BWAA AWARDS: Congrats To Borges, Bernie, Ronan!

                               STRADLEY, BORGES, HAUSER LEAD BARNEYS

Don Stradley, Ron Borges and Thomas Hauser are the top winners in the eighth annual Boxing Writers Association of America writing contest, known as the “Barneys” in memory of the late former president of the BWAA, Barney Nagler.

They and other winners for the 2008 calendar year will be recognized at the 84th annual BWAA Awards Dinner which will be held June 12 at The Capitale in New York City.

Writing for The Ring magazine, Stradley took first place in the features (under 2,500 words) category as well as second place in event coverage.

Hauser authored a piece for Secondsout.com that tied Borges, writing for Boxing Monthly, for first place in investigative reporting. Hauser also had a Secondsout.com story that came in second in features (over 2,500 words), while Borges, the only writer to win three awards, had thirds in event coverage and features (under 2,500 words). Those articles appeared in Thesweetscience.com and Boxing Monthly, respectively.

The only other multiple winner was former Sports Illustrated staffer Franz Lidz, who placed second in both features (over 2,500 words) and columns for stories that appeared in Conde Nast Portfolio.

Other first-place winners include Steve Farhood, Boxing Monthly, event coverage; David P. Greisman, Maxboxing.com, columns; Bernard Fernandez, Philadelphia Daily News, news story; and Carlo Rotella, New York Times Sports Magazine, and Michael Rivest, The Ring, who tied in features (over 2,500 words).

A panel of six nationally renowned sports writers judged the contest, with bylines deleted from all entries.

The complete list of honorees is as follows:

BOXING EVENT COVERAGE

1. Steve Farhood, “Doing It His Way,” Boxing Monthly, Feb. 2008 issue
2. Don Stradley, “Looking Good Has Never Been Harder,” The Ring, May 2008 issue
3. (tie) Ron Borges, “Not a Rock, He’s Limestone,” Thesweetscience.com, July 18, 2008; William Dettloff, “Hopkins-Pavlik,” The Ring, Jan. 2009 issue (on newsstands in November 2008); T.K. Stewart, “Walking in a Hatton Wonderland,” Boxingscene.com, Nov. 22, 2008

Honorable mention: Adam Berlin, Fightbeat.com; Bernard Fernandez, Philadelphia Daily News; David P. Greisman, Boxingscene.com; Ronan Keenan, Thesweetscience.com; Shawn Krest, Boxingscene.com; Kieran Mulvaney, ESPN.com

BOXING COLUMN

1. David P. Greisman, “The Prices They Pay: Of Warriors and Tragedies,” Maxboxing.com, May 12, 2008
2. Franz Lidz, “Damon Feldman’s Celebrity Boxing Federation,” Conde Nast Portfolio, December 2008 issue
3. Jake Donovan, “Boxing Needs New Faces, Not Another Facelift,” Boxingscene.com, Jan. 23, 2008

Honorable mention: Brett Conway, Maxboxing.com; Matthew Hurley, Secondsout.com; George Kimball, Boxingtalk.com; David Mayo, Grand Rapids Press; Lance Pugmire, Los Angeles Times; Don Stradley, ESPN.com; Michael Swann, 15rounds.com; John Whisler, San Antonio Express News; George Willis, New York Post

BOXING NEWS STORY

1. Bernard Fernandez, “Olympic Education Center KO’d By Budget Cuts,” Philadelphia Daily News, Jan. 29, 2008
2. Michael Swann, “Hi, There, Welcome to K-Mart,” 15rounds.com, Nov. 11, 2008
3. George Kimball, “Luis Resto-Billy Collins Redux,” Boxingtalk.com, April 3, 2008

Honorable mention: Lyle Fitzsimmons, Sportsnetwork.com; Norm Frauenheim, Arizona Republic; David P. Greisman, Maxboxing.com; Thomas Hauser, Secondsout.com; David Mayo, Grand Rapids Press; Ron Ross, Trufanboxing.com; Don Stradley, ESPN.com; Sean Sullivan, Boxing Digest; John Whisler, San Antonio Express News; George Willis, ESPN.com

BOXING FEATURE (under 2,500 words)

1. Don Stradley, “The Nonpareil,” The Ring, June 2008 issue
2. Joseph Santoliquito, “New Faces: Danny Garcia,” The Ring, Nov. 2008 issue
3. Ron Borges, “Do You Know Who I Am?,” Boxing Monthly, April 2008 issue

Honorable mention: Bobby Cassidy, Newsday.com; Nigel Collins, TheRingOnline.com; William Dettloff, ESPN.com; Brian Doogan, Sunday Times of London; Steve Farhood, Boxing Monthly; Lance Pugmire, Los Angeles Times; Eric Raskin, The Ring; Michael Woods, Thesweetscience.com

BOXING FEATURE (over 2,500 words)

1. (tie) Carlo Rotella, “And Now, The Biggest Entertainer in Entertainment,” New York Times Sports Magazine, June 7, 2008; Michael Rivest, “The Color of Boxing,” The Ring, December 2008 issue
2. Franz Lidz, “Oscar De La Hoya — Fighter and Promoter,” Conde Nast Portfolio, November 2008 issue
3. Thomas Hauser, “John L. Sullivan Revisited,” Secondsout.com, Aug. 1, 2008

Honorable mention: Ron Borges, Boxing Monthly; Brian Doogan, Sunday Times of London; Bernard Fernandez, Philadelphia Daily News; Thomas Gerbasi, Maxboxing.com; Jack Hirsch, Boxing News; Kevin Iole, Yahoosports.com; Joseph Santoliquito, The Ring

BOXING INVESTIGATIVE REPORTING

1. (tie) Ron Borges, “The Dying Art of Matchmaking,” Boxing Monthly, June 2008 issue; Thomas Hauser, “HBO – 2008,” Secondsout.com, May 28, 2008; Brian Doogan, “I Took Steroids to Build Me Up and It Led to a False Positive HIV Result,” Sunday Times of London, Jan. 6, 2008
2. Don Steinberg, “DVD Pirates Filling Their Shelves _ And Customers’ Orders,” ESPN.com, May 13, 2008

Honorable mention: Bobby Cassidy, The Ring; Bernard Fernandez, Philadelphia Daily News; Norm Frauenheim, TheRingOnline.com; Michael Hirsley, ESPN.com; Shawn O’Donnell, Eastsideboxing.com; Lance Pugmire, Los Angeles Times; John Whisler, San Antonio Express News.