By Norm Fraienheim-
Another year ends the same way the last one did. Good riddance. At least, the approaching New Year can’t be postponed. It feels as if just about everything in 2021 was.
Some of the same old trouble is surging all over again. It’s ominous, which today means omicron. From the NFL to the NHL, the Postponement Pandemic is back.
The good news is that boxing did in 2021 what it has always done. It bleeds, but never breaks. It survived. It came out of the bubble and hopefully will stay there. I like its chances, mostly because of an inexhaustible defiance that was expressed throughout a problematic year.
A look back:
Fight of the Year: It’s obvious. Tyson Fury-Deontay Wilder 3 was wild, wildly wonderful enough to forget about variants and protocol. It knocked our masks off. Fury was down twice; Wilder was down twice. Then, Fury delivered the finishing blow in the 11th round of their second heavyweight rematch Oct. 9 in Las Vegas. Some complained that it wasn’t an exhibition of refined skill. So, go to a museum. It was fun for fans in desperate need of some.
Honorable Mention: Juan Francisco Estrada’s split-decision over Roman “Chocolatito” Gonzalez. It was controversial. It was crazy. Estrada threw 1,212 punches; Chocolatito 1,317. That’s 2,529 punches without a knockdown. In the end, both had enough energy to still be standing after the March 13 junior-bantamweight bout in Dallas.
Fighter of the Year: Canelo Alvarez. Busy was possible for just one fighter during the Postponement Pandemic. The reigning super-middleweight fought three times, winning each by stoppage – first a gimme against overmatched Avni Yildirim, then a punishing one against a skilled Billy Joe Saunders and finally one over a limited Caleb Plant. The victories kept Canelo in the headlines and at the top of year-ending ballots.
Honorable Mention: Oleksandr Usyk turned the heavyweight division upside-down with his dominant decision over Anthony Joshua Sept. 25 in London. Usyk has more than a dynamic skillset. He’s got some charisma. If his decision on Oct. 31, 2020 over Derek Chisora had happened in early 2021, he would have been this corner’s Fighter of the Year.
KO of the Year: Tyson Fury. In a fight with five knockdowns, it’s fitting that the fifth and final one would be KO of the Year. Put it this way, each of the first four knockdowns were concussive enough to be knockouts. The fifth defined Fury at his furious best. It was also delivered by a right, the hand that Deontay Wilder had turned into a wrecking ball, feared by every heavyweight but one. Fury delivered it – a clean shot to Wilder’s temple – at 1:10 of the eleventh.
Honorable Mention: Oscar Valdez Jr.’s 10th-round KO of Miquel Berchelt. Valdez landed a wicked left hook in the final second of the 10th-round, finishing a feared and favored Berchelt for the 130-pound title Feb. 20 in The Bubble at Vegas’ MGM Grand.
Upset of the Year: Yordenis Ugas, whose unanimous decision over Manny Pacquiao ended an era. The Manny Era. Pacquiao finally began to show his age, all 42 years of it. As sad as it was for 12 rounds, it was compelling in the end. At the post-fight news conference on Aug. 21 at Vegas’ T-Mobile Arena, Pacquiao delivered a touching performance, one that could be The Farewell of this Year or any other year. It set the stage for his inevitable decision to retire a few weeks later. It also reminded us of why we’ve liked him so much for so long.
Honorable Mention: George Kambosos, who scored a split-decision over Teofimo Lopez on Nov. 27 in New York. It was a shocker, especially for Lopez, who couldn’t quite get over the shock. Looking bloodied and beaten, he grabbed the microphone and insisted he had won. “Delusional,’’ Kambosos said, saying it all before taking the undisputed lightweight title home to Sydney, Australia. The upset left the 135-pound division upside-down, or at least Down Under.
