Fighter of the Year:
Stevie Johnston- Johnston avenged his only pro loss with a 12 round decision win over Cesar Bazan, followed it up with a win over Aldo Rios, followed that by defeating the always tough, competitive Angel Manfredy over 12 close rounds and ended the year by beating Billy Schwer.
Fighter of the Year Runners up:
Erik Morales: The most active champion of the year, but outside of Wayne McCullough, his opposition took a back seat to Johnston's.
Oscar De La Hoya: A win is a win and a loss is a loss. I felt that Oscar was robbed against Trinidad. As I've mentioned before, he outboxed him at will, outlanded him when it came to practically every category including bodypunching, and pretty much proving that he owned Trinidad and lost only the rounds that he allowed Trinidad to win. However, his running tactics at the end of the fight was clearly NOT what being a fighter of the year is about. Still, he fought the best opposition of anyone this year, so he remained a possibility for my nod.
Fight of the Year:
Paulie Ayala W12 Johnny Tapia- Both combatants came to fight and the result was an all-out war. Ayala fights as perfect a fight as you can get against a fighter of Tapia's caliber. Tapia opts to slug and it costs him the fight as he is jarred by Ayala's jab and uppercut. The fight was all skill and all heart with both fighters displaying a sportsman like attitude at the end. A testament to the sport at its best. I scored the fight 115-113 in favor of Ayala.
KO of the Year:
Tyson KO 5 Botha- Need I explain? A picture perfect one punch KO on the chin. Botha's reputation as a tough fighter with a good chin makes this KO all the more impressive. It also warns heavyweights around the world that Mike Tyson is back and can still dish it out better than anyone.
Upset of the Year:
Ross Puritty KO 11 Wladimir Klitschko: After considerable hype, Klitschko is upset by Puritty, the journeyman. Puritty shows us that he is still a threat in the heavyweight division when he is inspired and willing and that is not meant to be taken lightly.
Round of the Year:
De La Hoya-Quartey (Round 12): De La Hoya, after taking a few rounds off and cautious of Ike's wicked left jab, opens the round with a vengeance, knocking Quartey down with a left hook. Quartey promptly got up and De La Hoya resumed his assault, bulling Quartey against the ropes and suddenly bombarding Quartey's head with lefts and rights. Quartey remained upright, smiling, his head snapping back whilst proving his resilience. Halfway through the De La Hoya offensive, Quartey starts pawing at De La Hoya ineffectively, but showing he wasn't so easy to dispatch. De La Hoya eventually backs off and Quartey survives to last the distance and lose a razor thing decision. Still, a convincing round for De La Hoya and a round in which Quartey proved his warrior's mentality.
De La Hoya knocks Quartey down enroute to a razor thin split-decision victory.
Other Great Fights of '99:
Derrick Jefferson KO 6 Maurice Harris: Heavyweight critics eat your heart out. Two up and coming heavyweights give us everything they had in an all out war. Both fighters proved their worth as contenders by showing tremendous heart. Jefferson was wobbling when he unleashed the left hook that would win him the fight. In doing that, Jefferson showed not only heart but resilience and a will to win.
Thomas Tate KO10 Merqui Sosa: These two guys put on a helluva fight. Sosa was dominating almost every round, but Tate kept scoring the knockdowns and kept it ultra close until Tate finally finished Sosa in the 10th.
Oscar De La Hoya W12 Ike Quartey: What made this fight so dramatic wasn't the action, but what was at stake. Two undefeated Welterweights, two of the best, got it on. Both fighters were on the defensive for the most part, and justifiably so considering their reputations coming into the fight, but boy when they let them loose, they let them loose. I had Quartey winning the fight by a score of 115-113, but still, a fight that could go either way.
Tyson KO5 Botha: Very dramatic fight. You never knew what was going to happen. Will Tyson snap again under pressure? I'm sure many people held their breath at the end of the 1st round where a mini-brawl erupted due to Tyson's refusal to let go of Botha. The fight goes on and Botha is beating Tyson to the punch, winning every round. The more the fight wore on, the more I thought Tyson's chances were becoming small. After all, he has a knack for becoming sloppy after 6 or 7 rounds. Out of nowhere Tyson lands the right hand and ends the fight with a single blow. A great KO puts an end to a suspenseful fight.
Francois Botha D10 Shannon Briggs: Both guys gave a great effort in this fight. The rest of the boxing world can learn from these guys, (Oscar, Felix and Ike, are you listening?). Botha again shows the tremendous heart he has can overcome a lack of a big punch as he lands his right hand at will. Briggs scores a knockdown, but is unable to finish Botha, (and in effect making the Tyson-Botha KO more significant in my opinion). Botha finishes the fight with a good rally in the final round. I had Botha winning this fight, by a wide margin, but the fight is scored a draw. An outstanding, entertaining fight with a questionable decision.
Winner of my
KO's of the Year:
Erik Morales KO 2 Angel Chacon- Chacon has a knack for taking a shot and lasting long in a fight. No one has ever done this to Chacon. (Picture on left: Morales blasts Chacon.)
Ike "The President" Ibeabuchi KO 5 Chris Byrd- Excellent KO. An uppercut that resulted in an explosion of sweat flying off of Byrd's head. Byrd has proved to be a pesky defensive fighter that has been extremely difficult to nail, which makes Ibeabuchi's KO victory all the more meaningful and spectacular. Honestly, I thought Byrd probably could've gone on, but his face looked blank the split second the ref decided to step in. Nevertheless, an outstanding win for Ike.
Randall Bailey KO 1 Carlos "Bolillo" Gonzalez- Bailey, a Miami resident and unknown to the boxing world in general, comes in to fight Gonzalez, the champ, who has more than double his experience. They circle each other...BAM! Out of nowhere, a perfect left hook flattens the champ. A beautiful 1 punch KO that catapulted Bailey from unknown to a force in the division on the strength of one punch. It truly was an amazing shot.
James Butler KO 7 Bryant Brannon: Butler, coming off his biggest win over a past-his-prime Merqui Sosa, brutally knocks out Brannon, whose only loss up until then came at the hands of Roy Jones Jr. Butler presses Brannon against the ropes and ends the matter with a head-snapping left hook.
Andrew Murray KO 3 Michael Covington: Covington was just starting to make a name for himself in boxing when he collided with Murray's left hand and fell flat on his back with a glassy look in his eyes. Covington's face remained expressionless from the moment he hit the canvas until he was carried away on a stretcher. A scary moment, but a great KO.
Oleg Maskaev KO 8 Hasim Rahman: A close fight, but one that Rahman was winning by a slight margin. Maskaev, a straight up, plodding fighter, kept pressing forward and showing a warrior mentality. Maskaev then wobbled Rahman; Rahman was recuperating a bit when Maskaev landed a truly awesome right hand that knocked Rahman out of the ropes and out.
Upsets of the Year:
The winner of my
Paulie Ayala W12 Johnny Tapia: Ayala rises to the occasion and gives Tapia the toughest fight of his career. Tapia makes a tactical error in slugging it out as Ayala proves to be the more effective fighter, rocking Tapia with beautiful combinations enroute to a well deserved and hard fought points victory.
Willy Wise W10 Julio Cesar Chavez- Enroute to a title shot against Kostya Tszyu or Felix Trinidad, Chavez is derailed as he is thoroughly outboxed and outfought over the course of 10 rounds. Chavez was always competitive with lots of heart, but the normally cast iron chinned Chavez was wobbling all over the ring by round 8 from the effects of a non-puncher. A sad fight and unfortunately, a clear sign that Chavez should hang 'em up. I'll miss him.
Bad Decisions:
Lennox Lewis D 12 Evander Holyfield: No way Evander deserved a draw, much less win. A fight that was almost exclusively Lewis. Lewis kept Evander at bay with his left jab for most of the fight. He silenced his critics who said his jab was only a "pawing tool". The fact that Lewis bashers criticized his cautious approach against Holyfield proved that either they're biased AGAINST Lewis or simply lack the boxing knowledge to discuss this matter. Anyone who has seen Holyfield fight knows that going after Holyfield is an accident waiting to happen, especially when Holyfield is hurt. Even the fighters who have dealt Holyfield defeats, (Bowe and Moorer), have had near catastrophic experiences when pursuing Holyfield. Therefore, I think Lewis did the smart thing and won an intelligent albeit unexciting fight. To ask Lewis to go all out is to ask him to unneccesarily put himself in danger of Holyfield's notorious counterpunching ability. Corruption or incompetence, (pick your poison), help sink Boxing to a new level. The fact that disgraceful scoring can reach this far up into high profile boxing prominence should scare us.
Francois Botha D10 Shannon Briggs: (Pictured right.)It's hard to call this a bad decision because BOTH men gave it their best. However, I'd be less than honest if I didn't tell you that I firmly believed Botha won this fight big. He landed his right hand at will and was overall the most effective fighter. Briggs, while having lots of heart, didn't do enough to earn the draw on my card. What should've been a convincing win on Botha's resume turns out to be a draw, which isn't right.
Trinidad W12 De La Hoya-(Pictured right.) I saw De La Hoya win this fight by a margin of 117-112. 
DLH clearly outboxed Tito at will. He flurried effectively, landed good bodyshots, made Trinidad miss and pumped the jab in Tito's face whenever he wanted. Still, DLH made a mistake of blowing the last three rounds knowing how judges can be. However, by the end of the 9th, I had DLH winning every round save for 1 even round. Trinidad took rds 10-12 on sheer activity and agression. If I go out of my way to give Tito the benefit of the doubt everywhere I could, the fight MIGHT be 7 rounds to 5, but again, that's after scoring the fight with a Trinidad bias. I can't see Trinidad winning this fight by any means. DLH won a clearcut albeit disappointing decision, (disappointing because he uncharacteristically didn't close the show in his usual manner). A lot of people saw a close fight, but I couldn't disagree more. There's just no way I can see Trinidad taking this fight even after giving him the benefit of the doubt, and that means it's a 'robbery' as far as I'm concerned.
Andrew Golota- Not only the underachiever of the year, but probably of the decade. This guy had the world at the palm of his hands on four serperate occasions and all four times, he has flushed it down the toilet. He was easily beating Riddick Bowe in both of their fights only to lose it for excessive low blows. He gets a title shot against Lennox Lewis and comes in totally unprepared, not warmed up, and had injected something into his knee. The result was a 1 round blow out. Now, with a chance to redeem himself, he faces Michael Grant, who is heavily touted by many people as the next great heavyweight, and is beating him convincingly over the course of 10 rounds. To Grant's credit, he knocks Golota down, but Golota is seemingly in fine shape as he easily beats the count. Abruptly, he quits and hands the victory to Grant. I don't get it.
Franz Botha-When Botha first found his way to the boxing scene, very few people took him seriously. He gained some respect with a gutsy losing effort against Michael Moorer, who was one of the heavyweight champions at the time. Botha was visibly exhausted by the late rounds in that fight, but he kept plugging on until the referee stopped it in 12.
Since that time, Botha gave Mike Tyson a lot of trouble before succumbing to a vicious 1 punch knockout and recently was robbed, in my opinion, against Shannon Briggs when Botha had to settle for a draw. Botha may not have the prettiest style, but you can always count on him to give a fight full of guts win or lose. These days, that's a rarity in boxing. That willingness to succeed has allowed Botha to overcome his deficit of power to give two of the hardest punchers in boxing, a true boxing lesson.
Diego Corrales- Corrales is a big Jr. Lightweight and that gives him an advantage, but he has quickly stepped up the opposition and has won impressively.
He knocked out previously unbeaten Roberto "Grandpa" Garcia to win the IBF Jr. Lightweight championship of the world and followed it up one month later with a unanimous decision win over the very tough and always resilient John "The Beast" Brown.
All the incredients for success are there: The power, the boxing ability and a very reliable chin as evidenced by the power shots he absorbed at the hands of Garcia.
