Quijano: Looking back at 2011

Monday, January 2, 2012

ALL told, there seem to be several compelling match-ups that can make this year a thrill ride for fight fans.

But looking back, which fighter shone the brightest and deserves our fighter-of-the year accolade?

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ANDRE WARD. He towered over the competition this year in defeating Arthur Abraham and dominating Carl Froch in the finals to emerge as Showtime’s Super-middleweight tournament champion.

He now proudly wields the WBA and WBC diadems.

Our very own Nonito Donaire Jr. comes in as a close second with his scintillating knockout of Fernando Montiel, which also merits our knockout of the year award, and a win over Omar Andres Narvaez.

The Narvaez bout was lackluster as the Argentinean regrettably fought scared and was content to coast along for 12 one-sided rounds and avoid getting knocked out.

That probably robbed Donaire of an opportunity to cap off a great year with another highlight reel knockout, but that’s the way the fight game goes.

Speaking of avoiding knockouts, Shane Mosely rode on his bike after getting knocked down in the second round to escape Manny Pacquiao’s wrath. The reigning pound-for-pound king had to settle for a dominant unanimous decision win.

The Pacman had an opportunity to stamp his superiority over rival Juan Manuel Marquez later in the year, but unfortunately the third encounter produced another hotly debated verdict.

PINOYS. Several other Pinoy fighters performed well last year as Philippine pro boxing registered another solid year.

Brian Viloria defeated Julio Cesar Miranda to win the WBO flyweight crown. He followed that up with an impressive TKO win over Giovanni Segura.

Brian was so accurate in that fight that Segura started growing a second head by the fourth round, yet the ref allowed the gruesome bout to continue till the eighth round.

It was an upset of sorts as Segura was slightly favored coming in despite being the challenger, on account of his impressive credentials.

Donnie Nietes also merits recognition for having a stellar year. He started it off with a one-round stoppage of Armando Vasquez then followed it up with a huge title-clinching victory over Ramon Hirales for the WBO light flyweight crown, his second in as many weight divisions.

Milan Melindo continued his nascent rise to boxing’s elite pack with two impressive victories in 2011. First he stopped Rosendo Vega in one round and defeated Francisco Rosas to annex the vacant WBO intercontinental flyweight title.

AJ Banal trudged along the comeback trail with three victories in 2011: a TKO win over Francis Miyeyusho, a TD win over comedian cum fighter Tyson Cave and a unanimous decision win over Mario Briones.

Rey Bautista had a relatively decent 2011. He opened the year with a stoppage win over Alejandro Barrera in a rematch, then eked out a controversial technical decision win over Heriberto Ruiz. He then redeemed himself well with a KO6 victory over wild brawler Miguel Angel Mendoza.

A bright spot for Philippine boxing is Denver Cuello, who won all his fights by knockout last year. He stopped Samartlek Chaiyongym, Omar Soto, Sebastian Arcos then annexed the WBC silver minimumweight crown with an impressive first round knockout of Mexican Carlos Perez in Mexico.

On the flipside, 2011 was a forgettable year for former world title challenger Bernabe Concepcion. He lost via split decision to Juan Carlos Martinez then got a lucky break in wining a head butt-infested fight with Aaron Garcia.

It was also a mixed bag for Mark Jason Melligen. He looked impressive against Gabriel Martinez in winning via unanimous decision, but ran out of steam to lose via KO to the rugged Sebastian Lujan.

LAST ROUNDS. Are on Ariel Bercide and Magine Layan who are set to tie the knot this week. Congratulations and cheers!

(jingo_quijano@yahoo.com)