Upset of the year- Jeff Horn UD12 Manny Pacquiao: Coming into the fight, very few fight fans (myself included) had never even heard of Jeff Horn the boxer from Australia.
So it was of no surprise that the great Manny Pacquiao opened up the betting lines as a 10-1 favorite. But shocker alert, the dirty slugging school teacher from down under roughed up the Pac-Man to win a unanimous controversial decision. With the shocking win, Horn captured the WBO Welterweight title.
Prospect of the year– For me the prospect of the year was a tie between Vergil Ortiz(8-0) and Josh Taylor(11-0). Taylor has a very good skill set, he can switch from a right handed fighter to southpaw with ease and he fully commits to the body. As for Ortiz, Vergil is a very hard puncher, has a solid jab, and is tenacious finisher when he has you hurt. Future looks bright for these two young killers.
Round of the year- Miguel Roman /Orlando Salido (Round 8): Both Roman and Salido traded vicious shots all night from beginning to end of this super exciting toe to toe war. But it was in round 8 where both fighters laid it all on the line and went for broke to beat each other down in brutal fashion. What a round!
Trainer of the year- Derrick James- We can all clearly see the great work James has done with the boogieman Errol Spence.
But for me, what won me over was his stellar work with Jermell Charlo as Charlo completely went through and knocked out Hatley and Lubin.
Fight of the year- Canelo Alvarez/Gennady Golovkin- All fight fans desperately wanted to see this fight take place for 2 years and in September this mega clash was delivered.
And boy was this middleweight supremacy battle ever worth the wait. Both Canelo and Golovkin battered one another with very heavy shots from close range and took each other’s best shots, especially in the later rounds. What a fight!
Fighter of the year- Terence Crawford and Vasily Lomachenko- For me, when you clear out the division and unify the titles to become the undisputed champion in your weight class as Crawford did in 2017. Then that alone gets you the award.
As for Lomachenko, Loma also deserves it for retaining his junior lightweight strap 3 times against tough opposition in Jason Sosa, Miguel Marriaga, and Top 10 pound for pound fighter Guillermo Rigondeaux. Oh and get this, Not only did Lomachenko defeat all 3 tough foes, he did so by dominating them and made ALL 3 quit. Both feats cannot be ignored.