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My fighter of the year is Miguel Cotto. He pushed over that cusp of being capable of doing great things to actually doing them and becoming one of the top fighters in the world and the biggest threat to Mayweather. Cotto made himself a true star in boxing and took on incredibly tough opposition in Zab Judah and Shane Mosley, back to back too, I may add. Mayweather on the other hand, did what he was supposed to do in defeating Oscar de la Hoya and Ricky Hatton; there were doubts about the outcome of the Judah and Mosley fights and Cotto proved himself to be an elite fighter. Money and hype do not a Fighter of the Year make. My runner up would be Kelly Pavlik, for KOing tough to elite competition in each of his fights, and being exciting in the process, while being an underdog in the two biggest fights of his career.