By David Martinez / dmboxing.com
I have assembled my “personal” choices in boxing for the past year 2017 in five major categories, and my “pound for pound” ranking for the year ending 2017. Picks are solely my opinion, as I sincerely respect and welcome the opinions of others – thank you!
FIGHTER OF THE YEAR: Vasyl Lomachenko / WBO Super Featherweight Champion
vs. Jason Sosa (RTD 9) April 8, 2017 / vs. Miguel Marriaga (RTD 7) August 5, 2017 /
Guillermo Rigondeaux (RTD 6) December 9, 2017
***** Runner Up’s:
***** Terence Crawford
***** Andre Ward
FIGHT OF THE YEAR: Anthony Joshua vs. Wladimir Klitschko / IBF & WBA Heavyweight Championship / TKO 11 / London, United Kingdom
***** Runner Up’s:
***** Miguel Berchelt vs. Francisco Vargas / WBC Super Featherweight Championship / KO 11 / January 28, 2017 / Indio, California
***** Srisaket Sor Rungvisai vs. Roman Gonzalez / WBC Super Flyweight Championship / MD 12 / March 18, 2017 / New York, NY
ROUND OF THE YEAR: Anthony Joshua vs. Wladimir Klitschko / Round 5 / IBF & WBA Heavyweight Championship / London, England
***** Runner Up’s:
***** Miguel Roman vs. Orlando Salido / Round 8 / Junior Lightweights / December 9, 2017 / Las Vegas, Nevada
***** Dominic Breazeale vs. Izuagbe Ugonoh / Round 3 / Heavyweights / February 25, 2017 / Birmingham, Alabama
KNOCKOUT OF THE YEAR: Mickey Garcia vs. Dejan Zlaticanin / WBC Lightweight Championship / KO 3 / January 28, 2017 / Las Vegas, Nevada
***** Runner Up’s:
***** David Lemieux vs. Curtis Stevens / Middleweights / KO 3 / March 11, 2017 / Verona, New York
***** Srisaket Sor Rungvisai vs. Roman Gonzalez / WBC Super Flyweight Championship / KO 4 / September 9, 2017 / Carson, California
UPSET OF THE YEAR: Srisaket Sor Rungvisai vs. Roman Gonzalez / WBC Super Flyweight Championship / MD 12 / March 18, 2017 / New York, NY
***** Runner Up’s:
***** Caleb Truax vs. James DeGale / IBF Super Middleweight Championship / MD 12 / December 12, 2017 / London, United Kingdom
***** Jeff Horn vs. Manny Pacquiao / WBO Welterweight Championship / UD 12 / July 2, 2017 / Bisbane, Australia
My top (12) dozen “pound for pound” ranking ending on December 31, 2017
1 – Gennady Golovkin (37-0-1 / 33 by KO)
2 – Terence Crawford (32-0 / 23 by KO)
3 – Vasyl Lomachenko (10-1 / 8 by KO)
4 – Canelo Alvarez (49-1-2 / 34 by KO)
5 – Mickey Garcia (37-0 / 30 by KO)
6 – Errol Spence Jr. (22-0 / 19 by KO)
7 – Naoya Inoue (15-0 / 13 by KO)
8 – Sergey Kovalev (31-2-1 / 27 by KO)
9 – Keith Thurman (28-0 / 22 by KO)
10 – Wisaksil Wangek (44-4-1 / 40 by KO)
11 – Juan Francisco Estrada (36-2 / 25 by KO)
12 – Leo Santa Cruz (34-1-1 / 19 by KO)
Honorable Mention: Daniel Jacobs (33-2 / 29 by KO); Donnie Nietes (40-1-4 / 22 by KO); Anthony Joshua (20-0 / 20 by KO); Oleksandr Usyk (13-0 / 11 by KO)
Great stuff ALWAYS!