Sergio Martinez was named the Fighter of the Year by the Boxing Writers association of America for 2010 in the strength of his winning the Middleweight title over Kelly Pavlik and crunching second round knockout over Paul Williams in November.
“I’m happy for him. He earned it. I don’t think there was any question,” Lou DiBella, Martinez’s promoter, told ESPN.com. “He’s a humble guy, but I think he knows he was fighter of the year. I know that he will be proud. He worked very hard to get there and most of that time quietly and unknown to fans. This is 15 years of hard work.”
Freddie Roach, best known for his work with Pacquiao, won the Futch award for trainer of the year.
Junior welterweight titlist Amir Khan of England and Argentina’s Marcos Maidana will share the Muhammad Ali-Joe Frazier award for fight of the year.
Khan won a barnburner on December 11th where he had to overcome some crunching blows from Maidana after Khan dominated the first half of the the thrilling fight.
Also to be honored by the BWAA:
• Bill Caplan, a longtime publicist beloved by writers and fighters alike, will receive the Marvin Kohn good guy award. Caplan worked with George Foreman for decades and was with Top Rank for many years, and now is with Golden Boy Promotions.
• Lightweight contender Robert Guerrero will receive the Crawford award for courage and overcoming adversity. Guerrero, a former featherweight and junior lightweight titlist, put his career on hold to be by his wife Casey’s side as she battled leukemia before making a successful return.
• Jack Obermayer, who has been ringside to chronicle more than 3,000 cards for various publications, will receive the Condon award for long and meritorious service to boxing.
• In two previously announced awards, former Ring magazine and KO magazine editor Steve Farhood, who has written about boxing for more than 30 years and continues to write for England’s Boxing Monthly and work as a Showtime analyst, will receive the Fleischer lifetime award for excellence in boxing journalism, and former junior welterweight contender Micky Ward will be honored with the James A. Farley award for honesty and integrity.
