Having covered the New England boxing scene extensively all year, below are my choices for the first annual 8countnews.com New England Boxing Awards. To be eligible for an award, the fight must have either taken place in New England or have featured a fighter from New England.
Fighter of the Year – Chad Dawson – light heavyweight – New Haven, CT
New Haven, Connecticut’s Light Heavyweight “Bad” Chad Dawson set himself far apart from the rest of the pack to earn New England fighter of the year honors. In 2009, he earned himself two convincing victories over former world champions and notched his second world title in the process.
First, he outpointed Antonio Tarver in their rematch in May. The rematch was deemed largely unnecessary by most boxing fans due to how dominant Dawson was in their first fight in 2008. However, due to contractual stipulations Dawson gave Tarver another go.
It was his HBO debut and Dawson did what he had to do. It was almost a carbon copy of their first fight as Dawson soundly outboxed the aging, but still effective former champ. The only rounds Tarver seemed to win were the ones that Dawson decided to take a rest during. The most impressive thing about this win was that Tarver actually fought a good fight. Dawson however, fought a better fight.
Next up was another rematch. This one far more anticipated. In front of a hometown crowd for the first time in over two years, Dawson easily controlled the action against the former champ Glen Johnson at the XL Center in Hartford.
In their first meeting in 2008, Dawson found himself in a brawl at times and allowed Johnson to hurt him. Some even questioned whether Dawson deserved the decision or not. Not this time though. Dawson fought his fight and used his height and reach advantage to win almost every round of the fight and make Johnson appear to be the 40 year old that he is.
What can he hope for in 2010? A possible megafight with a legend like Bernard Hopkins or a clash with young titleholders like Tavoris Cloud and and Jean Pascal.
Fight of the Year – Demetrius Andrade Unanimous Decision Over Chris Chatman (October 3rd, Twin River Event Center, Lincoln, RI)
It’s a shame this fight wasn’t televised.
2008 US Olympian Demetrius Andrade (8-0, 6 KO’s) found himself in the first “real” fight of his pro career and had to gut out a win over a determined and incredibly tough Chris Chatman (4-1, 2 KO’s).
Chatman was flown in from San Diego to Andrade’s backyard of Rhode Island for this Saturday afternoon affair at the Twin River Casino. While normally someone coming from across the country to meet a touted prospect like Andrade would know their role to play opponent to the hometown star, Chatman didn’t get the memo.
Andrade and Chatman traded bombs. Both fighters found themselves rocked during the fight. Both fighters were relentless. Both fighters wanted to win.
Entering the final round it appeared the fight could be on the line. Andrade, showing signs of having been in a fight for the first time on his short pro career, went out and used his height and reach advantage to knock Chatman off balance and at bay. Official scores were 60-54 (twice) and 59-55 for Andrade. Those scores were far too wide and didn’t reflect the competitive nature of the bout. 8countnews.com scored it 58-56 for Andrade. Other media members had it a draw.
For Andrade it was a learning experience. For Chatman it proved he belonged in the “prospect” category. At the end of the evening, the many media members in attendance rewarded Chatman for his effort by voting him “Fighter of the Night” despite losing.
*Honorable Mentions
Joey McCreedy Majority Decision over Richard “Bobo the Bull” Starnino – February 6th – Twin River Event Center – Lincoln, RI – A rematch of their slugfest 2008 draw, this fight was almost a carbon copy with two exceptions: The bout was a scheduled 8 rounder instead of 6 and their was a winner. McCreedy gutted out a win over the rugged Veteran Starnino, a former sparring partner of Vinny Paz, and had everyone from the beer drinking fans in the bleachers to fellow fighters hanging out ringside cheering and on their feet the entire time.
Eddie Soto Split Decision over Sean Eklund – February 6th – Twin River Event Center – Lincoln, RI – A great 6 round action fight between two regional rivals. Providence’s Eddie Soto managed to controversially defeat Lowell’s Sean Eklund in a rousing war. Eklund had hurt Soto early in the fight and knocked him down late in the fight. Still, Soto managed to win somehow. Judge Clark Sammartino saw the fight for Eklund 57-56, while Judge Don Trella saw the fight for Soto 57-56. The deciding score and the last scorecard announced that evening by announcer John Vena, came from Judge Walter Stone who somehow saw the fight 58-55 for Soto giving him every round except the round he was knocked down in. The crowd heavily booed the decision. However, no one could boo the action from both fighters in the ring. A rematch has been discussed and even scheduled before. Hopefully, it’ll eventually happen.
Carl Froch TKO 12thJermain Taylor – April 25th – MGM Grand Theater @ Foxwoods – Ledyard, CT – A nationally televised world title fight that seemed in the bag 8 rounds in. However, titleholder Carl Froch saved the best for last. Jermain Taylor was fighting one of his best fights in years for the first two thirds of the fight. However, as the fight went into the championship rounds he began to gas. In the 12thand final round, Froch scored a knockdown that left a glassy eyed Taylor laying on the canvas and struggling to get to his feet. It was a struggle, but he managed to get up. Unfortunately for him, the follow up barrage was his demise. Froch managed to stop Taylor with just 14 seconds remaining in the bout denying him of his 2ndworld title in his 2ndweight division and solidifying his place as a top 168 pounder. Had Taylor just remained upright for another 14 seconds he would’ve won a world title in his 2ndweight division.
Prospect of the Year – Edwin Rodriguez – Worcester, MA
Edwin Rodriguez has been a prospect since he first turned pro in January 2008. However, in 2009 he began to give us glimpses of what he’s capable of while continuing to improve.
Rodriguez began the year with a highlight reel TKO over Tennessee’s Brad Austin in the 3rd round of their super middleweight fight on the Andre Berto – Luis Colazzo undercard. How good was the knockout? It’s now being featured on a national advertising campaign for Prilosec OTC helping sell the fact that their over the counter medicine is able to “knockout heartburn”.
He made his hometown debut as a pro in March at Mechanics Hall in Worcester after signing a contract with successful promoter Lou Dibella and stopped Patrick Thompson, a fighter who had only been stopped once previously and went the distance with Vanes Martirosyan, Joe Greene and John Duddy, after scoring a spectacular one punch knockdown in the 2nd round.
Midyear elbow surgery didn’t seem to slow him down. He scored an easy 3rd round TKO over journeyman Angel David Gonzalez in a tune-up fight in August. Rodriguez then returned back to New England for his toughest test to date against spoiler Darnell Boone, whom he easily outpointed. Most recently he rounded out the year with a 5th round TKO of another journeyman in Brian Norman.
Simply put, the Rodriguez of 2009 easily beats the Rodriguez of 2008. This year we just saw his talent beginning to blossom.
2010 appears to be a year were Rodriguez could be making the jump from prospect to contender. Look for him to appear on national TV soon and to continue stepping us his level of opposition. Next up is a date on the Shane Mosley – Andre Berto undercard in Las Vegas in January.
*Honorable Mentions
Demetrius Andrade –The Providence native and former Olympian went 6-0, with 4 KO’s in 2009. He’s ultra talented and a possible future star. He’s already appeared on national TV a few times. We’d just like to see him face stiffer opposition as he continues to grow. His 6 round war with Chris Chatman in our Fight of the Year was a step in the right direction. He probably needs fights like that to continue to learn.
Danny O’Connor – This incredibly popular prospect from Framingham is a very skilled pure boxer and sports a likable personality. In 2009 he fought 8 times, winning each time. He’s being moved along slowly, but surely he has the talent to compete with the best of them once the time comes.
Matt Remillard – Only fought three times in 2009, but this Hartford resident was victorious every time and ended the night early with a KO. Has the ability to be a contender in the featherweight division.
Event of the Year – Carl Froch vs. Jermain Taylor Super Middleweight Title Fight at Foxwoods 4/25/09
Showtime was there to televise Carl Froch’s come from behind TKO of former middleweight champ Jermain Taylor and contender Allan Green’s display of punching power en route to a 2nd round stoppage over Carlos De Leon Jr. However even without those two significant fights, this was a great card from top to bottom.
Former junior welterweight titleholder Paulie Malignaggi outboxed club fighter Christopher Fernandez easily for 7 of 8 rounds in his comeback bout after losing to Ricky Hatton. However, it wasn’t without drama. Fernandez stunned and came close to stopping Malignaggi towards to end of the 6th round. The bell sounded, possibly saving Malignaggi, and he was able to regroup and win a decision.
Heavyweight Dominick Guinn blitzed through the undefeated but untested Johnnie White inside of one round.
New England prospect Danny O’Connor gave his fans something to cheer about as he scored two knockdowns while decisioning journeyman Travis Hartman.
In the opening bout of the evening, middleweights Jonathan Nelson and Eddie Caminero participated in a slugfest that had the few fans who came to the arena early on their feet and cheering.
Promoter Lou Dibella had stated at a press conference in Worcester earlier in the year that he’d like to promote more often in New England. Let’s hope that this was just the beginning.
Honorable Mentions
The Contender 4 Finale at Foxwoods 2/25/09 – Unfortunately it was probably the last Contender finale we’ll ever see, but this card was stacked from top to bottom. In the main event, legitimate cruiserweight contender Troy Ross proved it by winning the TV show tournament with the same name. He stopped Hino Ehikamenor in 4 rounds. In the co feature, former world title challenger Rico Hoye outpointed fan favorite Akinyemi “AK-47” Laleye over 8 entertaining rounds. Sluggers Ryan Coyne and New Hampshire’s Richard Gingras brawled for 6 rounds, Brockton’s Tim Flamos showed immense heart while being outgunned by Felix Cora Jr., and Erick Vega and Alfredo Escalera Jr. got the evening started with a rousing war. It was the MGM at Foxwoods first boxing card ever and it was a nice way for the new venue to be christened into the fight game.
Chad Dawson vs. Glen Johnson at XL Center 11/07/09 – It’s always nice to see HBO’s World Championship Boxing come to the region and Chad Dawson put on an impressive boxing exhibition that hopefully his home state will get behind as his career moves forward. How good is Chad Dawson? I offer you this: former light heavyweight titleholder and cruiserweight champion Tomasz Adamek is now being considered as an eventual heavyweight title challenger coming off an impressive TKO of Andrew Golata. His only loss came at light heavyweight to Dawson and it wasn’t even close.
CES February Frenzy at Twin River Event Center 02/06/09 – You would’ve never thought it going in, but Jimmy Burchfield’s Classic Entertainment & Sports “February Frenzy” show turned out to be one of the better boxing cards from top to bottom all year. It featured two candidates for New England Fight of the Year – McCreedy vs. Starnino II and Soto vs. Eklund. It also gave us some stunning upsets when local heavyweight Rashad Minor was knocked silly within 30 seconds by part time actor Sean McLean and Connecticut’s Brian Macy was knocked down three times by Ohio’s Anthony Pietrantonio and stopped in 3 rounds. It was rounded out by some good early KO’s and an entertaining draw between Providence’s Josh Beeman and Atlanta’s Jamar Saunders.
KO of the Year – Alfredo Angulo KO3 Harry Joe Yorgey at XL Center Hartford, CT 11/07/09
This knockout was brutal. It was scary. It’s a candidate for best KO of 2009 regardless were the fight took place, it just so happened it took place in New England.
Mexican junior middleweight contender Alfredo Angulo was fighting on HBO for the first time since suffering his first loss via unanimous decision to former welterweight titleholder Kermit Cintron. It was the co feature to the Chad Dawson – Glen Johnson main event and Angulo’s KO may have stolen the show.
After knocking down and staggering Yorgey in the 2nd round, Angulo looked to finish the show in the 3rd. He benefitted greatly from a temporary epidemic of incompetency among boxing officials in charge of regulating the fight. First, referee Johnny Callas blatantly ignored a rabbit punch from Angulo that threw off Yorgey’s already off balance equilibrium.
With Yorgey taking many unanswered punches, his trainer Jack Loew attempted to step onto the ring apron and stop the fight. However, an inspector from the Connecticut commission prevented him from doing that.
With the fight being allowed to continue, Angulo did what he had to do and ended the bout in emphatic fashion. A left hook nailed Yorgey and appeared to be sending him to the canvas again, but while he was on his way down he took a flush right hand and was knocked out cold.
Was the fight stopped too late? Yes. Did the officials in charge of this fight screw up? Yes. Did Alfredo Angulo show that he’s one of the best punchers in boxing today? Yes.
And the latter is why this was the New England Knockout of the year.
*Honorable Mention
Peter Manfredo Jr. KO7 Walid Smitchet
Coming off a 3rdround stoppage to Sakio Bika in his previous fight, Providence’s Peter Manfredo was looking to get back on track back in April as he took on French – Canadian Walid Smitchet in Montreal. Smitchet had proven to be a tough customer. His track record included a controversial loss to John Duddy where Smitchet had the Irishman hurt many times early in the fight. He’d also gone the distance with middleweight contender Sebastian Demers.
But Manfredo beat him more impressively that either of the afore mentioned opponents. Manfredo scored a knockdown in the 3rdround and then in the 7thnailed Smitchet with a left hook that put him down for the count. In winning so impressively, Manfredo showed that he’s not done yet and is angling for a middleweight title shot in 2010.
What to look forward to in 2010?
Chad Dawson solidifying himself as the true light heavyweight champion of the world.
Edwin Rodriguez making the jump from prospect to contender.
The continuing evolution of Matt Remillard, Demetrius Andrade & Danny O’Connor.
Jimmy Burchfield’s Twin River Fight Series.
Hopefully some world class events at Foxwoods & Mohegan Sun in CT.
“The Fighter” – the movie about the life story of Lowell’s “Irish” Micky Ward starring Dorchester’s Mark Wahlberg.
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