Week of December 21-27, 2003 -- In a very slow holiday week, alleged heavyweight contender Rob Calloway was given the award following the occasion of his fourth bout against 17-19-1 Jason "The Native American Nightmare" Nicholson, partly for fighting Nicholson yet again, but also for being the topic of so much irritating discussion online. Dishonorable mention went to Peter Buckley for losing for the 20th and final time in 2003, and Giovanni Andrade for slaughtering yet another bum, this time the 0-15 Jose Claudio da Silva.

Week of December 14-20, 2003 -- Herbie "The Dancing Destroyer" Hide became the first ever repeat-FOW this week, and all but clinched Fighter of the Year honors for 2003. Hide, after being hit over the head with a bar stool and getting beaten up by six guys in a night club, was found wandering around a parking lot at 3 AM carrying a knife with a foot-long blade. When Hide was approached by police officers, he responded by trying to throw away the knife as he ran from them. After being arrested, and then discharged from a hospital, Hide explained: "I can't remember too much about it. I said to the nurse 'did I lose the fight? What round did I lose it in?' and she said 'it wasn't that kind of fight Herbie.'" Meanwhile, Arpad Toth, who in his only other known bout was TKO'd by former FOW Anton Lascek, earned overwhelmingly strong dishonorable mention for losing a six-rounder to Vlado Varhegi on a card in Slovakia. Stefan Stanko also picked up DM for reeling off his 18th consecutive loss (14 of them coming by way of knockout), as did Csaba Olah for losing for the second time in a week (following a ten-month layoff), this time at the hands of former Adnan Serin opponent Bruce Ozbek.

Week of December 7-13, 2003 -- Ross "The Boss" Thompson came out on top (that is, the bottom) for this week by getting KO'd in 73 seconds by 14-9-1 Levan Easley. (Unsurprisingly, an unidentified source told Fightnews that Thompson appeared at the venue "very late, shortly before his own bout began" and that, upon arrival, The Boss supposedly "looked out of it.") Bumkiller Vinroy Barrett picked up fairly strong dishonorable mention for following up his (losing) July appearance on Shobox by dropping a four-rounder to Chance Leggett. Brian Coleman, William Webster, Harry Butler, Keith Jones, Anton Vontszemu, Csaba Olah, Gabriel Botos, and Marris "Midnight" Virgil also earned dishonorable mention for generating eight fresh losses this week.

Week of November 30 - December 6, 2003 -- In a shame-packed week, Kirk Johnson stood tallest (and widest). Johnson weighed in at an extremely flabby, career-high 260 pounds for his fight against Vitali Klitschko, and Johnson's promoter Dino Duva demonstrated his idea of spin control by stating: "Kirk is in great shape. The weigh-in was outside of [Madison Square] Garden and it's freezing. Kirk had on three sweat suits. He doesn't want to catch a cold or the flu before the fight. I would guess Kirk weighs around 250 pounds, give or take a few pounds." Johnson, whatever his actual weight and minus the four-pound sweatsuits, was then easily knocked out in two rounds by Klitschko. Strong, strong dishonorable mention went to former 154-lb. European champ Wayne Alexander for getting KO'd by 9-19-1 Delroy Mellis, Hector Camacho Sr. for getting floored in the first round of his fight with Craig Houk, Geoff Yalenezian for losing a four-rounder to a 3-8 fighter on a card apparently promoted by his mother, Igor Krbusik for losing to 1-21 Slovak Ivan Vavrecan, Vlado Varhegi for getting fought to a draw by Joszef Lakatos, Joszef Lakatos for likewise failing to beat Vlado Varhegi, Wilberforce Shihepo for losing while having an amazing name, and Imrich Parlagi for making his eagerly-anticipated (and losing) return to the ring. Gabriel Botos, J.J. Corn and Peter Simko all also chipped in with fresh losses. SPECIAL NOTE TO GEIR INGE JORGENSEN: If you do not begin fighting live bodies soon (which, admittedly, is unlikely), you will start earning automatic dishonorable mention every time you step into the ring until you lose to one of the corpses, at which point you will be named Fighter of the Week, if not Fighter of the Year.

Week of November 23-29, 2003 -- Angel Manfredy won this week for his delusional interview with boxingtalk.net. Among many other notable things, Manfredy said of his KO loss to Courtney Burton (in which Manfredy was knocked down twice and stopped in eight rounds): "Courtney Burton did not beat me....HE CAN'T BEAT ME!...[B]asically Burton is nobody, so I'd rather not talk about the guy. He can't beat me, so let's not talk about him." He then continued to talk about Burton, criticizing Ring Magazine for moving Burton ahead of him in its rankings ("If they knew boxing, they wouldn't have done that to me"), and then at last concluded the interview by praising himself for his humility: "I'm gonna be pound for pound one of the greatest fighters in the world. All I am right now is very patient, very humble, a man of peace, and ready to go forward." Mike Wilson earned very strong dishonorable mention for getting KO'd in one round by Reggie Strickland at the Boot Scottin Bingo Parlor in Lafayette, Indiana, as did Brian Coleman, Arv Mittoo, Keith Jones, Peter Buckley and the splendidly-named Haroon Din, all of whom lost this week.

Week of November 16-22, 2003 -- John Brown came away with the crown for this week. In the first round of his fight with Rolando Reyes, Brown was hit with a pair of right hands and knocked halfway out of the ring. When the referee told him to re-enter it, Brown, still wobbly, tripped over the bottom rope and fell to the canvas, leading the referee to stop the bout. Brown's excuse for the loss, according to the Maxboxing report, was: "This is ridiculous....Reyes has nothing. He was slapping his punches and I slipped and went down." Brian Coleman and Peter Buckley kept rolling along also, picking up dishonorable mention for continuing their losing ways this week.

Week of November 9-15, 2003 -- Rico "Juice" Tan won handily this week. Tan got knocked out in the sixth round of his Canadian welterweight title fight against ultra-bumkiller Brooke Wellby, who once lost to the 9-46-4 Teddy Worth, once drew with Reggie Strickland, and who, going into the bout, had scored only one career win against an opponent with a winning record. Strong dishonorable mention went to Anthony Howard for getting stopped in three rounds by Reggie Strickland, Scott Sales for getting knocked out in the first round of yet another fight, and 11-52-1 John Moore, who was KO'd in three rounds by the great Alonzo Butler, as well as to the legendary Peter Buckley, Gabriel Botos, Joszef Lakatos, Michael Pinnock, Harry Butler and Donnie "The Black Battle Cat" Penelton for all losing once again.

Week of November 2-8, 2003 -- Malcolm Tann, a.k.a. "The Scourge of Fox Sports Net," won this week for getting floored by and losing a four-round split decision to sub-.500 journeyman Willie Chapman. Tann overcame highly impressive competition from both former WBC champion Willie Jorrin, who lost a majority decision to 8-4-3 Cristian Favela on the same card, and Angel Vazquez, who was knocked out in three rounds on national television by last-minute replacement Ivan Valle. Vlado Varhegi, Peter Buckley, Harry Butler, and Keith Jones all also lost once again.

Week of October 26 - November 1, 2003 -- Derrick Gainer literally ran away with the prize for this week. In losing his fight with Juan Manuel Marquez, Gainer: (1) landed a mere 10 percent of his punches overall, (2) landed just a single punch in each of the first, third and seventh rounds, and (3) landed a grand total of 1 of the 107 jabs he threw, failing to connect with the first 84 of them. Also, he made comments such as this prior to the fight: "I already have enough motivation to stop Marquez's semi slow looking ass....I hope that everyone in the press, continues to make Marquez out to be this animal, because all that's going to do is make my victory that much more meaningful." Keith Collier, meanwhile, picked up very, very strong dishonorable mention for getting dropped six times in his four-round fight with Joe Gardner, losing 40-30 on all cards, as did the accomplished crew of Brian Coleman, Michael Pinnock, Arv Mittoo, Harry Butler, and Verdell Smith for padding their already impressive HOS-caliber credentials with still more losses.

Week of October 19-25, 2003 -- Joel Viney won this week's award handily by losing a six-rounder to Peter Buckley. Buckley had scored two other wins earlier this year, but unfortunately for Mike Harrington and Jaz Malik, their losses to Buckley came during weeks when Tonya Harding and Gabriel Botos were busy getting pummeled by some last-second substitute and Patrik Hruska, respectively, and thus Viney became the first-ever Buckley victim to be named FOW. John Basil Jackson, who was knocked out in one round by former Fighter of the Week and aspiring unified heavyweweight champion Alonzo Butler, earned dishonorable mention, as did Vlado Varhegi, Keith Jones, Stefan Stanko, Howard Clarke, and Laszlo Paszterko-managed Ivan Vavrecan, who dropped to 1-20 after losing his first fight in nearly a year.

Week of October 12-18, 2003 -- Peter Nowak roared his way to victory this week by getting knocked out in two rounds by 1-15 Patrik Hruska. Hruska's other win came over Gabriel Botos, a performance for which Botos was also named Fighter of the Week, so Hruska victims are now officially 2 for 2 in FOW award-winning-opportunities. Jonathan Corn picked up dishonorable mention for beating Reggie Strickland by only split decision, as did Joszef Lakatos, Howard Clarke and Brian Coleman for all going down to defeat yet again.

Week of October 5-11, 2003 -- Jonathan Woolins fought off a strong effort from Wolfgramm to take the checkered flag this week. Woolins, who in his previous two career bouts had beaten 9-72-4 HOS member Arv Mittoo and lost on points to 10-55-1 Ernie Smith, took on 16-66-6 Karl Taylor this week and lost a six-round decision. (Taylor had scored just 1 win in his last 42 fights going into the Woolins match.) Wolfgramm was forced to settle for strong dishonorable mention for coming out of retirement and weighing in at 335 pounds for his fight with Niu Peau, which he ended up losing on points. Dishonorable mention also went out to veteran losers Verdell Smith, Donnie "The Black Battle Cat" Penelton, Michael Pinnock, Peter Buckley, Keith Jones and Brian Coleman.

Week of September 28 - October 4, 2003 -- Former world title challenger Allan Vester got knocked out in under a minute by Polish journeyman Rafal Jackiewicz on the Larsen-Haussler undercard to earn the award for this week. Unsuccessful English lightweight title challenger Chill John earned his second career dishonorable mention for being named "Chill John," and Slovakian super middleweight Stefan Stanko also earned DM by losing for the second time in 9 days, extending his current losing streak to 16 and bringing his record up to a noteworthy 4-36-1.

Week of September 21-27, 2003 -- Rodney Jones and Mike Stone turned in performances so putrid this week that it was impossible to tell which was worse, and so Jones and Stone were therefore named co-fighters of the week. During his fight with Jorge Paez, Jones (a) turned Paez around at one point, mounted him, and mimed "a sexual act," (b) stuck his tongue in Paez's ear on three separate occasions during clinches, (c) kissed Paez on the face and (d) stood in the middle of the ring at one point with his arms folded (as Paez did the same) until the referee ordered them to resume the fight. Stone, meanwhile, a previously undefeated ultra-bumkiller, was thoroughly dominated and knocked out in five rounds by Reggie Strickland. Strong dishonorable mention went to Frank Wuestenberghs who made his first ring appearance in approximately a year and lost a decision to Leon Nzama to bring his record to an incredible 2-61-1, as well as to Vlado Varhegi (who is apparently now trained by Joszef Kubowsky a.k.a. Joszef Lakatos), for, in his first fight in ten months, losing a decision to 3-10-2 Pal Lakatos. Dishonorable mention was also picked up by Verdell Smith, Kiatchai 13 Riantower, Gabriel Botos and the dream team of Brian Coleman and Peter Buckley, the latter two of whom once again made losing appearances together on the same card in London.

Week of September 14-20, 2003 -- Leroy Humphries turned in a historic performance to claim the prize for this week. Humphries was dropped three times and stopped at 2:59 of the first round on national television by Stacy Frazier, but most importantly, he also set a new Compubox record by failing to throw a single punch throughout the entire duration of the fight. (Read Dumpster2's live commentary on the bout.) Meanwhile, Shakir Ashanti picked up dishonorable mention for losing a split decision to 37-year old, 14-55-1 Jerry Smith on a card in Nashville, as did Mia St. John for drawing with a 4-6-1 fighter at someplace called the 4 Bears Casino in Newtown, North Dakota, and Benji Singleton for coming up with the 92nd loss of his illustrious career.

Week of September 7-13, 2003 -- Oscar De La Hoya won this week for forming a legal team to investigate why he lost a decision in a boxing match. "On Monday I will put a full investigation into this decision. I will put the best lawyers on this," he announced after his bout with Shane Mosley. He then added that "the reason why I do this is because of the punch-stat numbers. I actually landed one hundred more punches than he did." To put the icing on the cake, he then assured us that his motives were completely selfless: "Boxing does not need this anymore....I will put on to my fullest power, an investigation so we will see what happened....I am not doing this because I am a sore loser. I am doing this for boxing." Dishonorable mention went to Brian Coleman and Peter Buckley, for continuing their recent steady work by losing a pair of six-rounders together on a card in England.

Week of August 31 - September 6, 2003 -- James "The Mighty Quinn" Page breezed his way to an easy victory this week. Page was sentenced to 11 years in federal prison after pleading guilty to robbing an Atlanta Bank of America branch of almost $6000 in December 2001. Dishonorable mention was earned inside the ring by Boxrec forum poster Scott Sales for bringing his record up to 1-9 with his 7th first-round KO loss (this time coming at 0:39), as well as by Reggie Strickland, Peter Buckley and Harry Butler, who all lost decisions this week, and also by Anton Lascek and the splendidly-named Win Nationman, who were knocked out in one and two rounds on cards in Berlin and Tokyo, respectively.

Week of August 24-30, 2003 -- Julian Letterlough was a runaway winner this week. "Mr. KO" continued his downward spiral by dropping a 6-round decision to the barely-.500 Faustino Gonzalez. 1-8 Leon Hinnant picked up strong dishonorable mention for having to be rescued by his corner 35 seconds into the second round of his fight with 7-27 Benji Singleton KO victim Travis Clybourn, as did 1-14 Harold Tucker for getting stopped in one canto by a guy making his pro debut, and Curt "Rude Doctor" Render, for (in addition to having that nickname) getting knocked out in the first round by "Rockin" Ronald Bellamy for the third time in three fights dating back over a period of just four months.

Week of August 17-23, 2003 -- Lanie Ellis, who was previously undefeated in nine fights, picked up the prize for this week by losing a unanimous decision to 9-34-1 Shakurah Witherspoon. Dishonorable mention was earned by Reggie Strickland for doing you-know-what, Caseny Truesdale for picking up his 46th loss against eight wins, Marris Virgil for losing for the (at least) 56th time, former Fighter of the Week Wayne Bogard for following up his KO loss to Strickland with a KO loss to pro debutant Jimmy Holmes, Rogerio Lobo for not making it out of the first round against Michael Moorer, and finally Ken Murphy for beating 151-time loser Donnie Penelton by only split decision.

Week of August 10-16, 2003 -- No award given. Nobody was pathetic enough. (Bilai Burns, Derek "The One Man Riot" Bryant, Lou DiBella and Vic Draculich came closest, though.)

Week of August 3-9, 2003 -- Wallace McDaniel edged out Keith Holmes to take the crown for this week. McDaniel was indefinitely suspended by the Arkansas Athletic Commission following his nationally televised fight with Alvin Manley for repeatedly elbowing Manley and trying to throw him out of the ring, among other things. (Read gboxrec's live commentary on the fight.) McDaniel also sat down on the ring ropes at one point and complained when the referee credited Manley with a knockdown. Holmes, meanwhile, earned strong dishonorable mention for using the occasion of his fight with 64-time loser Anthony Ivory to twice call out Yory Boy Campas. Also picking up dishonorable mention this week were Derrell Coley, for fighting 25-91-4 Benji Singleton on the Holmes-Ivory undercard, as well as veteran British losers Brian Coleman, for recording his 25th consecutive defeat, and William Webster for bringing his record up to 3-37-1 with a loss on the same card.

Week of July 27, 2003 - August 2, 2003 -- Tonya Harding fought off a game effort from Jaz Malik to earn the nod this week. Tonya the Great was floored twice by late substitute Melissa Yanas en route to a 73-second KO loss, while Malik earned extremely strong dishonorable mention for dropping a decision to Peter Buckley. Dishonorable mention also goes to Mike Tyson, who, according to Fightnews, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection after spending $410,000 on a birthday party and $230,000 on pagers and cell phones, in addition to Sodsai Bor Chor Ror 2 for getting knocked out while having a great name, and bums Michael Pinnock, Howard Clarke, and Arv Mittoo, who all did what they do best in losing once again this week. Special note: It was discovered this week that Reggie Strickland's loss on July 25th was (according to Boxrec's count) the 250th of his career, so belated recognition goes to Strickland for finally reaching the coveted milestone.

Week of July 20-26, 2003 -- Anthony "Rolling Thunder" Prince turned in a remarkable performance to claim this week's award. Prince lost a split decision to Caseny Truesdale, who going into the bout had a record of 7-45-2 and had not won a fight since 1999. "Rolling Thunder" was given a slight run for his money by former WBO title challenger Michael Ayers, who going into his bout this week was 31-4-1, but ended up losing on points to the 5-9 Jon Honney to earn dishonorable mention. Dishonorable mention was also earned by a wide-ranging host of bums, namely Peter Buckley, Arv Mittoo, Brian Coleman, Karl Taylor, Gabriel Botos, William Webster, and Reggie Strickland, all of whom lost this week, as well as by Tony Tubbs, who was floored three times before being stopped in the 8th round by Abraham Okine.

Week of July 13-19, 2003 -- John "Hogman" Sargent was the obvious choice for this week. The Hogman, who was coming off a 4-round, split decision win over 5-20-1 Marcelo Aravena, was knocked out by Shannon Briggs exactly 17 seconds into the first canto of their IBU heavyweight title fight. IBU president Moose Lewis went on to offer the win as proof that Briggs would easily beat Chris Byrd and Evander Holyfield. Dishonorable mention goes to Doug Davis, who was knocked out for the 23rd time in 23 fights, HOS members John Basil Jackson and Danny Wofford, who lost unanimous decisions on cards in Indiana and Tennessee respectively, and former Fighters of the Week Peter Simko, who lost a decision to the 6-32-1 Ladislav Husarik, and Anton Lascek, who was knocked out in one round by Wlodek Kopec to bring his record to 4-29-1.

Week of July 6-12, 2003 -- Despite the presence of incredibly strong competition, Cliff Couser was a relatively easy winner this week. Late in the first round of his bout against Malcolm Tann, Couser suddenly picked Tann up, body-slammed him, then jumped on top of Tann and begun punching him. Referee James Jen-Kin then got Couser in a headlock and, with the assistance of security guards and Couser's own cornermen, successfully restrained and then disqualified him for "unsportsmanlike conduct." (Couser reportedly shed "tears of frustration" following the disqualification.) The strongest possible dishonorable mention goes to Genildo Ferreira, who lost a 6-round decision to the previously winless HOS member Jose Carlos Amaral and Demarcus "Chop Chop" Corley, who admitted in a live interview on ESPN2 that he enjoys wearing Victoria's Secret underwear. Somewhat milder dishonorable mention goes to Lourival da Silva for running his record to 0-29 on the same card that Amaral appeared on, Gabriel Botos, for losing for the third time in two months, Manard Reed for losing a unanimous decision to 6-19-1 "Dangerous" Rahsaan Abdul Blackburn, and finally Peter Buckley for picking up his 165th career loss.

Week of June 29, 2003 - July 5, 2003 -- Three nationally televised performances took center stage this week and among those, Mark Riggs's first-round KO loss to Billy Irwin took the spotlight. Riggs arrived at the CanWest Global Stadium in Winnipeg only 30 minutes before fight time and suffered two brutal knockdowns prior to the stoppage, remaining on the canvas for several minutes before exiting the ring. Ultra-bumkillers Vinroy Barrett and Rico Cason earned dishonorable mention, Barrett for running his way to a decision loss (by the margins of 99-91, 100-88 and 100-88) against Carlos Quintana, and Rico Cason for getting knocked out in two rounds by Kelly Pavlik. Finally, Tony "The Viking" Halme, Finnish parliament member, also earned dishonorable mention for reportedly getting highly intoxicated and firing a gun at his wife in his apartment in Helsinki.

Week of June 22-28, 2003 -- Robert Davis, who prior to his fight with Joe Mesi had advised fans to "prepare to be entertained," was deemed this week's winner after getting knocked out by Mesi in just 80 seconds on national television. Mesi seemed to enter the ring dry and threw a total of eight punches before the stoppage. Mitchell O'Hello (for getting KO'd with such a name) and Joszef Lakatos (for producing his 63rd known loss) earned dishonorable mention in an otherwise slow week.

Week of June 15-21, 2003 -- George Foreman was named this week's winner for threatening to return to the ring when he reaches age 55, provided that Lennox Lewis is no longer the heavyweight champion by then. "[Lewis is] too big," Foreman was quoted as saying. "He's experienced and he has the reach. ... Get Lennox Lewis out of the business, I could come back tomorrow." Dishonorable mention goes to Joszef Lakatos and Howard Clarke, who both lost yet again, the fabulously-named TMP Bagong, who was TKO'd in his bid to win the Indonesian 154-lb. title, and John Basil Jackson, who was knocked out for the second time in his last three fights. Even stronger dishonorable mention goes to Jerry Webber (0-13, 13 KO losses), who lost to the incomparable Jeff Holcomb (8-2 with the losses coming against Frankie Hines and Roy Bedwell) on a card that also saw James Mullins and former WBE title challenger Danny Wofford make their long-awaited (and losing) comebacks, as well as to Dale Crowe for dropping a unanimous decision to 8-16-1 Ramon Hayes, Tim Austin for getting arrested on rape charges, and pro golfer Chris Gane for requiring 17 shots to finish the 18th hole in the second round of the Diageo Championship in Scotland.

Week of June 8-14, 2003 -- Rubin Williams, who going into his fight with Epifanio Mendoza formed one-third of the overhyped and undertalented Teamcannon, was KO'd in 42 seconds by Mendoza on national TV to earn the award for this week. Teamcannon manager John Carlisle promptly removed Williams from the team, leaving Leo Nolan and Rydell Booker (who won their bouts on the card) its sole members, and then announced that he'd "like to congratulate both my fighters for their accomplishment." Dishonorable mention goes to Manny Pacquiao for his apparent drunken rampage in a Filipino nightclub, as well as to Scott Sales, the lowest-rated cruiserweight on Boxrec (at last check) and a frequent contributor to the forum there, for getting stopped three minutes and thirty-four seconds into his fight with 0-1 Richard Langley. HOS members Verdell Smith, Donnie "The Black Battle Cat" Penelton, John Basil Jackson, David McCluskey, and Michael Pinnock all also continued their losing ways this week.

Week of June 1-7, 2003 -- Aurelio Perez, now 21-3, tipped the scales at 277 pounds for his fight with Garing Lane and was knocked out in five rounds by the 285-pound, 34-time loser to take home the prize for this week. Michael Grant earned dishonorable mention for getting knocked down four times on international television by Dominick Guinn after his trainer had guaranteed a KO victory for him, as did the following: Scott DePompe, for coming out of his retirement less than five months after he had announced it, Jim "Steel Chin" Strohl, for getting stopped in one round underneath Grant-Guinn, Rinnell Taylor, for being fought to a draw by Peter Buckley (Taylor was also fought to a draw by 65-time loser Karl Taylor in his only other bout), Verdell Smith and Lester Yarbrough, who both lost (the loss was Yarbrough's 23rd in a row, a streak extending back to 1990) and from the "nice names" department, Elvis Ali, Justin Cake, Smile Brown and Lafarrell Deshun Bunteng, all of whom were defeated this week as well.

Week of May 25-31, 2003 -- In the most shame-filled week in FOW history, Herbie Hide stood just a little bit taller than his fellow contenders to claim this week's award. Hide watched Audley Harrison's fight against Matt Ellis from ringside and then following the bout, according to Fightnews, "Harrison used the ring microphone to ask the crowd if he should fight Frank Bruno or Herbie Hide next. When fan favorite Bruno was the clear choice, Hide went berserk and caused a stampede at ringside." And according to this report: "Numerous eye witnesses said the trouble started when Hide responded to goading from [a woman at ringside] by pushing her off a chair she was standing on. Instant retribution was then administered by other members of the crowd, corner-men and even security staff as Hide and his entourage were punched and attacked with chairs before being chased out of the auditorium." Meanwhile, Hide claimed that Harrison incited the melee because Harrison was "petrified" of him. Industrial-strength dishonorable mention goes to the following: Mark Chang-affiliated Rico "Juice" Tan, who lost a unanimous decision to a guy who had lost ten of his last eleven fights, Fred Berns-affiliated former WAA, WBF and WBS beltholder and bumkiller George Linberger, who was knocked out in two rounds by a guy with 28 losses, bumkiller extraordinaire Buck Smith, who came out of retirement to record a first-round KO loss on a card in Mexico, the amazing Michael Bennett, who was knocked out by a guy having his third fight in the space of ten years, Gabriel Krizan, who was knocked out in 12 seconds on the Kassim Ouma-Angel Hernandez undercard, former Peter Simko KO victim Marcin Najman, who surfaced for the first time in 18 months and was stopped once again, Jason Papillion, for agreeing to fight HOS member Benji Singleton and finally the very nicely-named Arwut PK Buffet, who was knocked out in one round on a card in Bangkok.

Week of May 18-24, 2003 -- Previously undefeated bumkiller Milan Mirkovic (pictured here wearing black trunks in his first meeting with the 0-22 Marek Kvocka), won this week's award by losing his bid for the vacant Yugoslavian Light Middleweight Title on a card apparently promoted by himself. It was the first time Mirkovic had faced a fighter with a winning record and, following the loss, he seemed to renege on his earlier promise to retire following his first defeat by vowing to fight again in the fall. Meanwhile, dishonorable mention went to Lynsie MacMasters for losing her rematch with the 48-year old Marsha Budde, Joszef Lakatos and Gabriel Botos, who both lost yet again, and Kirk Clingenpeel, who ran his record to 0-10 with his 10th knockout loss.

Week of May 11-17, 2003 -- Gabriel Botos, who only a few weeks ago defeated Daimi Can to furnish Can with FOW honors, followed up that performance with a decision loss to 0-14 Patrik Hruska this week to earn an FOW award of his own. Botos overcame an incredibly strong effort from Mike Harrington, whose loss to Peter Buckley made him look like a lock for this week's award until Botos's loss was discovered. Dishonorable mention also goes to Keith Jones, who earned his 74th career loss this week, Daniel Attah, who was knocked out by a guy he had no business losing to, John Basil Jackson, who was stopped in three rounds by Leo Nolan, and every fighter who lost on the May 14th card in Szekszard, Hungary, a list that includes Atilla Loe, who returned from a 4 1/2-year layoff to run his record to 0-12 with a 3rd-round KO loss to a sub-.500 fighter, in addition to Nicolae Doru, who is better known as "The Man Who Lost To Anton Kubov."

Week of May 4-10, 2003 -- On a card that might be described as Bumapalooza Jr. (combined record of the six losing fighters: 39-337-12), Nelson Hernandez earned this week's award by coming through with his 50th (known) career loss, this time to a fighter managed by arch-bumkiller Marty Jakubowski. Donnie "The Black Battle Cat" Penelton, Clifton Woods, James Rice, Marris "Midnight" Virgil, and Don Tucker, who were the other losing fighters on the card, all also earned dishonorable mention, as did Roy Bedwell, who finally resurfaced and lost once again, to bring his record since March 1991 up to 1-59.

Week of April 27, 2003 - May 3, 2003 -- Freeman Barr, who had been ranked #1 by the WBO at super middleweight going into his May 2nd fight, and whose manager had been threatening lawsuits against the WBO and suggesting that Frank Warren and Joe Calzaghe were trying to duck his fighter, was knocked out in three rounds by Mher Mkrtchyan, who was not even named as Barr's opponent until the day before the weigh-in for the fight. Barr's excuse for the loss was that "somebody paid off the referee." In an otherwise slow week, dishonorable mention goes to names list candidate Suppi Moi Moi, who was DQ'd in the fourth round of his fight against Costa Chondros, and Arv Mittoo, who lost yet again, this time via third-round TKO to Barry Morrison.

Week of April 20-26, 2003 -- Robert Allen took home the award this week for his psychotic interview with boxingtalk.net. Probably the highlight of the interview (apart from Allen's statement that "Nobody scares [Bernard] Hopkins more than Robert Allen") was his analysis of William Joppy's fight with Felix Trinidad: "Felix Trinidad did everything but rape him in that ring. He might've well just taken his clothes because he got raped in that ring. He couldn't even protect himself. If I ever get him in the ring I'll finish raping him. Oh, I'd love the chance to rape him." Dishonorable mention goes to Germaine Sanders, who entered his bout against 63-time loser Anthony Ivory with a record of 21-2, yet still managed drop a 6-round split decision to him (albeit an apparently controversial one), HOS member Keith Jones, who picked up his 73rd career loss, Richard "Have Sneakers Will Travel" Zola, who was beaten for the 17th time in as many outings, bumkiller Laszlo Bognar, who was knocked out in four rounds in South Africa by Mzonke Fana, and Tony Ayala Jr., who was knocked down and out on national television by a KMart employee. Also: The telecast of Ayala's bout, which had already been pushed back till 1 AM eastern US time due to the NHL playoffs, was delayed still further when Minnesota Wild goalie Manny Fernandez allowed Vancouver to score the game's tying goal with 1.2 seconds left in the third period. You can read the reaction of the channel to this here.

Week of April 13-19, 2003 -- Wayne Bogard was an easy choice for this week. Bogard, who made his pro debut last month vs. John Basil Jackson, became the great Reggie Strickland's tenth career KO victim when he fell to the master in three rounds at the Farm Bureau Building in Indianapolis. Bogard's strongest competition for the award was Hector Camacho Sr., who, in a performance that would have been strong enough to win it most other weeks, dropped a technical decision to 18-6 Chris "Irish" Walsh. Other fighters earning dishonorable mention were: Herbie Hide, for taking 7 rounds to knock out 2-13-1 Derek McCafferty, Ryan "Spice Boy" Rhodes, for (in addition to being nicknamed "Spice Boy") agreeing to step into the ring with 49-time loser Paul Wesley, John Basil Jackson, who turned in another loss on the Bogard-Strickland undercard, and former Fighter of the Week Bilai Burns, who was unsurprisingly knocked out in one round once again.

Week of April 6-12, 2003 -- Peter Simko overcame strong competition to earn the nod this week. Simko, now 1-20, was knocked out in 25 seconds by professional javelin throwing champion Pal Arne Fargenes, who was making his pro debut. The fight was televised, and Carlos provided the channel with outstanding live commentary on the bout which you can read by clicking here. (See also the accompanying photo.) Especially strong dishonorable mention goes to bumkiller Bob Elkins, who was knocked out in one round by former WBS ratings chairman Mark Chang (who had not fought in over three-and-a-half years) and Thomas "T.C." James, who lost for the second time in as many outings against HOS member and 67-time loser David McCluskey. Standard dishonorable mention goes to: Arv Mittoo, who racked up his 67th defeat, Gabor Balogh, who ran his record to 0-15-2 with a points loss to Csaba Toth, Tyree Tidwell (his second dishonorable mention), who was knocked out in one round by Tommy Aragon, and finally Reggie Strickland, who pulled one step closer to the 250-loss plateau by dropping a four-rounder to Warren Moore (Moore's second win over the legend).

Week of March 30 - April 5, 2003 -- Peter Buckley captured this week's award by engaging in, and of course losing, his 200th professional bout. Buckley received copious media attention going into the contest (examples here and here), but evidently it was not enough to inspire a winning effort from him, as he dropped a four-round decision to Baz Carey. "This is a fantastic achievement and Peter is a true credit to the sport. Any young boxer who wants to learn about dedication just needs to look at Peter," said Frank Warren. "Long may Peter Buckley continue to ply his trade in British rings. He is indeed a fabulous role model for the sport of boxing," wrote Clive Bernath. The defeat increased the fabulous role model's career loss total to 163. Dishonorable mention to Howard Clarke, Brian Coleman, Reggie Strickland and John Basil Jackson, none of whom surprised anyone by losing once again this week.

Week of March 23 - March 29, 2003 -- The appropriately-named Daimi Can became the first fighter in history to win the FOW award in his pro debut when he was knocked out in two rounds by Gabriel Botos, who went into the fight with a record of 0-15-2 and eight KO losses. Can edged out a strong candidate in Marvin Hill, who was knocked out in 43 seconds by Shannon Briggs on another Briggs-promoted card for which O.J. Simpson was in attendance. (Simpson was reportedly "cheered loudly" when he entered the building.) Other fighters who earned dishonorable mention this week were Stacy "Goodnight" Goodson, trainer and manager of Hill, who was knocked in two minutes by Julian Letterlough on the same card, Alex Bunema, for agreeing to step into the ring with 13-143-4 HOS member Donnie "The Black Battle Cat" Penelton, in addition to former FOW Harry Butler, Joszef Lakatos, Benji Singleton and Michael Pinnock, all of whom lost once again this week.

Week of March 16 - March 22, 2003 -- Bumkiller Alonzo Butler (6-0-1), who weighed in at 299 pounds for a recent bout, won this week's award by knocking out Caseny Truesdale (7-45-2) in two rounds and then, according to the Knoxville News Sentinel, announcing that he considered himself qualified to make a run at the undisputed heavyweight title: '"My ultimate goal is to get all three belts hopefully," said Butler, referring to the WBC, IBF and WBA titles.' Four of Butler's five previous wins came against 16-118-5 Frankie Hines, 17-96-2 Danny Wofford, 15-70-1 Roy Bedwell and 1-15 Ken McCurdy. Dishonorable mention: Eric Rhinehart, who posted his 50th career loss by getting knocked out in one round on a card in Nashville, Johnny "Livewire" Walker, who was also knocked out in one round in his IBU lightweight title fight against Gary Balletto, Arv Mittoo and Michael Pinnock, who both posted decision losses on the same card in Nottingham, and lastly the incredible Peter Buckley, who lost to Nathan Ward to earn his sixth dishonorable mention.

Week of March 9 - March 15, 2003 -- In a performance that may qualify him for Fighter of the Year honors, bumkiller Jonathan "J.J." Corn dropped a unanimous decision to 13-51-3 Marris "Midnight" Virgil to take home this week's award. Mike Fitzgerald reported on Fightnews that "Corn smiled and talked to Virgil throughout the contest. When the final bell sounded Corn grabbed the microphone and played to the crowd. When the decision was announced that the winner [was] from the Blue corner...Corn had a total look of disbelief. JJ even turned around to make sure that...his corner was not the Blue Corner." Dishonorable mention goes to HOS member Brian Coleman, who recorded his 18th consecutive defeat, Caseny Truesdale, who ran his record to 7-44-2 by dropping a unanimous decision to Eric Starr, Reggie Strickland, who lost for the 245th recorded time, John Basil Jackson, who lost for the 4th time in three weeks, Anton Vontszemu, who was knocked out in two rounds on a card in Luxembourg, and finally HOS member Donnie "The Black Battle Cat" Penelton and Harry Funmaker, both of whom also lost on the Corn-Virgil card.

Week of March 2, 2003 - March 8, 2003 -- Martin "Irish Assassin" Thornton was an easy winner this week. The Boston Herald reported that Thornton, who was scheduled to face former Fighter of the Week Bilai Burns on a card at Boston's Christopher Columbus Center, "failed to answer the opening bell, but he had a good excuse. When he arrived at the North End venue last night a half-dozen detectives were waiting with an outstanding warrant and took Thornton into custody on armed robbery charges." Dishonorable mention for this week goes to the Mark Chang-affiliated Lisa "Too Fierce" Foster, who was knocked out in two rounds on a card in Washington DC, Derrell Coley, who was almost knocked out by 63-time loser Anthony Ivory on the same card, Claudiu Pop, who allowed himself to be fought to a draw by Joszef Lakatos, Rodney Moore, who averaged less than 4 punches landed per round in his internationally televised fight against George Khalid Jones, and finally usual suspects Keith Jones, Howard Clarke, Reggie Strickland, John Basil Jackson and Peter Buckley, all of whom added still more losses to their ledgers.

Week of February 23 - March 1, 2003 -- Eric "Landlord" Davis: Davis, 16-39-2, was disqualified in round 5 of his fight against Luke Munsen when he walked out of the ring following a point deduction. Dishonorable mention to the following fighters, all of whom turned in losing efforts this week: HOS member and former Fighter of the week Harry Butler, former Fighter of the Week Anton Lascek, HOS members Keith Jones, Reggie Strickland, John Basil Jackson (Jackson's second loss in four days), Arv Mittoo and Michael Pinnock, 0-21 HOS candidate Marek Kvocka, and lastly Charles Sims, who ran his record to 3-21 by losing to Sweet RC Fisher for the second time in seven days.

Week of February 16-22, 2003 -- Ray Shanks, who was KO'd in 4 rounds by Reggie Strickland, was a clear selection for this week. Shanks had beaten Reggie's half-brother Jerry twice previously, but that valuable experience was not enough to prevent him from becoming only Reggie's 9th career KO victim. Dishonorable mention goes to 3-20 Charles Sims, who had the unfortunate distinction of losing to a boxer named Sweet RC Fisher at the AMC Flea Market in Oklahoma City, in addition to HOS members Brian Coleman, Peter Buckley, John Basil Jackson and Nelson Hernandez, 40+-time losers Darren Ahston and John Moore, and the 3-38 Don Tucker, all seven of whom produced losses this week.

Week of February 9-15, 2003 -- This week's award goes out to everyone who lost on the February 15th card at the Zorah Shrine Temple in Terre Haute, Indiana. The card featured 8 fights, 7 of which ended in first-round knockouts. (Reggie Strickland lost a unanimous decision in the card's other bout.) Dishonorable mention goes out to everyone who lost on the February 15th card at Club Envy in Ft. Smith, Arkansas. The card featured 8 fights, 7 of which ended in first-round knockouts. (Kevin Gilliam lost via 2nd-round knockout in the card's other bout.) Joszef Lakatos, 15-63-6 Karl Taylor and good ol' Peter Buckley also recorded defeats.

Week of February 2-8, 2003 -- Bumkiller Steven Spartacus barely beat the 17-59-6 Paul Bonson by a score of 58-57 to retain his unbeaten record and capture this week's award. Dishonorable mention: Lynsie MacMasters, who made her professional debut against the 48-year old Marsha Budde and, despite being more than two decades younger and in apparently "excellent" condition, managed to lose a decisive unanimous decision. Additionally, Csaba Olah recorded a DQ loss, and Howard Clarke was also defeated once again. The Nobbs-trained Clarke is now 1-23 (1 NC) in his last 25 matches.

Week of January 26 - February 1, 2003 -- Bryan Blakley was KO'd in one round on national television by Gurcharan Singh to capture this week's award. Blakley is now winless in 15 of his last 16 bouts. Dishonorable mention: Willie Lee Kemp, who lost a unanimous decision to T.J. Wilson to make himself 1-24 in his last 25 contests (dating back to 1991) with the win coming against HOS member Greg Cadiz, and Lester Yarbrough, who lost a unanimous decision to bumkiller Vinroy Barrett to make himself 1-19 in his last 20 contests (dating back to 1990) with the win coming against a guy who fought under a fake name.

Week of January 19-25, 2003 -- Stan Johnson-managed Lavern Ware was this week's winner. Ware, now 0-10, was knocked out in 37 seconds by Allstate Insurance attorney Matt Barber. It was Ware's 9th first-round KO loss. Dishonorable mention: Reggie Strickland, for posting his 240th career defeat, Howard Clarke, who also lost to bring his post-Vargas record up to 1-22 with one no-contest, and Milan Roldzak, a Slovak living in America, for getting KO'd in just 23 seconds by Malcolm Tann to drop his record below .500. It was Roldzak's third consecutive first-round KO defeat.

Week of January 12-18, 2003 -- Tony "TNT" Tubbs: After boxing fandom was subjected to months upon months of hype regarding his "comeback," mostly by way of the Boxrec forum (typical example here -- also note Reggie Strickland's contributions to the discussion), Tubbs lost a unanimous decision to journeyman Gilbert Martinez to capture this week's award. This was only Tubbs's second fight since 1997, with the other bout being a 2002 win over 1-11 Michael Shanks. (Shanks's only win, meanwhile, came in his pro debut against HOS member Tyrone Bledsoe.)

Week of January 5-11, 2003 -- Golden "14-KT" Johnson was this week's clear selection. Johnson failed to even arrive for his IBU welterweight title fight against Ray Oliveira after talking all kinds of smack on Fightnews. (Just a sampling of his comments: "I've learned to stop taking stupid fights....[Oliveira's] too old....I don't think he can take my power....I'm not impressed with him at all. He's lost it.")

Week of December 29, 2002 - January 4, 2003 -- Venance Mponji was a clear winner this week. Fightnews reported that, after getting KO'd in two rounds by Justin Juuko, Mponji 'said he lost because Juuko bewitched him. "There was some magic here," claimed Mponji. "I could not see Juuko while in the ring. It was like I was blind."'

Week of December 22-28, 2002 -- HOS member Harry Butler managed to squeeze in one more loss before the new year to capture this week's award. Butler was KO'd in one round by Alan Page, who had not fought in over two years. (Two of Page's three previous wins came over 6-32 Dean Ashton and 3-33 William Webster.)

Week of December 15-21, 2002 -- Eamon Glennon, who was fought to a draw by the 4-54-8 HOS member Michael Pinnock, was a fairly clear choice for this week's award. Dishonorable mention goes to usual suspects Peter Buckley, Arv Mittoo and Verdell Smith, along with the nicely-named Bong Urdaniza and Chill John, both of whom were KO'd this week. (Even though he won, it should be noted that Z Gorres, whose parents had equally interesting taste in nomenclature, was also in action.)

Week of December 8-14, 2002 -- Lou "Honey Boy" Del Valle was this week's runaway winner. Fightnews reported that a "seemingly inebriated" Del Valle, after his ex-convict brother-in-law lost a unanimous decision to Daniel Judah on a card in New York City, walked up to Joe DeGuardia (Del Valle's own promoter) at ringside, punched him, and accused him of fixing the fight. Dishonorable mention: Gabor Ott for winning a "very controversial decision" over Csaba Olah (Olah's 56th loss). Peter Buckley, Arv Mittoo, and Benji Singleton also recorded losses.

Week of December 1-7, 2002 -- It was close, but ultimately it was decided that David Womack would have to edge out bumkiller Jimmi Joe Zeikle for Fighter of the Week honors. Fightnews reported that Greg Pierre needed just 25 seconds to KO Womack with what was described as a "hard jab," on a card promoted by Shannon Briggs for which O.J. Simpson was in attendance. (Briggs, it should be noted, showed promising matchmaking skills in his promotional debut, with five of the seven fights ending in first-round knockouts.) Zeikle, meanwhile, earned dishonorable mention by getting KO'd in one round by Mark Chang-promoted Rico "Juice" Tan. Finally Nelson Hernandez also dishonored himself by running his record to 2-48-1 with a 2nd-round KO loss to Chad Brisson.

Week of November 24-30, 2002 -- Anton Lascek: The 4-26-1 Lascek, a Slovak, was KO'd in one round by Silvio Branco. Dishonorable mention: Csaba Olah for recording his 55th loss (against three wins), and Chodchoi 13 Coin-Tower for getting KO'd in 1 round after daring to enter the ring with such a name.

Week of November 17-23, 2002 -- Luiz Flores: Flores was disqualified in round 4 of his bout with Mark Flynn for repeatedly punching referee Kenny Wood after Wood penalized Flores for a low blow. Flores was so out of control that he reportedly had to be restrained by the local police. Dishonorable mention goes to Tyree Tidwell, who was KO'd in just 20 seconds by Richard Conchas, and Peter Batora who ran his record to 0-17 with a first-round KO loss to the prolific bumkiller Zoltan Kalocsai.

Week of November 10-16, 2002 -- Bilai Burns: Fightnews reported that Burns fought for the first half of the first round against Eddie McAloney, then did nothing for the rest of the round and went down early in the second from a punch that didn't even land. Later in the round Burns stopped "fighting" and placed his hands on his knees. After the ref waved the fight off Burns had to lay on the ropes for a while in order to catch his breath.

Week of November 3-9, 2002 -- Jose Martinez: Fightnews reported that Martinez (0-8) took just 19 seconds to lose to Victor Barela, and added: "Martinez, notorious in the Southwest for taking short-notice fights, then entering the ring looking for a place to take a fall, has not managed to clear 40 seconds in his last three fights."