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THE RING Year-End Awards 2017: Finalists for ‘Round of the Year’

Photo / @HBOBoxing
Fighters Network
20
Dec

What a year 2017 has been for boxing.

There were 90,000 fans at Wembley Stadium in London for Anthony Joshua vs. Wladimir Klitschko. Floyd Mayweather and UFC star Conor McGregor made the world stop. Canelo Alvarez and Gennady Golovkin threw down in the superfight that everyone wanted to see.

And that was just the tip of the enswell.

For the first time in recent memory our editorial staff struggled to shortlist almost every one of our 10 categories. There was disagreement (there always is) but we’ve now managed to pull together five official nominees per category for year-end honors.



The categories are: Fighter of the Year, Fight of the Year, Knockout of the Year, Trainer of the Year, Upset of the Year, Event of the Year, Comeback of the Year, Round of the Year, Prospect of the Year and Most Inspirational.

Leading up to revealing the winners, we will present nominees in two categories each day. As always, we would love to hear your opinions: Category 3: Round of the Year.

The finalists (in alphabetical order) are:

Miguel Roman  TKO9 Orlando Salido (Round 8): As they had done all night, Salido and Roman chin and body checked each other, but it was Salido who hit the canvas following a stream of heavy power shots. Momentarily discouraged, Salido’s warrior soul got him up and, despite absorbing more punishment, the grizzled old veteran was the one throwing bombs as the bell rang to end a sensational round.

Dominic Breazeale KO5 Izuagbe Ugonoh (Round 3): Ugonoh was letting his hands go when a short right-hand counter knocked him to the canvas. Breazeale attempted to end matters but shipped one huge right hand after another as Ugonoh desperately tried to stay alive. Breazeale absorbed enormous amounts of punishment but incredibly summoned the willpower and energy to stun Ogonoh as the bell sounded to end an extraordinary round.

Anthony Joshua TKO11 Wladimir Klitschko (Round 5): As many expected, Joshua’s explosiveness showed up early when he dropped Klitschko with a savage two-fisted barrage. The writing was on the wall until the Ukrainian legend shirked survival instincts in favor of firepower. The former champion was thumping away on a weary looking Joshua as the bell rang to end a dramatic session.

Canelo Alvarez D12 Gennady Golovkin (Round 12): Canelo had closed well in the championship rounds but saved some of his best assaults for the final three minutes. Blistering combinations exploded off the head of Golovkin who barely blinked before launching a furious assault of his own. Both middleweight warriors teed off on each other down the stretch. Awesome.

Srisaket Sor Rungvisai KO4 Roman Gonzalez II (Round 4): Gonzalez was coming out second best over the first three rounds, but nobody could have foreseen what would happen next. Sor Rungvisai landed a perfect right hook during an exchange which dropped “Chocolatito” hard. It was a great shot, trumped seconds later when the same punch knocked Gonzalez out cold. An unforgettable moment in boxing.

Who do you believe deserves the award?

 

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