I wend down the list of candidates and it ended up being a lot closer than i expected. I removed all candidates which had under 60 points with the exception of current 170lbs champ Stanly Williams.
A reminder how points are awarded:
+1 Per fight
+1 Per draw
+1 Fight of the night awards
+3 Per title fight/Super fight
+3 Per win
Here is my review of the current rankings, plus a general overview of the top candidates to win it.
"Rip" Rufus McTearson (186694) = 85 POINTS
Rufus had a great year, including the fights with Renan, but he recently dropped his title, the good news is that he won his top contender fight with Boma and will now face Stanly Williams, a fighter he drew and beat earlier this year, a win there can keep him in first place.
Gunnar Steigelmann (196145) = 79 POINTS
Gunnar is the current 265 and 265+ champ, if he can win the remainder of his fights, he should win the fighter of the year but he fights in the division with the most unpredictability. He is on a fantastic run currently, but he has already lost a few fights this year, so it is not impossible to happen again. If Gunnar wins all his fights though, he will likely be champ, a lot will depend on how Rufus does in his title shot.
Fernando Prado (181926) = 74 POINTS
Prado has been very consistent if you remove the Hoi fights. He also fights in a division where he has already beaten everyone, so if Rufus fails to win his contender fight and regain his title and Gunnar slips up, Prado has a pretty good chance in securing first place.
Viv Richards (168454) = 74 POINTS
Viv gained most of his points early in the year and is out of the title pictures for 205 and 185lbs. The most he can hope for is a top 5 position, i think Gage and Quin will like push him out of this spot.
Oscar Boma (212771) = 68 POINTS
At one point he was unstoppable at 155lbs, now moved up to 170lbs. He has a very important role to play in the final listings because if he loses he puts Rufus back into the title race. A win for himself will put him in contention for the title. If he manages that, he could surpass Joe and Viv above him.
Joe Jordan (196358) = 67 POINTS
He was unstoppable until he got hit by Gunnar, since then he has lost 4 in a row, like Viv, at best he will struggle to hold onto this spot.
Renan St Juste (102580) = 65
The 2 time fighter of the year is currently retired, so he will probably end up 10th on this list.
Matt Quin (239220) = 63
Matt joined a little later than the fighters above on this list, which is the only reason why he is not higher up. He did have a couple of slips, which cost him dearly. Wins there could of had him in contention even if he joined the roster later. I think Viv will show some consistency to hold onto a top 4 spot and Quin and Gage will fight for the #5 spot.
Joe "Big Shot" Gage (212536) = 63
Like Matt, he had fewer fights, the ones he did have though were mostly wins, although he did have a draw and loss in his big Super fight. I think he could get up to 4th place in the final standings, but probably not higher.
Stanly Williams (174422) 57
Stanley is way down on this list, he probably wont be above 8-9th in the final standings even if he wins all his upcoming title fights.
End Conclusion
My prediction is that Rufus will edge this. I cannot see Prado losing his title but he is 6 points below Gunnar in second place. Even if he loses he next fight, he still holds one more title, so he will need to defend that. The only way Gunnar can lose first place is if he loses 3 fights and Prado wins 3. I did not look at when each fighter is competing, so there is a chance one of the 2 could have an extra fight, but either way, i cannot see Gunnar being so inconsistent in his last few fights. There is a small chance for a draw, if Prado wins all his and Gunnar loses 2, plus both have an even amount of fights remaining.
Rufus is extremely lucky because he pulled off a decision win over Boma and Lewis (which recently beat him), lost to Stanley Williams, a fighter Rufus beat. If he can pull a win there, he could end up on top. He will still need to win all his fights though and Gunnar can maybe afford one loss because he holds 2 titles at the moment.
However you put it though, it will come down to wins at the top level. Joe Jordan was looking untouchable 4 fights ago, then he lost 4, the same could occur with the above candidates in their last 3-4 fights, so it could change a lot.
NOTE: This is updated UP TO: GAMMA#590 Lewis v Williams
