Martinez wins fight of the year

Boxing missed its chance in 2010 to seize worldwide attention for the sport with a welterweight match between Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr., and so we recognize that as the Non-Event of the Year in Newsday's year-end awards.

The debate at the beginning of the year was a lively one over the blood-testing issue raised by Mayweather's suspicions of performance-enhancing drug use by Pacquiao. But that faded later when Pacquiao agreed to random testing and still couldn't lure Mayweather in a second attempt to make that fight. Those who say Pacquiao's record eight world titles in different divisions mean less without a win over Mayweather should look to the other corner and call out Mayweather for avoiding Pacquiao.

While those two fighters commanded headlines for what they didn't do, boxing found a way to produce enough drama without them. You just had to know where to look.

The Fighter of the Year is a no-brainer: WBC middleweight champion Sergio Martinez emerged at the age of 35 with two electric performances that showed how thrilling the sport can be when a great athlete steps up to the challenge against the best available competition.

On this scorecard, it says Martinez won the Fight of the Year when he moved up to middleweight and dethroned Kelly Pavlik in a bout that flowed back and forth early before Martinez took charge and carved up the slower Pavlik. Then, southpaw Martinez threw the Punch of the Year when his overhand left landed flush to KO Paul Williams at 1:10 of the second round. No other fighter came close to putting together two performances of such magnitude.

The only problem now is finding a suitable big-time opponent for Martinez because you know Mayweather won't go up to 154 to meet him if he isn't willing to go with Pacquiao. The best option might be my nominee for Comeback Fighter of the Year: Miguel Angel Cotto.

He only fought once, and his ninth-round TKO of Yuri Foreman was aided by a debilitating knee injury that left Foreman vulnerable. But Cotto boxed better after working with trainer Emanuel Steward and would go to war with Martinez.

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The card headlined by the Cotto-Foreman bout marked the first boxing event at new Yankee Stadium and gets recognition here as the Local Promotion of the Year. It was a grand stage, and it generated the kind of excitement the New York metro boxing scene needs.

The runner-up would be the Jan. 23 card in the Theater at Madison Square Garden that featured Juan Manuel Lopez's seventh-round TKO over Steven Luevano for the WBO featherweight title preceded by Cuban Yuriorkis Gamboa's second-round TKO of Rogers Mtagwa in defense of his WBA featherweight title. My New Year's wish is for an eventual match between Lopez and Gamboa to take place at the Garden.

My best Local Fight of the Year was Zab Judah's controversial split decision over Argentine Lucas Matthysse at the Prudential Center. Both fighters belong in the mix down the road in the hot light welterweight division.

WBA 140-pound champ Amir Khan already is part of that scene after making his U.S. debut in May at the Garden with an 11th-round TKO of Brooklyn's Paulie Malignaggi. Khan's close unanimous decision over Rene Marcos Maidana just a week ago could have been a fight of the year candidate.

One other fighter who distinguished himself in 2010 was Juan Manuel Marquez, who returned to the lightweight division after his 2009 loss to Mayweather at welterweight and scored wins over Juan Diaz and Michael Katsidis. A third match with Pacquiao in 2011 would be a treat for boxing fans after Marquez drew and lost a split decision in their previous meetings.

Anything is better than my picks for Snoozers of the Year: Mayweather's lopsided decision over worn Shane Mosley and Pacquiao's decision over Joshua Clottey, the two fights that replaced the proposed Mayweather-Pacquiao bout.