Body Blows: 2005 Year in Review

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The sport of boxing has seen better years than 2005 but it has also seen worse. 2005 produced one of the greatest fights of all-time, yet failed to deliver on any of the heavily hyped battles that took place. We witnessed the rise of some young stars and the fall of some legends. If anything, boxing in 2005 served as a prequel to what seems to be a big year of boxing in 2006.

What stood out the most in 2005 is the first fight in the epic battle between Diego Corrales and Jose Luis Castillo. Nothing can be said about this fight that hasn’t already been said about Anna Nicole Smith’s career. It was rough, at times hard to watch, and many people still can’t believe what they saw. The two lightweights fought forehead-to-forehead for nine rounds until Castillo took control in the 10th. After being knocked down twice and receiving a point deduction for removing his mouthpiece, Diego Corrales made the most remarkable comeback in boxing by backing Castillo to the ropes and unleashing all he had left until the referee had no choice but to stop the contest.

If not for the Corrales/Castillo clash, the fight from 2005 that most people would have remembered is Erik Morales vs. Manny Pacquiao. These two fought at 130 pounds, with Morales narrowly getting the unanimous decision. A bout with Marco Antonio Barrera is on the horizon for the winner of this rematch, which Pacquiao won by TKO in the 10th round. As exciting as Erik Morales is to watch, I think it is time he took some time off. The Tijuana-born fighter is just 29 years old. His rematch with Pacquiao was as intense as their first fight, with Morales looking as beaten down as bouncers are when Floyd Mayweather is in the club.

Despite the two top fights taking place in the Lightweight division, the top weight class of 2005 was the Welterweights. Floyd Mayweather, Jr. moved up to welterweight in 2005 and shined above the already glistening division. With names like Arturo Gatti, Kostya Tszyu, Ricky Hatton, Miguel Cotto, and Zab Judah, the welterweights provided more star power than Ed McMahon. The potential matchups in this crop of talent are endless and a big reason why 2006 is so highly anticipated.

Even though “Pretty Boy” Floyd is considered the cream of the welterweight crop, no one had a better 2005 than Ricky Hatton. Hatton wasn’t known to many casual boxing fans heading into 2005. Despite his undefeated record, The Hitman’s resume was not very impressive. Couple that with the fact that he has never fought outside of England in the last five years and you can imagine how stunned the boxing world was when he beat Kostya Tszyu into submission in June. Hatton’s victory wasn’t so much of a shocking upset as it was more of a validation of his potential. Hatton capped off his 2005 by knocking out Carlos Maussa. Maussa had just come off a victory over Vivian Harris for the WBA Light Welterweight title when he was steamrolled by Hatton. Hatton has a bout scheduled for May of 2006, where he will fight for the first time as champion in the United States. Rumors are saying that his opponent will be none other than Floyd Mayweather, Jr but those rumors are dead now that Mayweather accepted a fight with Judah on April 8th. Hatton will likely fight a tune-up on his scheduled date in May. Regardless, these two kings will battle for the throne at some point in 2006.

2005 was not all about meteoric rises, however, as we also witnessed the fall of a legend. While Roy Jones Jr. was 0-2 in 2004, his embarrassing loss to Antonio Tarver in Ocotber of 2005 cemented his demise. Jones appeared unwilling to punch, turning this third fight of their trilogy into a re-enactment of You Got Served, just not as funny. What Jones did up to 2003 is one of the greatest boxing careers in the history of the sport. Similar to Mike Tyson, Jones’ career will be tarnished by the way it ended.

The Heavyweight division reigned supreme with Mike Tyson in the 80’s and 90’s. Roy Jones Jr. even gave the division a shot in the arm when he defeated John Ruiz for the WBA Heavyweight title in 2003. But never has the division been so dead as it was in 2005. The only man recognized as the true Heavyweight champion, Vitaly Klitchko, retired due to injuries sustained while training. That leaves very few to claim the top spot among the heavyweights. Chris Byrd had one unimpressive victory in 2005. James Toney is the most appealing fighter in the class but his positive drug test hampered any success he might obtain in 2005. Toney’s upcoming fight with Hasim Rahman will undoubtedly decide the people’s heavyweight champion, although Lamon Brewster deserves to play a part in that title picture.

What fight fans would most like to forget from 2005 is the lackluster pay-per-views. Many fight cards did not warrant PPV status, such as Barrera/Peden and Rahman/Barrett. Other PPV cards just simply did not live up to their billing, like Wright/Trinidad, Mayweather/Gatti, and Tarver/Jones III. To their credit, HBO has decided to show more fights on regular HBO and saving the true super fights for the pay-per-view telecasts.

As much as pay-per-view has come to dominate the big fights for the boxing market, reality TV combined with boxing in 2005 for a phenomenon known as The Contender. Fans of The Contender will be happy to know that ESPN picked up the show for a second season. A fight card featuring many Season One fighters is scheduled for February of 2006, headlined by an interesting Peter Manfredo vs. Scott Pemberton matchup. Not much is currently known about the second season of The Contender, but knowing ESPN, fans can expect more of the same in 2006.

Fans of boxing will remember this past year mostly for the two classic fights it produced. Other than that, boxing in 2005 will serve as a prelude for things to come in 2006.