So who was 2017’s Fighter of The Year?
It’s that time again and fans are voting, not just on the website of ‘The Bible of Boxing,’ Ring Magazine, but it seems this particular poll is the yearly one most fans get into (and of course, you don’t argue with the Bible!)
The five fighters available to vote for as FOTY are: Anthony Joshua, Vasyl Lomachenko, Andre Ward Srisaket Sor Rungvisai and Terence Crawford.
A fine list to be sure, but have the folks at Ring left anyone out? Billy Joe Saunders perhaps; Saunders having a fine year in outclassing two good fighters in Willie Monroe Jnr and David Lemieux? Did BJS do enough to get nominated?
Of the five fighters, world champions all, that did make Ring’s list, it’s likely Lomachenko will be in with a great shot of gaining the most votes. “Hi-Tech” of course fought three times, seeing off Jason Sosa, Miguel Marriaga and Guillermo Rigondeaux. That’s quite a year, and we must not forget how Lomacehnko not only beat these opponents, but he made them flat-out quit, Sat. Down. On. Their. Stool.
Crawford, from this ringside seat, seems to be the only real contender to the ludicrously gifted Ukrainian. Having cleaned out the 140 pound division, in doing so making history as the first-ever man to hold all four major belts – WBC/WBA/IBF/WBO – at the weight, “Bud” enjoyed a stellar 12 months. And now that he is set to fight, we hope, the best at 147, true greatness could be right around the corner. Crawford defeated two good men this year, in Felix Diaz and Julius Indongo.
Ward won big against Sergey Kovalev in their return and then said adiós to the game, while Joshua won a big, big fight with Wladimir Klitschko and also, in less impressive fashion, saw off a determined Carlos Takam. As for Sor Rungvisai, the Thai fighter ruined recent pound-for-pound king Roman Gonzalez in chilling fashion in a rematch of a great action fight.
So who gets your vote? For what it’s worth, Lomachenko gets mine.
