Andre Ward For the Win: Oakland Product Named 2011 Fighter of the Year (Bad Left Hook Boxing Awards)
by Scott Christ on Jan 2, 2012 7:00 PM EST
in Boxing Commentary & Opinion
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Two high-profile wins, one Super Six trophy, two title belts, and a claim to the legitimate championship of the world in one of boxing's most highly-regarded weight classes were enough to make Andre Ward the runaway winner for yet another Fighter of the Year award, as the Bad Left Hook voting panel has named the Oakland native and undefeated Super Six winner the 2011 Fighter of the Year.
Ward (25-0, 13 KO) received most of the first place votes, but even on ballots where he did not receive the nod for No. 1, he was named at No. 2 or No. 3. Everyone across the board had a high level of respect for what Ward did in 2011, and I think in part for what he's done over the course of the Super Six. In some ways, it's like when The Return of the King all but swept the Oscars; a lot of that had to do with The Fellowship of the Ring and The Two Towers as well.
Now that I've dorked this up sufficiently, here's the full voting:
| Fighter | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Andre Ward | 9 | 2 | 4 | 55 |
| Nonito Donaire | 0 | 6 | 2 | 20 |
| Brandon Rios | 1 | 3 | 3 | 17 |
| Hernan Marquez | 2 | 1 | 1 | 14 |
| Kazuto Ioka | 1 | 1 | 0 | 8 |
| Juan Manuel Marquez | 1 | 1 | 0 | 8 |
| Lamont Peterson | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| Bernard Hopkins | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| Miguel Cotto | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Brian Viloria | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Jorge Arce | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Suriyan Sor Rungvisai | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Sergio Martinez | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
The 27-year-old Ward defeated Arthur Abraham on May 14, and Carl Froch on December 17 to close out the Super Six, win the world championship at 168 pounds, and pick up two belts to go along with the real standing as being the division's top dog.
In a distant second place was Nonito Donaire, who tore Fernando Montiel apart in just two rounds in February, and dominated but didn't electrify with an October win over Omar Narvaez. Brandon Rios came in in third place, and may have received further support had he not failed to make weight for his December win over John Murray.
Two emerging stars in the small divisions also received some top-end votes, as flyweight Hernan "Tyson" Marquez received a pair of first-place votes, and 105-pound titleholder Kazuto Ioka also took one. Also receiving top votes were Lamont Peterson and Juan Manuel Marquez.
My biggest question is what would have happened with the voting had Bernard Hopkins beaten Chad Dawson in October. His win over Jean Pascal in May created a lot of buzz, but that was killed with the two-round non-event against Dawson.
Congratulations to Andre Ward. It's been argued that it was a down year for Fighter of the Year voting, but personally I'm starting to think that's more perception than anything; we may not have had an easy vote like Manny Pacquiao (2008, 2009) or Sergio Martinez (2010), but a deeper look reveals a guy at the top of his game winning the award, and some really strong contenders who didn't happen to fight on the big networks, or if they did, didn't get all the hype and press and glitz and glamor.
All in all, we didn't have one major league standout who blew away the field, but we did have a lot of really good fighters who probably deserved greater attention than they received.
Voters for the 2011 Bad Left Hook Boxing Awards are Scott Christ, Andrew Fruman, Brickhaus, Matt Miller, James Foley, Sean Mills, Ryan Bivins, Waldo Rastel, Kory Kitchen, Matt Mosley, Oli Goldstein, Nick Foxx, Chris Celletti, Sidney Boquiren, and Corey Erdman.
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Good picks
"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 (1971-2009)
My 1-2-3 was Hernan Marquez, Kazuto Ioka, and Andre Ward. I think you can honestly vote properly WITHOUT Ward in the top three, but I respect what he did, particularly the Froch fight. It wasn’t his fault Arthur Abraham was the May opponent.
Bad Left Hook
"To the town of Agua Fria rode a stranger one fine day..."
No Rios?
"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 (1971-2009)
He just missed my cut. The top two had really terrific years, IMO. If Rios had been on weight (not his fault, but sometimes things aren’t) for the 12/3 fight with Murray, he’d have been my 2 or 3. But I firmly believe in Tyson Marquez. He did some damage this year.
Bad Left Hook
"To the town of Agua Fria rode a stranger one fine day..."
by Scott Christ on Jan 2, 2012 10:16 PM EST up reply actions
It might be a dumb argument, but I’d give more credit to Rios for the Murray fight because he was so drained and ghostly (ghastly too lol) looking on fight night and still put in a hell of a performance. I understand the logic though…he didn’t follow the rules/terms of the weight class.
No, I can see that. And I seriously don’t blame Brandon for missing weight. He clearly tried to make it which is why he looked so physically horrible at the weigh-in. He didn’t Joan Guzman it or anything. But it dropped him just enough to not be in my top three.
He would be my #4.
Bad Left Hook
"To the town of Agua Fria rode a stranger one fine day..."
by Scott Christ on Jan 2, 2012 10:33 PM EST up reply actions
can easily see him being back at the top end of this vote next year too. Theres still 1 or 2 really good fights out there for him and I honestly don’t see anyone of them beating him. Just depends how good he wants the opposition to be now the Super 6 is over
by whypunchrabbits? on Jan 2, 2012 8:13 PM EST reply actions
A lot of it also depends on if everyobdy else insists on fighting twice a year. Once against someone good and once against a tuneup. Keep in mind though that Bute looks to be tied up with Froch for a while, and I won’t believe Sergio Martinez will fight Ward until I see it.
shit yea i forgot about Bute fighting Froch. Theres still 1 or 2 out there but it does make it trickier to keep up the momentum. Wouldnt blme Martinez for a second for not fighting Ward though. Would much rather Ward have a crack at some light heavies
by whypunchrabbits? on Jan 2, 2012 8:59 PM EST up reply actions
I believe Sergio would at 164 or so. But I do not believe:
1. DiBella and Lewkowicz will look to make it happen.
2. Ward will fight at 164.
And on the latter, that’s not me doubting Ward. Why should he fight at 164? He’d be right to balk.
Bad Left Hook
"To the town of Agua Fria rode a stranger one fine day..."
by Scott Christ on Jan 2, 2012 10:23 PM EST up reply actions
Can he?
He looks more capable of going up than down.
"Silence is golden when you can't think of a good answer"
---- Muhammed Ali
Until I hear otherwise, I have to believe he chooses not to go down in weight. In fact, I can’t imagine why a bigger man would chase a smaller mans’s belt, especially when the smaller man brings very little to the table in terms of audience and money.
"Silence is golden when you can't think of a good answer"
---- Muhammed Ali
He wouldn’t be chasing the belt; it’d be over 160, probably 164 or 165 catch.
Bad Left Hook
"To the town of Agua Fria rode a stranger one fine day..."
I voted…
1. Andre Ward
2. Juan Manuel Marquez
3. Brandon Rios
The comprehensive manner in which Ward scored his victories was key for me. He didn’t just establish himself as the champion at 168, he did so in dominant fashion. Granted, the #2 guy wasn’t in the tournament – but that was beyond Ward’s control.
I thought JMM beat Manny and I was very tempted to put him at #1 as that was the performance of the year IMO… but ultimately, I decided that Ward’s two dominant wins were just worth a touch more.
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