2008 – The year of the underdogs!
We are done with 2008. The years go by so fast. I myself was thinking that undefeated fighters would have their year here. But it was the opposite. This was the year of the underdogs. Every fighter is going to have the first loss from him sooner or later, but you never imagine that they were defeated by the guys who were supposed to lose against them. Let’s look at the top five surprises this year. Must?
5) DE LA HOYA VS. PACQUAIO
With all due respect, everyone knew that the Pac-Man was going to win the match. The critics favored De la Hoya. What we didn’t expect was that it would make the golden boy quit. Manny just fought the way we know him. He dominated the entire fight and made one of the biggest names in boxing quit.
4) JUAN DIAZ VS. NATE CAMPBELL
I believe in this fight, that the way Diaz fought, it was just a lack of motivation. There could still be a fight. However, he makes the excuse that he had blood over his eyes. It just seemed to me that he didn’t want to fight.
3) MIGUEL COTTO VS. ANTONIO MARGARITO
This fight was just a modern classic, although I was a little disappointed in Cotto. Cotto has shown that if he can’t knock you out, he will find a way to adapt to the particular style and come out on top. But the problem was Margarito’s resistance. Tony just has that legendary stamina to back him up. He kept coming no matter what punishment he was receiving. That was Cotto’s biggest problem. THE PRESSURE. If he had wanted to, he could have been reckless and thrown more than a thousand punches. He fought this fight with the correct strategy. He knew that Cotto would tire later in the fight, and from the sixth round, he put the next gear. I’m not saying Margarito wasn’t busy, but they sure were timing him for the first half of the fight. Cotto is one of the biggest punchers in the game. So if Margarito was able to take that, then not only does he have that legendary stamina, he also has that Evander Holyfield iron chin.
2) JOEL CASAMAYOR VS. MICHAEL KATSIDIS
This is one of the biggest surprises throughout the year. Michael Katsidis entered the fight with a record of (23-0-0 20KO). Casamayor seemed old and finished. The first round was what really caught my attention. Casamayor knocks down Katsidis twice in the first round. This was what really surprised me. He also had a good second round. Since then, Katsidis has been taking control of the fight. He was catching up on the fight. By the sixth round, Katsidis caught Casamayor with a left hand to the body that Casamayor didn’t like very well. He looks finished and Katsidis not only knocks Casamayor down, but knocks him down on the ropes. Casamayor takes a long time to get up. He survives the round. He goes into the last round and Katsidis is ahead on points. By the tenth round, everyone knew that Katsidis would make the decision. But what a surprise, Katsidis runs into a perfect left straight from Casamayor. He knocks Katsidis down. Katsidis seems unstable. he beats the count of eight, seconds later, Casmayor hits him more and finishes him off, with victory by TKO.
1) KELLY PAVLIK VS. BERNARD HOPKINS.
This for me was the biggest surprise of the year. I’m a real fan of Hopkins, but I thought he was in for the real deal here. I thought to myself that this is not a fight for him. But once again he has proven us wrong, just as he has with Trinidad and Tarver. He dominated this entire fight. Not only that, but he also had a chance to knock Pavlik out in the second, seventh and last rounds. He practically took Pavlik to school and taught him to respect his elders. The way Hopkins dominated this fight was pure awe.
