We started this feature just last month, and now we're done with month two of 2009. Time for a new poll. Every month, 3-to-5 of the best fights will be chosen as featured candidates. You can write in whatever fight you want, though.

Last month, the Margarito-Mosley stunner (53%) took the honors thanks to its memorability despite being a one-sided whooping. I voted for Berto-Collazo, which came in a strong second (43%).

This is a formality, obviously, but fair's fair.

Past Winners:

January 2009: Antonio Margarito v. Shane Mosley

February's Contenders:

Antonio Demarco v. Almazbek Raiymkulov, February 7

The main event of this card was supposed to be the one with the fireworks, but instead of much in the way of a competitive or even compelling fight, we just watched Vic Darchinyan starch Jorge Arce for 11 rounds before Arce's corner wisely put a stop to it. But the card was no disappointment, really. First of all, many of us expected Darchinyan to outclass Arce, but the bigger reason was because of the exciting, back-and-forth featured undercard bout between Antonio Demarco and Almazbek "Kid Diamond" Raiymkulov. Two judges had Demarco up 88-83 and the third had it for Diamond 86-85 at the time of Diamond's medical retirement from the fight after the ninth round due to a broken nose. It was a good, hard-hitting matchup that stole the show from the main event. [Full Coverage of this Event]

Nate Campbell v. Ali Funeka, February 14

Few cards have been as snake-bitten as this one was. Originally meant to be main evented by Alfredo Angulo v. Ricardo Mayorga, Mayorga pulled out on short notice. Angulo's replacement opponent then pulled out, and they had to find yet another on four days' notice. Bumped to the main event was this 135-pound title fight between Campbell and South Africa's Funeka. And then Campbell failed to make weight. To save the show, Campbell-Funeka went on anyway, with only Funeka able to win the titles with a victory. To make matters even worse, the featured undercard bout between Sergio Martinez and Kermit Cintron was refereed badly and judged even worse. Nothing went right for this joint King/Shaw/DiBella card in Sunrise, Florida.

Nate, who was at a big height disadvantage against the towering, lanky Funeka, put the South African challenger on the mat twice but exhausted himself in the process. He wound up doing just enough to win a grueling affair, winning a majority decision (115-111, 114-112, 113-113). Bad Left Hook scored it 115-111 (seven rounds to five with two knockdowns) for Campbell, who is on his way to the 140-pound divison. In more ways than one, Campbell and Funeka saved the show for everyone involved. [Full Coverage of this Event]

Chris John v. Rocky Juarez, February 28

Not much in terms of aesthetic appeal was expected in a fight between the tactical and skilled John and the trigger-deficient Juarez, but the two fighters gave it all they had in Juarez's hometown and surprised us all with a great fight. John was extremely busy and quite accurate, and Juarez, though outboxed, put in arguably his best performance ever. The high drama came in the final couple of rounds, when a seemingly well-behind Juarez rallied to stagger John and send the world's top featherweight reeling around the ring. With an electric crowd on its feet, John did well just to survive the assault. Bad Left Hook scored it 115-113 for John, but all three judges had a 114-114 draw. [Full Coverage of this Event]

Juan Manuel Marquez v. Juan Diaz, February 28

And then came the main event. Marquez-Diaz promised fireworks, but then so did Diaz-Katsidis, which disappointed horribly last September. This one did not, and it's time to start counting Marquez as not just one of the sport's best and most highly-skilled fighters, but now, in his mid-30s, as one of its most reliable action stars, too. He's been in three straight great fights (Pacquiao, Casamayor and now Diaz), had a classic in 2007 with Marco Antonio Barrera, and even fights like his wins over Juarez and Jimrex Jaca have been entertaining. He's become a much more active fighter as he ages. Diaz, ten years Marquez's junior, pressed the lightweight champion very hard in the earlygoing, but succumbed to Marquez's superiority by the eighth round, when the tide had clearly shifted to the champ. In the ninth, with a bad cut near Diaz's left eye, Marquez finished Diaz off with a perfect assault. It is already on the short list for 2009 Fight of the Year.

Instructions: Take a deep breath. Let the high of Marquez-Diaz escape your senses momentarily. Think of the other fights. They were good, yes? Now snap back to reality and vote for Marquez-Diaz. It's the only choice.

One of our goals for 2009 is to get more people talking actively, and I've learned over time running blogs that one thing people love to do is vote in polls. America loves polls. I'm not sure if England or anywhere else loves polls, but by God, in America we love our polls.

So to get a monthly open discussion and debate and poll-voting bonanza kicked in, I thought it'd be cool to let everyone decide the Fight of the Month for all 12 turns of the calendar pages.

January was kind of a slow month in terms of volume, and when August rolls around it'll basically turn into head-to-head unless something changes, and I'm also always going to include an "Other" option for those that may have seen an overseas fight that kicked the crap out of what we were presented on American TV, or just an unsung bout that was available on American TV. Sometimes you get a Mtagwa-Villa and if it happens late in the month, half the people that love it won't see it until two weeks later or so.

Exercise your right to vote. Explain your pick. Argue. Debate. Do it to it.

The Contenders

Yuriorkis Gamboa v. Roger Gonzalez, January 9

Gamboa-Gonzalez was the main event of the season premier of ESPN2's Friday Night Fights, and we got an interesting little scrap out of the deal. Gonzalez decked Gamboa in the second round, but other than that Gamboa won pretty much the rest of the fight. Still, it was intriguing in some ways to watch Gonzalez try to constantly bait Gamboa, who was closer to biting than it may seem looking at the final tally of the scorecards. The 10th round stoppage was questionable if you ask me, but it was a Gamboa win either way. [Full coverage of this event]

Andre Berto (c) v. Luis Collazo, WBC Welterweight Title, January 17

25-year old WBC welterweight titlist Andre Berto met the stiffest test of his career against former titleholder Luis Collazo in Biloxi on the 17th, televised by HBO on Boxing After Dark. Berto won the fight handily when he could establish distance and use his natural speed and reflexes, but when the fight went into close quarters, Collazo dominated. His defensive tricks were a handful for Berto, who also got caught hard and staggered in the first round. Berto was also docked a point in the fourth for holding, the only time we've ever seen him hold noticeably. After 11 rounds of action, I had it 104-104, with the winner of the 12th and final round the winner of the fight on my card. Berto came out guns blazing, took the round, and two of the three judges were in my boat. It won Berto the fight, with 114-113 scores on two cards and a 116-110 Berto card (get real) on the third. It was a highly interesting fight and once again, many will argue that Luis Collazo should have taken someone's "0." It was good enough that a rematch is desired. [Full coverage of this event]

Antonio Margarito (c) v. Shane Mosley, WBA Welterweight Title, January 24

There is such a thing as an entertaining one-sided fight, and I think this was one of them. Mosley's domination of Margarito was shocking, similar to watching Hopkins pick apart Pavlik last October, but not on the same level. For that fight, Hopkins won the Bad Left Hook "Performance of the Year" award for 2008, and if Mosley takes that one this December for this fight, it won't be surprising. To be blunt, he beat Margarito's ass, knocking him down in the eighth (with only the bell really saving Margarito that round) and finishing him off in the ninth. All the post-fight controversy may paint this in a different light for some, but Mosley deserves great credit for manhandling Margarito the way he did. [Full coverage of this event]

Herman Ngoudjo v. Juan Urango, IBF Junior Welterweight Title, January 30

It definitely would win the award for strangeest fight of the month, what with the timekeeper apparently passing out in the 11th round, leading to an extra two minutes and ten seconds of action. Actually, I guess Barrera fighting a complete bum and getting headbutted to death might challenge this one for strangest. But Ngoudjo-Urango was a good fight with a fantastic crowd in Montreal. Urango's video game boxing won him the fight with two knockdowns in the third round, and it also felt like Ngoudjo (though he had his moments) simply wasn't as hungry as Urango was. One of the three judges' (Robert Hoyle) scorecards was horrendous (120-106 Urango?), but it can't mar the in-ring action. Urango swung for the fences for 36 minutes, and Ngoudjo desperately tried to find ways to stay in the fight without getting creamed. [Full coverage of this event]