Bad Left Hook Fight of the Month Poll: December 2009

Past winners:

• January 2009: Antonio Margarito v. Shane Mosley (53%)
• February 2009: Juan Manuel Marquez v. Juan Diaz (93%)
• March 2009: Ricardo Cordoba v. Bernard Dunne (81%)
• April 2009: Carl Froch v. Jermain Taylor (49%)
• May 2009: Carlos Abregu vs. Irving Garcia (35%)
• June 2009: Marcos Maidana vs. Victor Ortiz (45%)
• July 2009: Cristobal Cruz vs. Jorge Solis (32%)
• August 2009: Juan Diaz vs. Paulie Malignaggi / Juan Urango vs. Randall Bailey (tie, 45%)
• September 2009: Marvin Sonsona vs. Carita Lopez
• October 2009: Joseph Agbeko vs. Yohnny Perez (41%)
• November 2009: Manny Pacquiao vs. Miguel Cotto (78%)

December 2009 was a relatively abbreviated month in terms of fights, but there were still a few good battles, as well as one real standout. Here are the candidates, in chronological order:

Paul Williams MD12 Sergio Martinez - When Kelly Pavlik pulled out of his fight with Paul Williams, many were disappointed to find that the replacement was Sergio Martinez in what appeared to be destined to be a strategic battle of southpaws. Instead, the two went at it in an all out war. Both men were knocked down in the first round, and while Williams kept up his usual absurd workrate, Martinez was able to keep peppering him with clean punches, cutting Williams and constantly landing the hard right hook. In the end, Williams was able to come away with a controversial victory.

Jean Pascal UD12 Adrian Diaconu - In a rematch of one of the better fights of the year, Diaconu was able to keep things fairly close for about half the fight before Pascal pulled away. Pascal displayed tremendous grit, with his shoulder dislocating four times through the fight, and Diaconu doing a better job of actually getting inside and landing effective punches on Pascal. Still, the result was the same, with Pascal winning a wider decision even though it was apparently a closer fight.

Juergen Braehmer UD12 Dmitry Sukhotsky - The German slugger Braehmer faced the green Russian Sukhotsky in a fight where both men completely forgot about defense for periods of time, turning things into somewhat of a slugfest. Braehmer had the fight well in hand when Sukhotsky opened up a massive gash on Braehmer and knocked him down late in the fight. For the last few rounds, it turned into an all-out brawl, with Braehmer not knowing how to defend his face other than by throwing punches, and Sukhotsky laying everything he had on a tired and cut Braehmer for the last few rounds when he clearly needed a knockout or a stoppage. With a somewhat controversial break for the doctor to check Braehmer's cut, Braehmer was able to find enough in his reserves to stay standing and win the fight.

Kelly Pavlik TKO5 Miguel Espino - While it wasn't a particularly close fight, both Pavlik and Espino did their best to make it an exciting fight, with Espino pressing the action and Pavlik pressuring right back, leading to the inevitable conclusion of the bigger and stronger Pavlik knocking out Espino.

Others for consideration: Johnriel Casimero TKO11 Cesar Canchila; Fernando Guerrero TKO4 Jessie Nicklow; Nehomar Cermeno KO11 Alejandro Valdez