Additionally, five current world champions were named as early as January: Nonito Donaire, Mark Magsayo, Jerwin Ancajas, John Riel Casimero, and Rene Mark Cuarto.
The list was destroyed almost halfway through the year, and by the third quarter, Magsayo, the last guy remaining, had also fallen.
Few good folks tried to restore the brilliance in the absence of a flag-bearer.
Donnie Nietes, a four-division champion, and Jonas Sultan, however, missed their goals and tragically lost their chances to compete for the world championship.
Ancajas, who had earlier in the year lost his crown jewels, had the chance to get it back, but Argentine Fernando Martinez just had him covered as the South American easily won their fight for the IBF super-flyweight title in Carson, California, in October.
While Casimero saw his reign come to an end in thin smoke after the World Boxing Organization dethroned him from the bantamweight crown for committing back-to-back infractions, Ancajas, Magsayo, Donaire, and Cuarto lost theirs on top of the ring.
Donaire, who had previously given Japanese Naoya Inoue a taste of hell in 2019, was easily defeated in the rematch after giving up his World Boxing Council bantam diadem after just two rounds.
This fight was easier for Inoue than their previous one because he denied Las Vegas-based Donaire the chance to hurt him.
The 12-round fight at the Saitama Super Arena in June had to be stopped right away by the referee when Donaire was knocked out cold with a left to the jaw from Inoue.
Magsayo, who had defeated Gary Russell Jr. to win the WBC featherweight gold in the third week of January, was compelled to make a mandatory defense before losing to the powerful Mexican Rey Vargas in San Antonio, Texas, in July.
In the same month, on the unfriendly ground in Mexico, Daniel Valladares defeated Cuarto to win the IBF minimumweight title.
A glimmer of optimism appeared with the impressive victories by individuals regarded highly in their respective weight classes after all champions were eliminated in the final three months of the year.
By stopping Russian fighter Nikolai Potapov, who was based in Brooklyn, in December in Las Vegas, Vincent Astrolabio unexpectedly found himself in the position to compete for a world championship.
Ex-world champion Marlon Tapales and fellow Californian boxer Jade Bornea, both of whom compete under the banner of General Santos City-based promoter JC Mananquil, both recorded significant victories.
Bornea's chance at Martinez's belt is also almost finalized, while Tapales' shot at the world championship is now being completed.
If Inoue moves up to super-bantamweight, Donaire, assuming he decides to continue his Hall of Fame career, will probably get a shot at the belt.
Even though the biggest of them all, eight-division champion Manny Pacquiao, remained retired throughout the year, his exhibition performance in Korea in December may have given fans a glimpse into the year 2023.
Pacquiao claims he still has plenty of gas in the tank and that his final match may occur here.
Ultimately, it was a terrible 2022, made more agonizing by the crushing Donaire loss.
But considering the unexpected jump in the fourth quarter, Philippine boxing appears ready to take off.(Romeo Braceros Jr.)
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