Awards: Upset of the Year…
By Robert Przybylo
BPrzybylo@opubco.com
(maybe Hopkins didn’t get the memo that he was supposed to be fodder for Pavlik)
This was a category where I had to work backwards. I knew what the winner was the night it happened. But in order to try to build up some drama, here are some other credible upsets that took place.
4) Carlos Quintana W12 Paul Williams: P-Will was supposed to be the future of the welterweight division. He was coming off a hard-earned decision win against Antonio Margarito. This was supposed to be a showcase fight.
No siree. Quintana was too slick all night for Williams and busted him up good. Easy decision win.
Why this didn’t win: Um, because Williams knocked him out in less than a round in a rematch five months later. Williams came out aggressive and destroyed Quintana, dropping him twice and getting his name back up among the elite once again.
3) Brian Vera TKO 7 Andy Lee: Lee was supposed to be the next big thing for trainer Emanuel Steward. And it appeared that way early when Lee scored a knockdown in the first round.
However, as became a theme all 2008 on ESPN, the underdog came to fight. Vera eventually stopped Lee in the seventh.
Why this didn’t win: Two sides of the same coin here. One, maybe Lee was overrated and was exposed. Or two, Lee ends up being something special and this was just a blip on the radar. Either way, Lee will have plenty of chances to rebound, and we’ll find out what he’s made out of.
2) Manny Pacquiao TKO 8 Oscar de La Hoya: Most scribes has penciled in a late de La Hoya knockout because of his natural size and experience.
There was no way Pacquiao could take a left hook from the Golden Boy.
Hey, we’ll never know because Oscar never landed that or anything else significant in the bout.
Pacquiao dominated in round 1 and kept it up before annihilating Oscar in rounds 7 and 8 and causing the fight to be stopped. Pacquiao was supposed to be the smaller fighter, but he was the one standing tall on this night.
Why it didn’t win: Because I picked PacMan to win by late-round stoppage. I didn’t think it would be that much of a destruction, but I’ve said for years that Pacquiao is a different breed of a fighter than most of today’s pugilists. So while the rest of the boxing world had their jaws on the ground, I was proud for believing in my instincts.
No. 1 and the Boneman’s Upset of the Year: Bernard Hopkins W12 Kelly Pavlik. You know how I stuck my chest up for PacMan? Well, take that and the complete opposite, and you’ve got Hopkins and Pavlik.
Hopkins looked old and unmotivated in losing to Joe Calzaghe in April. Pavlik was coming off two thrilling wins over Jermain Taylor, a cake walk KO of Gary Lockett and was bringing back boxing to the midwest.
Hopkins did everything but knock Pavlik out. I watched in awe. He beat him to the punch. He still had great movement. He was stronger.
It started in round 2 when he rocked Pavlik. I don’t remember Pavlik landing one punch that made me thing the tide was about to turn.
Hopefully Pavlik can bounce back from this. I had no problems with Hopkins staring down Pavlik, the media after the fight. Hey, you get razzed on during the whole buildup to the fight and then put on that performance? You’re allowed to have a little fun and boast.
Thursday: The rest of the best in boxing 2008.
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