KO of the Year Runner-up: Hard-hitting Mexican lightweight Israel Hernandez had to overcome a nasty cut over his left eye suffered in the opening moments of the 1st, to rally and score a thundering fourth round knockout over previously undefeated southpaw Tyrone Harris. With the Pechanga fight fans cheering the heated action both men traded leather in the early going of the fourth round. Harris scored with a flurry of hooks and uppercuts that seemingly took the play away from his opponent for several seconds. However, the bloody Hernandez continued to return fire and a blistering left uppercut caught Harris flush in the face with 2:17 to go in the round. At the 1:59 mark of the 4th, Hernandez gained some distance and then leveled Harris with a brutal left uppercut to the chin. The southpaw crashed to the floor flat on his back with his knees bent and looking straight up at the ring lights. At eight, Harris struggled to get to his feet and he was able to beat the count but as he took one step forward it was obvious the night was over. One halting move from Harris was all that referee David Mendoza needed to see before wisely calling off the contest at 1:16 of the fourth round.

Honorable Mention #1: The beer was still cold and the seats were barely warm when WBO welterweight Antonio Margarito turned out the lights on challenger Manuel "Shotgun" Gomez. Margarito easily retained his crown in just 74-seconds by blasting out Gomez in the first round. Margarito nailed Gomez with a looping right hand that caught the challenger square on the jaw. Gomez attempted to counter but Margarito, opened up with a volley of shots including a head snapping left uppercut followed by a rocket-like right hand to the face. Gomez hit the deck face first and after crashing to the canvas he spit out his mouthpiece.

Honorable Mention #2: Heavy hands have always proved be excellent medicine in the sport of boxing. Unfortunately for Ugandan junior middleweight Robert "Doctor" Kamya he didn't have an antidote to deal with Joel Julio's overwhelming power and he ended up looking at the stars. Working behind wicked counter right crosses, nasty body punches and a laser-like left hook, Julio repeatedly tattooed Kamya with brutal shots en route to scoring a decisive and brutal knockout at 1:32 of the third round.

Runner-up Body Shots: Location, location, location. It was a body shot that seemed to curve around the ribs and detonate just above the kidneys. It may have been a cuffing blow but the end result was one fighter down on his knees in the center of the ring with his right leg twitching like a tuning fork. The Bahamas Jerome "Boomer" Ellis recorded a sixth round knockout after landing the punch that sent Northern Ireland's Neil Sinclair to the deck at the 1:56 mark, in a junior middleweight encounter scheduled for ten heats. Ellis winner of three in a row started the sequence with a powerful right uppercut to the chin in close quarters before coming back with a body shot that caught the Irishman with the heel of the glove just above his kidneys. Sinclair dropped to his knees in agony. Locked in a praying position and kicking at the floor with his right leg and foot, Sinclair was unable to rise and he was counted out by referee Stephen Blea.

Upset of the Year: Wiseguys were giving Jeff Lacy 5 to 1 odds over an aging Welshman that most Americans had never seen fight last March, when the longtime WBO 168-pound champ stepped into the ring back in March. Joe "The Pride of Wales" Calzaghe continued his sterling 41 fight winning streak by scoring a one-sided and dominating 12 round unanimous decision over the guy known as "Left Hook." Calzaghe dominated virtually every exchange with the American favorite and IBF titleholder Lacy over the distance. Calzaghe's superior hand speed, lateral movement and devastating left uppercuts repeatedly battered Lacy and opened deep cuts over both of his eyes and nose. With his left eye closing, blood steadily flowing from his right eye and also seeping from his nostrils, Lacy never had an answer for the southpaw Welshman's style or power. In the 12th and final round, Calzaghe dropped Lacy for the first time in his pro career with a savage left uppercut to the chin. Lacy managed to survive until the final bell, however, he took a fearful beating as Calzaghe nailed down his 18th straight title defense while also claiming the IBF titleholder's crown.

Honorable Mention: Call it hubris, conceit, arrogance or just plain overconfidence. Those are all excuses for the simple fact that some boxers are their own worst enemy. Zab Judah may have been the best welterweight in the world but didn't pay the price in the gym or in the ring and it came back to haunt him in front of his New York hometown fans, as Argentina's Carlos Baldomir scored a shocking 12 round unanimous decision to capture the undisputed 147-pound title. Baldomir rocked and almost dropped the champion in the 7th, and went on to pound out the victory despite suffering a brutal cut over his right from an accidental head butt in the eleventh round. The mandatory challenger Baldomir simply outhustled the lackluster Judah with stiff left jabs and cracking overhand rights throughout the bout. The southpaw titleholder struggled to let his hands go and never was able to establish his rhythm, as the awkward Baldomir repeatedly landed the harder and cleaner shots against the overwhelmingly favored champion. Judge Guido Cavallieri from Italy scored the bout 115-113, while Melvina Lathan of New York tallied 115-112 and Julie Lederman, also of New York scored the title fight 114-113, all for the challenger Baldomir.

Phone Etiquette: Prior to filming Rocky Balboa, Sylvester Stallone confided that he had called Roy Jones Jr. 31 times about the role of Mason Dixon but the former champion never returned his calls. The part instead went to Antonio Tarver. When Stallone spoke with HBO about Jones, they reportedly said, "welcome to the family, we pay him and he never calls us back…either." Best Referee: Steve Smoger. Year after year, fight after fight, round after round Smoger consistently let's fighters fight and yet always is ready to step-in and protect the boxer. He is always in command, decisive and if he feels a fighter is hurt he will not hesitate to stop a bout. They don't get much better.

Comeback of the Year: It had been almost two years since the Golden Boy had been in the ring and when he returned, he forced the exit of one of the sport's most obnoxious characters. Oscar De La Hoya took out the garbage and with it the trash talking WBC super welterweight champion Ricardo "El Matador" Mayorga via a devastating sixth round knockout. The bad blood that had proceeded the fight was still evident when De La Hoya stood his ground in the opening round and dropped Mayorga with a searing right cross followed by a whip-like left hook to the chin. Despite a twenty-month layoff from the ring, De La Hoya continued to exploit Mayorga's amateurish roundhouse attack with crisp left jabs forcing feeding the Nicaraguan champion with a steady diet of Cleto Reyes leather. After dominating the first five rounds, De La Hoya hurt the champion with more than a half dozen scalding body shots followed by another volley of seven more left hooks and right crosses that ricocheted off of Mayorga's skull. The punches propelled Mayorga across the ring and into the ropes and down to his knees for the second time in the fight. Mayorga managed to beat the count but he looked like a guy ready to seek another form of employment. Seconds later, De La Hoya unloaded a final riveting salvo of head snapping left hooks and right crosses that rendered the champion defenseless against the ropes until referee Jay Nady stopped the butchery. Mayorga sank to the floor at 1:25 of the 6th and with it all of his bravado, bluster and swagger reduced from a boulevard bully to a hammered out street punk.

Best Brawl: We should just rename this the Zab Judah Award because he always seems to be involved in some type of mayhem. Judah triggered a 10th round brawl, that saw platoons of armed officers enter the ring after both trainers and their respective entourages climbed inside the ropes while the fight was still taking place. It was just another night of cheap shots and bad theater in the desert, as Floyd Mayweather Jr. scored a commanding twelve round unanimous decision over Judah to earn his dubious IBF welterweight belt. Desperately falling behind on points and with any chance of victory vanishing; much like his one million dollar purse that IRS Agents sat nearby poised to intercept, Judah decided to administer some street justice. The IBF welterweight king elected to go south of the border and he ripped Mayweather with a brutally low blow to the groin. Mayweather turned and began to limp away when Judah followed up a whistling rabbit punch to the back of the challenger's skull. It was the type of shot intended to send Mayweather to bunny heaven. The challenger almost went down to his knees before gingerly limping to the neutral corner and he somehow remained the only cool customer in the place. His trainer and family Nostradamus, Uncle Roger Mayweather; who had previously predicted that the IBF titleholder would attempt such tactics if Judah was clearly getting beat, was the first to climb through the ropes and advance to his nephew's defense. Referee Richard Steele did his best to restore order in the ring but within seconds, Yoel Judah the father/trainer of the champion threw a punch at one of Mayweather's handlers. After that it was pure chaos and the rodeo was on. With men spilling in the ring from all directions, Judah circled behind Roger Mayweather and fired another punch at the back of his head. It appeared as if the uncle managed to wrestle Judah back into the corner and get in some choke time on his windpipe. About 50 testosterone charged males clashed inside the ropes pushing and shoving. Some with guns and badges and other in bad tracksuits and with far too much jewelry for those who are fashion conscious. It took several minutes before order was finally restored and at one point the challenger was actually smiling as the mayhem swirled around him. The Nevada State Athletic Commission gave the elder Mayweather the thumb and banished him from the ring. After that Mayweather skated to victory over the final two rounds, painting yet another masterpiece with left jabs and right crosses that repeatedly bounced off Judah's ballooning profile.

Best Boxing Photo: Tom Casino/Showtime action photograph of Nicaragua's IBF junior bantamweight Luis Alberto "El Demoledor" Perez nailing Dimitri "Baby" Kirilov says everything you need to know about boxing.

Worst Decision: You have to excuse Tunisia's Naoufel Ben Rabah if he's not too anxious to return to the Florida Sunshine State. The transplanted Ben Rabah, who now fights out of Perth, Australia, seemingly did everything required to post a victory by landing far more punches, however, he came up short on the scorecards in dropping a 12 round unanimous decision to Columbia's Juan Urango. Unfortunately at stake for the boxer from Down Under was the vacant IBF junior welterweight crown, the belt formerly held by Britain's Ricky Hatton. It appeared to the naked eye that the unconventional Ben Rabah landed the cleaner shots against the favorite southpaw Urango by a large margin. Nevertheless, in a state that is not new to controversial decisions both on a national and local level, judge Michael Pernick scored the contest 116-112, while Peter Trematerra had it 115-113, and John Wright had it 117-111, all for Urango. Remarkably the pro-Urango crowd booed the decision. The BT scorecard, which was not effected by the tradewinds, unnatural laws of science, or pressure from alligator assaults had Ben Rabah clearly winning 117-111. The BT's unofficial scorecard had Ben Rabah winning nine rounds to three, with Urango only claiming the 5th, 11th and the 12th. The only fortunate thing for the unfortunate Mr. Ben Rabah was that he wasn't running for political office.

Waste of Talent: British heavyweight Audley Harrison repeatedly lackluster.

Stick to Hoops: Hard-hitting heavyweight Samuel "The Nigerian Nightmare" Peter made sure everyone's beer was still cold when he iced the seven-footer Julius "Towering Inferno" Long in under one round. Long, who counts brother Grant Long, ex-Miami Heat, Uncle John Long, former Detroit Piston and cousins Shawn Marion and current Phoenix Suns and NBA journeyman Terry Mills among his family but it might be a good guess they are all better fighters.

Bizarre Endings: Getting tagged on your chin from a heavyweight is never good for your equilibrium. When it happens four times, as it did to Taurus "The Bull" Sykes you end up de-horned and stumbling around press row. Southpaw Derek "The One Man Riot" Bryant registered an impressive fourth round technical knockout after tattooing, or in this case branding Mr. Sykes with a series of stunning uppercuts that resulted in sending the bovine-like heavyweight stumbling off the ring apron and down into the front row. The semi-conscious Brooklyn born Sykes ended up wandering into the crowd for several moments before it registered he was in Augusta, Georgia on business rather than pleasure. Referee Jim Korb halted the somewhat bizarre ending to the bout at 1:57 of the 4th.

Quickest KO in a title fight: Argentina's WBO super featherweight champion Jorge Rodrigo "La Hiena" Barrios needed just 49-seconds to score a shocking first round knockout over Hungary's previously undefeated Janos Nagy. Barrios nailed the challenger Nagy with a wicked left hook to the liver. The initial punch hurt Nagy and Barrios doubled up on the shot just before the challenger sank to the canvas. The blasts took the wind and the will out of the Hungarian, who was counted out on his knees by referee Raúl Caíz Jr. The quick ending didn't go over well with the Los Angeles fight fans, and they repeatedly voiced their displeasure at Nagy's lack of desire to regain his feet.

Golden Domer: Notre Dame All-American strong safety Tommy Zbikowski made his pro debut in front of fifty of his teammates and a number of cheering Fighting Irish fans and scored a wicked first round knockout over outgunned Robert Bell. The 21-year-old senior defensive back had a long and outstanding amateur boxing career before electing to climb inside the ropes as a pro. Zbikowski dropped Bell twice in the opening heat of the scheduled four-rounder and referee Arthur Mercante Jr. wisely called a halt to the proceedings at the 49-second mark.

Is There a Doctor in the House? Perhaps it was the heat, smog or all the wildfires but fight night was somewhat hazy in Southern California. The ESPN2 card was 45-minutes late in starting because the Chief Athletic Inspector for the California State Athletic Commission Dean Lohuis, forgot to call the licensed medical doctor who was suppose to work the card. By California State rules, no bout can take place without a doctor present at ringside. So there was a fair amount of time looking at shoe tops and pondering, well, why the Rams left town, the Lakers need for a Big Man since they traded Shaq and will the Dodgers ever get squared away? Nevertheless, when the doctor did arrive, everything heated up if that's was even more possible in Southern California during the heart of summer. 33-year-old Brazilian welterweight Antonio Mesquita made up for lost time by scoring a convincing sixth round TKO over New Zealand's outgunned Santos "Maori Warrior" Pakau.

Exit Stage Left: Undefeated heavyweight Alonzo Butler parlayed a 56-pound weight advantage to drive the less than stellar Terry Porter out of the ring with a left right combination to the head. Porter the boxer not the basketball player turned coach hit reverse and as Butler's body slammed into him he went sailing through the ropes. Porter crashed through the ropes, off the ring apron and collapsed on to the scorers' table outside the ring. The ringside physician quickly came to Porter's aid and despite his protest that bout was halted. The fight went into the books as a third round knockout victory for Butler at the 41-second mark.

Most Unusual Nickname: I got you babe…junior middleweight Clarence "Sonny Bono" Taylor. Hey, we don't make this stuff up!

Irish Connection: Middleweight John Duddy (18-0, 15 KO's), Derry, Northern Ireland and young 160-pounder Andy Lee (6-0, 3 KO's), Limerick, Ireland continued to look impressive.

Mathematically Challenged: Apparently, some people need to work on their math skills in LA. 10,617 paying customers, a number of officials and both WBC super featherweight champion Marco Antonio Barrera and hard luck challenger Rocky Juarez exited the ring with the notion that the two battlers had fought to a 12-round draw. At least that was the impression created when the verdict was announced to the crowd, after both men had relentlessly hammered away at each other for 12 high velocity and entertaining rounds. Boos and catcalls filled the air from the LA fight fans that thought that Juarez's heavy staccato attack had not only left Barrera bloody and dazed but that the Houston, Texas, native also had captured the WBC super featherweight belt. If anything, there was a strong murmur along press row that Juarez might have landed enough of the proverbial harder and cleaner punches to steal a win over the Mexican legend. However, when the decision was announced to crowd; Judge Duane Ford scored the contest 115-113 for Juarez, Anek Hongtogkham tallied 115-113 for Barrera, and Ken Morita scored the bout a draw 114-114. A little less than 15 minutes later, however, those mathematically challenged officials realized that that Morita's scores had been added incorrectly and that his correct scorecard was 115-114 for Barrera. That "hanging chad" error proved costly for the challenger Juarez and the champion Barrera was awarded a belated split decision victory. Compounding the confusion and the embarrassment for the WBC suits and the California State Athletic Commission members it also turned out that Ford's card was also added incorrectly.

His Own Worst Enemy: James "Lights Out" Toney's boarding house reach and his expanding waistline.

Best Action Fighter on the Deuce: Edner "Cherry Bomb" Cherry.

Best Idea: Showtime's 168-pound Tournament.

Ugly American: In the Showtime super middleweight tourney France's Jean Paul Mendy squared off with Tony "The Tyger" Hanshaw and scored a hard fought ten round unanimous decision. However, Mendy's style included leading with his skull several times over the course of the 7th, and he tattooed his opponent with his head while firing hard right hooks to the body that propelled Buchanan against the ropes. The bush moment of the night occurred at 1:17 of the 7th, after Buchanan was warned again by the referee to quit holding and hitting. When the action resumed the American extended his left glove in the time honored tradition of the ring to touch gloves but then tried to sucker punch Mendy with a right cross down the middle. By the end of the 7th, Buchanan was bleeding from his nose and there was a small nick in the corner of his left eye but the lasting impression was of a guy who was desperate.

Scary Guy: Goliath showed up just outside of the city of "Big Shoulders" and before the evening was over they needed to recast the role of David. Russian behemoth, leviathan, or colossus; you can take your pick, the WBA's heavyweight world champion Nikolai Valuev remained undefeated by scoring an 11th round TKO over the disarmed Monte "Two-Gunz" Barrett. It was pretty much the case of leaving your derringers at the door. The largest heavyweight champion in history this side of a comic book, the 7-foot, 328-pound Valuev, from St. Petersburg, Russia dropped Barrett twice in the 11th. With Barrett reeling on the ropes and obviously hurt, referee John O'Brien finally waved off the bout at the 2:12 mark, when his trainer James Ali Bashir jumped into the ring to save his fighter.

Real-Life Rocky: It was a good night for a working class hero. At 35 years of age and with a reputation as a professional journeyman, Grady "Bad Boy" Brewer was a considered a longshot at best when the athletes were selected to compete in "The Contender" reality based boxing series. Nevertheless, the rangy welterweight from Lawton, Oklahoma with four children was the fighter who ended up winning all the marbles and a cool $500 grand by scoring a hard fought and narrow ten round split decision over the tourney favorite Steve "2 Pounds" Forbes.

Longest Ring Entrance: ETA 19 minutes. Bridging the cultures of Texas and Mexico, number-one ranked Jorge "Travieso" Acre scored a fourth round TKO over South Africa's number-three rated Masibulele "Hawk" Makepula to capture the brief WBC super flyweight title eliminator. Fans endured one of the longest ring entrances in recent memory, as Makepula entered the ring singing spiritual music while gliding down the aisle until the spirit moved him and he climbed inside the ropes. The part time preacher and marriage counselor Makepula was upstaged however, when Arce arrived on the back of a Harley Davidson to the cheers of the Tex-Mex fight fans. The former mini flyweight and interim WBC flyweight champion Arce simply had too much heat on his shots and his heavy hands proved to be the undoing for the religious South African. Acre jumped on Makepula late in the 3rd and continued to hammer away until dropping the South African early in the fourth and final round. Makepula did beat the count but he had taken such a battering that referee Vic Drakulich called a halt at the one-minute mark of the 4th round. Yes, the entrances took longer than the fight!

Could have been stopped sooner: Undefeated San Antonio bantamweight Raul "The Cobra" Martinez scored a brutal and one-sided 10th round TKO over Colombia's Ilido Julio in a fight that mercifully should have been halted earlier in the contest. Julio took a wicked beating from the local hometown hero, as Martinez repeatedly landed searing right hands and laser-like left hooks off his opponent's skull. The right side of Julio's face and eye looked as if he had lost an argument to a 2 X 4 and there was grotesque swelling on the entire right side of his skull. A long ugly welt formed underneath his eye and the Colombian appeared as if he had suffered a broken right cheekbone or eye socket. With 2:07 to go in the 10th, Martinez trapped Julio in the corner and he unloaded a savage right cross to the face followed by another hard combination that rocketed off the Colombian's profile. Julio sagged against the third strand but remained upright, as Martinez unloaded another two more punches. Referee Ruben Carreon finally stopped the beating at the 1:01 mark of the final round despite Julio's protests that he could continue.

Worst PPV: Mike Tyson World Tour derailed. "Show me a hero, and I will write you a tragedy" The novelist F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote those words forty years before Tyson was part of the popular landscape of American culture. However, with each labored punch that's what people were thinking, as the former heavyweight champion of the world boxed a four round exhibition with Corey "T-Rex" Sanders for little more than meal money. Tyson opened his "World Tour" on pay-per-view in the heartland of Ohio and along the way did just enough to drop the 290 pound plus Sanders in the 1st, of a scheduled four-rounder before evoking the boos and catcalls of the locals. Tyson is attempting to dig himself of debt in a career that has seen him burn through an estimated $100 millions dollars. Despite sucking in air in every round, Tyson rocked the head guard wearing Sanders several times and then seemingly held the 6' 6" Washington DC heavyweight upright so both men could finish the exercise in the standing position. The rounds lasted 2 ½-minutes each, and there was more holding and close dancing than seen at most high school proms. Outweighed by almost fifty pounds, Tyson jolted Sanders several times with hard uppercuts and looping left hands in close quarters but then was forced to prop up his former sparring partner so "T-Rex" wouldn't end the evening extinct. None of this behavior went over too well with the 4,000 plus Youngstown fight fans, who showed up expecting fireworks only to witness guys firing blanks.

Best Fight You Didn't See: In a sensational WBC light heavyweight title fight unbeaten Polish champion Tomasz Adamek retained his crown by scoring a tough and brutal 12 round majority decision over the number one challenger Paul Briggs. The fight was a rematch of a previous encounter back in May 2005, when Adamek registered another hard fought 12 round majority decision over the 31-year-old light heavyweight Briggs, from Sydney, Australia. Given the large Polish population in the Chicago area, Adamek was the crowd favorite for much of the night and they cheered with every salvo he managed to land. At the end of 12 bloody and highly entertaining rounds, judges Ken Morita and Ray Hawkins scored it 114-112 and 115-111 for Adamek, while Mauro DiFiore had it even at 113.

Time to Step Away: Kevin Kelley, Fernando Vargas, Erik Morales, Courtney Burton and Arturo Gatti.

Most Guts: Jeff Lacy fought eight rounds one handed in posting a victory over Vitali Tsypko, despite suffering a torn rotator cuff in his left shoulder during the 2nd round.

Most Blatant Fouling (Harry Greb Award): There are boxing matches, there are prizefights and there are brawls. Mark this was down to an alley battle with the winner finishing the night flat on his back. Hector Velazquez emerged victorious just as soon as he was helped to an upright position after getting clocked no less than five times below the belt, as Bobby "Sniper" Pacquiao was disqualified for low blows. Referee Kenny Bayless halted the carnage and the auditions for Vienna Boys Choir at 2:56 of the 11th round, with Velazquez rolling around the deck in high-pitch agony. Pacquiao scored the only knockdown of the fight in the 3rd, but he also had points taken away for low blows in the 3rd and the 5th after traveling south of the border with wicked shots to the groin. Bayless seemed on the verge of stopping the contest in tenth round, following another breach of the rules. The referee issued yet another warning, however, Pacquiao continued to fire scalding shots below the belt until Bayless was compelled to stop the bout and disqualify the super featherweight from General Santos City in the Philippines. Ironically when the contest was halted, Pacquiao was leading on two of the three judges' scorecards. Judge Nathan Palmer had it 95-93 and Chuck Giampa 94-93, both for Pacquiao, while Judge C.J. Ross had Velazquez winning 94-93.

Honorable Mention Foul Filled: If we learned anything it was that veteran referee Bill Clancy means everything he says when he tells fighters what is expected of them and what are the rules of the game. And if you happen to date his daughter make sure you bring her home on time. Clancy took umbrage with Alexis Divison and tossed the Dominican welterweight 28-seconds into the fourth round for repeated fouling. Divison had used Delvin Rodriguez's groin and the back of his skull for target practice repeatedly before Clancy gave him the thumb for, "dirty fighting." It went into the books as a win for Rodriguez via a fourth round disqualification. Second Runner-up and will wear the crown if Miss USA is unable to fulfill her reign: In a grinding, foul filled and hammering 12 round welterweight encounter Joshua "Hitter" Clottey pounded out a hard fought majority decision over previously undefeated Colombian banger Richard Gutierrez. Gutierrez controlled the first few rounds with withering body punches but Clottey rallied to nail down the victory, in an IBF title eliminator. Both men had points taken away for low blows and referee Dr. Lou Moret repeatedly had to warn the fighters about keeping their shots up, along with head butts and roughhouse tactics. There were so many fouls over the course of 12 rounds that at one point the veteran California referee threaten to disqualify both boxers and the last impression was that this fight could just as well have taken place in an alley behind a saloon.

Keep Your Eye On: Middleweight Edison Miranda, welterweight Andre Berto, welterweight Paul Williams and 19-year-old welterweight Victor Ortiz.

Best corner advise but the boxer didn't listen: Trainer Bob Van Syckle had urged his fighter featherweight Jason Litzau to box and not bang with Jose Hernandez, in a fight in which his boxer was clearly winning on points. That wisdom went unheard and in the 8th, Litzau elected to trade with and was cooled with an overhand right hand to the jaw…end of story.

Best Touch: Trainer Freddie Roach continues to work his magic with boxers and not just Manny Pacquiao. In 2006, Roach schooled Peter Manfredo Jr. to a one-sided third round TKO over Joey "KO Kid" Spina in the long awaited battle of Rhode Island. The veteran trainer also started retooling the former WBC super flyweight king Gerry Penalosa and along with a step-up in weight and a refocus on crisp clean combinations, Roach's presence has resulted in a renaissance in the 34-year-old veteran's ring career. In a battle between two former southpaw world champions Penalosa scored a blistering 9th round technical knockout over former Panamanian WBO bantamweight king Mauricio "Nañara" Martinez.

Couldn't Make Weight: Mark "Too Sharp" Johnson, Jose Luis Castillo, Diego Corrales, Jorge Barrios, and Rosendo Alvarez. Off The Charts, or are you going to eat the rest of that Moon Pie? Mauro Lucero showed up 26 pounds over the welterweight limit when he was supposed to face Paul Williams.

Entertaining Fight of the Year: In a spectacular encounter between two outstanding boxers, WBA lightweight champion Juan "Baby Bull" Diaz simply would not be denied in pounding out an impressive 12-round unanimous decision over the previously undefeated Jose Miguel Cotto. Diaz was simply relentless and while the challenger Cotto seemed to answer every attack with equal amounts of leather, the champion, nevertheless, landed more shots to hammer out a win in his fourth successful title defense. Diaz stepped on the gas in the final round landing a half dozen different blazing four and five-punch combinations that eventually hurt and rocked the challenger before the final bell. You could take in a month's work of boxing and still not witness as many heated exchanges between two fighters, as both boxers stood toe-to-toe and traded shots. After 12 scalding rounds, Diaz had simply landed far more telling blows in grinding out a memorable blue collar win that left the Vegas fight fans standing, cheering and screaming their approval.

In Our Hearts: Willie Pep, Alphonse Halimi, LaMar Clark, timekeeper Curtis Leach, Trevor Berbick, Hearn Marler, Eddie Blay, Vincent Garcia, Herman Marques, Jimmy Lester, Dick Wagner, Al Hostak, Payao Poontarat, Vic Patrick, Rogerio Lobo, Steve Mamakos, Paul Kennedy, Preston Hartzog, Fadly Kasim, Dennis Shepherd, Mike Quarry, Angelo Rogers, George Washington, Gene Tortorice, Bobby Dykes, Kid Pascualito, Tommy Gomez, Tue Bjorn Thomsen, William Boggs, Ossie Sussman, Hector Leyva, Eckhard Dagge, Tommy Yarosz, referee Davey Pearl, Jeff Bowman, Julio Gallucci (Johnny Duke), Wayne Parker Jr., Mike Hunter, Ferny Carpentier, Maxwell Malinga, Jack Quarry, Morris Leviege, promter Ken Pedlar, referee John Thomas, boxing writer Jack Fiske and Floyd Patterson.