Who was boxing’s best champion in 2009?
Becoming the Champion of the Year in boxing isn’t an easy feat to accomplishment. Even great fighters become ineligible without winning and defending championships. Being in big fights and even winning them isn’t necessarily enough – that’s what Fighter of the Year is for. While certainly sometimes there will be overlapping between the two awards – and Fighter of the Year is much more traditional – this year there isn’t. So which boxer was the best champion in the year 2009?
2009 Champion of the Year in Boxing – Hozumi Hasegawa
If you’re like a lot of American fight fans, you might just have gone Hozu..Hozi… who’s he? Well he’s the long reigning WBC Bantamweight champion, nearing 4 years as title holder. During that time he has made 10 successful title defenses, including 3 in 2009. Two of those came by way of first round knockout, while the latest came in the fourth. The combined record of his three opponents for the year was 57-4-2. Hasegawa hasn’t lost since his fifth professional fight, approaching nine years ago, and deserves some attention in the U.S. although you’d be hard pressed to see any of his fights or even hear him mentioned on American television networks.
Champion of the Year Runner Up – Vitali Klitschko
You certainly can’t take anything away from the year that Vitali Klitschko had in 2009. He fought three times, each one a defense of his WBC Heavyweight title. He broke down and stopped Juan Carlos Gomez, he battered Chris Arreola and he cruised past Kevin Johnson. With that said, the quality of those opponents isn’t at an elite level. Klitschko was still plenty impressive in victory however, and for that he gets runner-up honors.
Image Credit: Mike Boehm/ Pro Boxing Fans
Make sure you check out the rest of the 2009 Boxing Awards from ProBoxing-Fans.com. It’s the best way to recap the entire up and down, crazy year in boxing. And if you agree or disagree with any of the recipients, let us know in the comments!
