Fight Of The Year
Erik Morales W 12 over Marco Antonio Barrera: In this epic battle of little men, Morales edged Barrera in a junior feather unification war with a controversial 12 round decision. Fought at a blistering pace, these two Mexican warriors traded leather from the outset and never let up. There were no losers here; the rejuvenated Barrera's terrific showing put him in line for a shot at Prince Hamed featherweight crown. On paper, that might be the fight of the year in 2001.

Honorable Mention

1. Felix Trinidad TKO 12 over Fernando Vargas: This junior middleweight clash was a magnificent fight with both gladiators tasting the canvas in this power-punching showdown. Down twice in the first, tough guy Vargas showed his mettle, coming back and flooring Trinidad in the fourth. However, in the twelfth, when the dust settled, it was Trinidad who stood over the vanquished Vargas with a spectacular last round KO.

2. Sugar Shane Mosley W 12 over Oscar De La Hoya: In a superb fight against two skilled ring technicians, it was Mosley who shined, taking the fight to, and the WBC welterweight title from the talented De La Hoya.

Heavyweight Fight Of the Year
Clifford "Black Rhino" Etienne W 10 over Lawrence Clay-Bey: These two heavyweight prospects unloaded big shots on each other for the full 10 rounds. The ex-con Etienne and former prison guard Clay-Bey went at each other with punishing resolve, with the more consistent Etienne coping a well-earned decision.

Knockout Of the Year
Arturo Gatti KO 2 over Joey Gamache: The bigger, hard -hitting Gatti struck in the second. A brutal barrage, capped by brain scan inducing left hook had Gamache out before his head slammed into the deck with a sickening thud, he's evening and boxing career over. The likable Gamache was out for several minutes after Gatti pulled the trigger, and spent two days in a hospital.

Other Notable Bombings

• Lennox Lewis KO 2 over Frans Botha: Defending his title for the second time in the year, Lewis destroyed Botha with a picture perfect combination. A right hand blast connected, followed by a tremendous left hook that sent Botha reeling. The finishing right slammed into Botha's head and he was sent airborne, sailing halfway out of the ring. The South African's title aspirations lay in ruins as Lewis celebrated another KO victory.
• Prince Hamed KO 4 over Augie Sanchez: A vicious four-punch combo by the powerful Prince sent Kid Vegas into the land of nod for several minutes. Sanchez was carried from the ring on a stretcher.
• Ben Tackie TKO 10 over Roberto Garcia: Completely outboxed for nine rounds, Tackie found lightning in a bottle, landing the big equalizer in the 10th and final round to erase the scorecards.
• Hector Camacho Jr KO 1 over Harold Warren: With one explosive right hook, Camacho sent the usually durable Warren into dreamland.
• Teddy Reid KO 10 over Emiliano Valdez: The veteran Reid turned out the lights in the 10th round with a viscous barrage that left Valdez in a coma.
• Ben Tackie KO 1 over Fred Pendleton: Tackie makes the list twice courtesy of heavy hands. The African fighter drilled the former IBF lightweight champion with the first hard shot of the fight and the night was over for Mr. Pendleton.

Honorable Mention

1. Erik Morales vs. Marco Antonio Barrera round 5: Every round found these two gamecocks fighting it out in a heated struggle, but the 5th was a three-minute session in Hell. Applying pressure, the battling Barrera drummed in a ceaseless barrage of hard left hooks to the body and numbing rights to the head. The proud Morales countered, repeatedly ringing in clean rights to the face and chest, as neither man would concede an inch.

2. Trinidad vs. Fernando Vargas round 9: In a tough grueling bout, this was the tenacious Vargas' last real roar. He said when it came down to it, he'd stand and fight, and he did. It was trench warfare, and it was where Trinidad excelled. Courageously, Vargas tried to rally and traded violently with Tito, losing the heated battle and the exciting war.

Upset Of the Year
Virgil Hill KO 1 over Frabice Tiozzo: On the shelf for almost two years, the 15 to 1 underdog, Hill, not known for his punching prowess, leveled the brawling Tiozzo with a smashing right hand. When the bout resumed, Hill quickly floored Tiozzo twice more in front of his equally stunned hometown fans in Lyon, France.

Runner Up

• Dingaan Thobela TKO 12 over Glenn Catley. Thobela spent most of his career as a lightweight, but scored a stunning win over Catley to capture the WBC version of the super middleweight crown in a shocker.

Comeback of the Year
Marco Antonio Barrera: The power punching Barrera appeared done after losing twice to Junior Jones. Listless performances followed and Barrera looked like his career was over. However, what a difference a year makes. Although he lost in a controversial decision to Morales, the once fiery Barrera's stock rose. He looked sharper then ever, taking apart old warhorse Jesus Salud, and is now going to get a very lucrative crack at Prince Hamed's featherweight crown.

Prospect of the Year
Julio "The Kid" Diaz: The younger brother of Antonio Diaz, junior welter Julio Diaz' record now stands at 19-0, with 15 knockouts. Just 20, Diaz scored victories over a series of tough veterans this past year with wins over, Eduardo Perez, Awel Abdulai, Gustavo Cuello, and Luis Lizarraga. Guys to watch in 2001: Super middleweight Anthony Hanshaw, lightweight Justo Sencion, and the 2000 USA Olympians that turned pro.

Quick hands Award
Sugar Shane Mosley repeatedly beat Oscar De La Hoya to the punch with lead right hands that led to the upset of the elegant welterweight.

Low Blow of the Year
After getting dropped in the 4th, Felix Trinidad came back and hammered Fernando Vargas to the groin. The fight was delayed for almost two minutes as Vargas recovered from the viscous shot before the action resumed. The veteran Trinidad regained his composure and his legs during the delay. Vargas was never the same. Felix gave up a point but went on to win after dropping Vargas three times in the 12th. That low blow changed the momentum of the contest and it could be argued, altered the outcome of the fight.

Worst Decisions
Irene Pacheco W 12 over Masibulele "The Hawk" Makepula: Colombia's Pacheco was more then lucky in retaining his IBF flyweight title with a 12 round majority decision. Outworked and banged around in the second half of the fight by the Hawk, Pacheco somehow dominated on two of the scorecards. There was no explanation for the outcome of this title fight other than, "Pure Robbery."

Dishonorable Mention

• Antonio Diaz W 12 Omar Weis: Fighting for Diaz's IBC junior welterweight belt, the Argentinean Weis found himself in Diaz's backyard in Indio, California. An awkward but effective boxer, Weis repeatedly tagged the frustrated Diaz with a stinging jab, while avoiding his counters. As he forged ahead, Weis had ref Marty Denkins riding him like a nagging mother-in-law as he outboxed the befuddled champion. More then a few reporters held their noses on this decision.

• Vivian Harris D 10 with Ivan Robinson: Vicious Vivian drilled the shopworn Robinson for 10 rounds, only to get jobbed by a draw under New Jersey's controversial new scoring system. Other Stinkers: Willie Jorrin W 10 over Michael Brodie and Juan Lazcano W 10 over Jesse James Leija. Federal prosecutors versus former IBF honcho Bill Lee. Despite overwhelming evidence on bribery and racketeering charges, including videotape of IBF people accepting payoffs, Lee walked away with a slap on the wrist.

Bloodiest mismatch
Julio Cesar Chavez was cut to ribbons and lost even more brain cells when he was ripped apart by WBC 140-pound champ Kostya Tszyu during a brutal sixth-round TKO. Proving once again that someone needs to protect the fighters from themselves.

Biggest Surprise of the year
WBC honcho Jose Sullaiman was elected as "El Presidente" for life by that boxing orgainization during their annual convention. That caught us completely off guard. We all thought he was already president for life.

Time to step away from the game
Larry Holmes, Roberto Duran, Julio Cesar Chavez, and Ivan Robinson

Three Blind Mice

1. Judge Melvina Latham: On the list for the third year in a row, boxing commissions should put the visually impaired Latham on damage control. Its been rumored that her cards are marked in Braille. There is serious consideration of retiring this award and calling it the "Melvina."
2. Judge Doug Tucker: He's shown an aptitude for inaptitude throughout the year. Dangerous Doug, was one of the bozos masquerading as a judge when Makepula got ripped off.
3. Judge Barbara Perez: Another returnee, the erratic Perez's scoring is usually way out of line and a farce. Some of her cards are real mysteries, that she should be held accountable for.

Most Exciting Fighter
Acelino Freitas: The WBO jr. lightweight champ is a miniature Jack Dempsey. Reckless and powerful, Freitas makes things happen. He hammers men into the canvas the way a carpenter pounds nails, hard and fast.

Biggest Disappointment
David Tua: He talked the talk, but unfortunately he waddled when he walked. Maybe if big Dave had spent more time training then promoting, he would have entered the ring in better shape in his title quest. Never has so little, been done by so much, for so long.

Runner Up

• David Reid. The man who once billed himself as the "American Dream" saw his image tarnished in 2000. Felix Trinidad easily outclassed Reid, but then the wheels came off came off the cart when the former Olympian scored an unpopular 10-round decision over journeyman Kirino Garcia. Reid was clubbed to the canvas in 8th, and was left barely standing in the 10th. Nevertheless, he was awarded the decision. Despite surgery, Reid's damaged left eye still presents a number of problems for the former Gold Medal winner, and questions remain about the future of his career in the ring.

Worst Ring Entrance
Zab Judah vs. Terron Millet. Judah's ring entrance took almost seven minutes which was painful enough but consider that the insipid rap song by a group called, "Shine," was painfully off-key and out of rhythm.

Worst Knockout
Zab Judah vs. Terron Millet. At the 28-second mark of the 4th, Judah nailed Millet with a roundhouse right high on the head. The challenger staggered forward and attempted to deliver his own right but missed badly and collapsed face first to the canvas. Millet struggled to his feet at five but referee Michael Ortega did not like the look in his eyes and stopped the contest at the 1:41 mark of the 4th. Millet compounded Judah's blow and helped to TKO himself.

The guy who ran his mouth and almost had his trunks pulled down around his ankles award (also known as the Prince Hamed)
Floyd Mayweather Jr. Moving up in weight, the WBC 130-pound king Mayweather scored a very tough 9th round TKO over journeyman Emanuel Burton. However, at the end of the fight, Mayweather was bleeding badly from the nose and mouth and had injured his right hand. Burton gave Mayweather everything he wanted, was still on his feet, and protested the ref's decision to stop the contest.

Back to the Drawing Board
KO Nation

Best Trainer of the Year
Jack Mosley and Don Felix Trinidad. It's a tie between these two tremendous boxing men, whose sons are at the very top of their game. Mosley and his "power boxing" tactics helped to guide Sugar Shane to his impressive victory over De La Hoya. The same can be said for Don Felix, who had "Tito" focused and in razor sharp condition to handle Vargas.

Manager of the Year
Cameron Dunkin is the manager/agent for 42 fighters. Dunkin has managed 12 world champions in the past three years and 2000 was another great season. Dunkin managed WBA super bantamweight champion Clarence "Bones" Adams, IBF junior lightweight champion Steve Forbes and WBA flyweight champion Eric Morel to crowns in 2000.

Best referee
Joe Cortez

Biggest loss
Mitch Halpern. The Nevada State Athletic commission is still trying to cope with Halpern's suicide.

Best boxing announcer
HBO's Jim Lampley.

Best boxing colorman
ESPN2's Teddy Atlas.

Best Studio Hosts
Brian Kenny and Max Kellerman.

Best Voice (you never see but knows what the hell he's talking about)
Harold Lederman.

Weirdest Ending
Mike Tyson KO 2 Andrew Golota: Both of these individuals have been on this list on previous occasions. So it's no surprise that they appear together. Golota brought this moment of madness to you, as he fled the ring after the second round. Golata was dropped in the first and was rocked in the second. However, he refused his mouthpiece before the 3rd, and escaped through the howling crowd. On his way to the sanctuary of his dressing room, Golata was pelted by a variety of beer, food, and mixed drinks. When last seen, the 240-pound movable buffet was still trying to collect his entire purse.

Biggest waste of Talent Award
Roy Jones Jr. Jones is great but he might as well be boxing in a museum.

Runner Up

• Tony Ayala Jr. After spending 16 years in a New Jersey prison on a rape conviction, Ayala was recently shot for allegedly climbing through a window and into a house at 4 AM. A young woman he knew from his father's gym shot Ayala in the shoulder. Ayala is currently out on bail and wearing an electronic monitor.

The Billy Tully Award
Davey Hilton: Like a comebacking character in Fat City, the down but not out 37-year-old Hilton lived at an alcoholic rehab center for 2 months, while training for his title winning effort against Dingaan Thobela for the WBC super middleweight belt.