2013 Male Fighter Awards

Comeback Fighter of the Year: Giovani Segura

Bernard Hopkins

Hopkins, coming off a definitive loss to Chad Dawson in 2012, his most obvious defeat since Roy Jones Jr in 1993, once again found himself in the role of the underdog as he took his first fight in 2013. The opponent was Tavoris Cloud, the unbeaten IBF light heavyweight champion. Hopkins was a +160 underdog but took the much younger Cloud to school and became the oldest man to win a world title, again. Hopkins then closed the year out in a punch-fest with Karo Murat. Hopkins was likely more entertaining than usual since the opponent wasn't as dangerous, but spectators are lucky to get whatever they can on that front. Just be amazed that a 49 year old man is still arguably the best light heavyweight in the world.

Felix Sturm

After being dethroned by Daniel Geale in 2012, Sturm originally lost his opening fight of 2013 (to Sam Soliman) before it was eventually overturned to a no contest. It looked like Sturm was finally done at the top of the middleweight division. But then he had an impressive showing (TKO4 victory) against unbeaten but untested Predrag Radosevic and found himself right back in title contention. Daniel Barker had recently defeated Geale and was expected to do the same against Sturm. Instead Sturm ran over Barker inside 2 rounds and became a 4 time middleweight world champion.

Giovani Segura

It had been a few years since Segura had a notable win, but one finally came against undefeated Puerto Rican prospect Jonathan Gonzalez in August. It was a thoroughly dominant performance by "El Guerrero Azteca," who followed it up with another one against former world champion Tyson Marquez. Segura was brought in to lose both fights but defied the odds, although most educated boxing fans knew "Bomba" Gonzalez was in over his head. When all was said and done Segura ended the year 3-1 with the sole (and debatable) loss to Edgar Sosa. Given his level of opposition it's easy to understand how Segura won the BLH CFOTY.

Jhonny Gonzalez

Over 60 fights into his professional career Gonzalez was considered just about done. He lost his WBC featherweight title to Daniel Ponce De Leon in 2012 and had done nothing noteworthy in 2013 for the first 8 months and 23 days. Hell, he was fortunate not to take a loss to unheralded Eusebio Osejo last February. When it was announced that he'd be taking on pound for pound budding star Abner Mares, most considered the fight a mismatch, even if they knew nothing about the Osejo debacle. Yet Gonzalez pulled off what may have been the "Upset of the Year" by taking Mares out in 1 round. It was the best single win of any fighter making a comeback in 2013.

Katsunari Takayama

Takayama went 0-2 in 2012 with a clear loss to division kingpin Nkosinathi Joyi and a debatable one to lightly regarded Mateo Handig. He came back to go 2-0 in 2013 with wins over Mario Rodriguez (the man to dethrone Joyi) and Vergilio Silvano (fringe contender on a long winning streak). All due respect to Hekkie Budler, Takayama is now the #1 strawweight in the world.

Kiko Martinez

Martinez got off to a rocky start in 2013 by being systematically broken down and stopped by Carl Frampton in 9 rounds. Martinez made it thrilling but appeared to expose his level. After losing to the likes of Rendall Munroe and Takalani Ndlovu in 2009, Martinez stepped his competition down and built up a nice winning streak until running into Frampton. Kiko hadn't beaten a top 10 super bantamweight since stopping Bernard Dunne in 1 round back in 2007. Yet, somehow, someway, Martinez ran over 2 top 10 super bantamweights (Jhonatan Romero and Jeffrey Mathebula) to close out 2013 as IBF world champion.

Robert Stieglitz

Stieglitz's long reign as irrelevant WBO super middleweight champion came to an end at the hands of Arthur Abraham in 2012. The boxing world sighed in relief as a man that made a career out of meaningless title defenses was finally out of position to do so. However, Stieglitz gave a good enough account of himself to earn a rematch. And Stieglitz simply annihilated Abraham in the rematch. Now Stieglitz is back to his meaningless title defenses...

Tony Thompson

Remember when David Price was "The Next Big Thing?" Don't tell me you missed that BoxNation documentary? Price was such a big deal he was actually favored to beat Thompson both fights. Instead "The Tiger" stopped him twice and re-established himself among the best heavyweights in the world. The CFOTY award was in the bag until he lost his last fight of 2013 against Kubrat Pulev, the #2 heavyweight in the world after Wladimir Klitschko.

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Breakout Fighter of the Year: Adonis Stevenson

Adonis Stevenson

Going into 2013 Adonis Stevenson was severely lacking in the resume department and had even been knocked out by one of the better fighters he faced (Darnell Boone). Then he moved from super middleweight to light heavyweight and his career changed drastically. He impressively stopped all 4 of his 2013 opponents. First he avenged his loss to Boone, then he dethroned division kingpin Chad Dawson, and then he defended his titles against Tavoris Cloud and Tony Bellew. Stevenson went from defeating 0 top 10 fighters from 2006-2012 to smashing 3 in a row in 2013. It was clearly a breakout year, and probably the best among a multitude of great breakouts. Thus Stevenson won the BLH BFOTY.

Juan Francisco Estrada

Up until his 2012 "Fight of the Year" candidate against Roman Gonzalez, Estrada was largely unknown. But because he came up a little short in that fight (against the #1 guy at junior flyweight), he was also expected to lose to Brian Viloria in 2013 (the #1 guy at flyweight). However, Estrada had other plans. Despite the official split decision verdict, he resoundingly beat the pants off Viloria in fan friendly fashion. He went from unranked to the #1 flyweight in the world and stayed there with a solid title defense against previously unbeaten Milan Melindo.

Keith Thurman

Going into 2013 Thurman had merely established himself against faded former champions. The general public was still unsure how he'd handle adversity from fighters that could actually pull the trigger. The doubts erased once he ate bombs from Diego Gabriel Chaves and Jesus Soto Karass before rebounding to knock them out. Now some consider Thurman to be Floyd Mayweather's biggest threat at welterweight within the Golden Boy stable (ie among realistic potential Mayweather opponents).

Ruslan Provodnikov

Provodnikov merely batted .500 in 2013 yet simultaneously managed to jump from ESPN level to someone in the running for Manny Pacquiao's next PPV opponent. Oh yea, he also won the WBO light welterweight title. Provodnikov narrowly lost a leading "Fight of the Year" candidate against Timothy Bradley in March before persuading Mike Alvarado to retire on his stool in October. He's now considered among the 3 best junior welterweights in the world next to Danny Garcia and Lucas Matthysse.

Sergey Kovalev

Kovalev started the year as an NBCSN level talent and finished it as HBO's latest shining star. It wasn't all that surprising that Kovalev won any of the fights he took in 2013, but the way he won them was astounding. Gabriel Campillo, Cornelius White, Nathan Cleverly, and Ismayl Sillah never had a prayer and none made it outside of round 4. And the only reason Cleverly saw round 4 is because Terry O'Connor carried him out of round 3. Kovalev didn't win the BLH BFOTY, but he'd likely be favored to beat the man that did if the 2 world champions should ever collide. HBO very much wants Stevenson-Kovalev to happen but Stevenson recently signed with Al Haymon and has been dismissive of Kovalev as an opponent for quite a while...

Shawn Porter

Following a draw with Julio Diaz in 2012, Porter's career was in need of some rehab. Year after year Porter's stock as a hot prospect never seemed to go up, kind of like Gary Russell Jr, although Porter actually stepped up his opposition along the way. Porter never lost a fight, or robbed anyone, but his performances often left a lot to be desired. That changed in 2013. He decisively outpointed Phil Lo Greco, Julio Diaz (rematch), and reigning IBF welterweight champion Devon Alexander. All of a sudden Porter has put himself into position to face anyone at welterweight.

Simpiwe Vetyeka

Then along came "V12," potentially boxing's next "Cinderella Man." After dropping an 8 round decision to journeyman Klaas Mboyane in 2012, Vetyeka went on to produce 2 of the biggest upsets in 2013. First the South African traveled to Indonesia to stop Daud Yordan in 12 rounds, picking up the IBO featherweight title, and then he traveled to Australia to unify with Super WBA champion Chris John, stopping him in 6 rounds. History probably won't remember Yordan much but John will be up for the IBHOF someday. Had the order of the fights been reversed, Vetyeka beating John would have indisputably been the "Upset of the Year." Now V12 is lined up to fight Nonito Donaire in 2014. As Chris John nipped at the heels of Rocky Marciano's unbeaten streak, Vetyeka's upset streak knocks on the door of Jimmy Braddock.

Takashi Miura

Miura started the year unranked having only won at the domestic Japanese level (which isn't the greatest at 130 lbs). Then he went 3-0 against Mexico's finest, all top 10 world rated fighters, and arguably became the 2nd best fighter in his weight class. The victims were Gamaliel Diaz, Sergio Thompson, and Dante Jardon. Diaz and Jardon were utterly destroyed. Thompson offered enough resistance to produce a "Fight of the Year" candidate. Now there's talk of Miura fighting Abner Mares in 2014. Poor Mares.

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Fighter of the Year: Floyd Mayweather Jr

[Related: Floyd Mayweather and the 10 greatest unbeaten fighters of all time]

Akira Yaegashi

Yaegashi moved up 2 divisions to flyweight and posted 4 wins for the year, 2 of which came against notable opposition. First he tuned up against journeyman Saenmuangloei Kokietgym. Then he took the lineal crown from Toshiyuki Igarashi. Then he defended it against capable journeyman Oscar Blanquet. And then he finished the year by outboxing a true threat in Edgar Sosa. Had Sosa won that fight, he'd be the BLH FighterOTY. As he did not, Akira at least deserves honorable mention.

Danny Garcia

Danny Garcia posted 2 wins in 2013, one of which was harder than it should have been (Zab Judah), and the other of which was much easier than expected (Lucas Matthysse). The hype was extremely strong behind Matthysse but Garcia proved he was merely a man, not a machine. Garcia became the lineal champion at junior welterweight.

Floyd Mayweather Jr

And then there was "Money" Mayweather, fighting twice in a year for the first time since 2007, the last time he was "Fighter of the Year." Mayweather took home the 2 biggest paychecks of the year against Robert Guerrero and Canelo Alvarez and hardly dropped a round in the process. He now reigns as the lineal champion in the welterweight and junior middleweight divisions simultaneously. Despite making his professional debut all the way back in 1996, Mayweather is still widely considered the best fighter on the planet. Even if other fighters had more impressive years due to activity, there are levels to consider. And who would you rather see with the award on Mayweather's level?

Gennady Golovkin

GGG had a good year and made his case as the best middleweight on the planet. He fought 4 times and predictably stopped each opponent. His wins over Nobuhiro Ishida and Matthew Macklin were candidates for "Knockout of the Year." His wins over Gabriel Rosado and Curtis Stevens set him apart from NBCSN level talent. Apparently all of that was good enough to win "Fighter of the Year" on "The Fight Game with Jim Lampley," but only Macklin was a top 10 middleweight.

Guillermo Rigondeaux

As far as clear cut wins against top fighters go, Rigondeaux had as good a 2013 as anyone. Unfortunately the Donaire win lost some luster after Donaire went life and death with Vic Darchinyan later that year. And then the Agbeko win was just awful to watch. Rigondeaux should have taken more chances against a clueless opponent moving up in weight. Instead he did just enough to win each round. Does anyone still want to boycott HBO for not wanting to televise him?

Marcos Maidana

In 2 fights Maidana managed to win 2 "Fight of the Year" candidates (Josesito Lopez & Adrien Broner) and 1 leading candidate for "Upset of the Year" (Broner). Not bad for a guy that was arguably schooled by an ancient Erik Morales 2 years earlier...

Mikey Garcia

Garcia won his first and second world titles in 2 different weight classes and beat a total of 3 guys (Orlando Salido, Juan Manuel Lopez, and Roman Martinez). Salido was really the only interesting opponent, given the experience gap at the time, but JuanMa and Rocky were capable enough. Unfortunately the ending of the Salido fight left a bad taste in many mouths...

Timothy Bradley

And last but not least there was "The Desert Storm." The quality of Bradley's early 2013 win over Ruslan Provodnikov would not be fully appreciated until later that year, but his upset of future IBHOFer Juan Manuel Marquez was received immediately. Purely based on the level of his opposition Bradley clearly had the best resume in 2013. However, with a different set of judges, Bradley also could have gone 0-2 in 2013. Keeping that in mind, he came up a tad short of winning the BLH FighterOTY.

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Event of the Year: Mayweather vs Canelo

2013-09-14 Floyd Mayweather Jr vs Saul Alvarez

Mayweather-Canelo, billed as "The One," set a new PPV revenue record ($150 million), a new gate revenue record ($20 million), and a new Mexican TV audience record for boxing (22.1 million). It also set a Las Vegas closed-circuit gate record ($2.6 million). Financially its only competition in the history of boxing is 2007's De La Hoya-Mayweather. There are no runner-ups in 2013. It was THE "Event of the Year."

Unfortunately the main event wasn't all that compelling to watch. But Danny Garcia vs Lucas Matthysse in the co-feature somewhat made up for that. A fight of that magnitude wouldn't belong, or be affordable, on any other undercard in 2013.

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Fight of the Year: Porpramook vs Eto

Click the listed bouts below to bring up descriptions. Starred fights are the major candidates. Porpramook-Eto edged out Bradley-Provodnikov as the FOTY primarily due to lulls in action in rounds 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, and 10. Rounds 1, 2, 6, 9, 11, and 12 were extraordinary, but were ultimately only half of the fight. On the other hand, every round of Porpramook-Eto was amazing (2 of which were epic). Marquez-Segura was similarly action packed, but the best rounds don't compete with any of the top FOTY candidates.

2013-02-02 Eduard Gutknecht vs Juergen Braehmer
2013-02-02 Robert Woge vs Hakim Zoulikha
2013-02-09 Alexander Miskirtchian vs Andreas Evensen
2013-02-09 Carl Frampton vs Kiko Martinez
2013-02-23 Jhonny Gonzalez vs Eusebio Osejo
2013-02-25 Shoji Kawase vs Shuhei Tsuchiya
2013-03-01 Billy Dib vs Evgeny Gradovich I
2013-03-02 Donnie Nietes vs Moises Fuentes
2013-03-02 Paulus Ambunda vs Pungluang Sor Singyu
*2013-03-16 Timothy Bradley vs Ruslan Provodnikov
*2013-03-30 Brandon Rios vs Mike Alvarado II
2013-03-30 Mario Rodriguez vs Katsunari Takayama
2013-04-06 Brian Viloria vs Juan Francisco Estrada
2013-04-06 Wilfredo Vazquez Jr vs Yasutaka Ishimoto
2013-04-21 Min-Wook Kim vs Shinya Iwabuchi
2013-05-06 Liborio Solis vs Kohei Kono
2013-05-11 Jamie McDonnell vs Julio Ceja
2013-05-17 Denis Lebedev vs Guillermo Jones
2013-05-17 Teerachai Kratingdaenggym vs Behzod Nabiev
2013-05-25 Carl Froch vs Mikkel Kessler II
2013-06-08 Erislandy Lara vs Alfredo Angulo
2013-06-08 Marcos Maidana vs Josesito Lopez
2013-06-15 Mirko Larghetti vs Vincenzo Rossitto
2013-06-21 Krzysztof Wlodarczyk vs Rakhim Chakhkiev
2013-07-13 Ilunga Makabu vs Dmytro Kucher
2013-07-20 Carlos Buitrago vs Julian Yedras
2013-07-26 Juan Carlos Burgos vs Yakubu Amidu
2013-07-27 Andre Berto vs Jesus Soto Karass
2013-07-27 Keith Thurman vs Diego Gabriel Chaves
*2013-07-27 Omar Figueroa vs Nihito Arakawa
*2013-08-01 Koki Eto vs Kompayak Porpramook
2013-08-16 Adrian Granados vs Mark Salser
2013-08-17 Daniel Geale vs Darren Barker
2013-08-17 Takashi Miura vs Sergio Thompson
2013-08-29 Waylon Law vs Brent Elliott
2013-09-21 Max Bursak vs Nick Blackwell
2013-09-28 Stephane Jamoye vs Karim Guerfi
2013-10-05 Jayson Velez vs Dat Nguyen
2013-10-19 Mike Alvarado vs Ruslan Provodnikov
*2013-11-02 Hernan Marquez vs Giovani Segura
2013-11-23 Carl Froch vs George Groves
2013-11-29 Jorge Sebastian Heiland vs Billi Facundo Godoy II
2013-11-30 Kevin Bizier vs Ionut Dan Ion
2013-12-07 Eddie Caminero vs David Estrada (Bare Knuckle Boxing)
*2013-12-07 James Kirkland vs Glen Tapia
2013-12-14 Adrien Broner vs Marcos Maidana
2013-12-14 Leonard Bundu vs Lee Purdy
2013-12-21 Stuart Hall vs Vusi Malinga
2013-12-31 Kazuto Ioka vs Felix Alvarado
2013-12-31 Takashi Uchiyama vs Daiki Kaneko

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Heavyweight Fight of the Year: Szpilka vs Mollo I

Since heavyweights can't really compete with the remaining 16 divisions in boxing anymore, but will always hold a special place in history regardless, here's the "best of the rest," so to speak:

2013-01-30 Kimbo Slice vs Shane Tilyard
2013-02-01 Artur Szpilka vs Mike Mollo I
2013-04-20 Tyson Fury vs Steve Cunningham
2013-04-27 Chris Arreola vs Bermane Stiverne
2013-06-14 Bryant Jennings vs Andrey Fedosov
2013-07-06 Tony Thompson vs David Price II
2013-08-23 Christian Hammer vs Leif Larsen
2013-11-02 Magomed Abdusalamov vs Mike Perez
2013-12-14 Brian Minto vs Shane Cameron

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Round of the Year: Kaovichit vs Tsutsumi - Round 10

[Article on complete list of candidates]

2013-03-16 Timothy Bradley vs Ruslan Provodnikov - Round 2 [HBO]

Various outlets that do awards such as these have one of the rounds of Bradley-Provodnikov as "Round of the Year," but it's usually round 12. Less popular is round 6 and even less popular is round 2. Coincidentally BLH ranks those rounds in the opposite order. Round 12, while shocking that Provodnikov nearly pulled off a come from behind knockout, lacked great action apart from the drama. On the other hand, round 6 had the best action in the fight, but only for the final 17 seconds. Conversely round 2 was crazy for a few minutes and not nearly as 1 sided for Provodnikov as Max Kellerman would have you believe. Provodnikov certainly took Bradley's punches much better than vice versa, but he was still being clipped.

2013-03-19 Denkaosan Kaovichit vs Eiji Tsutsumi - Round 10 [Thailand TV 3]

Remember those 17 seconds in round 6 of Bradley-Provodnikov where the 2 warriors just swung at each other with reckless abandon? Well, Kaovichit and Tsutsumi managed to do the same for a full minute. Bradley vs Provodnikov - Round 6 was insane. Kaovichit vs Tsutsumi - Round 10 was unbelievable. And that's the bottom line, because Stone Cold said so.

Note: "Stone Cold" Steve Austin didn't actually say so.

2013-03-30 Brandon Rios vs Mike Alvarado II - Round 2 [HBO]

After exchanging leather on relatively even terms for 2 minutes, Rios lunged forward with a jab and buckled Alvarado's knees. And then the violence really got savage. Alvarado practically begged Rios to hit him some more and returned with devastating shots of his own.

2013-06-07 Nick Brinson vs Jorge Melendez - Round 4 [Showtime]

Melendez hit the deck in the first minute but it was Brinson who wound up out on his feet in the latter stages of the round. A lot of referees would have stopped the fight and awarded the victory to Melendez.

2013-06-22 Sakio Bika vs Marco Antonio Periban - Round 12 [Showtime]

Technique went out the window during this wild slugfest. However, the fighters finished more exhausted than anything else.

2013-07-27 Omar Figueroa vs Nihito Arakawa - Round 3 [Showtime]

Watching this round alone you'd be shocked to know that most saw close to a 1 sided fight overall in favor of Figueroa. Arakawa's relentless pressure and volume gave Figueroa ALL he could handle in round 3.

2013-08-01 Kompayak Porpramook vs Koki Eto - Round 9 [Thailand TV 7]

Koki beat the living hell out of Kompayak during the first minute of the round, remained in control for the next ~30 seconds, and then took a beating of his own. The round ended with the two fighters exchanging bombs on even terms.

2013-12-07 James Kirkland vs Glen Tapia - Round 3 [HBO]

From ringside the second round of Kirkland-Tapia was the greatest thing I'd ever seen, until round 3. But as no BLH reporters were ringside for any other fights on this list, that's hardly a legitimate way to pick a winner. Based on what the round looked like on HBO, 2013 produced a few better TV rounds (barely). This one, however, probably saw more punches thrown/landed.

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Knockout of the Year: Smith KO5 Buckland

[Article on complete list of candidates]

2013-03-15 Yunieski Gonzalez KO8 Rowland Bryant [Panther Promotions]

A crushing overhand right folded Bryant's legs and sent him crashing to the canvas. Also, the ringside commentary may have been more hilarious than the knockout was great. Apparently we were watching 2 guys that would beat Bernard Hopkins.

2013-04-20 Lucas German Priori KO2 Miguel Angel Bogado [TyC]

2012 KO King Priori nearly defended his throne with an overhand right that sent Bogado dancing into a face-plant.

2013-05-18 Krzysztof Cieslak KO7 Ariel Krasnopolski [Polsat]

Cieslak nearly decapitated Krasnopolski with a left hook.

2013-07-12 Alphonso Black KO2 Artie Bembury [Telemundo]

Black spun Bembury around with a left hook and sent him through the ropes. It was comparable to Allan Green's KO of Jaidon Codrington (2005 Ring Magazine KOTY).

2013-07-20 Tadas Jonkus KO2 Manuel Grimieri De Ioanni [Cicalone Productions]

This 4 punch combination was beyond brutal. It happened so fast it was hard to tell if Grimieri De Ioanni was out after the first or last punch. Surprisingly Grimieri De Ioanni was a 6-0 prospect while Jonkus was a journeyman that lost his last 5.

2013-08-03 Curtis Stevens KO1 Saul Roman [NBCSN]

This left hook was so sweet it landed Stevens an HBO date and a career high payday against Gennady Golovkin.

2013-08-17 Stephen Smith KO5 Gary Buckland [BoxNation]

A perfectly timed uppercut by Smith sent Buckland crashing to the canvas face first like a sack of bricks. A lot of people seemed to think it was the best of the year, so BLH deferred to the masses. The race was too close to call.

2013-12-14 Darnell Wilson KO6 David Rodriguez [NBCSN, untelevised]

Usually cocking a left hook is not the best way to knock someone out. In fact, it should probably get the fighter loading up knocked out. But it got the job done for the "Ding-A-Ling Man" on this particular night in Atlantic City. Rodriguez, 36-0 with 34 KOs since 1998, was simply too spent to get out of the way or counter. The ending looked like it came out of a Rocky movie. Unfortunately it was not broadcasted live through any medium so it didn't attain the buzz it deserved...

God bless the internet.

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Upset of the Year: Gonzalez TKO1 Mares

There were a few larger upsets in terms of betting odds in 2013, most notably Guerfi-Jamoye and Leapai-Boytsov, but Johnny Gonzalez's 1 round destruction of Abner Mares was truly the most shocking. Simpiwe Vetyeka deserves a special mention for making the list twice. As for Broner-Maidana...please. So called "experts" should have known better. Bettors did. There's a reason Maidana was only +450 to win. Broner's limitations as a welterweight were already exposed by Malignaggi.

2013-01-26 Jesus Soto Karass MD10 Selcuk Aydin (+300)
%2013-02-01 Sam Soliman UD12 Felix Sturm (+500)
2013-02-22 Alejandro Perez UD10 Art Hovhannisyan (+300)
2013-02-23 Tony Thompson TKO2 David Price (+600)
2013-03-16 Doudou Ngumbu UD12 Vyacheslav Uzelkov (+300)
2013-03-23 Robert Stieglitz TKO4 Arthur Abraham (+300)
2013-03-30 Katsunari Takayama UD12 Mario Rodriguez (+300)
2013-03-30 Mike Alvarado UD12 Brandon Rios (+300)
2013-04-05 Rustam Nugaev KO8 Jonathan Maicelo (+575)
2013-04-06 Juan Francisco Estrada SD12 Brian Viloria (+300)
2013-04-06 Yasutaka Ishimoto MD10 Wilfredo Vazquez Jr (+500)
2013-04-12 Bahodir Mamadjonov TKO9 Angelo Santana (+400)
2013-04-14 Simpiwe Vetyeka TKO12 Daud Cino Yordan (+600)
2013-04-20 Omar Gonzalez SD4 Raul Martinez (N/A)
2013-04-20 Robinson Castellanos SD12 Celestino Caballero (+300)
2013-04-27 Bermane Stiverne UD12 Chris Arreola (+300)
2013-04-27 Guido Nicolas Pitto SD12 Jack Culcay (+400)
%2013-05-17 Guillermo Jones TKO11 Denis Lebedev (+400)
2013-05-31 Neil Dawson TKO2 Chris Keane (+300)
2013-06-07 Andrey Klimov MD10 John Molina (+300)
2013-06-07 Nick Brinson UD10 Jorge Melendez (+600)
2013-06-08 Adonis Stevenson TKO1 Chad Dawson (+160)
2013-06-21 Krzysztof Wlodarczyk TKO8 Rakhim Chakhkiev (+300)
2013-07-13 Rafael Chiruta TKO2 Ruben Varon (N/A)
2013-08-03 Thabiso Mchunu UD10 Eddie Chambers (+300)
2013-08-24 Jhonny Gonzalez TKO1 Abner Mares (+700)
2013-09-28 Karim Guerfi MD12 Stephane Jamoye (+1100)
2013-10-12 Vivian Harris SD10 Danny O'Connor (N/A)
2013-10-26 Anatoliy Dudchenko UD12 Robert Woge (+750)
2013-11-23 Alex Leapai UD10 Denis Boytsov (+900)
2013-11-23 Dmitry Sukhotsky RTD4/TKO5 Eduard Gutknecht (+300)
2013-11-29 Jorge Sebastian Heiland KO12 Billi Facundo Godoy (+400)
2013-11-30 Javier Prieto UD12 Vicente Mosquera (+700)
2013-11-30 Johan Perez MD12 Paul Spadafora (N/A)
2013-12-04 Dashon Johnson UD6 Craig McEwan (N/A)
2013-12-06 Simpiwe Vetyeka RTD6 Chris John (+350)
2013-12-07 Shawn Porter UD12 Devon Alexander (+400)
2013-12-07 Stephen Ormond UD10 Derry Mathews (+300)
2013-12-14 Marcos Maidana UD12 Adrien Broner (+450)
2013-12-21 Dave Ryan PTS8 Paul McCloskey (+550)

Betting odds courtesy of @Fight_Ghost

%Soliman-Sturm and Jones-Lebedev were overturned by the BDB (commission) and WBA (sanctioning body) respectively. Soliman's win was changed to a no contest while his #1 IBF ranking remained intact. On the other hand, Jones kept his win but lost his world title.

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Robbery of the Year: Burns D10 Beltran

Starred fights are major candidates. In the opinion of this writer Barthelemy-Usmanee and Chavez-Vera were not major robberies, but the general public thought otherwise, thus they are starred. Depending on who you talk to, those robberies were reasonable. On the other hand the other starred fights were ridiculous no matter how anyone looks at them, and not always because of the judging. Williams-Botha was a special kind of corrupt but in the end the spoils went to Burns-Beltran due to the prize that was denied to the rightful victor. Ray Beltran's dreams of becoming world champion have yet to materialize and it's a crying shame. He didn't just outpoint Ricky Burns; he beat the hell out of him. No one can claim otherwise. Well, they could, but they'd just be full of it...

*2013-01-04 Rances Barthelemy UD12 Arash Usmanee
2013-01-19 Rocky Martinez D12 Juan Carlos Burgos
*2013-02-08 Sonny Bill Williams UD10 Frans Botha
2013-02-23 Vyacheslav Glazkov D10 Malik Scott
2013-03-08 Andrey Klimov TD7 Matias Ezequiel Gomez
2013-04-06 Rocky Martinez SD12 Diego Magdaleno
2013-04-27 Sergio Martinez UD12 Martin Murray
2013-05-04 J'Leon Love ND10 Gabriel Rosado
2013-05-16 Will Tomlinson UD12 Malcolm Klassen
*2013-06-08 Christopher Rebrasse D12 Mouhamed Ali Ndiaye
2013-07-20 Dereck Chisora KO6 Malik Scott
2013-08-23 Argenis Mendez D12 Arash Usmanee
2013-08-24 Arthur Abraham UD12 Willbeforce Shihepo
2013-09-03 Denkaosan Kaovichit SD12 Nobuo Nashiro
*2013-09-07 Ricky Burns D12 Raymundo Beltran
2013-09-12 Badou Jack D10 Marco Antonio Periban
2013-09-14 Arturs Kulikauskis UD10 Youri Kayembre Kalenga
*2013-09-28 Julio Cesar Chavez Jr UD10 Bryan Vera
2013-10-12 Vivian Harris SD10 Danny O'Connor
2013-11-23 Carl Froch TKO9 George Groves
2013-11-24 Pacquiao-Rios PPV (purchasing it)
2013-12-14 Ricardo Alvarez MD10 Rod Salka
2013-12-21 Tyler Asselstine TUD6 Luis Montano

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Worst Scorecard of the Year: Bonanni 115 - Angulo 113

Among casual fans the 114-114 scorecard for Mayweather-Canelo by CJ Ross was a shoo-in for this award. But several scorecards in 2013 were certainly on that level, with 115-113 for Bonanni over Angulo at the top of the list. BLH had the fight 119-106 for Angulo. Shame on judge Carlos Villegas and may he never be allowed to judge again. Below you'll find other judges that should also be reprimanded. Robert Hoyle was so nice he made the list twice. He should join CJ Ross on an indefinite leave of absence.

2013-01-04 Rances Barthelemy 116 - Arash Usmanee 112 by Richard Green & Valerie Dorsett
2013-01-18 Juan Manuel Bonanni 115 - Fernando Angulo 113 by Carlos Villegas
2013-01-19 Roman Martinez 116 - Juan Carlos Burgos 112 by Tony Paolillo
2013-01-25 Yesica Marcos 96 - Marcela Acuna 94 by Hugo De Leon
2013-01-26 Danny O'Connor 95 - Derek Silveira 95 by Ken Volovick
2013-02-02 Robert Woge 99 - Hakim Zoulikha 91 by Matteo Montella
2013-03-01 Evgeny Gradovich 112 - Billy Dib 114 by Don Ackerman
2013-04-06 Juan Francisco Estrada 113 - Brian Viloria 115 by Levi Martinez
2013-04-07 Denver Cuello 95 - Takashi Kunishige 95 by Unknown
2013-04-20 Austin Trout 109 - Saul Alvarez 118 by Stanley Christodoulou
2013-05-04 J'Leon Love 97 - Gabriel Rosado 92 by Herb Santos
2013-05-16 Will Tomlinson 118 - Malcolm Klassen 109 by Robert Hoyle & Garry Dean
2013-05-24 Delvin Rodriguez 78 - Freddy Hernandez 74 by Kevin Morgan
2013-06-08 Mouhamed Ali Ndiaye 115 - Christopher Rebrasse 114 by Francisco Vazquez Marcos
2013-08-16 Gabriel Campillo 75 - Andrzej Fonfara 77 by Harry Davis
2013-08-23 Argenis Mendez 113 - Arash Usmanee 115 by Don Ackerman
2013-08-24 Arthur Abraham 117 - Willbeforce Shihepo 111 by Mickey Vann
2013-09-03 Denkaosan Kaovichit 116 - Nobuo Nashiro 113.5 by Alexs Marin
2013-09-07 Ricky Burns 115 - Raymundo Beltran 112 by Carlos Ortiz Jr
2013-09-14 Arturs Kulikauskis 100 - Youri Kayembre Kalenga 93 by Deniss Sirjatovs
2013-09-14 Foyd Mayweather Jr 114 - Saul Alvarez 114 by C.J. Ross
2013-09-28 Julio Cesar Chavez Jr 98 - Bryan Vera 92 by Gwen Adair
2013-10-12 Vivian Harris 99 - Danny O'Connor 91 by Alan Rubenstein
2013-10-26 Brian Rose 117 - Javier Francisco Maciel 111 by Fernando Laguna
2013-10-26 Peter Quillin 90 - Gabriel Rosado 80 by Kason Cheeks
2013-11-09 Demetrius Andrade 112 - Vanes Martirosyan 115 by Javier Alvarez
2013-12-03 Liborio Solis 113 - Daiki Kameda 115 by Robert Hoyle
2013-12-14 Ricardo Alvarez 98 - Rod Salka 92 by Oren Shellenberger

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Worst Fight of the Year: Klitschko vs Povetkin

Referee Luis Pabon didn't deduct a point from Wladimir Klitschko until round 11. Wlad should have been severely warned for clinching, leaning, or pushing as early as round 1 and docked a point for it by round 2. If that happened then maybe, just maybe, he would have been fearful of being disqualified and would not have proceeded to produce the worst fight of the year. Ironically (and karmically) Pabon's incompetence previously benefitted Povetkin the last time the two "worked together" (Povetkin vs Huck).

2013-06-22 Johnathon Banks vs Seth Mitchell II

2013-10-05 Wladimir Klitschko vs Alexander Povetkin

2013-12-07 Guillermo Rigondeaux vs Joseph Agbeko

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Fix of the Year: Pantelic KO1 Gutierrez

2013-02-09 Ray Edwards KO1 Nick Capes

The lack of effort from Capes to make his dive look real disqualified him from winning the BLH "Fix of the Year" award.

2013-11-01 Milos Pantelic KO1 Heriberto Gutierrez

And the best acting award goes to Heriberto Gutierrez. Someone give the man an Oscar, seriously. He had the Promo Vision commentary team totally convinced. His flopping around the ring was truly hilarious.

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Rookie of the Year: Vasyl Lomachenko

The BLH RookieOTY award is intended to go to the fighter with the best debut year, regardless of progression or prior amateur experience.

Anthony Joshua (3-0, 3 KOs)

Joshua, the 2012 super heavyweight Olympic Gold Medalist, made his debut against an 8-0 fighter but lacked noteworthy opposition apart from that.

Egor Mekhontsev (1-0, 1 KO)

The 2012 light heavyweight Olympic Gold Medalist may have the least impressive rookie resume on this list, but he was the only fighter BLH covered from ringside...

Hughie Fury (12-0, 7 KOs)

Fury, the 2012 super heavyweight AIBA Youth World Championships Gold Medalist, had a very active debut year against respectable opponents for an 18/19 year old.

Ievgen Khytrov (1-0, 1 KO)

Middleweight Khytrov didn't win a medal at the 2012 Olympics, as he was robbed by Anthony Ogogo, but he was the reigning world middleweight champion and #1 seed going in. His one pro fight in 2013 wasn't against anyone noteworthy but Khytrov shined nonetheless.

Luke Campbell (4-0, 3 KOs)

2012 bantamweight Olympic Gold Medalist

Oleksandr Usyk (2-0, 2 KOs)

The 2012 heavyweight Olympic Gold Medalist made his debut against a former Mexican cruiserweight and heavyweight champion Felipe Romero then ran over international journeyman Epifanio Mendoza. Mendoza upset 13-0 Olympian Carlos Negron 2 years earlier.

Ryota Murata (2-0, 2 KOs)

2012 middleweight Olympic Gold Medalist Murata had 2 strong wins over OPBF middleweight champ Akio Shibata and a game 13-1 Dave Peterson.

Vasyl Lomachenko (1-0, 1 KO)

2008 featherweight Olympic Gold Medalist and 2012 lightweight Olympic Gold Medalist Lomachenko took out Jose Ramirez in 4 rounds and captured the WBO International featherweight title. Ramirez was coming off an impressive upset of Rey Bautista. Lomachenko moves from this win immediately to a world title shot against Orlando Salido.

Zou Shiming (3-0, 0 KOs)

Zou was a 2004 light flyweight Olympic Bronze Medalist, 2008 light flyweight Olympic Gold Medalist, and a 2012 light flyweight Olympic Gold Medalist. He's now a cash cow that fights in Macau.

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Advanced Prospect of the Year: Jermell Charlo

Most of these "prospects" essentially became contenders given the lack of depth in their divisions. Then there's Gary Russell Jr, who simply happens to be extremely talented. Everyone mentioned could receive a world title shot any day now.

Brian Rose

Had Rose not been very fortunate to be awarded the decision against Javier Francisco Maciel, he might have won the BLH AP award. His chances of dethroning reigning WBO light middleweight champion Demetrius Andrade are not considered very good...

Bryant Jennings

Jennings only had 1 fight in 2013 as he went through promoter and management changes, but it was an entertaining one. Andrey Fedosov put up a good fight.

Deontay Wilder

Wilder improved to 30-0 with 30 KOs and notched wins over a former Olympic Gold Medalist, a former world champion, and a tough man (sadly the gamest opponent of the lot).

Eleider Alvarez

Alvarez won a pair of national titles (NABA & NABO) and grabbed the torch from former Colombian star Edison Miranda. Then again, I suppose the 37 year old Alejandro Berrio is in the mix again...

Gary Russell Jr

Russell got a career defining win against the great Vyacheslav Gusev. The Hall of Fame beckons...

Jermall Charlo

Charlo went 7-0 for the year, most notably stopping Antwone Smith in 2 rounds. An IBF light middleweight title shot against Carlos Molina looms.

Jermell Charlo

The further advanced (resume wise) Charlo went 3-0 for 2013 against respectable opponents Jose Angel Rodriguez, Harry Joe Yorgey, and especially Demetrius Hopkins.

Mike Perez

Perez showed sublime skill (for a heavyweight) and grinded out two 10-round unanimous decisions against Travis Walker and Magomed Abdusalamov. More on Mago later...

Naoya Inoue

Inoue's career record merely stood at 5-0, 4 KOs, but the kid is the real deal. If he beats Adrian Hernandez for the WBC light flyweight title in 2014, it honestly would not be surprising.

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Newly Tested Prospect of the Year: Julian Williams

This is the true prospect award as these guys are not yet on the verge of world title shots yet they've actually been tested against meaningful opposition.

Andy Ruiz Jr

Ruiz went 4-0 in 2013 and progressed with each fight. He stopped Matthew Greer, then Carl Davis, then Joe Hanks, and then Tor Hamer. Ruiz-Hanks was a battle of unbeaten prospects and Ruiz-Hamer was a battle of will vs skill. Hamer was severely lacking in the will department. Ruiz picked up the NABF heavyweight title.

Billy Joe Saunders

Saunders defended his British and Commonwealth middleweight titles 3 times against the likes of Matthew Hall, Gary O'Sullivan (16-0), and John Ryder (15-0). The Ryder fight could have gone either way but you have to admire the risks Saunders took.

Callum Smith

Smith went 7-0 in 2013, most notably demolishing Patrick Mendy in 1 round for the vacant BBBofC English super middleweight title. Mendy is a former Prizefighter champion that gave the likes of Bradley Pryce, Patrick Nielsen, and Dmitry Chudinov difficult fights (scheduled between 8-12 rounds).

Eddie Gomez

Gomez advanced to 15-0 with a dominant 4th round TKO of Steve Upsher Chambers.

Jessie Magdaleno

Take what was written for Gomez and replace Steve Upsher Chambers with Henry Maldonado. Magdaleno additionally notched 2 more wins later that year but against a lower level of opposition.

Jose Pedraza

Pedraza outpointed Gabriel Tolmajyan and lifted the vacant USBA super featherweight title.

Julian Williams

Williams should have gone 5-0 in 2013 but was forced to settle for 4-0, 1 NC. First Williams stopped unbeaten prospect Jeremiah Wiggins, then he stopped durable journeyman Dashon Johnson, outpointed former world champion Joachim Alcine, dominated unbeaten and well-regarded prospect Hugo Centeno Jr, and finished the year off by stopping former fringe contender Orlando Lora. Unfortunately the Centeno fight was officially declared a no contest, but "J Rock" had a banner year nonetheless.

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Green Prospect of the Year: Jesse Hart

These are the prospects that have received acclaim without actually fighting someone significant in 2013. Some seem destined for very big things but still have a long way to go. At this stage of the game picking "the best" is purely subjective. BLH went with the guy that demolished all of his victims in 3 rounds or less.

Antoine Douglas
Antonio Orozco
Dusty Hernandez Harrison
Errol Spence
Felix Verdejo
Francisco Vargas
Ivan Redkach
Jesse Hart
Jose Carlos Ramirez
Joseph Diaz
Kamil Laszczyk
Marcus Browne
Oscar Molina
Oscar Valdez

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Derailed Fighter of the Year: Chris John

Abner Mares

Mares went from being lauded as the 2nd best fighter in the world to not seeing round 2 against a faded Jhonny Gonzalez. However, his chances of coming back strong are still quite good, provided he avoids the likes of a Takashi Miura...

Adrien Broner

There's a reason a lot of people consider Maidana's pasting of Broner to be the upset of the year. Had BLH believed the hype, Broner may have won this award.

Chad Dawson

Chad Dawson was stopped by Adonis Stevenson in 76 seconds on June 8th and has been MIA ever since. Apparently he's trying to get with a new promoter. But that's been the story for quite a while now...

Chris John

John made it all the way to 48-0-3 before he tasted his first defeat. His status in the sport had become quite legendary. He was boxing's longest reigning world champion and he holds a win over a prime Juan Manuel Marquez. Yet after taking a beating for 6 rounds at the hands of Simpiwe Vetyeka, he called it quits on the fight and his entire career. It was a sad end for a fighter that people will potentially vote into the IBHOF someday.

Darren Barker

In August Barker accomplished his childhood dreams and bested Daniel Geale to become world champion. Four months later he was retired by Felix Sturm (due to injury). Such is boxing...

David Price

The Price was wrong. David was not "the next big thing."

Denis Boytsov

Once a highly regarded heavyweight prospect, Boytsov's career never seemed to pick up steam. For one reason or another, he was as protected as Gary Russell Jr is now. Leapai was merely a small step up in class, after a 9 year pro career no less, but it proved to be too much. Boytsov is now an afterthought in a shallow division.

Josesito Lopez

Lopez's loss to Maidana wasn't so bad. It's his win over Mike Arnaoutis that looks terrible.

Juan Carlos Salgado

Salgado went from #2 super featherweight in the world and IBF world champion to an unranked lightweight that may want to consider retirement.

Nonito Donaire

Donaire went from 2012 "Fighter of the Year" and heir to Manny Pacquiao to 2013 "Ruined by Rigo." After the Rigondeaux debacle Donaire barely pulled out a come-from-behind stoppage win over an old Vic Darchinyan, someone he easily dominated years earlier.

Paul Spadafora

Going into 2013 Spadafora had 2 things going for his legacy: his unbeaten record and his sparring session with Floyd Mayweather. Now 48-1-1, Spadafora merely has the sparring session. The highlight of Spadafora's career is giving an out of shape Mayweather fits while Paul was in training camp for a world title fight. The highlight should be winning the IBF lightweight title, but that was a charity case against Israel Cardona.

Yota Sato

Going into 2013 people had the audacity to suggest Sato topped Omar Narvaez as the best junior bantamweight in the world. At the very least he was the near future of the division. Midway through the year he was retired by Srisaket Sor Rungvisai (simply due to losing his WBC super flyweight title). Such is boxing in Japan...

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Trainer of the Year: Robert Garcia

Garcia's fighters overall did so well in 2013 that it easily made up for the setbacks in the careers of Brandon Rios and Nonito Donaire. You can read about Marcos Maidana and Mikey Garcia in the "Fighter of the Year" section. Evgeny Gradovich went from 15-0 prospect to IBF featherweight champion and one of the most intimidating fighters at 126 lbs.

Abel Sanchez

Notable Stable: Gennady Golovkin, Ola Afolabi, Mike Perez

Angel Garcia

Notable Stable: Danny Garcia

Ann Wolfe

Notable Stable: James Kirkland

Floyd Mayweather Sr

Notable Stable: Floyd Mayweather Jr

Freddie Roach

Notable Stable: Manny Pacquiao, Ruslan Provodnikov, Miguel Cotto

Javan "Sugar" Hill

Notable Stable: Adonis Stevenson, Cornelius Bundrage, Anthony Dirrell, Domonique Dolton

Joel Diaz

Notable Stable: Timothy Bradley, Omar Figueroa, Diego and Jessie Magdaleno, Julio Diaz, Diego De La Hoya, Joel Diaz Jr

Robert Garcia

Notable Stable: Mikey Garcia, Marcos Maidana, Evgeny Gradovich, Nonito Donaire, Brandon Rios

Ronnie Shields

Notable Stable: Erislandy Lara, Bryan Vera, Jermell and Jermall Charlo, Edwin Rodríguez

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Network of the Year: Showtime

Fight Network

For Canadian boxing fans Fight Network is a must. They broadcast most of the marquee national shows and have every (English language) Golden Boy and Hennessy Sports card. Not even Showtime gets every GBP card (there's also Fox Sports 1). FN also picked up excellent fights such as Froch-Groves and Miura-Thompson, among others.

HBO

While Showtime had the better overall cards, HBO still had the best individual fights with Bradley-Provodnikov, Rios-Alvarado II, and Kirkland-Tapia at the top of the heap. Froch-Kessler II, Geale-Barker, and Alvarado-Provodnikov did not disappoint either. However, none of those fights happened on the same card. And that was truly the big difference between HBO and Showtime in 2013. Showtime paired great fights together and HBO did not. For other things that HBO did great, and not so great, click the HBO link above.

Showtime

Showtime arguably had the 2 best fight cards of the entire year. There was the obvious "Card of the Year" on July 27th with Berto-Soto Karass, Thurman-Chaves, and Figueroa-Arakawa. And then there was the tremendous runner-up on June 8th with Maidana-Lopez and Lara-Angulo. And then of course there's the fact that Showtime took Floyd Mayweather and the entire Golden Boy stable away from HBO. You can read Scott Christ's input on all of that and more if you click the Showtime link above.

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Promoter of the Year: Golden Boy

Banner

Banner didn't have the TV network muscle of the other listed promoters but they definitely had the talent. Ruslan Provodnikov and Demetrius Andrade became world champions. Bryan Vera and Juan Carlos Burgos got robbed in big fights (which they would later financially benefit from). And Banner picked up 2012 Olympian Taras Shelestyuk, among other prospects.

Golden Boy

Thanks to the "Cold War," the success of networks and promoters go hand in hand stateside. Showtime was the dominant network of the year and GBP was the promotional company responsible for supplying them with fighters. GBP additionally made strides with their "Golden Boy Live" platforms on Fox Sports. Those shows usually aren't the best cards, but at least it allows young talent to get national exposure (and not always on weekends when there are more entertainment choices).

Main Events

Main Events continued to make good use of their NBCSN platform and catapulted a few of their stars to HBO (most successfully Sergey Kovalev).

Matchroom

Matchroom is to Sky Sports as Golden Boy is to Showtime.

Top Rank

In the event that Top Rank ever does produce a dynamite undercard, fortunately fans can always catch it on TopRank.TV. Unfortunately TR doesn't seem to be in the rush to make one happen, even if they're making major strides for boxing by putting on shows in China. Nonetheless, they still supply HBO with great main events.

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Tragedy of the Year: Frankie Leal's death

Frankie Leal

Leal, advised not to fight following his knockout loss to Evgeny Gradovich in 2012, came back less than a year later and participated in 5 more fights. If you play Russian Roulette long enough eventually the 1 bullet in the chamber is going to fire. Leal's bullet fired Oct. 19 against Raul Hirales. Leal knew the risks and was willing to take them. That's on him. But so did the Mexican athletic commissions that continued to sanction his fights. And that's another black eye for the sport.

Jose Carmona

Carmona required 2 brain surgeries following a knockout loss to Jorge Arce. Ironically Arce retired another fighter in the process of coming out of his own retirement. Fortunately it appears Carmona will recover well enough to lead some version of a normal life.

Magomed Abdusalamov

Abdusalamov nearly died and may never truly live again. Abdusalamov's family has since filed a $100 million lawsuit against the NYSAC for negligence in the care of Magomed after the Mike Perez fight.

Shane Mosley

Mosley's physical well-being may be limited to aches, pains, and slurred speech, but his legacy was shamefully tarnished when Anthony Mundine stopped him in 7 rounds. Shane Mosley is the 3rd greatest Sugar of all time after Ray Robinson and Ray Leonard. All 3 Sugars fought long past their primes and all 3 of them were stopped once.

In Robinson's case it came against reigning light heavyweight champion and IBHOFer Joey Maxim. And that only happened because Robinson exhausted himself fighting in 100+ degree Fahrenheit heat. As for Leonard, he came out of a 6 year retirement and fought future IBHOFer Hector Camacho Sr. Leonard simply got his ass whipped, but at least it came against a Hall of Famer.

And then Mosley's demise came at the hands of Anthony "The Man" Mundine. Anthony. Mundine.

Mosley has fought the likes of Oscar De La Hoya, Vernon Forrest, Winky Wright, Fernando Vargas, Miguel Cotto, Antonio Margarito, Floyd Mayweather Jr, and Manny Pacquiao. None stopped him. Yet Mundine succeeded where they failed?

Sugar Shane deserved better.

Tesshin Okada

Okada died following his pro debut. That's just plain unlucky.

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Quitter of the Year: Nate Campbell

And finally we'll end this marathon of information by deconstructing #QuitCounter2013. Originally this was planned to have its own article but time became an issue. Perhaps I should have mentioned this earlier, but, this is probably the last occasion I'm ever going to write for BLH. I'm even considering retiring from writing altogether. I just don't have the time anymore. A synopsis of my final thoughts follows.

Quitting is OK. Fighters do it all the time at every level of the sport. It does not make a fighter a "coward." It does not make him/her "less of a man/woman." It merely means they thought victory was out of reach. Quitting was the only logical thing for them to do.

Unfortunately boxing is an illogical sport. Fans have unrealistic expectations. While they're upset and want to point fingers when fighters die in the ring, fans will point the same fingers at fighters if they pull the plugs on themselves first. How much more of a beating did guys like Serhiy Dzinziruk, Arthur Abraham, Alfredo Angulo, David Price, Mike Alvarado, and Chris John need to take before it was OK to opt out of their fight? Can anyone guarantee that they wouldn't end up like Magomed Abdusalamov if they willed themselves to survive the distance?

No. No one can guarantee anyone's safety in this blood sport. At the end of a day a loss is a loss. If a fighter has already mentally resigned from a fight, his/her body might as well follow suit. Otherwise it stops being a sport and just becomes violence.

However, fighters must understand that they need to be tough enough to take large amounts of punishment in order to compete. It is the "hurt business" after all. So here's 4 quitters that stood out in 2013:

Jose A Gonzalez

You may recall Chelo Gonzalez from his meltdown against Ricky Burns. He probably only needed to win 1 more round to win the fight, but called it quits due to injury after 9.

Levan Jomardashvili

Jomardashvili is an amusing cruiserweight club fighter from Georgia (the country) that quit at least twice in 2013. He even does it with a smile on his face...

Nate Campbell

The former unified lightweight champion fought twice in 2013 and quit each time. The first time he cited a back injury and the second time he blamed his right hand. Basically Nate got old and said "**** it." Hopefully he calls it a career now as he just doesn't have it anymore.

Tor Hamer

Hamer lost a lot of respect in boxing when he quit after 4 rounds against Vyacheslav Glazkov in 2012. He lost just about whatever he had left when he did the same against Andy Ruiz Jr after 3 rounds in 2013. Worse yet, he arguably beat Ruiz in 2 of the 3 rounds. That led to promoter Lou DiBella firing Hamer nearly immediately on Twitter, another first for boxing.

Here's the complete list of quit jobs tracked by BLH in 2013, 209 in total:

2013-01-05 Reyes Sanchez RTD5/TKO6 Ramiro Alcaraz
2013-01-11 Brandon Holmes TKO4 Javier Esparza
2013-01-11 Kwanpichit OnesongchaiGym TKO4 Noli Morales
2013-01-12 Hector Alfredo Avila RTD6/TKO7 Emilio Ezequiel Zarate
2013-01-12 Matias Carlos Adrian Rueda RTD3/TKO4 Sergio Alejandro Blanco
2013-01-18 Brandon Riddell TKO1 Eric McNorris
2013-01-19 Khalid Yafai RTD4 Gonzalo Garcia
2013-01-19 Roberto Feliciano Bolonti RTD7/TKO8 Franco Raul Sanchez
2013-01-23 Delen Parsley RTD2 Tyrone Selders
2013-01-23 Eugene Russell KO1 Granson Clark
2013-01-25 Brian Vera TKO10 Serhiy Dzinziruk
2013-01-25 Edgar Santana TKO3 Eddie Soto
2013-01-25 Franklin Lawrence RTD2 Mark Brown
2013-01-25 Omar Douglas RTD2 David Warren Huffman
2013-01-30 Erick Martinez TKO2 Miguel Angel Garcia Nava
2013-02-01 Chonlatarn Piriyapinyo RTD4 Arief Blader
2013-02-02 Javier Mercado RTD3/TKO4 Jesus Vazquez
2013-02-08 Kevin Bizier RTD8 Nate Campbell
2013-02-09 Carlos Gabriel Ozan KO1 Modesto Rodriguez
2013-02-09 Javier Francisco Maciel TKO5 Emilio Julio Julio
2013-02-09 Micki Nielsen KO1 Josef Krivka
2013-02-09 Saul Juarez KO10 Armando Torres
2013-02-16 Brandon Cook RTD3 Raul Saiz
2013-02-16 Demetrius Hopkins RTD6 Charles Whittaker
2013-02-16 Jamel Herring RTD3 Carlos Lopez
2013-02-16 Joel Tambwe Djeko TKO6 Bassam Belkhir
2013-02-21 Czar Amonsot RTD6 Addisu Tebebu
2013-02-21 Patrick Day RTD1 Dominique Foster
2013-02-22 Ariel Vega TKO4 Jose Rodriquez
2013-02-22 Christian Hammer RTD6 Oleksiy Mazikin
2013-02-22 Manuel Charr RTD2 Yakup Saglam
2013-02-22 Simona Galassi RTD2 Gabriella Vicze
2013-02-22 Yunier Dorticos RTD3 Willie Herring
2013-02-23 Chris Avalos RTD4 Jose Luis Araiza
2013-02-26 Petch Kokietgym RTD8 Albert Alcoy
2013-03-01 Michal Syrowatka KO2 Laszlo Robert Balogh
2013-03-02 Genesis Servania TKO7 Angky Angkotta
2013-03-08 Renato De Donato TKO6 Antonio Santoro
2013-03-09 Darren Barker RTD4 Simone Rotolo
2013-03-09 Giovanni De Carolis RTD4 Artem Solomko
2013-03-09 Jon Hill RTD1 Greg Maynard
2013-03-10 Michael McLaughlin RTD1 Jimmy LeBlanc
2013-03-15 Armando Cruz RTD2 / TKO3 Carlos Martin
2013-03-15 Gary Cornish TKO5 Humberto Evora
2013-03-15 Levan Ghvamichava RTD3 Angel Rios
2013-03-15 Sultahn Staton RTD2 Kenneth Brown
2013-03-16 Gustavo David Vittori TKO2 Diego Fernando Neira
2013-03-16 Marco Antonio Periban KO2 Samuel Miller
2013-03-16 Yesica Yolanda Bopp RTD5 Carolina Alvarez
2013-03-22 Chonlatarn Piriyapinyo TKO5 Nathan Bolcio
2013-03-22 Luciano Leonel Cuello RTD7/TKO8 Joaquim Carneiro
2013-03-22 Marc Pagcaliwangan RTD1 Jose Adan Fernandez
2013-03-22 Michael Walsh vs Krisztian Laufer
2013-03-22 Pedro Campa RTD4/TKO5 Ivan Gutierrez
2013-03-23 Robert Stieglitz TKO4 Arthur Abraham
2013-03-25 Petch Kokietgym KO8 Dondon Jimenea
2013-03-29 Josh Wale RTD9 Ashley Lane
2013-03-29 Oleydong Sithsamerchai TKO7 Richard Garcia
2013-03-29 Tony Ingelrest RTD3 Ivica Cukusic
2013-03-30 Apti Davtaev RTD2 Ivan Bogdanov
2013-03-30 Callum Smith RTD1 Iain Jackson
2013-04-06 Azea Augustama RTD2 David McNemar
2013-04-06 Mark de Mori RTD4 Jonathan Pasi
2013-04-06 Roman Skerlo TKO1 Tarik Ipek
2013-04-06 Travis Clark TKO1 Martez Williamson
2013-04-08 Shinsuke Yamanaka TKO12 Malcolm Tunacao
2013-04-09 Saiyok Poompanmuang KO2 Muhammad Sapata
2013-04-12 Mikael Zewski KO2 Daniel Sostre
2013-04-18 Teerachai Kratingdaenggym KO3 Ronnel Esparas
2013-04-19 Andy Townend RTD8 Ben Wager
2013-04-19 Konstantin Airich TKO1 Claudiu George Dinu
2013-04-19 Konstantin Airich TKO1 Wieslaw Kwasniewski
2013-04-20 Artur Szpilka RTD1 Taras Bidenko
2013-04-20 Callum Smith KO1 Ruslans Pojonisevs
2013-04-20 Luis Alejandro Tejerina TKO3 Claudio Esteban Romero
2013-04-26 Mark de Mori TKO1 Iko Dzafic
2013-04-27 Terry Flannigan RTD4 Nate Campbell
2013-05-04 Badou Jack TKO3 Michael Gbenga
2013-05-11 Ricky Burns RTD9 Jose A Gonzalez
2013-05-11 Stephen Simmons RTD3 Michael Sweeney
2013-05-15 Dmitry Kirillov RTD4 Alexander Saltykov
2013-05-15 Tor Hamer TKO3 Maurenzo Smith
2013-05-17 Andrew Gardiner RTD5 Emiliano Cayetano
2013-05-17 Dmitry Chudinov RTD3 Grady Brewer
2013-05-17 James DeGale KO2 Sebastien Demers
2013-05-17 Patomsuk Pathompothong RTD6 Jonas Segu
2013-05-17 Zach Bunce RTD3 Donald Willis
2013-05-18 Betiana Patricia Vinas KO6 Cynthia Munoz
2013-05-18 Haroon Khan TKO1 Vincente Medellin
2013-05-18 Wadi Camacho KO2 Hari Miles
2013-05-24 Jose Cayetano RTD4 Charly Valenzuela
2013-05-25 Genesis Servania KO3 Isack Junior
2013-05-25 Marcos Antonio Ahumada TKO4 Alejandro Emilio Valori
2013-05-26 Aik Shakhnazaryan RTD4 Jahongir Mamadjanov
2013-05-26 Fedor Papazov RTD6 Artem Ayvazidi
2013-05-31 Ammeth Diaz KO7 Martin Gethin
2013-06-01 Denton Daley RTD4 Faisal Ibnel Arrami
2013-06-01 Jesus Quijada TKO1 Misael Marciel Juarez
2013-06-07 Marcin Najman TKO2 Martin Pacas
2013-06-08 Erislandy Lara TKO10 Alfredo Angulo
2013-06-21 Riccardo Pintaudi vs Giuseppe Rauseo
2013-06-22 Arely Mucino KO2 Olga Julio
2013-06-26 Murat Gassiev TKO2 Levan Jomardashvili
2013-06-28 Vicente Mosquera RTD7 Cosme Rivera
2013-06-29 Ibeth Zamora Silva RTD8 Maricela Quintero
2013-07-05 Bogdan Dinu TKO1 Vladimir Toktasynov
2013-07-06 Carlos Daniel Aquino TKO3 Jose Gustavo Iturria
2013-07-06 Felix Sturm TKO4 Predrag Radosevic
2013-07-06 Tony Thompson TKO5 David Price
2013-07-12 Hughie Fury RTD5 Ivica Perkovic
2013-07-12 Rika Matsumoto TKO1 Saengrung Kwanjaisrikord
2013-07-13 Linda Laura Lecca TKO3 Lina Palmera
2013-07-13 Saul Rodriguez RTD3 Dominic Coca
2013-07-20 Israel Hector Enrique Perez RTD7 Francisco Lorenzo
2013-07-25 Ilya Prymak RTD3 Valentyn Kuts
2013-07-25 Lucas Browne RTD7 Travis Walker
2013-07-26 Bruno Escalante RTD1 Manuel Galaviz
2013-07-26 Miguel Gonzalez TKO8 Josenilson Dos Santos
2013-07-27 Apti Ustarkhanov KO7 Benson Mwakyembe
2013-07-27 Frankie Borg RTD6 Gary Cooper
2013-07-27 Movsur Yusupov RTD5 Mada Maugo
2013-07-27 Selcuk Aydin KO8 Aaron Herrera
2013-07-27 Uensal Arik TKO3 Omar Siala
2013-08-03 Adrian Estrella RTD4/KO5 Hector Javier Marquez
2013-08-03 Jairo Lopez RTD8/KO9 Marcos Villasana Jr
2013-08-03 Zulina Munoz TKO1 Maribel Ramirez
2013-08-09 Monica Silvina Acosta RTD6 Belinda Laracuente
2013-08-09 Rustam Nugaev KO5 Jose Hernandez
2013-08-09 Tabtimdaeng Na Rachawat TKO8 Nathan Bolcio
2013-08-17 Ariel Cabrera Jr RTD1 Arnaldo Decelet
2013-08-17 Hector Alfredo Avila KO3 Jose Manuel Farias
2013-08-17 Jonathan Oquendo KO4 Miguel Tamayo
2013-08-17 Julius Jackson TKO1 Julius Fogle
2013-08-17 Samuel Rogers TKO2 Eduardo Adorno
2013-08-24 Ismayl Sillakh RTD6 Konstantin Piternov
2013-08-24 Rafael Montalvo TKO5 Jose Javier Calderon
2013-08-24 Stanyslav Kashtanov KO10 Jaime Barboza
2013-08-29 Balazs Varga RTD2 Brett Peters
2013-08-31 Michal Zerominski RTD2 Mariusz Czerniewski
2013-08-31 Przemyslaw Opalach RTD2 Ionut Trandafir Ilie
2013-09-02 Raul Martinez RTD4 Daniel Quevedo
2013-09-06 Schiller Hyppolite TKO3 Jaudiel Zepeda
2013-09-07 Callum Smith TKO1 Kirill Psonko
2013-09-07 Dennis Ceylan TKO1 Tommi Schmidt
2013-09-07 Dominic Akinlade TKO1 Janis Ginters
2013-09-07 Lee Markham TKO5 Tadas Jonkus
2013-09-07 Marcelo Ruben Mendoza KO5 Omar Obdulio Gomez
2013-09-07 George Jupp TKO3 Ivans Levickis
2013-09-12 Kye MacKenzie TKO2 Dominic Shchukin
2013-09-12 Murat Gassiev RTD3 Roman Mirzoev
2013-09-13 Godson Noel TKO2 Charles Kirby
2013-09-13 Jerry Odom TKO1 Antonio Liles
2013-09-14 Vahram Vardanyan TKO3 Janis Puksins
2013-09-20 Fabrice Aurieng TKO2 Ionut Patriche
2013-09-20 Ionut Patriche TKO2 Edmond Paltatzis
2013-09-21 Erick Lopez KO1 Pablo Osuna
2013-09-21 Robinson Castellanos KO6 Derrick Wilson
2013-09-27 Abner Lopez RTD5 Adrian Rodriguez Garza
2013-09-27 Ali Raymi KO1 Luke Hasan
2013-09-27 Enad Licina TKO3 Levan Jomardashvili
2013-09-27 Isidro Ranoni Prieto TKO6 Jorge Rodriguez Olivera
2013-09-27 Selcuk Aydin RTD4 DeMarcus Corley
2013-09-27 Yamil Acevedo TKO2 Darwin Turcios
2013-09-28 Adrian Estrella TKO4 Cesar Vazquez
2013-09-28 Jose Felix Jr KO1 Joseph Laryea
2013-10-03 Ilya Prymak RTD2 Beka Sutidze
2013-10-05 Ramon Garcia Hirales RTD2/TKO3 Jose Antonio Jimenez
2013-10-05 Ricardo Alvarez RTD4/TKO5 Humberto Martinez
2013-10-13 Boris Bosnjak TKO1 Toma Vlaovic
2013-10-13 Damir Beljo RTD2/TKO3 Vasile Dragomir
2013-10-13 Frank Bluemle TKO3 Rudolf Murko
2013-10-13 Steffi Schuenke RTD2/TKO3 Sonja Soknic
2013-10-17 Czar Amonsot KO10 Stevi Ongen Ferdinandus
2013-10-19 Grigory Abramyan TKO1 Ivan Ivanov
2013-10-19 Krzysztof Glowacki RTD3 Richard Hall
2013-10-19 Manuel Charr TKO6 Denis Bakhtov
2013-10-19 Ruslan Provodnikov RTD10 Mike Alvarado
2013-10-25 Mauricio Barragan TKO4 Pablo Hernan Curbelo
2013-10-26 Enrico Koelling KO3 Gyorgy Marosi
2013-10-26 Luca Giacon RTD2 Mate Hornyak
2013-10-26 Marcos Nader RTD6 Luis Crespo
2013-10-26 David Zegarra TKO9 Basilio Silva
2013-11-01 Shefat Isufi RTD4 Vasile Dragomir
2013-11-02 Matias Ariel Vidondo TKO2 Yuberty Suarez Diaz
2013-11-07 Gerome Quigley TKO3 Damien Butler
2013-11-09 Norbert Dabrowski TKO2 Mindia Nozadze
2013-11-09 Umar Salamov RTD6 Ravshan Djabbarov
2013-11-15 Flavius Biea KO2 Patrik Szamko
2013-11-16 Scott Jenkins RTD4 Rakhim Mingaleyev
2013-11-22 Mairis Briedis RTD5 Suda Lubos
2013-11-23 Andy Ruiz Jr TKO4 Tor Hamer
2013-11-30 Marcin Najman RTD2 Alex Serbic
2013-12-06 Adrian Granados RTD5/TKO6 Carlos Winston Velasquez
2013-12-06 Andrzej Soldra TKO5 Lorenzo Di Giacomo
2013-12-06 Krzysztof Wlodarczyk RTD6/TKO7 Giacobbe Fragomeni
2013-12-06 Simpiwe Vetyeka RTD6 Chris John
2013-12-07 AJ Carter TKO3 Kreso Bogdanovic
2013-12-07 Jose Carlos Paz RTD5 Luis Antonio Garay
2013-12-07 Kris Agyei-Dua KO4 Jan Balog
2013-12-07 Rakeem Ashaye KO1 Rihards Inozemcevs
2013-12-12 Sirimongkol Singwancha KO1 Giovani Rota
2013-12-13 Jerrell Harris KO2 Clifford McPherson
2013-12-14 Kubrat Pulev RTD4/TKO5 Joey Abell
2013-12-14 Matthias Pelk TKO8 Fariz Mamedov
2013-12-21 Charles Martin RTD4 Glendy Hernandez
2013-12-21 Fedor Chudinov RTD3 Francis Cheka
2013-12-21 Pablo Martin Roldan RTD5/TKO6 Maximiliano Gaston Mujica
2013-12-21 Said El Harrak RTD2 Bernardo Guereca
2013-12-29 Zoltan Kovacs RTD1/TKO2 Adam Mate

@~@~@~@~@~@~@

Ryan Bivins was a staff writer for Bad Left Hook. You can contact him on twitter (@sweetboxing) or through email (rgbivins@gmail.com).