Lance Pugmire of the Los Angeles Times took top individual honors in the 10th annual Boxing Writers Association of America writing contest, known as the “Barneys” in honor of Barney Nagler, the late former president of the BWAA.

The contest period covered the 2010 calendar year. Winning entrants will be honored at the 86th annual BWAA Awards Dinner on May 6 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

Pugmire was the only winner of two first-place awards, in judging by a panel of nationally recognized sports writers and journalism instructors. He tied John Whisler, of the San Antonio Express News, for first in Event Coverage, for a story on a winning but lackluster victory by Shane Mosley, and in Column, which cited the unconvincing attempt by Antonio Margarito and his trainer to explain their mocking gestures toward Manny Pacquiao’s trainer, Freddie Roach, who has Parkinson’s disease. But Pugmire wasn’t the only LA Times writer to place highly. Bill Dwyre and Kevin Baxter shared third place in the Feature Under 1,750 Words category.