This is the last installment of our 2009 year end awards.

Friend of FGB and great boxing blogger, Tim Starks joined us with his awards. Tim writes for The Queensberry Rules.

Boxing

Boxer Of The Year
Big D – Manny Pacquiao

Destroyed everybody and proved to be the biggest draw in the sport.

Duan – Amir Khan

I gave this to Pacquiao last year, and he is an absolute certainty for it again in 2009. So with that in mind, I have decided to pick for the next best instead. 15 months ago, Amir Khan’s career lay in tatters after a first round mauling at the hands of Breidis Prescott. In 2009 he rebuilt himself under the tutelage of Freddie Roach; scoring 3 wins and capturing the WBA title in the process. There’s no shortage of quality opponents for him at Light Welterweight, and at just 23 years old the sky is the limit.

Tim – Manny Pacquiao

Manny Pacquiao captured his record fourth lineal true championship in his fourth division, his record seventh major belt in his seventh division, and massacred two pound-for-pound top-10 boxers in junior welterweight Ricky Hatton and welterweight Miguel Cotto to warrant discussion as one of the 20 best boxers ever. Just as importantly, he became the face of boxing and got people excited about the sport more than any single boxer has done in a long time.

Cactus Jim – Manny Pacquiao

He’s walked through every fighter that was supposed to be able to stop or at least slow him, and he just captured a title in his seventh weight class. While I have been slowly getting back into boxing over the last year or so, I’ve went out of my way to see his fights. I think the numbers show the same is true for a lot of other viewers.

GG – Manny Pacquiao

It’s very hard to pick against him. He’s been on a terror these last two years.

Fight Of The Year Continue Reading »

This is the MMA installment of our 2009 year end awards. We gave out the pro wrestling awards on Tuesday. We’ll hand out the boxing awards next.

Friend of FGB, JP joined us with his awards.

MMA

Fighter Of The Year
Big D – Jose Aldo

The man is a machine. Had Lyoto not lost to Shogun, he would’ve secured this spot.

Alan – Jose Aldo

Fought more than most other contenders and looked spectacular every time out. Win over Mike Brown cemented him as legit.

Duan – Lyoto Machida

Machida went 3-0 against top competition in 2009, and picked up the UFC light heavyweight title along the way. He proved himself as the division’s best by outclassing Silva and Evans. A near perfect year was only marred by a disappointing performance against Rua in October, but he still left with his undefeated record intact.

JP – Lyoto Machida

The Dragon and B.J. Penn were the only two champions to fight three times in 2009 and Machida won all three of his matches. He showed he had knockout power when he handed both Thiago Silva and Rashad Evans their first career losses by way of KO. Then he won a close decision against Shogun Rua in one of the most technically astounding fights I’ve seen. 2009 saw Machida claim the belt, defeat three talented opponents, and has put Lyoto into the Greatest Ever debate.

Cactus Jim – Gegard Mousasi

3-0 this year, not just beating, but finishing Hunt, Sobral and Sokoudjou. He won the Strikeforce LH title and successfully defended. This man may be part terminator.

GG – Georges St. Pierre

He only fought twice because of injury, but he fought the most dominant rounds of the year. And I think his star hasn’t peaked yet.

Fight Of The Year Continue Reading »

First, Big D and I remember Dr. Death Steve Williams who passed away last night.

Then we talk about the latest in the absolutely silly Floyd Mayweather vs. Manny Pacquiao negotiations.

We also try to book Bret Hart’s storyline and argue about how to do it and finally, we talk UFC 108.

Listen below.

Right click to download.

I am extremely sad to report that one of my favorite, most bad-ass wrestlers of all time, “Dr. Death” Steve Williams has sadly lost his battle with cancer and passed away last night at the age of 49.

Steve Williams will be remembered by the hardcore fans for his series of incredible matches in All Japan Pro Wrestling during it’s heyday in the mid 90s. Traditional fans of the sport will remember his runs in ECW, teaming with the late Terry “Bam Bam” Gordy. In addition, he had a few shorter runs in WCW In 1992 and then again in 1999, and for the WWF as Jim Ross’ protege in 1998 and 1999.

We would like to send our condolences to the family of Steve Williams.

The only solace is that Doc and Gordy are suplexing each other around in Heaven…

Source Credit: PWInsider.com

This is the pro wrestling installment of our 2009 year end awards. Later in the week, we’ll give out awards in MMA and pro boxing.

Pro Wrestling

Wrestler Of The Year
Big D – Christopher Daniels

Consistent tremendous matches and great promos in a company which is usually ridiculous and proving that he belongs in the main event by having two match of the year candidates back to back makes Chris Daniels my pick for the Wrestler of 2009.

Alan – KENTA

Fairly simple reasoning. No other wrestler has entertained me as much as this man did before he got injured in October. An absolutely stunning year from not only my Wrestler Of The Year, but my Wrestler Of The Decade.

Duan – Chris Jericho

It was a blessing having Jericho on both shows for the last several months, and his series of matches with Mysterio earlier in the year was my favourite thing in WWE.

GG – Chris Jericho

He didn’t need any world title to be significant, was the most entertaining wrestler in the company so they stuck him on two shows, and single-handedly made the tag belts meaningful again.

Match Of The Year Continue Reading »

I’ve added my two cents about the Manny Pacquiao/Floyd Mayweather drug testing situation a couple of times recently (here and here) and I have a possible solution that may pacify both camps.

The latest word that I’ve read comes from Dan Rafael.

When HBO televised “Pacquiao/Hatton 24/7″ — the four-part series that followed the buildup to Pacquiao’s second-round knockout of Ricky Hatton to win the junior welterweight title in Las Vegas last May — it aired footage of Pacquiao taking a routine blood test as part of his pre-fight medical exam in Los Angeles.

The blood test was conducted approximately 14 days before the fight; it punches holes in Pacquiao’s argument that giving blood inside 30 days of a fight negatively impacts his performance.

The time line of all of this so far has been odd to say the least.
Continue Reading »

Just when you thought the Manny Pacquaio and Floyd Mayweather negotiations couldn’t get any sillier, it got sillier. Bob Arum thinks the fight is now off, Golden Boy Promotions thinks something can still be worked out, and Manny wants to sue for defamation of character. Um, huh?

I wrote a few days ago (and the comments section is going crazy) that I thought it was overboard to add the drug test stipulation that I didn’t think Mayweather’s camp was genuine with their concerns. I thought that they simply added this drug testing bit to make Manny look bad rather than actually worrying about him being on drugs.

I’ve come off some of it slightly, only because that I think a fight of this magnitude deserves the most strenuous drug testing available. But I still don’t think Mayweather’s camp is genuine about their concerns. I think they like to see Bob Arum make a fool out of himself by basically hanging Pacquiao with his statements about what drug tests Manny would agree to. He’s come off those, but still, they were foolish when he said them.

But now, the silliest of the silly has come out.

Supposedly, Manny Pacquiao wants to sue for defamation of character. From Dan Rafael:

“Enough is enough. These people, Mayweather Sr., [Mayweather] Jr. and Golden Boy Promotions, think it is a joke and a right to accuse someone wrongly of using steroids or other performance-enhancing drugs,” said Pacquiao, who denied that he has ever used any banned substance and who has passed all of his drug tests. “I have tried to just brush it off as a mere prefight ploy, but I think they have gone overboard.”

Continue Reading »

Part 1 of the 2009 Dr. Keith Present Christmas Party featuring Alan (of this site), Chris Hero, Rob Naylor and even Dr. Keith making his return.

Listen below.

Right click to download.

Topics covered include:
-ROH NYC PPV
-Hero in NOAH
-Ricky Marvin stories
-Teddy Hart impressions
-PWG

and more…

Big D and I chatter about the Manny Pacquiao/Floyd Mayweather drug test issue which I wrote about last night.

We also talk a little bit about Strikeforce Evolution, TNA wrestling, and ROH.

Then we discuss what we’d ask Santa for as it pertains to Pro Wrestling, MMA, and boxing. Big D kept asking for a red bicycle.

Have a funky, funky, Christmas!

Listen below.

Right click to download.

The big story in boxing today is Manny Pacquiao’s supposed refusal to adhere to “US Olympic” style drug testing which includes frequent blood and urine testing. It was the last thing Floyd Mayweather’s camp wanted in negotiations for their March 13 fight. If you believe what these guys are saying, that fight is now in jeopardy.

And this came after they had just about worked out everything, including a ludicrous penalty of $10 million for every pound each fighter weighed in at over the welterweight limit.

Believe me when I say that everyone has something on this story. Look here (SI), here (Max Boxing), here (Iole), here (Rafael), and even here (Meltzer). Even Stevie J at Angrymarks wrote about it and he barely ever covers boxing. I’m still waiting for my main man Tim Starks to give his thoughts on the story. Oh, it’s up now.

The reporting has been stellar, with quotes from Bob Arum, Freddie Roach, Golden Boy, Mayweather Promotions, and anyone else with an opinion. Well, here are mine.
Continue Reading »