BWAA “Barneys” Writing Awards Announced

In perhaps the most diversified voting results to date, the judges for the 11th annual Boxing Writers Association of America writing contest, known as the “Barneys” in honor of the late BWAA president Barney Nagler, have tabbed different first-place winners in each of the six categories.

All award winners will be recognized at the 87th annual BWAA Awards Dinner to be held June 6 at the Copacabana in New York City.

Taking top honors are Michael Rosenthal, of RINGTV.com, for Event Coverage; Bernard Fernandez, of the Philadelphia Daily News, for Column; Lee Groves, of RINGTV.com, for News Story; Tom Gerbasi, of Boxingscene.com, for Feature Under 1,750 words; Ron Borges, of Boxing Monthly, for Feature Over 1,750 Words, and Springs Toledo, of Thesweetscience.com, for Investigative Reporting.

Judging was done on a blind basis, with all entries submitted with bylines and other identifying marks as to authorship removed, and on a weighted point system.

Borges also tied for third in Event Coverage, for a fight report written for the Boston Herald, with Toledo taking third in News Story. Other multiple placers in the top three include Kieran Mulvaney, of ESPN.com, with seconds in Event Coverage and (tie) Feature Over 1,750 Words; Thomas Hauser, second in Investigative Reporting (for Secondsout.com) and (tie) Feature Over 1,750 Words (for Toprank.com), and Eric Raskin, third in Feature Under 1,750 Words and Investigative Reporting, for stories written for Grantland.com.

In the unofficial sweepstakes competition, with five points for a first place, four for a second, three for a third and one for an honorable mention, RINGTV.com finished with 13 points to 12 for Thesweetscience.com, 11 for Boxingscene.com, nine for Boxing Monthly and eight for ESPN.com.

EVENT COVERAGE
1.Michael Rosenthal, RINGTV.com
2.Kieran Mulvaney, ESPN.com
3.(tie) Mitch Abramson, NYdailynews.com; Ron Borges, Boston Herald
Honorable Mention
Bart Barry, 15 rounds.com; Bill Dwyre, Los Angeles Times; David P. Greisman, Boxingscene.com; David Weinberg, The Press of Atlantic City

COLUMN
1.Bernard Fernandez, Philadelphia Daily News
2.(tie) David P. Greisman, Boxingscene.com; Gordon Marino, The Wall Street Journal; Kieran Mulvaney, ESPN.com
3.William Dettloff, RINGTV.com
Honorable Mention
Bart Barry, 15rounds.com; Ron Borges, Boston Herald; Springs Toledo, Thesweetscience.com

NEWS STORY
1.Lee Groves, RINGTV.com
2.Lance Pugmire, Los Angeles Times
3.Springs Toledo, Thesweetscience.com
Honorable Mention
Bill Dwyre, Los Angeles Times; David P. Greisman, Boxingscene.com; Thomas Hauser, The Ring; Gordon Marino, The Wall Street Journal; Don Steinberg, Philly.com; George Willis, New York Post

FEATURE UNDER 1,750 WORDS
1.Tom Gerbasi, Boxingscene.com
2.Steve Farhood, Boxing Monthly
3.Eric Raskin, Grantland.com
Honorable Mention
Bart Barry, 15rounds.com; Bill Dwyre, Los Angeles Times; Lee Groves, Compuboxonline.com; Matthew Hurley, Secondsout.com; Chris Mannix, Sports Illustrated; Lance Pugmire, Los Angeles Times.

FEATURE OVER 1,750 WORDS
1.Ron Borges, Boxing Monthly
2.(tie) Adam Berlin, Boxing.com; Chris Mannix, Sports Illustrated
3.(tie) Thomas Hauser, Toprank.com; Ronan Keenan, Thesweetscience.com
Honorable Mention
Bernard Fernandez, Philadelphia Daily News; Norm Frauenheim, The Ring

INVESTIGATIVE REPORTING
1.Springs Toledo, Thesweetscience.com
2.Thomas Hauser, Secondsout.com
3.Eric Raskin, Grantland.com
Honorable Mention
Ron Borges, The Ring; William Dettloff, The Ring; Norm Frauenheim, 15rounds.com; David Weinberg, The Press of Atlantic City

JUDGES
Rick Bozich, Louisville Courier-Journal; Ivan Maisel, ESPN.com; David Schwartz, University of Iowa, School of Journalism and Mass Communication; Jerry Sullivan, The Buffalo News; Paul Vigna, Harrisburg Patriot-News; Dr. Denny Wilkins, Saint Bonaventure University, School of Journalism.

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