As the various “End of the Year”
awards continued to be announced on various websites near the end of 2012 or
now in the first weeks of 2013, Maxboxing’s “Anti-Fighter of the Year” is back
as well. The “Anti-Fighter of the Year” is for fighters who wasted the year
away.
In the first year of the
award, former World Middleweight Champion Kelly Pavlik earned the honors in
2011 with his legal troubles outside the ring and the way he conducted himself
with scheduled fights against Lucian Bute and Daryl Cunningham.
The criteria for the “Anti-Fighter
of the Year” are as follows:
- Not capitalizing off a positive 2012.
- Not backing up a claim at rebounding in 2012,
therefore wasting his chance(s).
- Turning down a large sum of money,
subsequently doing nothing instead.
- Failing to remain active.
Maxboxing
readers are invited to choose the winner, validating him as the fighter who successfully
wasted away his 2012. After reading the list of 10 candidates, log on to http://www.facebook.com/MaxBoxing to vote for the winner. Here are the candidates:
James
Kirkland
2012 seemed like a promising
year for James Kirkland. Following his
release from prison, Kirkland produced an exciting upset over Alfredo Angulo in
a “Fight of the Year” candidate. At the beginning of 2012, he was perfectly
matched up (on paper) against Carlos Molina.
Instead, Kirkland benefited
from a controversial disqualification in round 10 after trailing for most of the
fight when Molina’s team stepped into the ring following a knockdown. However,
it’s not the Texas debacle that makes him a candidate on this list. Kirkland’s
decisions leading up to a potential fight with Saul “Canelo” Alvarez were the
deal-breaker.
Kirkland was the leading candidate
to fight Alvarez two separate occasions on Mexican Independence Weekend. He
first called off the fight due to a shoulder injury but when the fight was
revisited a second time, Kirkland said he was ready to go as long as the money
rewarded it.
The amount asked for? A mind
boggling $2.5 million, according to The
Ring magazine.
After the negotiations broke
down, Kirkland proceeded to sue his team of manager Cameron Dunkin and promoter
Golden Boy Promotions. He’s now lost in the sea of legal limbo.
Yuriorkis
Gamboa
Suing your promoter was
seemingly all the rage in 2012.
Originally scheduled to
fight Brandon Rios in April, Gamboa decided 1.1 million dollars was not enough
money for the trouble and went to court to separate from promoters Ahmet Oner
and Bob Arum. Ironically, Gamboa’s next fight was under a Top Rank card with
his new promoter, 50 Cent.
Gamboa looked lackluster
against Michael Farenas and pulled out of one of the best fights to be made in
2012.
Andre
Dirrell
It’s not a good start for 50
Cent’s SMS Promotions. Dirrell has fought just once since his win over Arthur
Abraham in 2010 which even happened before his move with 50 Cent. He is the first
fighter to fire Al Haymon but it can be questioned how smart this move has been
since. We’ll see what SMS Promotions has in store for Dirrell but he definitely
did not help his stock without fighting in 2012.
Tavoris
Cloud
Fun fact: Heading into his
March showdown with 48-year-old Bernard Hopkins, Hopkins will have been the
more active fighter.
Cloud is actually a repeat
offender on this list with having fought only once in 2012. His sole bout came
in February, when he got an extremely generous split decision win over Gabriel
Campillo. While Hopkins only fought once as well, he fought in April and fought
twice in 2011. Cloud has fought only twice in the last two years.
Cloud’s activity is pathetic
for a fighter who is only 30.
Gary
Russell Jr.
This was supposed to be Gary
Russell Jr.’s breakout year as a fighter. Instead, the 24-year-old saw only six
rounds of action in two fights for 2012. Potential fights against Luis Franco and
Billy Dib were discussed but ultimately broke down.
Lamont
Peterson
Lamont Peterson had it all
going into 2012. Coming off an upset victory over Amir Khan, Peterson signed on
for a lucrative rematch in May. However, Peterson’s rematch with Khan
evaporated when he tested positive for synthetic testosterone. The positive
test, discovered by the Voluntary Anti Doping Association, killed all momentum
Peterson had.
Cornelius
Bundrage
In 2012, Bundrage’s lone
fight was a rematch against Cory Spinks. “K9” went without fighting the likes
of Austin Trout or Erislandy Lara, so the 39-year-old fighter could hold onto
his belt as long as possible for a nice payday. His reward? Bundrage’s next
fight will be against Ishe Smith.
Celestino
Caballero
At age 36, Celestino
Caballero fought zero times in 2012, forfeiting his WBA title in the process.
Caballero was twice scheduled to fight Mikey Garcia in July and September but
ended up pulling out of the fight due to fear of inactivity. His fear resulted
in a stretch of inactivity since December 31. The WBA also stripped the
Panamanian for not agreeing to fight Nicholas Walters in
his next fight.
Demetrius
Andrade
It’s time for the former
2008 Olympian to step up. While Demetrius Andrade fought three times in 2012,
the 24-year-old fought a total of five rounds against awful competition.
Andrade’s best win of the year came in a total mismatch against a shot Angel
Hernandez.
Dmitry
Pirog
It’s been a tough year for the former WBO middleweight titlist. Having fought
Nobuhiro Ishida in May, Pirog won that tune-up and set himself up for a great
fight against Gennady Golovkin. The fight ended up falling through when Pirog
hurt his back while training. Pirog has not fought since then.
