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Bad Left Hook's Top 20 Fights of 2009: The Cut List

100_big_medium There were a whole lot of good, memorable fights in boxing this year, and while I've put together a top 20 that will start going up in installments (20-16, 15-11, 10-6, 5-1) this evening, I wanted to give some due credit to the fights that were on my cut list after some deliberation and consideration.

Major Title Fights

The November 29 bout in Japan between WBC flyweight titlist Daisuke Naito and rival Koki Kameda was a few wild exchanges away. It was a tactical, smart fight on both sides, and it was top-flight boxing. It was also a major event that did enormous ratings in Japan.

July's scrap between Joseph Agbeko and Vic Darchinyan fell short of expectations. On paper, it had Fight of the Year potential. It was still a good fight, just not quite what it could have been. The story of the night was Darchinyan struggling to dent Agbeko.

Juan Urango plodded with purpose and Randall Bailey looked to land his big right hand on ESPN2's Friday Night Fights finale this summer. They put on exactly the fight you'd expect.

Kelly Pavlik's win over Miguel Espino may not have been all that significant overall, but it sure was entertaining.

I felt the Malcolm Klassen-Robert Guerrero fight on the Diaz-Malignaggi I undercard was the fight of the night and a really overlooked bout.

The Bernard Dunne-Poonsawat Kratingdaenggym and Toshiaki Nishioka-Jhonny Gonzalez fights were sort of in the same camp: Good, short, decisive and action-packed.

Nate Campbell's tight win over Ali Funeka had some weight drama, but it didn't stop it from being a competitive, entertaining affair. Nobuo Nashiro and Hugo Cazares put on a solid show in their 12-round draw in September, for Nashiro's junior bantamweight title.

No Titles, Notable Events

The first Juan Diaz-Paulie Malignaggi fight was a great clashing of styles. The rematch was a bit less dramatic, with Diaz having a worse night.

Daniel Geale and Anthony Mundine drew a big house and gave the people their money's worth in Australia on May 27. Really competitive fight.

No Stars, No Problems

Monty Meza-Clay lost a featherweight title eliminator to Jorge Solis in January. His next fight came against Fernando Beltran Jr. in June, and while there was no disputing that Beltran won by decision, the two came together for a solid bout.

Shobox had some stirring fights this year, too. Among them, I thought three stood out. John Molina's upset loss to Martin Honorio on November 28; Tyrone Harris' upset of Marvin Quintero on July 31; and Carlos Abregu's four-round war with Irving Garcia on May 1.

The Big Boys

Cristobal Arreola was a huge favorite, and rightfully so. Brian Minto was undersized, underpowered and out of his league. But Minto did everything he could and probably then some, standing and trading with a bigger, stronger, younger man before the fight was eventually stopped.

The Tony Grano-Travis Kauffman debacle is somewhere in here, too.

And One More

I have yet to see a full copy of Ricardo Torres' escape victory over Raul Pinzon, so I can't rank it.

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Rendo vs Samuels

"If you sit there and watch a person take about an hour to tie his shoestrings, then you realize that whatever problems you got ain't that significant"
---Vernon Forrest 2006

by The Midnight Rambler on Dec 29, 2009 4:11 PM EST reply actions  

Yeah it’s on the actual top 20.

Bad Left Hook
"If bulls**t was poetry, Ray 'Boom Boom' Mancini's name would be Shakespeare." -- Dennis Rappaport

by Scott Christ on Dec 29, 2009 8:14 PM EST up reply actions  

May I say

that I give up on Arreola?

by Don From Prov on Dec 29, 2009 4:15 PM EST reply actions  

 Ricardo Torres’ escape victory over Raul Pinzon was incredible. I have seen the entire footage. It was incredible to the max.

"If you sit there and watch a person take about an hour to tie his shoestrings, then you realize that whatever problems you got ain't that significant"
---Vernon Forrest 2006

by The Midnight Rambler on Dec 29, 2009 4:16 PM EST reply actions  

Rendo vs Samuels FEATURED A DOUBLE KNCOKDOWN THAT HURT BOTH GUYS.

"If you sit there and watch a person take about an hour to tie his shoestrings, then you realize that whatever problems you got ain't that significant"
---Vernon Forrest 2006

by The Midnight Rambler on Dec 29, 2009 4:27 PM EST reply actions  

Is Antwone Smith/Henry Crawford on the big list then?

by schraubd on Dec 29, 2009 4:28 PM EST reply actions  

Rendo v Samuels best be on that list.

Incidentally, I was filtering through the schedule on boxrec and noticed Hatton promotions has them scheduled for a mid-January rematch. Boxrec is often, uh… mistaken, but it is more often on cue and that would be an interesting one to watch.

by jcarr71 on Dec 29, 2009 4:49 PM EST reply actions  

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XCU389zi4wc here it is

"If you sit there and watch a person take about an hour to tie his shoestrings, then you realize that whatever problems you got ain't that significant"
---Vernon Forrest 2006

by The Midnight Rambler on Dec 29, 2009 6:55 PM EST up reply actions  

It’s happening.

Bad Left Hook
"If bulls**t was poetry, Ray 'Boom Boom' Mancini's name would be Shakespeare." -- Dennis Rappaport

by Scott Christ on Dec 29, 2009 8:12 PM EST up reply actions  

The rematch is definitely on

Bad Left Hook - The SB Nation boxing blog
"Baseball is played on the field, not on a calculator."

by Brickhaus on Dec 30, 2009 12:36 PM EST up reply actions  

Mundine vs Geale

The Anthony Mundine victory over Daniel Geale was one of the more entertaining fights in Australia in years,hopefully Mundine can land a breakthrough overseas fight against the likes of Pavlik or Sturm

by tytey on Dec 30, 2009 1:18 AM EST reply actions  

He’s moving down to 154 to fight Robert Medley next in a bizarre move.

Bad Left Hook
"If bulls**t was poetry, Ray 'Boom Boom' Mancini's name would be Shakespeare." -- Dennis Rappaport

by Scott Christ on Dec 30, 2009 3:51 AM EST up reply actions  

That's 'cos Mundine permanently exists in bizarro world.

By his reckoning, beating Medley for the vacant IBO light middle title makes him a gen-u-ine three division world champ… aaand wake up! Dude’s lost the plot.

Rob gave Isaac Hlatshwayo two decent fights at welter, he’s no mug, but Mundine had the Sturm fight locked in at one point and should be targeting a legit MW world champ. He’d give any of em a tough fight, especially Sylvester, maybe he’s still getting flashbacks of ze Ottke fight in Germany. So fight Pavlik at the Boardwalk, a good matchup IMO. Mundine shoulda resurrected his career over in the States years ago.

"Anytime you go thirty rounds with a guy, try to kill each other, and have the utmost respect for each other, no one understands that, but guys who have been to war understand it." - Micky Ward on Arturo Gatti.

by Goatsnake on Dec 30, 2009 7:56 AM EST up reply actions  

Mundine is apparently the Bizarro Guillermo Jones. Maybe he’s aiming to fight Pacquiao next.

by taco pal on Dec 30, 2009 10:49 AM EST up reply actions  

Speaking of Jones

what happened to him? He put a whooping on Aslan, and I haven’t heard a peep about him since.

by tichbou on Dec 30, 2009 3:14 PM EST up reply actions  

If he keeps increasing in size

he’ll be fighting Vitali in 2010. By 2013 he’ll have his own gravity.

"I'm not God - but I am something similar", Roberto Duran

by FCF on Dec 30, 2009 8:45 PM EST up reply actions  

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