THE BEST OF 2007

It was a great year for boxing, and picking the best-of-the-best was delightfully difficult. The year was packed with excitement from start to brilliant finish. Here is one opinion on the cream of this year's bumper crop.

by Nat Gottlieb

FIGHT OF THE YEAR

Taylor-Pavlik

There were several terrific fights, but for sheer drama and significance, none quite matched the classic showdown in September between reigning middleweight champion Jermain Taylor and unbeaten knockout artist Kelly Pavlik. It was a highly-anticipated fight with several subplots, and lived up to its billing.

Taylor had looked like the next superstar attraction when he beat Bernard Hopkins twice for the middleweight title in 2005. But in his next three fights, Taylor seemed to regress, managing a draw with Winky Wright and then looked uninspiring beating two junior middleweights who had moved up in weight class.

While Taylor was floundering, the Top Rank-promoted Pavlik had knocked out tough Mexican Jose Luis Zertuche, and then duplicated the feat in stunning fashion against Edison Miranda, who had been seen as the next middleweight champion after losing a controversial decision to belt-holder Arthur Abraham in Germany. So when Taylor agreed to fight Pavlik, the stage was set for high drama. Could Taylor redeem himself and win back his fans, or would Pavlik, young and hungry, score his break-out victory?

The fight itself was filled with action, and the drama of ebb and flow. Working well behind his jab, Taylor rocked the challenger with an overhand right in the second round, and followed that with a flurry of heavy shots that finally dropped the challenger to his knees. It looked like Pavlik was ready to go.

But when Pavlik got up, Taylor seemed to have run out of steam, and couldn't put the challenger away. Over the next four rounds, Pavlik regained his composure and the two boxers kept trading leather. Behind on all three scorecards after six rounds, Pavlik suddenly found his rhythm. With 59 seconds to go in the round, he landed a jab-right hand combo that stirred the crowd and seemed to stun the champion. Pavlik kept his foot to the pedal, and nailed Taylor with a vicious right cross on the chin which buckled his knees. Taylor retreated to the corner, but Pavlik was right on him.

Pavlik unleashed a seven-shot volley, followed by two more left hooks to the head and Taylor's legs gave way as he fell to the floor. Referee Steve Smoger didn't even bother with a count. He rushed between the two fighters and stopped it. Kelly Pavlik was middleweight champion of the world.

RUNNERUP

Traditionally, Fight of the Year is awarded to barnburners that are non-stop brawls. The two Vasquez-Marquez fights certainly fit that criteria, and either bout could have won this award. But even though their fights were more exciting than Taylor-Pavlik, they lacked the significance of the middleweight match. Marquez won the first fight, Vasquez the second. What did it prove? What did it define? The division was not shaken up by the fights, as was the case when Pavlik beat Taylor. Vasquez is 29 years old with 46 fights, Marquez is 32 with 41 bouts. Both have been stars and will remain so as long as their bodies hold up. Pavlik is 25 and his victory breathed new life into boxing. That ultimately swung the award to Taylor-Pavlik.

FIGHTER

Kelly Pavlik

There were several who had legitimate claim to this title, but Pavlik's three knockout victories in 2007 really ignited fans and shook up the entire middleweight division. Boxing now has a young 25-year-old champion with the kind of thunder in his hands that fans flock to see. At 6'2 1/2, he also has the potential to fill out his gangly frame and move up one or two more divisions at some point and shoot for more titles. For sheer excitement, and the possibility of super stardom looming, Kelly Pavlik (32-0) earned Fighter of the Year.

A very close second was the undefeated welterweight champion Miguel Cotto (31-0), who knocked out the German, Oktay Urkal and former champion Zab Judah before capping the year by defeating future Hall of Famer Shane Mosley in a classic boxer-puncher match.

Also in the running was Joe Calzaghe (44-0) for his brilliant victory over Kessler, and lightweight Juan Diaz (33-0), the exciting, high-volume puncher who knocked out both Acelino Freitas and Julio Diaz to unify three of the division's four titles.

TRAINER

Enzo Calzaghe

This was the sweetest of years for Joe Calzaghe's father. While Joe had been criticized by the tough British media for many years because of the so-called lack of quality of his opponents, Enzo was looked upon as a one-trick pony, a trainer who had a champion so naturally talented that anybody could train him.

Then in November Enzo got his revenge. To England came undefeated Dane Mikkel Kessler with his two championship belts. Joe put on a master class and scored a unanimous decision over the game Kessler that left the Brit media tripping over itself to hurl superlatives at father and son.

But that was not the only accomplishment for Enzo in 2007. In July, the Calzaghe-trained Gavin Rees, all 5'3 of him, gave away six inches to junior welterweight champion Souleymane M'baye, yet pulled off a major upset by unanimous decision. The combined record of Rees' five previous opponents was 68-138-10.

Calzaghe has a third champion in his growing stable of top fighters, the cruiserweight Enzo Maccarinelli. Enzo sent out Maccarinelli three times in 2007 to successfully defend his title, including a victory over former cruiserweight world champion Wayne Braithwaite.

Before he began training with Calzaghe, Maccarinelli was a one-dimensional brawler. Calzaghe turned him into a classic boxer-puncher and a champion.

RUNNER-UP

Evangelista Cotto

Miguel Cotto's uncle prepared the former 140-pound champion extremely well for his first full year as a welterweight. Cotto successfully defended his 147-pound title three times against incrementally tougher opposition. Stoppages of Oktay Urkal and Zab Judah set the stage for his biggest victory of all, a 12-round unanimous decision over three-division champion Sugar Shane Mosley. Evangelista did a brilliant job of honing Cotto's dormant boxing skills, and ultimately it was Cotto's ability to utilize his jab and fight at a distance for a change that proved the difference.

MANAGER

Cameron Dunkin

Dunkin is one of those rare managers who knows how to patiently bring along a young fighter -- and sticks to his guns. He also has a knack of finding young boxers whom other managers did not have on their radar.

In past years, Dunkin has developed the champions Stevie Johnston, Johnny Tapia, Marc Johnson, Danny Romero, Eric Morel and the late Diego Corrales.

Dunkin had the kind of year other managers can only dream of. In 2007, three of his boxers won their first world titles - Pavlik, Steve Luevano and Nonito Donaire. Within the space of two weeks, Dunkin pulled off two major upsets. On July 7, he stunned people when he sent the unheralded Filipino Donaire to take on the brash knockout artist and unbeaten flyweight champion Vic Darchinyan. It looked like a terrible mismatch. But after what had been a close fight over the first four rounds, halfway through the fifth Donaire pulled a shocker, knocking Darchinyan into Neverland with a single left hook to the chin.

One week later, Dunkin sent featherweight contender Steve Luevano to England to challenge unbeaten champion Nicky Cook (27-0) on the Brit's own turf. Luevano took the title with an eleventh-round knockout.

Dunkin also manages our Prospect of the Year, Victor Ortiz, and has unbeaten lightweight Jose Miguel Aguiniga (31-0) poised for a title fight in 2008.

PROSPECT

Victor Ortiz

Just 20 years old, Ortiz (20-1-1, 15KOs) is another can't miss star in the making from the Dunkin-Top Rank factory. Like Cotto and Pavlik, Top Rank has brought this junior welterweight along at just the right pace.

The hard-hitting southpaw has a solid amateur background and very complete set of boxing skills. Coming from Oxnard, CA, the same town as Fernando Vargas, he is often compared to "Ferocious" because their styles are similar. Like Vargas, who won his first world title at 21, Ortiz looks positioned to equal that feat late in 2008.

Ortiz, has only two inconsequential blemishes on his record. Two years ago he was disqualified in the first round against a journeyman when he dropped his opponent after the boxers were coming out of a clinch. In January of this year, a clash of heads in the first round left Ortiz with a nasty gash and his bout with another unbeaten prospect, Marvin Cordova Jr., was halted and ruled a draw.

What bumped Ortiz above several outstanding prospects were his performances in his last two fights, both impressive victories over seasoned veterans, Emmanuel Clottey and former champion Carlos Maussa. Clottey, the brother of welterweight contender Joshua Clottey had only been knocked out once before in 31 fights, a TKO defeat six years ago against then unbeaten Alex Trijullo (25-0). Ortiz dominated Clottey for nine rounds before scoring a TKO with one second left in the 10-round fight.

Maussa, who upset Vivian Harris two years ago to win a world title, was knocked out by Ortiz in a brutal, first round assault on the under card of Cotto-Mosley. Maussa had only been knocked out twice, by Ricky Hatton and Cotto, and those champions had taken nine and eight rounds respectively to do it.

RUNNER UP:

Andy Lee (13-0), the unbeaten Irish southpaw boxing out of Emanuel Steward's Kronk Gym, is a sensational boxer-bunch with a wealth of gifts and a sure-fire future champion. A 2004 Olympian, he was signed out of the Games by Steward, who said at the time he had seen only two boxers worth grabbing, Lee and Amir Khan. Lee came to the U.S. to fight and has been living in Steward's three-story home in Detroit, along with another Kronk super prospect, the unbeaten cruiserweight Jonathan Banks, and welterweight champion Kermit Cintron. Lee fought seven times this year, but not against the level of competition that Ortiz did. With his height and Steward-honed skills, Lee has greater potential than Ortiz, but has yet to be tested.

PROMOTER

Top Rank dominated boxing in 2007, and at 76, the still-innovative Bob Arum found ways to make his fight cards more appealing to fans at a time when boxing was struggling to remain relevant.

Top Rank put on the most competitive and exciting fights more consistently than anyone else. Its fighters won three straight major fights in a row: Pavlik knocked out Taylor; Manny Pacquiao out-boxed Marco Antonio Barrera, and Cotto beat Mosley (Pacquiao/Barrera and Coto/Mosley where co-promoted by Golden Boy Promotions). Years of careful nourishing paid off with Pavlik and Cotto, who emerged as superstars by year's end. Top Rank also sent out Steve Luevano to win his first world title, and brought Ortiz to the brink of a championship fight in the coming year. It also stepped up the level of competition for 24-year-old, unbeaten super bantamweight Juan Manuel Lopez, the next great Puerto Rican star, who won six times.

Not only did Top Rank make some great match-ups, it outclassed all opposition in putting on strong under cards so that fans were entertained, top to bottom. Arum also successfully produced three of his own pay-per-view shows and each was injected with music, faster pacing and aggressive marketing. With Cotto, Pavlik, Pacquiao and Ortiz, Top Rank arguably has four of the best young fighters in the U.S. under its banner and several can't-miss prospects waiting in the wings.

UPSET

Nonito Donaire

Donaire (19-1) had some pretty stiff competition for this award from Rees and Gerry Penalosa. To appreciate how stunning Donaire's knock out of the heavy-handed Darchinyan (28-0) was, look at the records of his three previous opponents: He beat Kevin Hudgins (5-9) just two months before facing Darchinyan; prior to Hudgins he defeated Oscar Andrade (35-24-1) and Jose Luis Cardenas (5-6-1). Donaire literally came out of nowhere. Ironically, both Darchinyan and Donaire are promoted by Gary Shaw, who is not afraid to take risks with his fighters. Shaw had taken the little known Aussie, Darchinyan, and in one year got him the kind of superstardom very few lower-weight fighters experience. Now Shaw has a new one.

RUNNERUPS

Rees, a Welchman, was given zero chance to beat junior welterweight champ M'baye (31-1-1). And rightfully so. Rees (27-0) had never remotely faced anyone of M'baye's experience and talent, yet the diminutive Rees convincingly beat the much taller champion by unanimous decision.

The 35-year-old Penalosa (52-6) had won the flyweight title in 1997, lost it the following year and then tried in vain four times over the next nine years to win another belt. His fourth attempt was against super bantamweight champion Daniel Ponce de Leon last March, a fight Ponce de Leon won by unanimous decision. In August, he received yet another seemingly hopeless chance against rugged young bantamweight champion Jhonny Gonzalez. Penalosa was behind on two cards after six rounds, but in the seventh he caught Gonzalez with a single, stinging liver shot and knocked him out to finally regain a belt.

KNOCKOUT

Nonito Donaire

His one-punch knockout of Darchinyan was as shocking to Vicious Vic as it was to fans. Donaire's counter left hook put Darchinyan down on the canvas. In a sickening spectacle, the bloodied champion rose at the count of seven, but his legs quickly gave way and he careened across the ring like a pinball before collapsing on the ropes, out on his feet. So devastating was the blow that Darchinyan later admitted he had no clue he had been knocked out until after he saw the replay. Now that's a KO!

COMEBACK

The Sport of Boxing

With mixed martial arts coming on like a runaway train, the networks, promoters and managers all came together at last to put on one of the finest series of big fights in several years, proving yet again that the sport is far from dead. The fall fights were as great as they come: Taylor-Pavlik, Pacquiao-Barrera, Cotto-Mosley and Mayweather-Hatton. Great match-ups are what fans want, and they got them. Here's hoping the powers-that-be build on their success.