From WBC President Jose Sulaiman: Following are the 2007 WBC Awards for boxers and fights, as voted by a majority of the WBC Board of Governors.
FIGHTER OF THE YEAR: Floyd Mayweather Jr., USA, for his victories against Oscar de la Hoya and Ricky Hatton. There were no other nominations in this category. This is the third year that Mayweather has been elected “Fighter of the Year” by the WBC..
Honorary Mention Fighter of the Year: Kelly Pavlik, USA; Cristian Mijares, México; Chad Dawson, USA; David Haye, UK.
FIGHT OF THE YEAR:
Kelly Pavlik vs. Jermain Taylor. After being knocked down and seriously hurt, Pavlik got up and knocked out Taylor in the seventh round in Atlantic City on September 29, 2007.
The other nominations were: Israel Vazquez vs. Rafael Marquez; Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Ricky Hatton; Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Oscar de la Hoya; Erik Morales vs. David Díaz; Juan Manuel Márquez vs. Antonio Barrera; David Haye vs. Jean Mormeck; Joe Calzaghe vs. Mikkel Kessler.
MOST DRAMATIC FIGHT:
Israel Vazquez vs. Rafael Marquez I and II, for the WBC super bantamweight championship. There were an unbelieveably dramatic 13 rounds in the two fights in March and August, 2007, when both fighters were hurt and cut, but came back to win one fight each.
Also nominated for Most Dramatic Fight were: Samuel Peter vs. Jameel McCline, plus some of those nominated for Fight of the Year .
MOST ACTIVE WORLD CHAMPION:
Cristian Mijares, Mexico, who defended the super flyweight title five times in 2007.
EVENT OF THE YEAR:
Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Oscar de la Hoya, held in Las Vegas for the WBC super welterweight championship. The event broke all existing records of pay per view and live gate.
The other nominations were Joe Calzaghe vs. Mikkel Kessler; “Iron Fists” in Cancun.
CHAMPION REVELATION OF THE YEAR:
Chad Dawson, USA, who won the WBC light heavyweight championship by defeating Tomasz Adamek, Poland, and defended it on two occasions.
The other nominations were Edgar Sosa, Mexico; Jorge Linares, Venezuela; Kelly Pavlik, USA.
ROOKIE OF THE YEAR:
Julio Cesar Chavez Jr., Mexico, who started fighting in 10-round bouts in the year 2007.
The other nominations were: Takahiro Aho, Japan; André Berto, USA; Cristóbal Arreola, USA.
KNOCKOUT OF THE YEAR:
Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Ricky Hatton.
The other nominations were: Jorge Linares vs. Gamaliel Díaz; David Haye vs. Jean Mormeck; Junior Witter vs. Vivian Harris; Kelly Pavlik vs. Jermain Taylor.