Pacquiao Fighter of the Year

BY MIKE HOUSER

Nevada Appeal Sports Writer

It wouldn't be entirely accurate to look back on the year in boxing and say, "It was great in 2008," but the last 12 months certainly weren't lacking for action and excitement.

For Filipino sensation Manny Pacquiao, things couldn't have been much better. After moving up from 130 pounds, where he took a 12-round split-decision over Juan Manuel Marquez, the "Pac-Man" won the WBC lightweight belt from David Diaz.

But the main reason Pacquiao wins the Nevada Appeal's Fighter of the Year award (not to mention Sports Illustrated Athlete of the Year award) was his Henry Armstrong-esque leap to 147 pounds, where he rained eight one-sided rounds of artillery on Oscar De La Hoya.

And it took such a command performance from Pacquiao to top the kind of year runner-up Joe Calzaghe had. The Welshman moved up from 168"where he had defended his super middleweight crown a division record-tying 21 times"to beat two American legends in Bernard Hopkins and Roy Jones Jr.

Calzaghe, now 46-0, will likely retire unbeaten in early 2009, but not before leaving behind a lasting legacy.

If American boxing fans weren't sold on the outsourcing of talent before, they should be now. No longer does the United States have a near monopoly on world champions. Pacquiao and Calzaghe are only two examples of the globalization of boxing.

Take for instance the Appeal's Comeback Fighter of the Year, WBC heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko. The 37-year-old "Dr. Ironfist" returned from a 46-month absence to stop Samuel Peter and join his "little" brother, 6-foot-7 Wladimir Klitschko, atop boxing's flagship division.

Not only do the brothers, who hail from the Ukraine, put the KO in Klitschko, the twin towers stand in the way of a return of a heavyweight belt to the U.S. Expect Wladimir, the IBF-WBO champ, to pull the covers on American Chris Arreola in April and show the suits and talking heads at HBO what should already be apparent: If there's a light at the end of the heavyweight tunnel, it's probably the Klitschko Express.

Not all awards are so positive. Take the Biggest Fraud of the Year award. That would belong to 7-foot, 310-pound Nicolay Valuev, whom the media cluelessly calls the WBA heavyweight titlist.

That honor would belong to Ruslan Chagaev, who outboxed the Russian giant for the WBA belt before suffering an injury that prevented a rematch with Valuev. This, of course, was a good enough reason for the WBA to slap an "interim" in front of its title and award it to Valuev, who got yet another gift over two more Don King heavyweights, John Ruiz and Evander Holyfield.

"The Real Deal" Holyfield got a raw deal against Valuev in Switzerland, so Valuev remains champion only in the eyes of the WBA and the 46-year-old Holyfield will continue on his delusional journey to the undisputed heavyweight championship.

Discard, if you will, the mention of any sanctioning bodies and look instead at the Fight of the Year"again"between Israel Vazquez-Rafael Marquez. The Mexican warriors combined for Fight of the Year honors in the first two meetings in 2007, and didn't disappoint in their brutal rubber match in '08, which was won by 122-pound king Vazquez.

It may be a while before Vazquez-Marquez IV, however. Vazquez will undergo surgery for a torn retina, suffered in his third war with the redoubtable Marquez.

Rafael isn't the only Marquez worth mentioning. Older brother Juan Manuel, after dropping a close rematch with Pacquiao, stepped up to 135 and chilled Joel Casamayor.

Round of the Year belongs to Kendall Holt-Ricardo Torres, who faced each other in a rematch, with Holt exacting revenge with a spectacular, momentum-swinging one-round KO on Showtime.

Welterweight champion Antonio Margarito deserves honorable mention as Fighter of the Year with his victory over formerly undefeated Miguel Cotto, so this means the Most Unappreciated award goes to welterweight-junior middleweight titlist Paul Williams. "The Punisher" owns a victory over Margarito, but his seems to be the least-mentioned name when others talk about fighting tough opponents.

Hopkins deserves credit for handing middleweight champ Kelly Pavlik his first defeat, but "The Ghost" was stepping up two divisions, while B-Hop gets too much credit for his distance loss to Calzaghe.

After his dominant victory over Antonio Tarver, light heavyweight titlist Chad Dawson looked to be headed for bigger things, but all he gets is a why-the-hell-are-they-making-this rematch with Tarver in '09.

Ricky Hatton showed in a stoppage victory over Paulie Malinaggi that he had been too easily dismissed after being dropped and stopped by Floyd Mayweather Jr., who subsequently "retired."

Both will be back in action in 2009, however, with "The Hitman" facing Pacquiao at 140 on May 2, and "Pretty Boy" most likely returning to face the winner.

For local fans, it wasn't what happened in '08 that was so great, it's what will happen in '09 that will be so fine, when Yerington's Jesse Brinkley and Reno's Joey Gilbert meet in a "Civil War" Feb. 14 at Reno Events Center.

As it should be on Dec. 31, it's fun to look back on a pretty good year and start looking forward to the promises of an even better one.