#2 Heavyweight Ike Ibeabuchi scored a win over previously undefeated David Tua, in a fight in which both men threw over 1,000 punches. It was a great fight in which momentum went back and forth before Ibeabuchi secured the win. This was a fight that could have gone either way on the scorecards, and could have just as well been a draw.

--Round of the Year--
There's no choice, it has to be round three of Mike Tyson-Evander Holyfield II. Tyson bit Holyfield on both ears and was DQ'd by referee Mills Lane. The result was catastrophic for Team Tyson. Everyone was outraged and Iron Mike was forced to apologize. The former champion was fined 10 percent of his $30 million dollar purse and his boxing license was revoked by the Nevada State Athletic commission. The strangest part about the whole thing was that after getting drilled in the first two rounds, Tyson was coming on in the third before he went psycho. Our best guess is was that he was frustrated and seething about getting butted over his right eye early in the fight.

--Shoot-Outs (great fights)--
#1 In May, WBA lightweight champion Gussie Nazarov retained his title by scoring a 7th round knockout over top challenger Levander Johnson. Both men were rocked and cut, before the Russian born southpaw flattened Johnson in the seventh.

#2 Welterweights Derrell Coley and Kippy Diggs engaged in a memorable battle, back in March in Oxnard, California. Diggs had Coley on the deck three times before Derrel rallied and ended matters by scoring a dramatic 11th round knockout.

#3 Jesus Chavez nailed down a TKO at 2:26 of the 6th round over Luis Leija in an all out war, in Austin, Texas. Chavez and Leija traded leather for six rounds, with Jesus getting the win and Luis never quite the same.

#4 Don Diego Poder secured a 11th round TKO over Terry Ray in a bombs away bout. Poder hurt Ray and cut him early in the fight. Ray, however, rallied in the 3rd and 4th. Poder had Ray in trouble again in the fifth, but the veteran dropped Don Diego with a late right hand on the break. Poder came back again and had Ray out on his feet when the referee Arthur Mercante Jr. stopped the contest in the 10th. With the victory, Poder captured the vacant WBU cruiserweight title.

#5 Former world champion Carlos "Bolillo" Gonzalez won a 12- round unanimous decision over welterweight Hector Lopez in a classic Mexican war at the Forum. Fans are still screaming in Inglewood.

#6 Back in July at the Blue, Darrol Wilson scored a knockout at 2:41 of the 4th over Courage Tshabalala. The South African heavyweight had Wilson on the canvas in the 1st and the 3rd. Wilson barely beat the count after the second knockdown. Forced to trade leather or lose, Wilson landed a left-right combo that put Tshabalala on the floor, and referee Rudy Battle stopped the fight.

--Trainer of the Year--
Kenny Adams. The former USA Olympic coach was 12-0 in title fights with his boxers in 1997. Among his fighters, Adams trains super middleweight champ Frankie Lilies, WBO jr. welter king Vince Phillips, and WBO 122-pound champ Kennedy McKinney.

--Best Whackouts (Big KO's)--
WBU featherweight champ Kevin Kelley dropped the hammer on Orlando Fernandez in a ten-round destruction. Kelley punished Fernandez in the 8th, and then turned out the lights with a savage overhand right at the :15 second mark of the 10th

In March, heavyweight James Thunder drilled Crawford Grimsley 13 seconds into the first round with the very first punch of the fight. The exceptionally brief bout took place in Flint, Michigan, and no one asked for their money back.

In May, unheralded Maurice Harris (9-8, 5 KO's) planted James Thunder face first on the canvas. The knockout left the man from New Zealand, wondering which planet he was on. Harris landed a devastating left-right combo that turned out the lights at 2:44 of the seventh.

Trailing on all three scorecards, Pernell Whitaker knocked Diobelys Hurtado through the ropes to score an eleventh round knockout. Whitaker had been down in the 1st and the 6th, before he came back to save his reputation and get the victory. This wild fight was also noted for the poor performance of referee Arthur Mercante Jr. Hurtado got hung up in the ropes and took eleven unanswered shots before the bout was stopped.

NABF heavyweight champ John Ruiz landed a left hook, left uppercut, and a right hand to the head that sent Ray Anis back to his day job. Total elapsed time :22 seconds of the opening round.

Heavyweight David Izon landed a series of spectacular right hands to the head that knocked Lou Savarese through the ropes at 2:44 of the fifth round. Savarese managed to catch both of his feet on the bottom strand or he would have ended up setting in press row at the Apollo.

WBC heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis ended the Andrew Golata myth with a wicked series of shots to the head. Lewis closed the show and the Polish challenger's title hopes at 1:35 of the 1st round with a quick TKO.

--Best Revenge Fight--
Has to go to Roy Jones Jr. After losing his WBC light heavyweight title to Montell Griffin, when he hit the challenger when he was down on one knee. Jones came back to destroy Griffin was a tremendous display of speed and power, with a first round TKO.

--Newcomers of the Year--
Floyd Mayweather. Fernando Vargas. David Reid.

--Best Cutman--
Veteran Percy Richardson did a great job on a horrible cut that Wilfredo Rivera suffered in the second round of his fight with Oscar De la Hoya. Richardson was able to halt the bleeding in a brutal gash over Rivera's right eye, and keep his man in the fight until the 8th round.

--Upsets of the Year--
Underdog Khalid Rahilou captured the WBA 140-pound title by halting champion Frankie Randall in his hometown. Rahilou stayed away from the champion in the early rounds, staggered him in the 8th and 9th, and then laid the wood to Randall in the eleventh. Rahilou scored a TKO at :58 seconds of the 11th round.

Veteran Vince "Cool" Phillips shocked previously undefeated IBF junior welterweight king Kostya Tszyu. Phillips dropped the heavily favored Tszyu with a hard right hand in the seventh. With both men cut around the eyes, Phillips landed a salvo of rights that forced the referee to stop the fight at 1:22 of the tenth round.

A bloody and battered Tim Austin won the IBF bantamweight title by scoring a TKO at 2:20 of the 8th round over champion Mbuelo Botile. Fighting with a broken jaw, Austin dropped Botile in the 7th, and hurt him again with a counter right hook in the eighth, that forced the referee to stop the contest.

Legendary WBC junior featherweight champion Daniel Zaragoza retained his crown by outhustling his much younger challenger Wayne McCullough, to score a 12-round unanimous decision. This fight also included the best shot by a sportscaster. Larry Merchant, nailed a apparent drunken Boston fight fan so he could conduct his post fight interviews. The guy got out about three words before Merchant made him exit stage left.

--Worth The Bucks (Pay-Per-View)--
De La Hoya vs. Miguel Angel Gonzalez. Johnny Tapia vs. Danny Romero (nice Undercard). Evander Holyfield vs. Michael Moorer II.

--Most Competitive Fight Cards on a Monthly Basis--
The Great Western Forum (matchmaker Antonio Curtis).

--Best Place To Watch A Fight--
The Blue Horizon in Philly. Check out the Balcony.

--Best Weekly TV Series--
Hands down to USA Tuesday night fights.

--Biggest Surprise--
HBO's "After Dark" series, which consistently put on great bouts and wasn't afraid to feature to feature smaller weight classes.

--Biggest Blunder--
When Terry Norris was upset by Keith Mullings, he dropped a $4.5 million dollar payday to face Oscar De la Hoya this spring. Ouch.

--Biggest Yawn--
Oscar De La Hoya captured the WBC welterweight title by scoring a 12-round unanimous decision over Pernell Whitaker. Too much castling on the chess board, in this ultra-defensive encounter.

--Most Tattoos--
Johnny Tapia replaces Hector Lopez on this year's list.

--All Ugly Fights--
Iran Barkley versus Gerrie Coetzee in a out of shape heavyweight encounter. Neither of these guys should have been in the ring.

Sugar Ray Leonard ($4 million) vs. Hector Camacho ($2.5 Million) for obvious reasons. Camacho won a TKO at 1:08 of the fifth round. Simply brutal. It was as if following the chariot race in Ben Hur, they ended up dragging the wrong guy around the arena.

Lennox Lewis vs. Henry Akinwande DQ. The stench from the clinch.

Butterbean versus anyone.

--Bloody Nose of the Year--
Female boxer Christy Martin

--Two middleweights who need each other--
WBC 160-pound king Keith Holmes and IBF middleweight champ Bernard Hopkins.

--Strangest Performance--
The evenlope, please. Mr. Oliver McCall. The former heavyweight champ came right out of drug rehab to fight for the title against one-time KO victim Lennox Lewis. McCall suffered a breakdown in the fight and began weeping. When he no longer could throw punches or defend himself, he was led away by referee Mills Lane. McCall was later committed by his wife.

--Most Antisapted Fight That Never Came Off--
Julio Cesar Chavez versus Miguel Angel Gonzalez for the vacant WBC 140-pound title. I still have my airline ticket.

--Worst Decisions Of The Year--
WBA featherweight champion Wilfredo Vasquez by decision over Genaro Rios. In any given year there is always a number of bad calls but this one was pure robbery. The 11th ranked Rios took it to the champ all night and then ended up on the short end of the cards.

Former heavyweight champ George Foreman lost a majority decision to Shannon Briggs. Not one boxing writer at the fight had Briggs winning this bout. The BT had Foreman up 8 rounds to 4. It wasn't even close, but when it was over they raised a shocked Shannon Briggs hand in victory.

William Joppy lost his WBA middleweight title to Julio Cesar Green on points. The champion knocked the challenger down twice. Part of the blame goes to Joppy, who put it on cruise control in the later rounds after establishing a big lead. Our best guess is they didn't want a riot in Madison Square Garden, coming so soon after the Tyson-Holyfield fiasco.

Raul Marquez retained his IBF junior middleweight title by scoring a win over Keith Mullings. It was a bad gift. Marquez looked like ground round when it was over and required more than 50 stitches.

--Three Blind Mice Award--
Two judges in the Foreman-Briggs fight. Calvin Claxton had Briggs winning 116-112, and Larry Layton had it 117-113. New Jersey Boxing Commissioner is the third member of this infamous trio for assigning Mr. Claxton and Mr. Layton to this fight. Smooth move.

--Class Guy Of The Year--
Genaro Hernandez. The challenger was leading the fight on points but after being hit twice after the bell by WBC 130-pound champ Azumah Nelson, including a wicked shot to the throat, Hernandez went down and treated for five minutes. Rather than capture the title on a disqualification, Hernandez elected to keep fighting for another five rounds and went on to win the crown. Later, Hernandez said he had too much respect for Nelson to win the belt on his stool.

--Boxing Oddity--
Mills Lane was the referee for McCall-Lewis, Tyson-Holyfield, and Lewis-Akinwande. All of which ended in bizarre DQ's