by Cliff Rold

It can be one of the hardest terms to define in boxing.

What is a comeback?

It used to be that a comeback was pretty easy to understand.  When Joe Louis came out of retirement to challenge new champion Ezzard Charles, he was making a comeback.  When Sugar Ray Leonard decided to end retirements and test his repaired retina against Kevin Howard and then Marvin Hagler, those were comebacks.  George Foreman leaving the pulpit to have essentially a second, separate career in the squared circle?

Comeback.

Can a fighter have a comeback if he never went anywhere?

As “Comeback of the Year” has become a regular part of awards season, there has been a broadening of the concept.  In an era where even non-elite fighters take on far-softer-than-the old-days schedules of 2-3 fights per year, any fight after a bad loss is often considered a comeback.

Those are really rebounds.

Times change and terms can evolve, so rebounds and comebacks sort of get jumbled together.

It’s highly debatable.  Archie Moore fought 13 times in 1948, posting a mark of 9-4.  He was stopped twice (by Ezzard Charles and Leonard Morrow).  He didn’t make two, or four, comebacks.  He had fights and kept trucking right on into 1949.

It was the natural flow of his career.

This year, the nominees were a mix of genuine comebacks and rebounds.  The winner selected for the honor had a genuine comeback in 2014, posting one of the best wins of his rocky career and putting himself back in contention after almost two years out of the ring.

2014 Comeback of the Year: Rocky Juarez

The 2000 US Olympic Silver Medalist was supposed to be a star.  For a number of years, he made a pretty good co-star.  From the Games to pay-per-view main events, he was a reliable second place.  Rocky Juarez (30-10-1, 21 KO) made some exciting fights with Humberto Soto, Marco Antonio Barrera (the first time), and Chris John (the first time and in the last round the second time) in shots at various alphabet titles.

He never quite got over the hump.

The loss in the John rematch sent his career into six-fight losing skid that seemingly marked the end of Juarez as any sort of factor at Featherweight.  A win in October 2012 broke his fall and then Juarez vanished for a while.  While not officially retired, it was easy to assume Juarez was done.

He had other ideas.

Declaring before the fight to the Houston Chronicle that he would retire with a loss, Juarez stepped in with a then-world rated Rene Alvarado in May 2014.  Alvarado was coming off a stoppage of streaking Robinson Castellanos and was considered the favorite.  Juarez has always been a sort of smaller parallel to David Tua, a slow starter who looked for big punches to save him.  This night would be no different.

Juarez started slow.

Then he picked up the pace.

As the rounds wore on, Juarez was moving his hands and taking it to the younger man.  At the end of twelve exciting rounds, Juarez had his hands raised, something called a WBC Silver belt, and a big step towards a crack at WBC Featherweight titlist Jhonny Gonzalez.  Juarez went from all but forgotten to relevant again in just 36 fistic minutes.

Juarez is currently scheduled to face Castellanos on January 26. The winner could see Gonzalez before the year is out.  Rocky Juarez’s win over Alvarado was the most genuine comeback of the year.  We find out in 2015 if he can finally make his way past second place.

Runner-Up: Andy Lee

Middleweight Andy Lee (34-2, 24 KO) never really went anywhere.  It just felt like he did.  The former Olympian and Emanuel Steward protégé suffered a physically exacting stoppage loss to Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. in June 2012 in his first title shot.  He took eight months off and then began his climb back to contention.  Since the Chavez loss, he’s 6-0.  His last wins are why he’s here.  Flirting with the Jr. Middleweight division, Lee came off the floor to score a Knockout of the Year nominee over John Jackson in June.  That wouldn’t be his last highlight.

When Peter Qullin and Al Haymon decided it was better for Quillin to give up the WBO belt and stay off TV for the rest of 2014, Lee found himself with a shot at a vacant belt against fellow former Olympian Matt Korobov.  As was the case with Jackson, Lee fell behind early and erased the lead with a bomb.  Lee lit Korobov up and let loose a torrent of blows until referee Kenny Bayless stepped in to award him the victory and the WBO title.

Other Fighters Receiving Honorable Mention (In Alphabetical Order)

Cornelius Bundrage: It was surprising this former “Contender” alum ever really became one.  Then he won a title.  When Bundrage (34-5, 19 KO) lost the IBF 154 lb. title to Ishe Smith in February 2013, it was easy to assume his brush with the top was over.  He proved that wrong.  He took most a of a year off before going 2-0 in 2014, capping it off with a career-best decision over tough out Carlos Molina to regain the IBF belt.  Cornelius Bundrage, a two-time titlist at age 41.  Who would have ever guessed that?

Miguel Cotto: Cotto had a rough 2012, losing consecutive decisions to Floyd Mayweather and Austin Trout.  A return victory in 2013 over Delvin Rodriguez set the table for one of his best wins in 2014.  Taking advantage of the age and wheels of aging Middleweight champion Sergio Martinez, Cotto (39-4, 32 KO) dropped Martinez three times in the first and never looked back, eventually forcing a tenth-round corner retirement for history’s crown at 160 lbs.  A 2000 Olympian, Cotto became the first Puerto Rican to win titles in four weight classes and put 2012 behind him for good.

Andre Dirrell: After years of mismanagement (much of it self-inflicted), the physically gifted Dirrell (24-1, 16 KO) got busy in the second half of 2014 with three straight wins to get back into contention in the still-deep Super Middleweight field.  Dirrell had more fights this year than he’d had in the previous three.

Ali Funeka: Forgotten outside South Africa after failing to win a Lightweight title against Joan Guzman, Funeka (36-4-3, 29 KO) went 3-0 at Jr. Welterweight and Welterweight this year to make himself a factor again.  His biggest moment was his last, winning a technical decision over highly regarded, and then undefeated, Russian prospect Roman Belaev.      

Manny Pacquiao: Waking up from a career worst loss to Juan Manuel Marquez in 2012, Pacquiao (57-5-2, 38 KO) shut out former Lightweight titlist Brandon Rios in 2013.  In 2014, he showed he was all the way back, dominating Timothy Bradley in their April rematch. He regained the WBO Welterweight belt taken from him in a reviled decision their first time around.  Pacquiao followed that up with a one-sided stoppage of badly overmatched Chris Algieri, fully reigniting hopes of a showdown with Floyd Mayweather.

Alexander Povetkin: In 2013, the former Olympic Super Heavyweight Gold Medalist was punched and clinched into submission by Wladimir Klitschko in one of the worst Heavyweight title fights since Chris Byrd-DaVarryl Williamson. Povetkin (28-1, 20 KO) bounced back big in 2014, stopping journeyman Manuel Charr and then knocking out legitimate contender Carlos Takam with one of the best shots of the year.

Jermain Taylor: The former Undisputed Middleweight champion failed badly in a foray into the Super Middleweight division.  A win over Jeff Lacy was followed by consecutive 2009 knockout losses to Carl Froch and Artur Abraham, a brain bleed seemingly ending his career in the latter.  Medically cleared, Taylor came out of retirement in 2011 and has gone 5-0 since returning.  Parlaying his name value into a title shot in 2014, Taylor (33-4-1, 20 KO) dropped Sam Soliman repeatedly and won a decision for the IBF Middleweight belt in October.

BoxingScene 2014 Awards

Network of the Year: HBO

Comeback of the Year: Rocky Juarez

Event of the Year: Announced December 29 th

Prospect of the Year: Announced December 30 th

Upset of the Year: Announced December 31 st

Knockout of the Year: Announced January 1 st

Round of the Year: Announced January 2 nd

Robbery of the Year: Announced January 2 nd

Fight of the Year: Announced January 3 rd

Fighter of the Year: Announced January 4 th

Cliff Rold is a member of the Ring Magazine Ratings Advisory Panel, the Yahoo Pound for Pound voting panel, and the Boxing Writers Association of America.  He can be reached at roldboxing@hotmail.com