Post by Boxing World Magazine on Dec 27, 2017 10:23:50 GMT -6
ROOKIE OF THE YEAR: DEMI ROSE. No, there wasn't a Hannah Ferguson this year, and, that's no surprise, because there's almost NEVER a Hannah Ferguson, but there were several impressive rookies in 2017. What pushed Rose to the top of the class, however, was her huge victory over Jessica Nigri to claim the JMD titles. A title in a rookie year that didn't start until April tells us big things are ahead for Ms. Rose. (Oh, and had Kira Kosarin not had a fight on December 30, 2016, this award would have been in a different trophy case.)
UPSET OF THE YEAR: DEMI ROSE vs. JESSICA NIGRI. When Rose beat Nigri earlier this month, Jessica had been JMD Champion for over a year, and she'd bested challengers including Lohan, Lovato, Lowndes, and Flanagan. So, imagine the shock when Rose, with her career 1-1 record, took the title that had eluded her far more accomplished predecessors.
FIGHT OF THE YEAR: BRITNEY SPEARS vs.DANIELLE FISHEL. In a year with a pile of great fights, the best came way back in May with the latest and last battle in the nearly two-decade war between Hall of Famers Spears and Fishel. Spears' retirement match was a back and forth affair that saw both women nearly beaten more than once, and both digging down into reserves no one could imagine either still had in a decisive tenth round than sent Spears out a winner.
BEATDOWN OF THE YEAR: OLIVIA HOLT vs. SAMMI HANRATTY. Odds and Ends grabs this award for the second year in a row, with Holt's absolute destruction of Hanratty coming in at the wire as this year's poster child for one-sided contests.
KNOCKOUT OF THE YEAR: KENDALL JENNER vs. ADRIANA LIMA. The "Shot Heard 'Round The FCBA" came in the form of a right-hand lead from Jenner that led to a right hook and the end of the long lightweight title reign and thirteen-fight winning streak of Lima, who'd disposed of much of the cream of the FCBA's lightweight crop before Jenner finally wrested the belts from her.
MANAGER OF THE YEAR: CASPIAN. Lily Collins disrupting the FCBA and becoming a top flyweight contender. Megan Fox going from afterthought to long-reigning flyweight champ. Kyra Santoro coming into her own. Emily Ratajkowski, Nina Agdal, Kelly Rohrbach, Alyssa Lynch, Alexis Ren, Luisana Lopilato, Bo Krsmanovic. Oh, and Hannah Ferguson having another fantastic year. Pretty much everything the VIXENs touched in 2017 turned to gold. And, it doesn't look like any of those baubles are going to tarnish any time soon.
COMEBACK FIGHTER OF THE YEAR: AVRIL LAVIGNE. Usually, this award goes to a fighter who has revitalized her career. This year, it goes to one who's brought it back from the dead. Lavigne not only retired, but was FORCIBLY retired years ago after an abject failure of a career that saw her made fun of as a soft loser who couldn't compete in the FCBA. She settled into a comfortable role in Front Street's front office and that appeared to be that for her boxing career. But, in 2017, out of nowhere, she returned to the ring under new management and won fights. Of course, we don't know at the moment where all of this will go, whether Lavigne will become the contender Front Street envisioned when it signed the athletic blonde back in 2010 or end up just being a solid FCBA fighter or something less than that. But, we already know she's not the soft loser who can't fight at this level, and that makes her return to the ring the biggest comeback of 2017.
FIGHTER WHO SHOULD BE SIGNED IN 2018: CAMILA MENDES. The brunette flyweight was in the running for Rookie Of The Year despite being an indie. Despite having just a handful of fights, she's shown she can win at this level and against solid opposition. Someone should step up and add her to the roster in 2018.
FIGHTER WHO SHOULD DEBUT IN 2018: LILI REINHART. Fitting that she's mentioned right after castmate Mendes, because the blonde beauty, a 5'6" bantam, has the potential to be in NEXT year's Rookie Of The Year race.
AND NOW FOR THE BIG ONES:
FLYWEIGHT OF THE YEAR: MEGAN FOX. Fox hasn't just been the best flyweight in the FCBA in 2017, she's been the best flyweight by a light year, winning all thirteen of her fights and, since taking the flyweight belts from Natalie Portman, running off five consecutive title defenses against the likes of Cole, Miller, Kendrick, and Shahi. Not only has nobody in the division had a better year than Fox, no one in the entire FCBA has.
BANTAMWEIGHT OF THE YEAR: CHLOE BENNET. Three women won bantamweight title fights in 2017, Troian Bellisario, Emily VanCamp and Chloe Bennet. Bellisario lost one fight all year, to VanCamp. VanCamp also lost one. To Bennet. Bennet hasn't lost any, going 8-0 on the year. Of course, Troi can make monkeys out of us by beating Chloe in their title fight later this week. But, this award is based on what's happened to this point, and, to this point, by the narrowest of margins, the award goes to Chloe Bennet.
LIGHTWEIGHT OF THE YEAR: ADRIANA LIMA. This award has, seemingly, been in the bag since mid-year. Lima not only dominated in 2017, she became the first fighter ever to hold three titles at the same time (Unified Lightweight, Queen of the Ice Hotel, Mistress of the Body Saddle) and, while simultaneously defending those titles, she also made it to the semi-finals of the Victoria's Secret Tournament before losing to welterweight Karlie Kloss. She lost one fight within the division all year (to Kendall Jenner), and beat, basically, all comers while doing so.
WELTERWEIGHT OF THE YEAR: HANNAH FERGUSON. Gang, if, in this day and age, you win a lineal title TWICE in one year, you're probably a lock for this award, and, that's precisely what the lovely Ms. Ferguson did in 2017. Hannah snatched the belts from Gemma Atkinson back in March, but lost them to Kate Upton two months later. Fast forward to October when Ferguson, coming off a win over Amanda Righetti, won the belts back with her second win of the year over Hilary Rhoda. And, while we know none of this is going to sit well with Tahnee Atkinson...or Kate Upton, that makes the choice for 2017's top welter pretty clear.
UPSET OF THE YEAR: DEMI ROSE vs. JESSICA NIGRI. When Rose beat Nigri earlier this month, Jessica had been JMD Champion for over a year, and she'd bested challengers including Lohan, Lovato, Lowndes, and Flanagan. So, imagine the shock when Rose, with her career 1-1 record, took the title that had eluded her far more accomplished predecessors.
FIGHT OF THE YEAR: BRITNEY SPEARS vs.DANIELLE FISHEL. In a year with a pile of great fights, the best came way back in May with the latest and last battle in the nearly two-decade war between Hall of Famers Spears and Fishel. Spears' retirement match was a back and forth affair that saw both women nearly beaten more than once, and both digging down into reserves no one could imagine either still had in a decisive tenth round than sent Spears out a winner.
BEATDOWN OF THE YEAR: OLIVIA HOLT vs. SAMMI HANRATTY. Odds and Ends grabs this award for the second year in a row, with Holt's absolute destruction of Hanratty coming in at the wire as this year's poster child for one-sided contests.
KNOCKOUT OF THE YEAR: KENDALL JENNER vs. ADRIANA LIMA. The "Shot Heard 'Round The FCBA" came in the form of a right-hand lead from Jenner that led to a right hook and the end of the long lightweight title reign and thirteen-fight winning streak of Lima, who'd disposed of much of the cream of the FCBA's lightweight crop before Jenner finally wrested the belts from her.
MANAGER OF THE YEAR: CASPIAN. Lily Collins disrupting the FCBA and becoming a top flyweight contender. Megan Fox going from afterthought to long-reigning flyweight champ. Kyra Santoro coming into her own. Emily Ratajkowski, Nina Agdal, Kelly Rohrbach, Alyssa Lynch, Alexis Ren, Luisana Lopilato, Bo Krsmanovic. Oh, and Hannah Ferguson having another fantastic year. Pretty much everything the VIXENs touched in 2017 turned to gold. And, it doesn't look like any of those baubles are going to tarnish any time soon.
COMEBACK FIGHTER OF THE YEAR: AVRIL LAVIGNE. Usually, this award goes to a fighter who has revitalized her career. This year, it goes to one who's brought it back from the dead. Lavigne not only retired, but was FORCIBLY retired years ago after an abject failure of a career that saw her made fun of as a soft loser who couldn't compete in the FCBA. She settled into a comfortable role in Front Street's front office and that appeared to be that for her boxing career. But, in 2017, out of nowhere, she returned to the ring under new management and won fights. Of course, we don't know at the moment where all of this will go, whether Lavigne will become the contender Front Street envisioned when it signed the athletic blonde back in 2010 or end up just being a solid FCBA fighter or something less than that. But, we already know she's not the soft loser who can't fight at this level, and that makes her return to the ring the biggest comeback of 2017.
FIGHTER WHO SHOULD BE SIGNED IN 2018: CAMILA MENDES. The brunette flyweight was in the running for Rookie Of The Year despite being an indie. Despite having just a handful of fights, she's shown she can win at this level and against solid opposition. Someone should step up and add her to the roster in 2018.
FIGHTER WHO SHOULD DEBUT IN 2018: LILI REINHART. Fitting that she's mentioned right after castmate Mendes, because the blonde beauty, a 5'6" bantam, has the potential to be in NEXT year's Rookie Of The Year race.
AND NOW FOR THE BIG ONES:
FLYWEIGHT OF THE YEAR: MEGAN FOX. Fox hasn't just been the best flyweight in the FCBA in 2017, she's been the best flyweight by a light year, winning all thirteen of her fights and, since taking the flyweight belts from Natalie Portman, running off five consecutive title defenses against the likes of Cole, Miller, Kendrick, and Shahi. Not only has nobody in the division had a better year than Fox, no one in the entire FCBA has.
BANTAMWEIGHT OF THE YEAR: CHLOE BENNET. Three women won bantamweight title fights in 2017, Troian Bellisario, Emily VanCamp and Chloe Bennet. Bellisario lost one fight all year, to VanCamp. VanCamp also lost one. To Bennet. Bennet hasn't lost any, going 8-0 on the year. Of course, Troi can make monkeys out of us by beating Chloe in their title fight later this week. But, this award is based on what's happened to this point, and, to this point, by the narrowest of margins, the award goes to Chloe Bennet.
LIGHTWEIGHT OF THE YEAR: ADRIANA LIMA. This award has, seemingly, been in the bag since mid-year. Lima not only dominated in 2017, she became the first fighter ever to hold three titles at the same time (Unified Lightweight, Queen of the Ice Hotel, Mistress of the Body Saddle) and, while simultaneously defending those titles, she also made it to the semi-finals of the Victoria's Secret Tournament before losing to welterweight Karlie Kloss. She lost one fight within the division all year (to Kendall Jenner), and beat, basically, all comers while doing so.
WELTERWEIGHT OF THE YEAR: HANNAH FERGUSON. Gang, if, in this day and age, you win a lineal title TWICE in one year, you're probably a lock for this award, and, that's precisely what the lovely Ms. Ferguson did in 2017. Hannah snatched the belts from Gemma Atkinson back in March, but lost them to Kate Upton two months later. Fast forward to October when Ferguson, coming off a win over Amanda Righetti, won the belts back with her second win of the year over Hilary Rhoda. And, while we know none of this is going to sit well with Tahnee Atkinson...or Kate Upton, that makes the choice for 2017's top welter pretty clear.
At least BWO is consistent in ignoring the last PPV of the season.
All the very best for the PPV tmr!
