Before you scroll down to see my pick for fighter of the year and pass any judgment, please read my selection criteria first. My criteria are simple. 1) The fighter of the year must have beaten at least two fighters who had top ten Ring ratings at the time. 2) The fighter of the year must have defeated at least two of his opponents by unanimous decision or knockout. 3) The fighter of the year must have captured at least one Ring championship belt. As you can see, I not only subscribe to the Ring magazine, but also to its rating system. Their system is not perfect, but it is sure better than the often curious ratings I have seen released by the IBF, WBA and WBC.
The 2007 Fighter of the Year is…Kelly Pavlik (32-0, 29 KO). The reasons are simple: 1) he beat two top three-rated middleweights this year – Ring Middleweight Champion Jermain Taylor (27-0-1, 17 KO) and Edison Miranda (28-1, 24 KO); 2) he knocked out both men in impressive fashion in the seventh round, and 3) he captured the Middleweight Championship in the process. Add it up, and you have my fighter of the year.
I know you are wondering why I did not select boxing’s best and richest active fighter, Floyd Mayweather, or boxing’s fastest-rising superstar, Miguel Cotto, as my fighter of the year. If my selection criteria is not clear enough to you, drop me a line and I will gladly explain why.
I agree 100%. It’s hard not to like Pavlik here. Although Mayweather and Cotto had impresessive showings against top 10 fighters, they were not the underdog that Pavlik was thought to be going into the Miranda and Taylor fights and he dismantled both of them in impressive fashion. He stopped three guys who had never been knocked out before. Instead of taking a breather fight, he jumps right back in to the fire with the Taylor rematch, which I think he wins by early KO. After his banner year, Pavlik cracks my top 10 P-4-P.
yes, he’s on my list too now: https://fightinsight.com/?page_id=33
it just edge mayweather in my book, because of de la hoya. that is, oscar was not a top three Ring fighter in division at the time, and floyd’s win was clear but still fairly competitive/close.