2010 Garden State Boxing Awards!

The last 365 days of New Jersey boxing have been entertaining to say the least. We witnessed both fights that made Sergio Martinez into the sport’s newest superstar and one of the best knockouts in recent memory. Prospects such as Michael Angelo Perez, Glen Tapia, Jorge Diaz, Denis Douglin, Carlos Zambrano, Jorge Diaz and all remain unbeaten. There was also a number of shocking upsets.

15rounds’ New Jersey staff writers and a number of other ringside regulars such as Kurt Wolfheimer of Fightnews.com, Eugene Sirota, John Wall, Sean Connolly and Dylon Silversey of Gardenstatefightscene.com, Brickcityboxing.com’s Danny Seratelli, Mike Coppinger of Seconds Out and Boxing Insiders’ Scoop Malinowski, recently voted on a number of awards for 2010. All of the mentioned fights either took place in the Garden State or featured a New Jersey fighter.

Fighter of the Year: Tomasz Adamek (Secaucus):

With all due respect to every other fighter in the state, Adamek was an easy choice; easy enough that every writer polled selected him without second thought.

Adamek, a wildly popular Pole who is the biggest thing in New Jersey boxing since the late Arturo Gatti, won all four of his bouts in 2010. His victories included an impressive decision against top flight heavyweight Cris Arreola, former contender Michael Grant and 2004 US Olympian Jason Estrada. In his most recent bout, Adamek battered Vinny Maddalone before the latter’s corner threw in the towel fight during the fifth round.

His next bout is scheduled for April in Poland and it appears that he’ll be taking on hard hitting former titlist Samuel Peter. From there, expect to see him battle one of the Klitschkos or David Haye.

Prospect of the Year: Denis “Da Momma’s Boy” Douglin (Morganville)

Douglin, a 2008 National Golden Gloves Champion who is trained by his mother, had plenty of people chatting about him from the get go due to his chief second. But as they say, action speaks louder than words. During the last 12 months, Douglin was a perfect 6-0 with 5 dominant wins by kayo. In his lone decision win, he lost a single round on one of the three judges’ scorecards.

In addition to only losing one round the entire year, He moved down from middleweight to junior middleweight in March and has looked his best yet since dropping a few pounds. Not bad for a Momma’s Boy.

Honorable Mention: Glen Tapia (Passaic, 2 votes), Carlos Zambrano (North Bergen, 1 vote), Juan Rodriguez (Union City, 1 vote), Alex Perez (Newark, 1 vote), Jorge Diaz (New Brunswick, 1 vote), Lavarn Harvell (Atlantic City, 1 vote)

Editors Note: Some writers selected multiple fighters for the same award

Fight of the Year: Brian Miller SD8 Danny McDermott (Jersey City)

For eight rounds, Danny “Little Mac” McDermott and New York’s Brian Miller went at it as if there were no tomorrow, trading monstrous shots in close quarters. Both fighters kept the crowd on their feet by connecting with a number of punches in a phenomenal action bout, but the Jersey fighter came up just a bit short in this one.

Miller’s conditioning and consistency helped him pull out a close split decision in a bout that we are all dying to see again.

Honorable Mention: Jorge Diaz UD Emmanuel Lucero, Patrick Majewski (Atlantic City) TKO8 Eddie Caminero, Sergio Martinez KO2 Paul Williams

Upset of the Year: Ayi Bruce MD10 Shamone Alvarez (Atlantic City)/ Kaizer Mabuza TKO6 Kendall Holt (Paterson)

There were a few nice upsets pulled off by local fighters (more on that below) however, two of the Garden State’s top rated boxers were shockingly defeated in fights most expected them to win with ease.

In the case of Alvarez, who was one point away from earning a draw during a 2009 title eliminator, he was outfought by a man that he supposed to outfight. A victory against Bruce, a tough but beatable New York based Ghanaian, could have powered him to another meaningful fight in his boxing-crazed hometown.

Holt was surprisingly halted by virtually known South African Kaizer Mabuza. From early on in the fight, Holt didn’t appear to be himself and reportedly struggled to make the 140 lb limit following a long layoff. Mabuza took advantage of this, forcing Holt’s corner to throw in the towel immediately following round six. A victory would have lifted the former world champion to another title shot against then IBF champion Devon Alexander.

Ironically, both men were upset at Bally’s in Atlantic City.

Honorable Mention: Carlos Tamara (North Bergen) TKO12 Brian Viloria, Carlos Vinan (Newark) TKO8 Anthony Mezaache, Vincent Arroyo KO8 Jeremy Bryan (Paterson)

Story of the Year: Sergio Martinez KO2 Paul Williams (November 20)

With all due respect to late baseball star Bobby Thompson, who hit one of the most famous homeruns in baseball history, Sergio Martinez connected with the shot heard round the boxing world in Atlantic City last month.

Martinez, a slick middleweight, was making the first defense of his world title which he won in AC back in April against Kelly Pavlik. Opposing him was Paul “The Punisher” Williams, the same fighter who defeated him via controversial split decision in NJ’s best fight of 09’. This time, there were no judges needed.

Following an action packed first round between the sport’s top two southpaws not named Manny Pacquiao, Martinez connected with a perfectly placed left hook that sent Williams to the canvas flat on his face. The fans and media were both in awe with what they had just witnessed as was Sergio Martinez, who jumped for joy after Referee Earl Morton counted Williams out.

Every major media source to announce their 2010 awards thus far have selected it for Knockout of the Year. Martinez’ picturesque punch was even featured on Sports Center.

Honorable Mention: Adamek’s popularity at the Prudential Center, Glen Tapia serving as Manny Pacquiao’s main sparring partner leading up to the Antonio Margarito fight, Pawel Wolak twice getting avoided by Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.

The fight between two New Jerseyans we’d like to see:

There were a total of six fights selected one time each:
Tomasz Adamek (Secaucus) vs Chazz Witherspoon (Paulsboro)
Jorge Diaz (New Brunswick) vs Carlos Zambrano (North Bergen)
Pawel Wolak (Wallington) vs Patrick Majewski (Atlantic City)
Denis Douglin (Morganville) vs Lavarn Harvell (Atlantic City)
Chazz Witherspoon (Paulsboro) vs Maurice Harris (East Orange)
Chazz Witherspoon (Paulsboro) vs Bruce Seldon (Atlantic City)

What we’d like to see in 2011: A fight at the New Meadowlands Stadium

Sure the Giants’ and Jets’ new home doesn’t have the mass appeal of Cowboy Stadium, but it’s a renowned building that cost a number with many zeros on the end to construct. Promoter Bob Arum flirted with the idea of hosting the Pacquiao-Margarito fight there, although it ultimately ended up at the aforementioned Cowboy Stadium.

With the New Yankee Stadium’s notoriety not attracting as many fans as expected to their first ever fight, Miguel Cotto vs Yuri Foreman, and Madison Square Garden scheduled to close down summer due for renovations, why wouldn’t a promoter want to host a fight at Meadowlands Stadium?

East Rutherford is located just minutes outside of New York City, the stadium is available, New Jersey’s evening weather is perfect for a summer sporting event and Cotto will likely take on Margarito in a rematch this summer. Hopefully, Arum considers this great venue, which seats more than 80,000 and would provide an outstanding but yet affordable evening for boxing fans.

Honorable Mention: More world championship fights in Atlantic City, The continuation of Main Events’ “Brick City Fight Series” at the Prudential Center, More New Jersey State Title bouts, the NJ State Athletic Commission assisting local promoters more on club shows