Boxing

Little-known fighter part of knockout year

By JOHN C. COTEY
Published December 28, 2004

It was a memorable year, especially for fans of St. Petersburg fighters, but not so much for fans of heavyweights. With all the upsets, great title fights, stirring comebacks and memorable knockouts, not even some miserable heavyweight cards courtesy of Don King (and John Ruiz ) could taint a dandy 2004.

Here are some year-ending picks:

FIGHTER OF THE YEAR: Glen Johnson was supposed to be a stepping-stone. Roy Jones was going to use him to tune up for a third match with Antonio Tarver , and Tarver was going to use Johnson to lay claim to the title of world's best light heavyweight.

Oops.

There are dozens of more impressive fighters than Johnson, but no one was as effective in 2004.

He was a 35-year-old little-known, nice-guy journeyman with nine losses when he stepped into the ring with Jones, and lest you think anyone respected him, consider this: HBO analyst and legendary trainer Emanuel Steward called his high-pressure first-round attack on Jones "amateurish."

Seven rounds later, he knocked out Jones.

That set up the big payday with Tarver, whom he beat by decision this month.

When the year started, Johnson was a nobody with three wins in his last 11 fights. When it ends, he'll be the best light heavyweight in the world.

Runnerup: St. Petersburg's Winky Wright beat Shane Mosley twice this year. The first time, he wasn't supposed to. He was so impressive in doing so, however, the second time came as no surprise.

FIGHT OF THE YEAR: Tarver-Jones, Part II. Tarver's stunning one-punch knockout proved more damaging to Jones than originally thought (see knockout a few months later by Johnson) and set off a string of knockout losses by former legendary champs Mike Tyson and Oscar De La Hoya.

Runnerup: Kostya Tszyu 's destruction of Sharmba Mitchell after a two-year layoff was impressive, edging Marco Antonio Barrera-Erik Morales III.

PUNCH OF THE YEAR: Tie between the Tarver left that knocked out Jones and Bernard Hopkins ' body punch that knocked out De La Hoya.

Runnerup: Samuel Peter knocked one-time heavyweight contender Jeremy Williams out cold with one thunderous left hook. Referee Toby Gibson didn't even bother with the count.

TRAINER OF THE YEAR: This is a no-brainer, and I'm not sure why people even think it's close. St. Petersburg's Dan Birmingham was 2-0 in title fights and 2-0 in title defenses this year with Wright and super-middleweight Jeff Lacy .

Others may be touting Joe Goossen , but he inherited great talents in Diego Corrales and Mosley. Birmingham started from the ground up with Wright and Lacy, something you don't see every day. And as improved as Mosley was (thanks to Goossen) in the rematch with Wright, everyone overlooked the fact that Wright was better as well. Though the judges didn't give Wright his just due, he was just as dominant over Mosley the second time, and maybe even moreso.

Runnerup: Goossen.

CITY OF THE YEAR: Sure, Las Vegas has all the big fights, but little old St. Petersburg had a better year.

Wright unified the junior middleweight titles by beating Mosley, and Lacy knocked out Syd Vanderpool for the super-middleweight title. Both made successful defenses, showing their grit as brawlers.

Throw in the National Police Athletic League championship won by Clearwater's wunderkind, Keith Thurman (who is trained in Wright and Birmingham's St. Petersburg gym by Ben Getty ), and two wins by Birmingham-trained middleweight Antwun Echols, and it was a near-perfect year for boxing's best-kept secret.

[Last modified December 28, 2004, 00:23:19]