Fighter of the Midyear Consensus: Errol Spence
When Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather stop fighting finally, there had better be someone already in place to take up their cause. All this year has proved is that boxing is only relevant when these two guys are around.
Who this year beat an opponent with a better resume than Tim Bradley? Not Keith Thurman because Shawn Porter would probably be outboxed by the vet. Not Anthony Joshua. Not Terence Crawford. Not Canelo Alvarez. Not Vasyl Lomachenko.
So far the best guy with the best performance this year was Pacquiao. This is bound to change by the end of the year if Andre Ward and Sergey Kovalev actually face off, but until something like that happens, Pac Man is still the best fighter so far this year.
Pick: Manny Pacquiao – 2016 Record: 1-0, 0 KO
Liam Brady, Graphic Designer/Staff Writer
I’d give this award to Andre Ward just for stepping up to fight Sergey Kovalev in the fall, when he is not obliged to, after others have decided to shy away like Adonis Stevenson.
But I am nominating Andre Ward after stepping up to light heavyweight and defeating a competitive, undefeated fighter in Sullivan Barrera comfortably, who was also the IBF number one contender.
Using all his wit and skill that we are accustomed to, Andre Ward looked comfortable at 175lbs and showed no signs of being overpowered or hustled on the inside. Ward completely dominated Barrera, and as a consequence, has a great chance to translate his dominance at 168lbs to 175lbs.
A massive amount of respect to Andre Ward, in a time where we see a lot of fighters brush off the chance to show they’re the best, and would much rather say they’re number one verbally than prove it physically.
He could have played the safe route and stay at super middleweight, but instead he is daring to be great, and has certainly made a comfortable start to life at light heavyweight.
Pick: Andre Ward – 2016 Record: 1-0, 0 KO
Brandon Glass, Staff Writer
Errol Spence is definitely a guy to keep an eye on. He’s a five-star prospect who has been getting a lot of exposure as a staple fighter for Premier Boxing Champions.
His momentum continues to leave him in better position for a title fight with each passing performance. As the level of opposition has been progressing, Spence continues to separate himself from the rest of the pack.
As evidenced by his stoppage of Chris Algieri, a former world titlist who not only survived 12 rounds while defeating Ruslan Provodnikov, but also managed to do the same in a loss to Manny Pacquiao.
The stoppage was knockout number six in his ongoing streak. He’s slated to fight world title challenger, Leonard Bundu late next month. Stay tuned as this kid has the goods and will continue to exceed expectation.
Pick: Errol Spence – 2016 Record: 1-0, 1 KO
Leann Perez, Staff Writer
I honestly can’t even bring myself to vote for someone on this list. I have yet to be amazed by anyone for the first half of 2016. So many fighters have taken such safe fights, or easy wins.
I have yet to see anyone on this list be truly tested or bring us, the fans, an all-out war.
Let’s hope the second half of 2016 gives us some great moments to talk about for our end of the year awards!
Pick: None
Shelbi Keyes, Staff Writer
Even though Sergey Kovalev has only fought once in 2016 defeating Jean Pascal again via RTD, in my opinion he just continues to get better and show off his skills by picking his opponents apart.
Also, Kovalev just keeps moving up in the pound-for-pound rankings, coming in at No. 2 per the Ring Magazine.
Sergey is taking on Isaac Chilemba next month and in September he will collide with Andre Ward–I am looking forward to seeing the Krusher continue to prove himself.
Pick: Sergey Kovalev – 2016 Record: 1-0, 1 KO
Alan Garcia, Staff Writer
Fighter of the midyear award goes to Errol Spence, hands down.
I don’t mean to discard a lot of great talent there is by not mentioning names like Terence Crawford, Gennady Golovkin or Sergey Kovalev, but the reason I choose Spence to win the Fighter of the Midyear award is because he’s an uprising talent that captured the imagination of a lot of boxing critics with his dominating win over Chris Algieri.
Spence did in four rounds what Manny Pacquiao and Ruslan Provodnikov couldn’t do in 12, thus making him a definite candidate for Fighter of the Midyear and a prospect to keep an eye on.
Pick: Errol Spence – 2016 Record: 1-0, 1 KO
Alex Burgos, Editor-in-Chief
To me, no fighter has really stood out in the first half of 2016, but I think Vasyl Lomachenko’s record-breaking victory against Rocky Martinez merits him the award.
Manny Pacquiao’s victory over pound-for-pound opponent Tim Bradley gives him a place at this table, but the way Lomachenko put the WBO titlist Martinez away was the exclamation point for me.
Pick: Vasyl Lomachenko – 2016 Record: 1-0, 1 KO
[playbuzz-item url=”//www.playbuzz.com/rbrboxing10/fighter-of-the-midyear-for-2016″]
Other Nominees
