Like everybody else, I want to jump on the bandwagon and give out some end of the year of awards. With that in mind, I present to you the first annual SDFightys! Because of budget cutbacks there is no trophy, medal or even a certificate. The winners only have the satisfaction to be named as the best for the year 2010 in the eyes of well… me. There is no panel, no ballots and no judging, just my choices for the best that I saw in person in local San Diego and Tijuana fights so enjoy!
Unlike most end of the year awards out there, we give you the best award first which is Fighter of the Year. In our list we humbly give the SDFighty to Erik “ Terrible ” Morales (51-6, 35KOs). Ballooning in weight after his controversial loss to David Diaz in 2007 for the WBC lightweight title, Morales has come back for one last run at a fourth title in as many divisions this year. He began the year with a convincing unanimous decision win over former lightweight champion Jose Alfaro of Nicaragua in March. He followed that up with a 4th round KO of Willie Limond at the famed Estadio Azteca in Mexico City in August and finished up with another unanimous decision over late sub Francisco Lorenzo last month in his hometown of Tijuana. Morales gets the award for not only going undefeated in his three fights against somewhat formidable foes but for also bringing a huge boxing event to Tijuana which was his homecoming fight which drew more than ten thousand fight fans to the Estadio Caliente. Even though Morales does not possess the finishing prowess and quick light reflexes which led him to be one of the most decorated Mexican fighters of all time, nobody can deny that once Morales enters the ring, all eyes are on him.
Honorable Mentions: Mercito Gesta, Chris C hatman, Juan Carlos Burgos
Despite our entire Fighter of the Year’s bouts were televised by Mexican television, none were as dramatic as the three fights that our Television Fighter of the Year was involved with. For that, Mercito Gesta (20-0-1, 10KOs) wins the award. The undefeated Gesta made his Telemundo debut in May when he forced the tough Oscar Meza to retire in the 4th round to strap the WBO/NABO Youth lightweight title around his waist. “No Mercy” followed that performance with a devastating KO of Genaro Trazancos in August on Telefutura. Trazancos took the San Diego based Gesta all the way to the seventh round before meeting a Gesta left hand to the head and getting knocked out cold. Gesta finished up his year once again on Telefutura when he shockingly stopped his toughest test on paper, Ivan Valle, in only two rounds with an awesome display of speed and power. If there is one thing that television audiences crave is knockouts and Gesta is more than willing to oblige.
Honorable Mentions: Christopher Martin, Antonio Margarito
Erik “ Terrible ” Morales wins the Comeback of the Year for all the reasons he won Fighter of the Year. During his two and a half year hiatus, Morales got as high as the 200 lbs. range without a care of the world. When the boxing bug bit him once again, Morales diligently took himself to the central mountains of Mexico and dropped most of the weight and then went ahead and fought two former world champions in Alfaro and Lorenzo and a never will be in Limond. Morales very well could have fought an assortment of bums as he waited for his next big assignment but he decided to challenge himself somewhat as he climbed down the weight ladder. It is rumored that in April of this year his now or never moment will come as he is slated to challenge Juan Manuel Marquez for the coveted fourth title in as many divisions which a handful of Mexicans are chasing to become the first one. It is doubtful that Morales has what it takes to defeat the clean living Marquez but never the less it does not take away what Tijuana’s“El Terrible” accomplished in 2010.
Honorable Mentions: Antonio DeMarco, James Parison
One local fighter who took a big step in his career is San Diego jr. welterweight by way of Garden City, Kansas, Antonio Orozco (8-0, 5KOs). Because of that he gets awarded the Breakout of the Year. Orozco took the huge step of signing with a world class manager, Frank Espinoza of the Espinoza Boxing Club. Espinoza was awarded the Manager of the Year accolade in ’07 for his work with former champions Israel Vazquez and Martin Castillo and was a big part of the legendary Vazquez-Marquez trilogy and the fourth for it all. Since then he has led Abner Mares to a interim WBC title and has signed a group of talented up and comers such as Ronny Rios, Carlos Molina, Luis Ramos and even a former world champion Yhonny Perez. Orozco joins the group as one of the shining lights in the club and since signing with Espinoza, he already has gotten some much deserved attention in southern California and with the local press. Orozco’s first fight under the Espinoza Boxing Club banner was at the Nokia Live! in downtown LA on Golden Boy’s “Thursday Night Fight Club” where he earned a tough unanimous decision against Humberto Tapia. With Espinoza showing him the way, there is no doubt that Orozco is bound for big things in boxing.
Honorable Mentions: Jose Cayetano, Chris Chatman, Pablo Armenta
There was not bigger upset this year involving a local fighter than Christopher Martin’s upset of Chris Avalos on Showtime’s ShoBox telecast last August. For handing the highly touted his first professional loss, Christopher Martin (21-0-2, 6KOs) earns 2010’s Upset of the Year. Martin has been used to the bright lights of television since he has fought numerous times on Telefutura but the main event eight rounder was his first time on one of the premium channels and he took full advantage of it. Faced against the heavily promoted hard hitting Avalos, Martin proceeded to put on a boxing clinic as he showed some concrete hard set of whiskers when he got caught with a hard power punch by Avalos. The fight was much closer at the onset of the match since Avalos, who has knockout power in both fists, seemed to be going for just that but by the end Martin was in full control as a flustered Avalos seemed dazed and confused with Martin’s slick movement. Hopefully in 2011 we will see more of Martin against some opponents that will make him rise to the occasion.
Honorable Mentions: Jose Cayetano, Chris Chatman
Two much anticipated debuts occurred in the last quarter of the year and together Raul “Jibarito” Quirarte and Christian “Huevo” Bojorquez are named as co-winners of Rookie of the Year. No other fighter in the San Diego-Tijuana region carries such a envious lineage as Quirarte. Like his father, two-time world champion Raul “Jibaro” Perez, “Jibarito” decided to use his mother’s maiden name as a professional and his mother is none other than Mr. Romulo Quirarte’s mother. With his father a former world champion and his grandfather the man who trained “Jibaro” to greatness, one would think that is enough but Raul Jr. has more advice to heed as his brother in law is Antonio DeMarco and his uncle Bobby Quirarte trains current WBC lightweight champ Humberto “Zorrita” Soto. It cannot get any better than that!
“Jibarito” made his pro debut in October, knocking out Luis Quintero in two in a light welterweight match up. I can’t wait to see what 2011 has in store for Raul Jr. Co-winner “Huevo” Bojorquez also comes from a boxing family but not quite as extensive as Quirarte’s. The tall super bantamweight is the younger brother of Mexican amateur stand out Emilio Bojorquez who was crowned twice as a Baja California state champion. The younger Bojorquez also competed at the highest levels for Mexican amateurs and also fought abroad as he traveled to the boxing hotbed of amateur boxing, Cuba. Bojorquez also made his pro debut in October earning a hard earned majority decision over Salvador Cifuentes and then earning his first KO of his career two months later over Jose Luis Diaz.
Honorable Mentions: N/A
If you add the fights that transpired in San Diego and Tijuana last year, the number would reach into the hundreds. Many of them would remind us of high levels of drama, others of excitement and a handful o upsetting results. Not many put those three elements together like the bout between Chris Chatman and Lester Gonzalez for the CA State super welterweight title in our Fight of the Year. The fireworks began the day before as a obviously weight drained Gonzalez had a short fuse with Chatman’s showman antics as the former navy man kept poking at Gonzalez trying to rattle his cage. Much of the same continued inside the ring as Chatman used his quick hands and foot work to give the more traditional Gonzalez fits as the “Last Chapter” scored with punches from every angle as the former Cuban amateur stand out just plodded along. Gonzalez did have his moments as he landed hard right hands to Chatman’s chin adding to the excitement and drama but it was not enough as Chatman scored his second upset in a row over an undefeated fighter and took home the title belt.
Honorable Mentions: Martin KO Arcos, Cayetano KO Navarro
There is really no contest here as nobody in a 100-mile radius comes close to the legendary Romulo Quirarte and because of that, he is named the Trainer of the Year. Mr. Quirarte has been teaching men to fight for over 30 years and he has had hundreds if not thousands of fighters cross the threshold of the CREA gym in that span. Big names have sought the teachings of Don Romulo including the Mexican legend himself, Julio Cesar Chavez Sr. Quirarte also made the two-time world champion Raul “Jibaro” Perez from scratch and presently has a vast array of bona fide prospects in his stable such as David De La Mora, Juan Pablo “Che Che” Lopez, Marvin “Cachorro” Quintero and former interim WBC lightweight champion Antonio DeMarco. Not only does Mr. Quirarte teach his fighters how to box but he stresses the importance of education, good manners and overall good citizenship in his charges which makes him a rarity in red light district of sports which is boxing.
Honorable Mentions: Bobby Quirarte, Vince Parra, Raul “Jibaro” Perez
It would be very easy to name the biggest promoter of the region in this category but I think that Jorge Marron Productions did more for the sport of local boxing and that is why he is the Promoter of the Year. With his output deal through Don Chargin Promotions and Golden Boy, Marron has brought Telefutura’s “Solo Boxeo Tecate” numerous times to “America’s Finest City” and brought more local boxing action which San Diego had not seen in quite some time. With locals Christopher Martin or Mercito Gesta headlining the card, you are guaranteed a packed house with all the electricity that a large crowd provides. Coupled with a strong under card of meaningless but exciting fights and you got a great night of the sweet science.
Honorable Mentions: Box Latino, Baja Boxing, Zanfer Promotions
With last year’s Guante Azteca tournament held in Tijuana in the bantamweight and light welterweight divisions, Conrado Guerrero, better known as “Conejo”, came into his own in organizing exciting and explosive bouts and that is why he is named as Matchmaker of the Year. In the first phase of the tournament held back in June, five of the seven fights were wars in a night that could have been billed as World War III. From then on, Guerrero put on the best fights possible with the remaining winners of the tournament with each fight getting more dramatic than the last reaching its climax with Jose “Tigre” Cayetano knocking out Jesus “Kalaka” Navarro in only two rounds in front of a packed Municipal Auditorium in Tijuana. With the affable Guerrero organizing the fight cards for Zanfer Promotions in Tijuana, local boxing fans are guaranteed a good night every time.
Honorable Mentions: Jorge Marron, Socrates Seamanduras