Fighter of the Year: Lucian Bute!

Female fighter of the Year: Jelena Mrdjeovich!

International fighter of the Year: Dale Brown!

Prospect of the Year: Jean Pascal!

Promoter of the Year: GYM!

Trainer of the Year: Stephane Larouche!

Fight of the Year: James Cermak W8 Ryan Henney!

Upset of the Year: Jeannine Garside W10 Lisa Brown!

Knockout of the Year: Renan St-Juste KO1 Jacques Lemaire!

Round of the Year: Walid Smichet-Gareth Sutherland -Round 5!

Comeback of the Year: Adrian Diaconu!

Promotion of the Year: A Ring of Their Own-World Title Wave!

Fighter of the Year:

Six wins, six knockouts, four separate belts, top-ten contender status; 2005 was a very good year for Lucian Bute. Not only did he grow by leaps and bounds in ability, but also as a feature attraction. Bute began the year headlining his first show in a small hockey arena in Quebec City and finished it with a pair of headline appearances at Montreal’s Bell Centre. He became the first boxer to stop former title challenger Kabary Salem and questions of stamina were answered by a 12th round knockout of Christian Cruz. As Fightnews Canada prospect of the year for 2004, Bute proved us right with a stellar 2005 and we congratulate him on being named as FNC Fighter of the Year.

Wednesday December 28, 2005

Female fighter of the Year:

Picking Female Fighter of the Year was one of the hardest decisions Fightnews.ca had to make. Windsor's Jeannine Garside needed to be considered, as she rocketed into a world championship after only four professional bouts. Windsor's Kara Ro in any other year could have also been named Female Fighter of the Year as she had two excellent outings in 2005, beating Tracey Byrd by unanimous decision and then outpointing Belinda Laracuente to win the WIBA lightweight title. In the end, however, Edmonton's Jelena Mrdjenovich, for the second year in a row, was our choice. Mrdjenovich like the other two women won a world championships this year, knocking out Franchesca Alcanter in the sixth round with a devastating left hook. Three things, however, separated the, 14-1, Mrdjenovich from the other women. First was activity level. The Edmonton boxer had six bouts in 2005 compared to three for Garside and two for Ro. Mrdjenovich also possesses something rare in female boxers and that is pure knockout power. Out of her five victories this year Mrdjenovich have four KO's. But perhaps the most compelling reason we picked Mrdjenovich was because she avenged a loss, one of the most difficult things to do in boxing. In February this year Mrdjenovich received a boxing lesson at the hands of Layla McCarter, losing a unanimous decision to the Las Vegas fighter. It was a case of too much, too soon for Mrdjenovich. McCarter simply is one of best pure boxers in female boxing today. The loss, however, instead of discouraging Mrdjenovich, motivated the Edmonton fighter to comeback with a vengence. The two met again in June and this time the outcome was completely different as Mrdjenovich set the tone of the fight, using her jab, size, strength and aggession to dominate McCarter, on her way to a unanimous decision victory. Female Fighter of the year for 2006 should be interesting as both Garside and Ro have been mentioned as possible opponents for Mrdjenovich

Wednesday December 28, 2005

International fighter of the Year:

Only in Florida, the election fraud capital of the world, could Dale Brown walk in, take care of business and come up short on all three scorecards. When the scores of 117-111, 115-113, and 116-112 were read, they all seemed reasonable; when the winner was announced as O’Neil Bell, something was seriously wrong. Canada knew it was wrong; ESPN who broadcast it live thought it was wrong and said so, loudly. The loss earned Brown international recognition and proved to the world and to himself that he belongs amongst the best the cruiserweight division has to offer.

Wednesday December 28, 2005

Prospect Fighter of the Year :

Faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive. Maybe, but Jean Pascal certainly proved he was faster than James Crawford and more powerful than Martin Desjardins. The former Olympian certainly seems to have everything in his toolbox including the most essential money making instrument in the sport: Charisma! Fans will either grow to love or grow to hate the middleweight sensation, but one thing that they’re sure to do is notice him. Carrying his left hand on his hip like Roy Jones or making ring entrances reminiscent of Prince Hamed, Pascal definitely is not dull. His Canadian belt was a pretty much a gimme but he proved he could be effective past four. His win against 40-win James Crawford was truly impressive in that he confronted the veteran stepping stone in just his eighth fight; remarkable considering that it took most in the division at least 20 fights before facing him. Pascal made things look easy knocking him down a total of six times before the fight was stopped in the third. An impressive 10-0 for his rookie year, the future certainly looks bright for this young star.

Wednesday December 28, 2005

Promoter of the Year:

Wednesday December 28, 2005

Trainer of the Year:

A combined 28-0, Stephane Larouche did lose a fight in 2005. He was involved in a total of ten title fights and moved two of his boxers into the top ten. Not satisfied with Adrian Diaconu’s victory for the Canadian light-heavyweight title, Larouche went right back to the drawing board against the same opponent in Conal MacPhee and got the results he wanted with a second round knockout. His fighters including Diaconu, Lucian Bute, Benoit Gaudet and Jo Jo Dan were much improved over the year and usually executed their game plans to perfection.

Wednesday December 28, 2005

Comeback of the Year:

Adrian Diaconu was a forgotten figure when the rebirth of Montreal boxing took place in September 2003. Cast aside as Interbox looked to reinvent itself and GYM looked to get going, the hard-hitting Romanian looked towards Germany to find a new boxing home. Diaconu was on the shelf exactly a year when he finally returned this past March. Six wins would follow including 2 title victories. In June, Diaconu stopped Conal MacPhee in 5 to take the vacant Canadian Light Heavyweight title and six months later, the Romanian born boxer halted Darrin Humphrey in 11 to win the vacant WBC International Light Heavyweight crown. Add to this a top 1o ranking by the WBO, marking a very impressive return to the ring for The Shark.

Wednesday December 28, 2005

Fight of the Year:

While most fighters in their first ten bouts try and pad their records against has-beens and tomato cans, Ryan Henney and James Cermak engaged in a crossroads bout early in their careers and early in 2005. The result was the best scrap of 2005. Both men went into the contest undefeated, Cermak 4-0, Henney 3-0, and both cruiserweights laid it on the line to keep those records intact. For eight rounds the two men stood toe-to-toe giving as good as they got. The crowd in disbelief at what they were viewing screamed at the top of their lungs in support of the two warriors; knowing they were seeing something special and rare. In the end there was little to distinguish between the two gladiators. Fans and judges were left to decide between the power of Cermak and the chin and combination punching of Henney. Fightnews scored the bout a draw, the judges gave Cermak a split-decision victory. This was a fight that fight fans will talk about for decades.

Wednesday December 28, 2005

Upset of the Year:

Boxing experts hate to be proven wrong, and that is exactly what Jeannine Garside did in Edmonton last November. When the bout between Toronto's Lisa Brown and Windsor's Garside was announced, experts from all across Canada agreed on one thing, it was too much too soon for the 3-0, former amateur star. Brown, 12-1-2 had looked devastating in her last two bouts knocking down and destroying second ranked Kelli Cofer, and shutting out undefeated Jackie Chavez to win the WIBA Superbantamweight title. Not even Garside's southpaw style was considered an obstacle, as Brown was a southpaw herself and had easily handled Cofer, who was also a southpaw. For many the bout conjured images of Shawn O'Sullivan/Simon Brown and Willie DeWitt/Bert Cooper. Garside proved us all wrong, dropping Brown in the third round, and dominating the rest of the fight in posting the 99-90. 98-91, 99-90 upset victory.

Wednesday December 28, 2005

Knockout of the Year:

It was a fight that wasn’t supposed to have happened. Forced with the last minute cancellations of his two main opponents, promoter Alex Chocko did the only thing he could do to save his February Starbox show, he pitted his two feature attractions against each other. Renan St-Juste and Jaques Lemaire agreed to put there undefeated records on the line so that the show could go on. With both fighters being well over 30 and getting a late start in the game, there was little on the line except pride. Lemaire a former toughman competitor, had limited mobility and stamina and had only a win and a draw in a pair of professional fights. St-Juste was the more experienced of the two with a 4-0-1 record and every punch he threw on the night was strong and fluid, laced with bad intentions. It didn’t take long. With Lemaire pursuing his opponent, St-Juste turned on an explosive left hook that disconnected Lemaire from his central nervous system. Immediately down and out cold, referee Gerry Bolen made no hesitation in waiving this one off with St-Juste defiantly standing in front of the crowd, hands on hips. Official time 2:24 of the first round.

Wednesday December 28, 2005

Round of the Year:

When two prospects get it on inside the ropes, you can usually expect fireworks. On July 14th, the pure punching power of Walid Smichet took on the iron-chinned Scottish Scrapper, Gareth Sutherland in an 8 rounder in Montreal, Quebec. When the dust settled, Smichet captured a well deserved decision victory but not before the two warriors put on an amazing performance, especially in the 5th. Smichet landed flush on Sutherland's jaw.....the iron dented! Sutherland, clearly hurt, refused to fall and battled his way to the bell. Here is how we called it.....

The ovation seemed to inspire Smichet for the fifth who sprung off the ropes a minute in and just unleashed on The Scottish Scrapper hitting him not only with the kitchen sink, but the stove and the fridge as well. "You tell me," was all the slugger could say afterwards as to how he stayed upright. Sutherland was out on his feet and his corner were well on their way to stopping the fight. When Gareth protested, they made it clear to him that he would have to show them something for the next round. Sure enough Sutherland came out for the sixth and swept the round on the judges' scorecards.....

Wednesday December 28, 2005

Card of the Year:

"A Ring of Their Own 2" brought all elements together in order to be named Card of the Year. The card promoted by KO Boxing Promotions, Independent Jewellers and 7X Promotions in association with Rock & Sock Production, featured four, that is right four world title fights. Edmonton's Jelena Mrdjenovich fought Franchesca Alcanter for the WIBF and WBC Junior Lightweight Championships, WIBA Jr. Lightweight World Title holder Chevelle Hallback took on Belinda Laracuente, WIBA Jr. Featherweight Champion Lisa Brown of Toronto faced Jeannine Garside of Windsor and Laura Ramsey was pitted against Shelley Burton for the WIBA Middleweight Championship. The event at the Edmonton Shaw Conference Centre was a classy affair from start to finish as the 3000+ fans were treated to the best in women's boxing, plus Jason "the Troll" Adam's comeback fight and a heavyweight matchup between former amateur`stars Neven Pajkic and Sheldon Hinton. The fights were well matched, and the results were outstanding as hometown girl Mrdjenovich won a world title with a devastating sixth round TKO, and Garside pulled off a huge upset, in only her fourth professional fight, knocking down Brown and taking away her world title. Not only did the 3000 fans in attendance get a treat, the card was also broadcast live on PPV in Canada and around the world on the internet. It has also been replayed 4 times on TSN. The promoters deserve a pat on the back for a job well done.

Wednesday December 28, 2005