The BWAA Announces The 2016 Bernie Writing Award Winners
The Boxing Writers Association of America is very proud to announce the winners of its 2016 Bernie Awards, the 16th annual writing contest named after former BWAA President Bernard Fernandez.
This year’s big winner is Thomas Hauser, who won firsts in Over-1,500 words (“The Long, Sad Goodbye,” Pegasus, June 8, 2016) and for Investigative Reporting (“The New York State Athletic Commission Under Fire,” The Ring, February 1, 2016 – December 20, 2016).
Other multiple winners included the Boston Herald's Ron Borges, who hit for the Bernie cycle, getting a first in News coverage (“Seriously?,” Boxing Monthly, August 2016), second in Column (“Muhammad Ali Was Fighter Till the End,” Boston Herald, June 4, 2016), third in Event coverage (“Warrior Hopkins Falls in Finale,” Boston Herald, December 19, 2016) and an honorable mention (Feature Under-1,500 word).
Between Hauser and Borges, the veterans won three of the six categories.
The other three winners were Joseph Santoliquito in Event coverage (“In the end, Muhammad Ali, the great subversive, proved to be the ultimate unifier,” PhillyVoice.com, June 10, 2016), Carlos Acevado in Column (“A Ghost Orbiting Forever,” Undisputed Champion Network, June 15, 2016) and Springs Toledo in Feature Under-1,500 words (“Muhammad Ali’s Secret to Greatness,” InsideHBOBoxing.com, June 6, 2016). Toledo also achieved thirds in News (“Ali - Dead?,” InsideHBOBoxing.com, June 5, 2016
) and Feature Over-1,500 words (“The Minimalist,” NYFights.com, February 16, 2016).
Another multiple winner was Bernard Fernandez, with two seconds, one in Event (“Squatty and Inelegant, Khurtsidze Steals the Show,” thesweetscience.com, March 6, 2016) and the other in Feature Under-1,500 words (“Referee Mills Lane: Still Fighting at Age 78,” thesweetscience.com, March 29, 2016) and a third in Investigative (“Rio Olympics Redux: When Will the Corruption End?,” thesweetscience.com, August 25, 2016).
Joining the multiple winners was Tom Gerbasi, with a third in Event (“It Was Perfect,” The Ring, March 2017 (released December 2016) and a third in News (“Stevenson Motivated to Reach Childhood Dream of Olympic Gold,” BoxingScene.com, April 29, 2016).
Other place winners were Dave Anderson (third in Column category: “When Muhammad Ali’s Twinkle Shone Brightest,” The New York Times, June 4, 2016), Lance Pugmire (second in News: “HBO’s Boxing Business Shows Signs of Fatigue,” Los Angeles Times, September 16, 2016), David Weinberg (third in Feature Under-1,500 words: “Down But Not Out,” Press of Atlantic City, March 19, 2016), Greg Bishop (tied for second in Feature Over-1,500: “The Hands of the Fighter,” SI.com, November 14, 2016),
Bill King (tied for second in Feature Over-1,500: “Fight of Your Life,” Sports Business Journal, November 21, 2016), Don Stradley (tied for third in Feature Over-1,500: “Everybody Loved Bobby Chacon,” The Ring, January 2017) and Eric Raskin (second in Investigative: “Still Standing: The Story of Hopkins vs. Trinidad,” HBO.com, September 29, 2016).
The BWAA would like to congratulate all of the winners and honorable mentions in a record year of 159 entries to the contest and 47 entrants. This year featured a who's who of the top writers that cover boxing today.
The BWAA will be honoring all of the winners at its annual dinner on March 16, 2017, at Capitale in New York City. Anyone caring to attend can find the order forms here on the BWAA.org website.
2016 BERNIE WINNERS
BOXING EVENT COVERAGE
First Place
JOSEPH SANTOLIQUITO, “In the end, Muhammad Ali, the great subversive, proved to be the ultimate unifier,” PhillyVoice.com, June 10, 2016
Second Place
BERNARD FERNANDEZ, “Squatty and Inelegant, Khurtsidze Steals the Show,” thesweetscience.com, March 6, 2016
Third Place (Tie)
RON BORGES, “Warrior Hopkins Falls in Finale,” Boston Herald, December 19, 2016
THOMAS GERBASI, “It Was Perfect,” The Ring, March 2017 (released December 2016)
Honorable Mention: Bill Dwyre, TopRank.com; Gordon Marino, Wall Street Journal; Kieran Mulvaney, InsideHBOBoxing.com
BOXING COLUMN
First Place
CARLOS ACEVEDO, “A Ghost Orbiting Forever,” Undisputed Champion Network, June 15, 2016
Second Place
RON BORGES, “Muhammad Ali Was Fighter Till the End,” Boston Herald, June 4, 2016
Third Place
DAVE ANDERSON, “When Muhammad Ali’s Twinkle Shone Brightest,” The New York Times, June 4, 2016
Honorable Mention: Robert Cassidy, Newsday.com; Lyle Fitzsimmons, BoxingScene.com; Jack Hirsch, Boxing News; Keith Idec, BoxingScene.com; Jerry Izenberg, The Star-Ledger; Chris Mannix, Yahoo!Sports
BOXING NEWS STORY
First Place
RON BORGES, “Seriously?,” Boxing Monthly, August 2016
Second Place
LANCE PUGMIRE, “HBO’s Boxing Business Shows Signs of Fatigue,” Los Angeles Times, September 16, 2016
Third Place (Tie)
THOMAS GERBASI, “Stevenson Motivated to Reach Childhood Dream of Olympic Gold,” BoxingScene.com, April 29, 2016
SPRINGS TOLEDO, “Ali - Dead?,” InsideHBOBoxing.com, June 5, 2016
Honorable Mention: Tim Dahlberg, Associated Press; David Weinberg, Press of Atlantic City; George Willis, New York Post
BOXING FEATURE (Under 1,500 words)
First Place
SPRINGS TOLEDO, “Muhammad Ali’s Secret to Greatness,” InsideHBOBoxing.com, June 6, 2016
Second Place
BERNARD FERNANDEZ, “Referee Mills Lane: Still Fighting at Age 78,” thesweetscience.com, March 29, 2016
Third Place
DAVID WEINBERG “Down But Not Out,” Press of Atlantic City, March 19, 2016
Honorable Mention: Ron Borges, The Ring; Tim Dahlberg, Associated Press; Jack Hirsch, Boxing News; Franz Lidz, 360 Magazine; Don Stradley, donstradley.blogspot.com;
BOXING FEATURE (Over 1,500 words)
First Place
THOMAS HAUSER, “The Long, Sad Goodbye,” Pegasus, June 8, 2016
Second Place (Tie)
GREG BISHOP, “The Hands of the Fighter,” SI.com, November 14, 2016
BILL KING, “Fight of Your Life,” Sports Business Journal, November 21, 2016
Third Place (Tie)
DON STRADLEY, “Everybody Loved Bobby Chacon,” The Ring, January 2017 (released Fall 2016)
SPRINGS TOLEDO, “Shutter Shock,” NYFights.com, February 16, 2016
Honorable Mention: Brin-Jonathan Butler, ESPN’s Undeafeated; Norm Frauenheim, The Ring; Arne K. Lang, thesweetscience.com; Jack Hirsch, Boxing News; Kieran Mulvaney, InsideHBOBoxing.com; Eric Raskin, HBO.com
BOXING INVESTIGATIVE REPORTING
First Place
THOMAS HAUSER, “The New York State Athletic Commission Under Fire,” The Ring, February 1, 2016 – December 20, 2016 (ongoing series)
Second Place
ERIC RASKIN, “Still Standing: The Story of Hopkins vs. Trinidad,” HBO.com, September 29, 2016
Third Place
BERNARD FERNANDEZ, “Rio Olympics Redux: When Will the Corruption End?,” thesweetscience.com, August 25, 2016
Honorable Mention: Carlos Acevedo, Boxing News; Brin-Jonathan Butler, ESPN’s Undefeated; David P. Greisman, BoxingScene.com; Greg Logan, Newsday; Lance Pugmire, Los Angeles Times; George Willis, New York Post
2016 BERNIES JUDGES:
TOMMY DEAS, Executive Sports Editor, Tuscaloosa News; President, Associated Press Sports Editors
TOM CUSHMAN, San Diego Union-Tribune (retired)
JIM JENKINS, Sacramento Bee (retired)
BRYCE MILLER, Sports Columnist, San Diego Union-Tribune
ED SCHUYLER, Jr., The Associated Press (retired)
RICK TELANDER, Sports Columnist, Chicago Sun-Times
