2014 Round of the Year

Winner
Round 2: Juan Manuel Lopez vs. Daniel Ponce De Leon

It shouldn't come as a surprise that round 2 between Juan Manuel Lopez and Daniel Ponce De Leon is the winner of Big Time Boxing's 2014 Round of the Year.  Round 2 of that fight was absolutely electric with both fighters tasting the canvas.  Lopez went down first from a Ponce De Leon left hook and it looked like that would be the end of the fight as well as Lopez's career.  Yet Lopez came back swinging and dropped Ponce De Leon with a vicious left hook.  Shortly after that knockdown Lopez put Ponce De Leon down again and it was clear he was in serious trouble.  Sensing the moment Lopez pounced on Ponce De Leon against the ropes and unleashed a flurry of punches that forced the referee to stop the fight.  While the stoppage may have been a hair premature the round was an electric one and it also saved the career of Lopez for the time being.  The fight only lasted about six minutes but the three minutes of round 2 are something boxing fans won't soon forget.


Runner-Up
Round 1: Thomas Williams Jr. vs. Cornelius White

The runner-up for Big Time Boxing's 2014 Round of the Year took even less time to happen then the winning round.  The 1st round between Thomas Williams Jr. and Cornelius White was a brutal one.  Williams Jr. started things off quickly by dropping White with a left hand.  Williams Jr. followed that knockdown up well and was really putting a hurting on White when White caught him with a left hook and badly hurt him.  At this point the fight could have easily gone either way with both fighters having been dropped and Williams Jr. still hurt.  However Williams Jr. was able to overcome his shaky legs and he badly hurt White with a left hand.  Shortly after that Williams Jr. dropped White again and while White as able to get up and continue it wouldn't last much longer.  Williams Jr. jumped on White and put some combinations together which forced the referee to stop the fight in the very 1st round.


Honorable Mention
Round 9: Terence Crawford vs. Yuriorkis Gamboa

Round 9 of the fight between Terence Crawford and Yuriorkis Gamboa garnered an honorable mention for Round of the Year and the fight as a whole is also a candidate for Fight of the Year.  Round 9 was the exclamation point to that fight with both Crawford and Gamboa getting hurt.  In the opening minute of the round Gambia caught Crawford and wobbled him badly.  For the rest of the round it was clear that Crawford was still trying to recover but he kept throwing heavy leather.  While still trying to get his legs back Crawford floored Gamboa with a beautiful left hand that had Gamboa in bad shape.  Instead of playing it safe Gamboa decided to go to war and kept throwing punches with his hands down.  He went after Crawford but got caught by a monster uppercut that dropped him again and caused the referee to stop the fight.


In The Running
Round 9: Juan Manuel Marquez vs. Mike Alvarado
At the very end of Round 8 between Juan Manuel Marquez and Mike Alvarado, Alvarado was dropped and he was so badly hurt it looked like his corner might stop the fight between rounds.  Luckily for boxing fans they let it continue because Round 9 was full of back and forth action.  Alvarado caught Marquez with a big right hand in the opening minute of Round 9 and floored him.  Marquez was way ahead on the cards and could have played it safe but instead he went right back at Alvarado.  While Marquez got the better of the action from that point on Alvarado never stopped coming forward.  Marquez was landing brutal punches and Alvarado walked through it to land power punches of his own.  It was a brutal fight and proved once again that Alvarado may be the closest thing in the sport today to Arturo Gatti, which is all you really need to know about a fighter.


Round 12: Adrien Broner vs. Emmanuel Taylor
The fight between Adrien Broner and Emmanuel Taylor was probably one of the most underrated of 2014.  The high point of that fight came in round 12 which provided fans with some great back and forth action.  Taylor was down on the cards and started the round looking for the knockout.  Taylor went to Broner's body well and caught him clean upstairs a few times and it looked like he would take the round.  However in the final minute Broner caught Taylor with a nice left hook to the body that wobbled him.  Broner sensed his man was hurt and really started putting together some nice power punches and with twenty seconds left in the fight Broner sent Taylor to the canvas with a massive left hook that Broner threw from so low it almost looked like an uppercut.  Taylor was able to finish the fight but the outcome didn't really matter all fans will remember is that exciting final round.


Round 4: David Lemieux vs. Gabriel Rosado
Whenever David Lemieux or Gabriel Rosado enter the ring a brutal, exciting fight usually comes too.  This fight started off all Lemieux and it looked like it could be a quick night.  In the 4th round Lemieux was really putting a hurting on Rosado when the tough as nails Rosado turned things around.  Rosado decided to go for broke and started trading power punches with Lemieux and found some success.  Rosado was able to trap Lemieux against the ropes and landed some power punches when all of a sudden Lemieux landed a monster left hook that wobbled him.  Still Rosado kept throwing big punches and it made for a highly entertaining give and take round.


Round 12: Mauricio Herrera vs. Jose Benavidez
When boxing fans think of excitement the name Mauricio Herrera doesn't always come to mind.  That was not the case however in his fight against top prospect Jose Benavidez.  Round 12 of their fight was a great one.  Herrera seemed to be way ahead on the cards and Benavidez's corner told him he needed a knockout if he wanted to win.  Benavidez went looking for the knockout and landed some power punches on Herrera.  Instead of playing it safe and sticking and moving the light hitting Herrera decided to stay in the pocket and trade punches and put some really good work in on the body of Benavidez.  While the fight was marred by a horrible decision that went the way of Benavidez round 12 should be a moment of pride for Herrera and his fans.