Barring someone else scoring a shocking upset, the race for Fighter of the Year may be Oleksandr Usyk’s to win or lose.
Usyk scored one of the biggest victories of 2024 in May, when he won a split decision over Tyson Fury to become the undisputed heavyweight champion. Their rematch is scheduled for December 21 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
There are still four months remaining in this year, and nearly as long until Usyk-Fury II takes place, but that doesn’t mean it’s too early to examine the Fighter of the Year race.
We already know who will be fighting in September. It’s unlikely that much more of note will be added to October’s calendar, given the time needed to train for a fight and market the event. In the coming weeks, we’ll likely hear from promoters and networks about their schedules for November and December.
What that means:
We can eliminate several fighters from contention just based on the fact that they won’t be performing a second time this year, and that their first and only win won’t be enough.
For example, that means no second set of honors for Terence Crawford, voted the Fighter of the Year in 2014 by the Boxing Writers Association of America. Crawford’s lone appearance of 2024 will be his close but solid victory over Israil Madrimov on August 3 for a junior middleweight title.
And we can look at the fighters who will have performed multiple times, but whose victories just don’t carry enough weight for the award.
That means super middleweight champ Canelo Alvarez, named Fighter of the Year in 2019 and 2021 by both The Ring magazine and the BWAA, isn’t going to be recognized for a third time for his May victory over Jaime Munguia and his likely win over Edgar Berlanga in a couple weeks.
Naoya Inoue was the obvious choice in 2023 after he won the undisputed junior featherweight championship over the course of two fights, dominating unified titleholders Stephen Fulton and Marlon Tapales. But he won’t repeat in 2024 based on his TKO of top contender Luis Nery in May and his fight with second-tier challenger TJ Doheny on Sept. 3. Even if he adds a third fight against the likes of Sam Goodman or Murodjon Akhmadaliev, that would make for a fine year, just not a Fighter of the Year.
Nor will Junto Nakatani, otherwise a pound-for-pound talent, get the honors despite three appearances — something too rare in this era of inactivity — bringing a sixth-round technical knockout over Alexander Santiago for a bantamweight world title, a first-round knockout of Vincent Astrolabio and an upcoming Oct. 14 defense against Petch CP Freshmart.
This has not been a great year in boxing. Not when so many fighters are so inactive. And not when so many of the fights we did receive just haven’t moved the needle.
All of which becomes painfully clear when reviewing the list of 2024’s top fighters and what they have done. Many of their campaigns would be seen just as “good” or merely “solid” were this most other years.
Let’s look, then, at that list, which we’ve broken down into the top candidates, some honorable mentions, and a few unlikely scenarios — huge upsets against overwhelming favorites — that would otherwise create an obvious winner.
Top Candidates:
Oleksandr Usyk: Usyk seemed to be headed toward defeat in May, with Tyson Fury hurting him again and again to the body. But Usyk adjusted, wobbled Fury, dropped him in the ninth round and had Fury in trouble. The decision was close, though not controversial. Usyk got the edge on two of the three judges’ scorecards. This victory alone over Fury, the best heavyweight in recent years, made Usyk the undisputed champ and would make him the top candidate for Fighter of the Year even were it his sole appearance in 2024. There is a rematch scheduled, though, and another clear win over Fury this December would affirm Usyk as the easy pick. That would be Usyk’s second time winning the award; he was honored by The Ring and the BWAA in 2018 for his three final appearances at cruiserweight, when he won decisions over Mairis Briedis and Murat Gassiev to become the undisputed champ at 200, then came from behind on the scorecards to stop Tony Bellew.
Artur Beterbiev vs. Dmitriy Bivol winner: The winner of this fight will become the undisputed light heavyweight champion. Beterbiev also fought in January, taking out former super middleweight titleholder Callum Smith in seven rounds; Smith had looked good beforehand in his two recent appearances at 175. Beterbiev and Bivol were originally supposed to meet in June. When Beterbiev pulled out with an injury, Bivol stopped undefeated but unheralded Malik Zinad. Bivol won Fighter of the Year once before, in 2022 for his decision wins over Canelo Alvarez and previously unbeaten Gilberto Ramirez.
Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez: Rodriguez blasted through the top junior bantamweight in the world, and a longtime pound-for-pounder, when he knocked out Juan Francisco Estrada in June. So far that is Rodriguez’s sole appearance for 2024, but it was quite an impressive victory in quite an impressive fashion. Rodriguez may fight once more this year. Depending on who he faces and how he does, Rodriguez’s case may get even stronger.
Honorable Mentions
Although we ruled out Inoue and Nakatani for Fighter of the Year earlier in this column, each could still merit honorable mentions for a decent 2024.
Inoue: This is wholly dependent on whether Inoue wins his second appearance of 2024, as he’s expected to do, and then notches a third win against a good challenger before the year is out. Inoue’s victory over Nery in May saw the junior featherweight champ come off the canvas to stop a very good opponent. Inoue’s bout this Tuesday against Doheny doesn’t strengthen his case, though it is an acceptable way for Inoue to remain busy. If Inoue finishes the year by continuing to clean out the 122-pound division, perhaps against Goodman or Akhmadaliev, then this will go down as a decent year for “The Monster,” who otherwise has already beaten the best in this weight class but isn’t physically ready yet to move on to the next.
Nakatani: Nakatani has at last begun to cross over into wider awareness, particularly after his highlight-reel knockout of Andrew Moloney in 2023 at junior bantamweight. That fight won Nakatani a world title in a second weight class. But this column is about this year. Earlier in 2024, Nakatani earned a title in his third, division stopping bantamweight beltholder Alexandro Santiago in six. Then Nakatani blasted through contender Vincent Astrolabio in less than a round. For his next outing, Nakatani will face the 76-1 Petch CP Freshmart, who has quite the padded record and whose lone loss came against Takuma Inoue in 2018. Inoue has since gone on to win a world title at 118.
There are some other names that also could deserve acknowledgement for a fine year — depending on what they do next in 2024 — even if their wins won’t put them in contention for top honors. They include:
Daniel Dubois: In June, Dubois stopped unbeaten contender Filip Hrgovic on cuts for an interim heavyweight belt. On September 21, Dubois — who was since upgraded to the full IBF titleholder — will defend against Anthony Joshua. Joshua has won four straight since suffering back-to-back losses to Usyk and has been ranked the third-best heavyweight behind Usyk and Fury.
Gervonta “Tank” Davis: So far, Davis has only fought once in 2024, but he scored a quality win with his eighth-round knockout of unbeaten lightweight contender Frank Martin. It’s a shame that Davis was unable to land fights with fellow titleholders Vasiliy Lomachenko and Shakur Stevenson. Wins over either would’ve propelled Davis toward the top of this list. Instead, Davis is expected to return in the coming months against a foe whose name has not yet been determined. If that fight winds up being against Jose “Rayo” Valenzuela — who upset Isaac Cruz in August for a junior welterweight title — then a second win for Davis would make for a pretty good year.
Fernando Martinez: Martinez has also only fought once so far this year, and that win was a very good one, seeing him go to Japan to win a clear decision over Kazuto Ioka, long one of the top 115-pounders around. Martinez unified two world titles in the process. It’s possible that the two men could have a rematch on New Year’s Eve, and another victory for Martinez would only strengthen his case for being one of the best fighters of 2024.
Liam Paro: Paro captured a junior welterweight world title in June with a unanimous decision victory over Subriel Matias, who had knocked out everyone he’d ever faced — even his previous loss to Petros Ananyan was avenged two years later by TKO. Paro went into hostile territory against Matias and didn’t just survive; he won convincingly, even if he had to make it through some difficulty to get there. If Paro is able to add another quality win, then he deserves an honorable mention. That opportunity could come in a unification bout with Devin Haney, which is a possibility for later this year. Some will see a win over Haney as meaningless, given how Haney looked against Ryan Garcia. And it’s true, Haney did look flawed and vulnerable, though that vulnerability came against a foe who was stronger thanks to intentionally missing weight and due to the use of performance-enhancing drugs. Still, if Paro finishes 2024 with wins over Matias and Haney, plus two world titles in his collection, that should go down as a pretty good year.
Tyson Fury: This is if, and only if, Fury wins demonstratively in his rematch with Usyk. Some may bristle at including a fighter who lost earlier in the year. However, a dominant victory for Fury would reestablish him as the true king of the heavyweight division, essentially writing over the close loss to Usyk in their first meeting. Lennox Lewis and Hasim Rahman went 1-1 against each other, but Lewis is seen as being the winner of their rivalry by virtue of his rematch win.
Unlikely Upsets Against Overwhelming Favorites
There aren’t many cases of someone being Fighter of the Year based solely on one huge upset.
Perhaps the most recent example is George Foreman, selected by the BWAA in 1994 thanks to his one-punch come-from-behind KO of Michael Moorer. (The Ring went with Roy Jones Jr., whose three victories that year included a second-round TKO of Thomas Tate in a middleweight title defense and then a unanimous decision over James Toney to capture a super middleweight belt.)
Perhaps Buster Douglas would’ve won in 1990 had his lone fight that year been his historic knockout of Mike Tyson. Alas, Douglas returned to the ring later that year and was promptly dispatched by Evander Holyfield.
Glen Johnson’s knockout of Roy Jones Jr. in 2004 was also stunning, but it probably would not have been enough given that Jones had been knocked out by Antonio Tarver just four months beforehand. Nevertheless, Johnson was indeed named the top fighter that year by both The Ring and BWAA. That’s because his three-fight campaign saw him outpoint Clinton Woods for a vacant light heavyweight belt, knock out Jones and then take a split decision over Tarver to become The Ring’s champion at 175.
Looking at the remaining schedule for 2024, two of the best fighters in the world — Inoue and Canelo — are facing opponents seen as having little chance at victory. That means those odds-on favorites won’t be able to use those bouts to make their case for Fighter of the Year. But if those underdogs score a remarkable upset?
TJ Doheny: If TJ Doheny were to beat Naoya Inoue on Sept. 3, that win alone — Doheny also defeated a 7-0-1 prospect in May — would give him a very strong case.
Edgar Berlanga: The same can be said for Berlanga defeating Canelo on Sept. 14. Berlanga has looked as if he’d otherwise reached his limits at super middleweight. It would be shocking if he were somehow able to do what other, far-better 168-pounders couldn’t.
And one more name for us to potentially include:
Jose “Rayo” Valenzuela: If Valenzuela faces “Tank” Davis later this year, he wouldn’t be as much of an underdog as Doheny is against Inoue or Berlanga is against Canelo. Yet a win over Davis would absolutely make Valenzuela a top candidate for Fighter of the Year honors. Davis is seen as one of the best all-around fighters in the world, someone with tremendous power, boxing ability and ring savvy. Valenzuela already has one very solid win with his August split decision over Isaac Cruz for a junior welterweight title. Adding a win over Davis wouldn’t be the cherry on top; it would be a whole damn freezer full of ice cream.
Follow David Greisman on Twitter @FightingWords2. His book, “Fighting Words: The Heart and Heartbreak of Boxing,” is available on Amazon.