD12 Mairis Briedis, UD12 Murat Gassiev, TKO8 Tony Bellew)

2019 — Canelo Alvarez (UD12 Daniel Jacobs, KO11 Sergey Kovalev)

BWAA

2010 — Martinez

2011 — Ward

2012 — Nonito Donaire (SD12 Wilfredo Vazquez, UD12 Jeffrey Mathebula, TKO9 Toshiaki Nishioka, KO3 Jorge Arce)

2013 — Floyd Mayweather (UD12 Robert Guerrero, MD12 Canelo Alvarez)

2014 — Terence Crawford (UD12 Ricky Burns, TKO9 Yuriorkis Gamboa, UD12 Ray Beltran)

2015 — Floyd Mayweather (on the energy of UD12 Manny Pacquiao, not his retirement bout UD12 of Andre Berto)

2016 — Frampton

2017 — Lomachenko

2018 — Usyk

2019 — Alvarez

There will likely be accolades and caveats for every and all the 2021 candidates.

Fury and Usyk every will finish this 12 months with a sole look. These sole victories have been standout performances.

Fury triumphed in a candidate for an additional award — Struggle of the Yr — capping his trilogy with Deontay Wilder by scoring an Eleventh-round knockout. He retained his lineal championship and bolstered his declare of being the most effective heavyweight on the planet.

This wasn’t the primary time Fury knocked out Wilder. He’d completed so extra conclusively of their one-sided second battle, again in February 2020, when Fury dropped Wilder twice and stopped him in seven.

Fury floored Wilder thrice on this third battle. He additionally needed to get off the canvas himself, downed and downed once more in Spherical 4. The aggressive nature of October 9 in Las Vegas really elevates Fury’s candidacy. This was a greater model of Deontay Wilder. And Fury remained victorious.

Two weeks earlier than that, Usyk captured three heavyweight titles with a powerful unanimous resolution win over Anthony Joshua. Usyk’s skillful boxing confounded Joshua. It additionally arrange the facility pictures that made Joshua much more reticent to open up an excessive amount of or too usually. As has turn into Usyk’s trademark, he went into hostile territory unruffled and remained undefeated.

Oleksandr Usyk could also be effectively on his method to repeating his 2018 feat and turn into FOTY as soon as extra

Cynics will say that Joshua’s limitations have been uncovered each when he was stunningly stopped by Andy Ruiz again in 2019, in addition to afterward. Joshua had been boxing in another way, extra tentatively, ever since then.

Nevertheless, Joshua was thought-about one of many three finest large males round. Usyk’s accomplishment — what he did, and the way he did it — justifies his inclusion on this checklist.

There could also be some who might really feel that neither Fury nor Usyk can measure as much as what the winner of the November 6 pay-per-view could have completed.

If Canelo wins, he could have gone 3-0 in 2021, with two of these victories coming towards the 2 different tremendous middleweight titleholders, giving him all 4 belts and the throne at 168.

Some followers and writers might body their argument in a approach that provides 2020 into the equation. In any case, Canelo unseated Callum Smith for 2 title belts final December. After a straightforward win in a stay-busy bout towards Avni Yildirim this previous February, Canelo dispatched Billy Joe Saunders for title quantity three in Could. Plant would end issues off at 4. All of that might have occurred in lower than a 12 months.

However it is just what occurred in 2021 that issues for the award. And what Canelo would have completed this 12 months continues to be fairly darn good. He’d have defeated two titleholders who’d by no means been defeated earlier than in Saunders and Plant. Neither was overly confirmed at 168. However nobody else at tremendous middleweight is doing what Canelo would have completed.

If Plant wins, in the meantime, he could have unified all 4 world titles in a single night time and knocked off probably the greatest boxers, pound-for-pound, over the previous a number of years. He would vault to the forefront of the game — that beloved cliche of being the person by beating the person.

However what concerning the different candidates?

In the beginning, we have to look to junior welterweight. In any case, the winner of Canelo-Plant received’t be the one undisputed champion topped in 2021.

Josh Taylor achieved that in Could, when he scored a detailed however clear win over Jose Ramirez. Every man got here in with two world titles in his assortment. For Taylor, that was the results of competing in and successful the World Boxing Tremendous Collection event in 2018 and 2019. Ramirez, in the meantime, hadn’t entered the event however had turn into one of many two finest 140-pounders by way of his personal run.

The win over Ramirez will likely be Taylor’s solely look this 12 months. A battle towards necessary challenger Jack Catterall, initially set for December, has been rescheduled to February.

The winner of the November 27 unification bout between junior featherweight titleholders Brandon Figueroa and Stephen Fulton could have put forth a strong 2021.

Figueroa had a secondary WBA belt going into his match with WBC titlist Luis Nery; Figueroa knocked Nery out in seven rounds. Fulton unseated beforehand undefeated Angelo Leo for the WBO belt in January. It is a good battle between two younger, unbeaten titleholders.

Down at 115, a cleaner consequence within the rematch between Juan Francisco Estrada and Roman Gonzalez this previous March may’ve put the winner ahead into this dialog. Estrada obtained the win on the scorecards, battling it out with a clearly revitalized model of “Chocolatito.” There have been a lot who thought that Gonzalez really deserved the victory. Had he gotten the nod as an alternative, he would’ve taken out a wonderful 115-pound champ. Alas…

Now we get into the darkish horse candidates, who aren’t candidates simply but. That can rely upon what occurs of their upcoming fights — if they’ll rating upset victories.

Terence Crawford vs. Shawn Porter takes place on November 20.

Teofimo Lopez vs. George Kambosos has been rescheduled for November 27.

Artur Beterbiev vs. Marcus Browne is about for December 17.

Just one fighter from every match may very well be a nominee: Porter, Kambosos and Browne.

It’s bizarre how that typically works. Crawford beating Porter can be the welterweight titleholder beating an excellent former titleholder. The identical may very well be mentioned for Beterbiev triumphing over Browne. And Lopez defeating Kambosos can be him disposing of a compulsory obligation.

Porter beating Crawford, although, would make him the primary individual to defeat Crawford, one other longtime denizen of pound-for-pound lists.

Kambosos upsetting Lopez would earn him three of the 4 main world titles at light-weight and make him the brand new Ring champion.

And Browne would have given Beterbiev his first blemish and picked up a pair of world titles within the course of towards the No. 1 man at 175.

Oh, and there’s yet another title who received’t win Fighter of the Yr if he triumphs on November 13 — however whose 2021 would deserve applause nonetheless.

Gabriel Rosado, a gritty however lower-tier fighter who’d misplaced to a number of first- and second-tier guys at 154 and 160 over time, dropped jaws in June with his third-round KO of unbeaten super middleweight prospect Bektemir Melikuziev. Rosado’s subsequent battle will likely be at middleweight towards one other undefeated fighter, former junior middleweight titleholder Jaime Munguia. If Rosado pulls off one other upset, then he would be the shock story of the 12 months.

This can in any other case be the 12 months of, effectively, whoever finally ends up getting the nod.

However this can nonetheless go down as an excellent 12 months for everybody named: Tyson Fury, Oleksandr Usyk, the winner of Canelo Alvarez vs. Caleb Plant, Josh Taylor, the winner of Brandon Figueroa vs. Stephen Fulton, and any of the aforementioned underdogs ought to they pull off upsets.

And that may be a lesson we will take from this train. Naming the individual we expect was the highest fighter of 2021 doesn’t diminish the accomplishments of the remaining.

The ten Rely

1 – Judges should be scrutinized even when fights don’t finish in controversy.

On this case, there should be questions requested — and solutions supplied — about one of many judges on this previous Saturday’s title battle between junior light-weight Jamel Herring and the person who dethroned him, Shakur Stevenson.

(See my full article about Stevenson’s win over Herring here.)

There shouldn’t have been something controversial about Herring vs. Stevenson. The battle ended by way of technical knockout within the tenth spherical. The referee did step in despite the fact that Herring wasn’t in imminent hazard, however the defending titleholder was clearly dropping a mismatch, had suffered a minimize over his eye, most probably (and certainly) wanted a knockout to win, and had completely no likelihood of scoring it. He wasn’t doing a lot of something on offense in Spherical 10. Nor was Herring offended that the battle ended when and the way it did.

Shortly afterward, we realized (via Top Rank publicist Evan Korn) that two of the three judges had Stevenson pitching a shutout by way of 9 rounds, 90-81. The third choose had it 89-82.

It was cheap {that a} choose may’ve discovered one spherical to present Herring. The issue was the actual spherical that this specific choose picked.

It was Spherical 2 — a spherical that Stevenson completely dominated.

You don’t want CompuBox to inform you that, though the statistics are indeed telling, with Stevenson outlanding Herring, 26-6, in that second stanza. You simply wanted to observe the spherical.

2 – The choose in query is Ed Kanner, who isn’t in any respect inexperienced. He’s been a boxing choose for at the very least 23 years and at the very least 640 bouts; the listings on BoxRec aren’t essentially exhaustive.

Each a kind of fights has been in Georgia, which could clarify why he’s solely labored two title fights — three, when you embrace the secondary WBA “common” belt that was on the road when Gervonta Davis fought Yuriorkis Gamboa in 2019.

The opposite bouts? Herring-Stevenson, clearly, but additionally Kanner’s first-ever professional battle (per BoxRec), which was Jorge Julio defending his WBO bantamweight title towards Adonis Cruz in 1998.

“As an expert boxing choose for greater than 20 years, Edward Kanner has judged world title fights and has appeared on ESPN, HBO, and Showtime boxing occasions quite a few occasions,” reads a bio on the Georgia Athletic and Leisure Fee web site.

So what occurred? It’s value discovering out.

It may simply be a mistake, whether or not one made by Kanner or by one other ringside official who was transcribing the scores as they have been collected.

It’s not at all times bias or corruption and even incompetence. These have been among the many allegations towards Lloyd Scaife after he judged a 2016 battle between heavyweights Luis Ortiz and Tony Thompson. Two judges had Ortiz forward 50-43 after 5 rounds. Scaife had it 48-47 for Ortiz.

I visited Scaife in his residence a few month later, related by a mutual buddy from the DC space boxing circles.

“I’m considering I may be feeling slightly senility or one thing approaching,” Scaife told me. “I don’t know what occurred. I do know what occurred. I do know I did it. I do know my writing. I do know that he [Thompson] didn’t win a spherical, however but I had him successful a spherical.”

Scaife retired from judging after the bout. He passed away last year on the age of 89.

Scaife had made up his thoughts about retirement effectively earlier than my go to. I can’t take any credit score for a proud man recognizing he wanted to step away. However as I’ve mentioned earlier than, typically, boxing writers have to do extra to carry officers and athletic commissions accountable.

Kanner’s Spherical 2 was one unhealthy rating in a single spherical in a battle the place none of that wound up mattering. However unhealthy judges ought to be corrected earlier than they really impact a consequence. And commissions received’t essentially try this with out public strain.

3 – Transfer over, Trinidad Vargas. I’ve obtained a brand new favourite title in boxing.

It’s Prince Octopus Dzanie, an undefeated 36-year-old junior featherweight who competed in the 2008 Olympics and is 22-0 (18 knockouts) as a professional. Dzanie is signed with the U.S.-based Salita Promotions however has in any other case solely competed in his native Ghana.

(You might say that Prince Octopus… inked with Salita. You won’t say that, however I clearly would.)

We’ll ignore (for now) the truth that the IBF by some means has Dzanie ranked at No. 11 at bantamweight despite the fact that BoxRec says that he hasn’t fought at that weight since 2017. (OK, OK, I suppose I didn’t ignore it.) Then once more, this video of Dzanie’s most recent fight has him coming in at just below 118 kilos, so both they’re flawed or BoxRec is flawed.

Both approach, I’m hoping that Dzanie throws an eight-shot combo. Although Prince Octopus’ favourite shot is the sucker punch…

I’m simply unhappy that Prince Octopus won’t ever get to satisfy King Hippo…

4 – I don’t know what’s crazier:

The truth that Don King will apparently be promoting another event in the year of our lord 2021 — and a title battle, at that, between cruiserweight beltholder Ilunga Makabu and longtime contender Thabiso Mchunu — after the travesty that was his previous show earlier this year…

…or the truth that historical heavyweights James Toney and Jeremy Williams have been simply days away from having an exhibition match within the 12 months of our lord 2021 (till that battle was canceled).

5 – The information about King and Makabu-Mchunu 2 got here by way of a press launch from the promoter final week: “King, who represents Makabu, got here to an settlement with Mchunu’s representatives on the 12-round championship battle, to be held within the subsequent two months,” it mentioned.

Makabu signed with King, for some reason, at the end of September 2019. Per BoxRec, neither of the two shows Makabu had King listed because the promoter of file.

Certainly, simply three months after signing Makabu, King’s lawyer despatched a cease-and-desist letter to the World Boxing Council to attempt to cease a battle between Makabu and Michal Cieslak in January 2020.

The battle, the letter mentioned, was “scheduled to happen … with out DKP’s [Don King Productions] information, consent, approval or permission. DKP is Makabu’s unique, world-wide promoter for any and all of Makabu’s skilled boxing matches all through the World and nobody, apart from DKP, is allowed to interact Makabu’s companies.”

The battle ended up occurring anyway.

“I’m very completely happy that the battle is happening as ordered by the WBC, and that Don King Promotions has clarified a number of misunderstandings together with his native promotional companions Tarik Saadi and Basic Luyoyo,” WBC President Mauricio Sulaiman was quoted as saying.

This could be Makabu’s first and solely battle of 2021. Mchunu returned in March after being out of the ring for all of 2020.

Their first battle was a battle. Makabu-Mchunu 2 must also be enjoyable. Right here’s hoping it really occurs…

Thabiso Mchunu (left) will battle Ilunga Makabu in a rematch underneath Don King’s promotional banner

6 – …and I’m glad that James Toney vs. Jeremy Williams received’t.

Regardless that it was promoted as an exhibition, it nonetheless appeared irresponsible. The promoter had mentioned that the officers in Aguascalientes, Mexico, can be there to guard the combatants.

“The fee right here may be very involved with the protection of all fighters and they’re dictating all the mandatory precautions, which will likely be vigorously adopted,” mentioned Todd Lewis, vp of Blue Moon Boxing, in a press launch despatched final week. “Whereas we love the thought of seeing these two rivals throw down once more, we’re not within the enterprise of getting a retired fighter take a sustained beating on our air.”

However in the identical press launch that quoted Lewis claiming the match can be completed with security in thoughts, the corporate additionally signed off on the fighters claiming in any other case. Clearly this was intentional, a “Will they or received’t they?” meant to get folks curious sufficient to tune in for what is outwardly a free broadcast (a broadcast that will likely be occurring with out Toney-Williams).

“There’s no such factor as a boxing exhibition,” Toney was quoted as saying within the press launch. “I’m a fighter. I’ll be there to show the lights out. Evander [Holyfield] thought he was doing an exhibition for enjoyable [against Vitor Belfort in September] and he obtained embarrassed. I don’t play. I’m going to knock his ass out. Name it no matter you need.”

And right here was what Jeremy Williams was quoted as saying: “James Toney isn’t a real heavyweight and even they’ll’t take my punches. I’m a smaller man with quick arms. He received’t be capable to use his smaller dimension to outmaneuver me. And I punch so much more durable than he does! It’s a matter of time earlier than I catch him with one thing and end him for good.”

Toney, thoughts you, is 53 years previous and final fought in 2017, lengthy after he final ought to’ve laced up the gloves. On that night time, he knocked out some 24-20-2 dude named Mike Sheppard. Toney’s had eight fights within the final decade.

That’s nonetheless greater than Williams, a 49-year-old whose solely look previously 14 years was in 2013, when he received by way of disqualification towards some 19-31-1 dude named Travis Fulton. Earlier than that, Williams was within the ring in 2007 barely edging the 18-8-1 Gary Gomez. And earlier than that, it was 2004 and Williams was absolutely flattened in two rounds, down for minutes by the hands of a sure power-punching heavyweight who we’re about to get to.

Sure, it’s been nearly 17 years since what was principally the tip of Jeremy Williams. However positive, let’s put him again within the ring.

The battle was speculated to happen this Friday, October 29. However yesterday, the promoter told World Boxing News that the battle had been canceled. Lewis appeared to quote the Affiliation of Boxing Commissions as the rationale — although the ABC has no jurisdiction in Mexico.

The ill-advised return of 53-year previous James Toney has been cancelled

7 – If we’re going to lean into the sideshow, we’d as effectively have made a three-person battle that includes James Toney vs. Jeremy Williams… vs. Samuel Peter.

In any case, Peter was the one who knocked Williams chilly and who beat Toney twice again when that sort of factor nonetheless mattered.

(An argument can positively be made that Toney deserved the primary battle, although Peter clearly received the second.)

Peter’s effectively previous his best-by date as effectively. He’s by some means simply 41 years previous, although.

8 – We have now our first-ever WBC bridgerweight titleholder, and it’s not Bryant Jennings, who refused to get vaccinated and, on condition that, refused to quarantine underneath the necessities for unvaccinated folks getting into Canada, the place the bout with Oscar Rivas was to happen.

Rivas triumphed over late substitute Ryan Rozicki. The battle appeared prefer it was going to finish early. Rivas had Rozicki in hassle on the finish of Spherical 1. The battle quickly grew to become extra aggressive, although Rivas pulled away and received a transparent resolution.

It was a nice scrap in a division nobody requested for, and given Rozicki’s lesser dimension and expertise. Rivas got here in with a file of 27-1 (19 KOs), competed within the 2008 Olympics and has been a professional for 12 years, with all of his earlier fights at heavyweight, nearly at all times at weights larger than this new division’s restrict of 224 kilos. Rivas was the WBC’s top-rated bridgerweight.

Rozicki? He was 13-0 and had solely been a professional for 5 years. He’d at all times been a cruiserweight, and a considerably undersized one, at that, usually coming in comfortably under that division’s 200-pound restrict. Rozicki hadn’t been rated within the High 15 at bridgerweight till Jennings pulled out. Heck, he wasn’t even within the High 15 at cruiserweight; the WBC had him at No. 18 there as of September.

However by mid-October, Rozicki had been installed at No. 15 at bridgerweight, simply sufficient to qualify him for this battle.

That is nonetheless an pointless division. I hope that the three different main sanctioning our bodies refuse to comply with go well with. But if this finally ends up giving middling fighters a house — and people middling fighters present us with entertaining fights — then I’ll simply hush up and revel in.

9 – Mikey Garcia says that he can bounce again from his disappointing resolution defeat to Sandor Martin earlier this month.

“It’s not the tip of the world,” Garcia said last week in an interview with Elie Seckbach. “Individuals may suppose a loss is such an enormous deal and go into despair. I’m not. I’m leaping proper again in there. I’m not frightened about it. … It’s nothing. It’s a part of boxing. That’s it. Individuals take losses in different areas in life. You’ll be able to’t  let a loss preserve you down. Gotta get the fuck up. Transfer on. Depart it behind you. Go ahead. You’ll be able to’t be dwelling on the previous. You’ll be all depressed and shit. You bought to maintain transferring ahead, transfer on to what’s subsequent. That’s how I see it. It’s a part of the game. No large deal. It’s not the primary time I misplaced. I misplaced 12 occasions as an beginner. Who provides a fuck? Does anyone discuss that? Who cares? Transfer on.

“It’s doubtlessly extra motivating now,” he quickly added. “Now I’ve one thing to look ahead to, to show, versus me, had I most likely [gotten] the win, possibly I’d be so bored of it, I’d most likely be considering, ‘Oh, I’m completed, I’m drained, I’m retiring.’ However I really really feel slightly extra hearth now than earlier than.”

10 – We’ll see if this really finally ends up lighting a fireplace underneath Mikey Garcia, if the frustration of what occurred towards Sandor Martin motivates him to do higher the following trip.

It’s simply onerous to think about that he’ll care that a lot about dropping, since he definitely didn’t appear to care that a lot about successful…

Observe David Greisman on Twitter @FightingWords2. His e book, “Fighting Words: The Heart and Heartbreak of Boxing,” is accessible on Amazon.