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2014
WORLD BOXING FEDERATION AWARDS |
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Fighter Of The Year |
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Isaac Rodrigues (Brazil)
WBF World
Middleweight
Champion
Previous Winners:
2013: Danie Venter
(South Africa)
2012: Marco Antonio
Rubio (Mexico)
2011: Michael Grant
(USA)
2010: Evander
Holyfield (USA)
2009: William Gare
(South Africa) |
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Despite a respectable 19-2
record, Rodrigues began the
year as an almost “forgotten
fighter”. He ended 2014 as
WBF world middleweight
champion and Fighter of the
Year. What a difference 12
months can make. The
turn-around for the
30-year-old began when he
KO’ed Eduardo Tercero in the
4th round in May
to win the WBF Latin super
middleweight belt. When WBF
world champ Bernard Donfack
declined an offer to venture
to Brazil in favor of a
defense in Germany, Isaac
switched his attention to
his original 160 lbs
division – and delivered in
real style, stopping Mexican
José Pinzon in eight
turbulent rounds to finally,
after more than nine years
as a professional, crown
himself a world champion and
a deserving WBF Fighter of
the Year award. |
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Female Fighter Of
The Year |
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Eva Voraberger (Austria)
WBF World
Super Flyweight
Champion
Previous Winners:
2013: Christina
Hammer (Germany)
2012: Holly Holm
(USA)
2011: Christina
Hammer (Germany)
2010: Ramona Kühne
(Germany)
2009: Natascha
Ragosina (Russia) |
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Austria’s “Golden Baby” is
the only female fighter to
win two WBF world title
bouts last year, but that’s
not the point. One can also
not argue much with those
who say she should have won
her two championship fights
more convincingly, but
listen to her 2014 story. It
began when Eva grabbed the
vacant WBF world super
flyweight crown with a close
decision against Thai
teenager Nonggift
Onesongchaigym, who in eight
previous outing had only
lost in her debut. In
November, WBF International
bantamweight titleholder
Renata Domsodi moved down to
challenge Voraberger, and
what a struggle it turned
out to be. After two rather
uneventful rounds, Renata
landed a perfect right hand
in the 3rd to not
just knock Eva down, but
also dislocate her jaw! She
barely beat the count and
while the Austrian corner
wanted to save her,
Voraberger, hardly able to
speak, declined and finished
the fight in a grotesque
state. Every round was
nip-‘n’-tuck, every round
was painful and only a
desperate effort in the 10th
and last stanza saved Eva
the split decision and her
world title. And if you
think that’s still not
enough of a character test,
then consider that she was
crying in the dressing room
for a gallant Renata
Domsodi, uttering in severe
pain how much the Hungarian
deserves a rematch. But even
if Voraberger would lose a
return, she will forever
remain the WBF’s Female
Fighter of the Year 2014. |
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Fight Of The Year |
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Rafik Harutjunjan
W12 Ilya Prymak
World
Welterweight
Championship
(13.10
/ Amsterdam)
Previous Winners:
2013:
Laszlo Toth vs.
Giorgi Ungiadze
2012: Juan José
Montes vs. Oscar
Ibarra I
2011: Ali Funeka vs.
Zolani Marali I
2010: Evander
Holyfield vs.
Francois Botha
2009: Kreshnik Qato
vs.
Fabio Liggieri |
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Never heard of them before?
Well, most boxing fans will
share that feeling. Except
those who were ringside for
their epic battle, because
for them it might very well
end up a memory to cherish
for decades to come.
Statistically, both were
beginners with Harutjunjan
going into his biggest fight
at 7-0 and Prymak at 8-0,
but their battle was well
worth for the winner to
become WBF world
welterweight champion. And
yet, the fight was almost
over before it really began,
when a Harutjunjan right
hand cracked Prymak in the
opening round and one could
only guess what prevented
him from falling. It was the
start of a war with neither
willing to owe the other a
punch and advantages kept
switching almost by the
round. Ukraine’s Prymak had
the fight won – or so
everyone thought – in round
seven, when he send a spend
Harutjunjan down twice. But
somehow or other, Rafik
managed to come back and
they finished a fight to
behold standing toe-to-toe
and punching like there’s no
tomorrow. Unfortunately,
this fight had to have a
loser, but in reality, both
proved so much that both are
winners. And what to speak
of the fans at ringside, who
will need a similar amount
of punches to their heads to
ever forget the WBF’s Fight
of the Year 2014. |
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Female Fight Of The
Year |
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Rola El Halabi W10
Victoria Cisneros
World Light
Welterweight
Championship
(10.5 /
Ulm)
Previous Winners:
2013: Raja Amasheh
vs. Eva Voraberger
2012: Holly Holm vs.
Anne Sophie Mathis
II
2011: Christina
Hammer vs. Maria
Lindberg
2010: Myriam Lamare
vs.
Lucia Morelli
2009: Myriam Lamare vs. Ann
Marie Saccurato |
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This one, the second defense
of the WBF world light
welterweight title by El
Halabi, surely ranks high
among the most absorbing
female fights in history. No
knockdowns, but an all-out
war that became more intense
with each passing round. The
champion was the boxer, the
challenger the fighter – and
you’ll never see a tougher
girl than Victoria, or one
with a better body attack.
Regardless of what Rola
landed, and it was a lot,
make no mistake, Cisneros
was right in her face,
maltreating her body in
frightful fashion. El
Halabi’s win was close, but
deserved, and when she
briefly collapsed in the
dressing from sheer
exhaustion you knew you had
seen something special. You
had seen the WBF Female
Fight of the Year 2014 and
2015 will be hard pressed to
deliver a better one. |
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Newcomer Of The Year |
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Zhang Junlong (China)
Intercontinental
Heavyweight
Champion
Previous Winners:
2013: Timy Shala
(Austria)
2012: Timur Akhundov
(Ukraine)
2011: Nadjib
Mohammedi (France)
2010: Yvan Mendy
(France)
2009: Goran Delic
(Bosnia &
Hercegovina) |
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Can someone at 34 years of
age be called a Newcomer of
the Year? Yes, Zhang can!
The big Chinese heavyweight
won all his four fights in
2014 by knockout, along the
way picking up the WBF
Asia-Pacific and, in his
most recent fight, the WBF
Intercontinental title.
Junlong’s record now stands
at 8-0 (8) and, knowing that
he ain’t a teenager anymore,
he is eager to prove himself
next year at the world
level. Of the previous five
WBF Newcomer’s of the Year,
two progressed to become WBF
world champions and Zhang
Junlong has the size, tools
and power to follow suit. |
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Female Newcomer Of
The Year |
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Melanie Zwecker (Germany)
International
Featherweight
Champion
Previous Winners:
2013: Natalia
Smirnova (Russia)
2012: Raja Amasheh
(Germany)
2011: Zita Zatyko
(Hungary)
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2014 was a good year for
German featherweight Melanie
Zwecker: She remained
undefeated as a professional
and, of course, she won her
first title, the WBF
International crown,
convincingly outpointing
experienced Grecia Nova from
the Dominican Republic. Her
other two (non-title)
opponents last year were
dispatched inside the
distance and Melanie set
herself up for bigger things
over the coming 12 months
with a record now standing
at 6-0 (3) with 1 No
Contest. And now she’s got a
WBF award on top of it! |
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Promoter Of The Year |
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Dexter T. Tan
(Philippines)
Previous Winners:
2013: Oliver Heib &
Bernhard Notar
(Germany)
2012: Oswaldo Kuchle
& Hector Garcia
(Mexico)
2011: Damian Michael
(South Africa)
2010: Ylli Ndroqi
(Albania)
2009: Ulf Steinforth
(Germany)
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The 40-year-old from General
Santos City, head of Sanman
Promotions, started to
promote professional fights
in 2009. While 2014 was by
far his busiest and most
fruit-bearing year in the
game so far, it also marked
the start of Dexter’s hugely
successful relationship with
the World Boxing Federation.
He promoted no less than
eight WBF championships last
year and consequently
established the WBF firmly
in the Philippines. At the
top of his WBF achievements
sits new WBF world super
featherweight champion
Harmonito Dela Torre. |
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Presidents Special
Service Award |
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André Martin
(France)
Previous Winners:
2013: Jennifer
Salinas (Bolivia)
2012:
Oliver Heib &
Bernhard Notar
(Germany)
2011: Dr. Humbert
Furgoni (France)
2010: John Sheppard
(England)
2009: Anila Qato
(Albania)
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The WBF Presidents Award is
bestowed for sincerity,
honor, respect, principles
and hard work and
commitment. The 2014 award
was a tough decision with
several worthy contenders
standing out. However, WBF
President Howard Goldberg
made the decision to give
his award to the President
of the French Boxing
Federation (FFB), André
Martin, for his principled
attitude of standing by the
WBF's decision in the world
title fight between Raja
Amasheh and Amira Hamzaoui.
While others tried to
overrule the decision of the
judges, who had been
co-approved by the WBF and
WBC, Martin had no
hesitation in standing
behind the original decision
of the judges, and thus
proved himself as a man of
integrity, and not one to be
intimated by others. His
principled and bold
approach, and his
transparency after this
fight was concluded makes
him a worthy winner of the
WBF's Presidents Special
Service Award. |
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Trainer Of The Year |
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Ulysses Pereira
(Brazil)
Previous Winners:
2013: Juan Carlos
Contreras (Mexico)
2012:
Alan Toweel
(South Africa)
2011: Dirk Dzemski
(Germany)
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Of course, his masterpiece
as a trainer was turning
Brazilian superstar Acelino
Freitas into an all-time
great. But the job Ulysses
Pereira did with Isaac
Rodrigues over the past
year, justifies nothing less
than to decorate the
51-year-old with the WBF
Trainer of the Year award
for 2014. Of course – see
below – he is the man in the
gym behind the stunning
success Rodrigues enjoyed,
culminating in winning the
WBF world middleweight title
and Fighter of the Year
award. Pereira has his own
boxing gym in his hometown
of Belem, Brazil from which
he trains professional
boxers since 1995, closing
in fast on two decades of
the hard work that is seldom
witnessed, but instrumental
behind the success of every
boxer. Now those gym walls
will be decorated by the
WBF’s award plaque,
testimony of the expertise
and success of Ulysses
Pereira as a world class
trainer. |
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Referee Of The Year |
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Brahim Ait Aadi
(Belgium)
Previous Winners:
2013: Edward
Marshall (South
Africa)
2012:
Tonio Tiberi
(Luxembourg)
2011: Juan
José Ramirez
(Mexico)
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For boxers, sometimes
reputations are built on
just one fight. Now we know
that this also goes for
referees. While it is
surprising to see a referee
of Ait Aadi’s undisputed
quality featuring in just
one WBF championship in
2014, that was a fight he
won’t ever forget and it’s
not because he refereed the
WBF Fight of the Year
between Rafik Harutjunjan
and Ilya Prymak. Here’s the
story: While trying to break
the fighters in round five,
Brahim actually dislocated
his right shoulder and
experienced severe pain.
Maybe he was so
adrenaline-charged by the
slug-fest for which he had
the best “seat” in the
house, but fact is he
declined the offer of judge
Mufadel Elghazaoui to
substitute for him after the
injury occurred. And guess
what, Brahim refereed in
amazing fashion until the
final bell with hardly
anyone noticing that
something was wrong with
him! Right after the fight,
Elghazaoui drove Ait Aadi to
an Amsterdam hospital, where
they spend the night with
examinations during which it
turned out that also a
tendon was ruptured and an
operation at one point in
the future is unavoidable.
Next time an announcer
introduces Brahim, he might
well say “And now, make
place for the toughest
referee in town - and WBF
Referee of the Year 2014!” |
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