BRILLIANT FIGHTERS FROM BOTH ENDS OF THE WEIGHT SPECTRUM HAVE BEEN NOMINATED FOR THE RING'S MOST PRESTIGIOUS YEAR-END AWARD
FIGHTER OF THE YEAR
By Tom Gray
ARTUR BETERBIEV While Artur Beterbiev lost his distinction of being the only world champion in boxing with a 100% knockout ratio, he did accomplish his career dream of becoming the first undisputed light heavyweight champion in over two decades. The Russian destroyer began the year by battering former super middleweight champion Callum Smith in Canada. Beterbiev was at his very best, dominating almost every round before securing a violent seventh-round stoppage to retain his then-unified championship. This marked the first time that Smith had failed to finish a fight. From there, all attention turned to a matchup with WBA counterpart and fellow pound-for-pound entrant Dmitry Bivol. A superfight that once appeared dead due to high financial demands was brought back to life by Turki Alalshikh for the debut event of Riyadh Season 2024 on October 12. And this showdown delivered. Before the fight, conventional wisdom predicted Beterbiev by knockout or Bivol on points. Not for the first time, conventional wisdom was unreliable. In a brilliant tactical battle, Bivol boxed beautifully on the outside and used incredible footwork to put his man out of position. However, relying on years of experience in high-level combat and a turbocharged engine, Beterbiev began to close the gap in the second half and the pressure he applied was suffocating. At the end of 12 rounds, fans and experts were divided over who deserved to walk away with the light heavyweight treasure trove. One judge scored it a draw, but the other two officials voted for Beterbiev, who left the Kingdom Arena as the undisputed champion by majority decision. The pair will renew ties on February 22 at the very same venue.
DANIEL DUBOIS A menacing heavyweight with thunderous power in both hands, Dubois was highly touted early in his career and viewed by many as the heir apparent to compatriots Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua. However, following setbacks against Joe Joyce (KO by 10) and Oleksandr Usyk (KO by 9), the colossal Londoner was suddenly labeled a “quitter.” Dubois did enter 2024 in good form, having emerged victorious in a battle of attrition with enigmatic American Jarrell “Big Baby” Miller (TKO 10) last December. The ebb and flow of that fight combined with Dubois’ ability to overcome adversity convinced some – not all – skeptics that he’d turned a corner. But despite coming off a career-best victory, Dubois was installed as the underdog when he faced unbeaten Croatian Filip Hrgovic in an interim IBF title fight in June. In a high-contact battle, the Englishman absorbed plenty of punishment, but he stayed in the hunt, cut Hrgovic with power punches and pulled off an impressive eighth- round stoppage. The best was yet to come. The 27-year-old Dubois was upgraded to full IBF titleholder status after Usyk was forced to relinquish that belt for agreeing to face Fury in their rematch. But while the door to another Usyk bout closed for Dubois, he suddenly found himself in an all-British superfight with Joshua at Wembley Stadium in September. As the underdog once again, Dubois floored “AJ” three times in the first four rounds before knocking him out in the fifth with a perfect right-hand counterpunch. A U.K. attendance record of 96,000 fans watched the drama unfold live. Hyperbole to one side, this was one of the most sensational moments in British boxing history.
OSCAR COLLAZO Oscar Collazo is the ultimate little big man. In less than five years, this brilliant young Puerto Rican American has ascended to the very top of the strawweight division, and he’s now on the cusp of pound-for-pound recognition. The year 2024 was one to be celebrated. Collazo made three defenses of his WBO title, unified at 105 pounds and also claimed the inaugural Ring championship at strawweight. The scary thing is, at just 27 years old, we probably haven’t seen the best of him. In January, on the Jaime Munguia vs. John Ryder undercard, Collazo got himself involved in an entertaining scrap with game Nicaraguan Reyneris Gutierrez. The pair traded back and forth for the first two rounds, but the champ ended matters in the third with a pulverizing burst of combination work punctuated by a stiff right to the head. Five months later, on Hall of Fame weekend in Verona, New York, Collazo was met with far tougher resistance by another Nicaraguan, Gerardo Zapata. In Round 2, the champ was shaken badly by a big right hand at ring center but managed to stay on his feet. Displaying the type of adaptability required at the top level, Collazo began boxing more following that moment of adversity and outpointed his opponent with room to spare. However, the young hotshot saved the best for last. In a unification bout against long-reigning WBA titleholder and division No. 2 Knockout CP Freshmart, Collazo turned in a career-best performance. Unable to cope with his younger opponent’s speed and accuracy, Freshmart was down three times and was stopped in the seventh round. The vacant Ring championship was also at stake in this fight.
JUNTO NAKATANI While Japanese phenom Junto Nakatani didn’t post a career-defining triumph in 2024, what he did do was become a three-weight titleholder and rubber-stamp his pound-for-pound credentials. The 26-year-old southpaw contested three world title fights in eight months and scored three stoppage wins. In February, Nakatani added the WBC bantamweight title to his flyweight and junior bantamweight crowns by decimating Alexandro Santiago. Santiago was coming off a dominant points win over the legendary Nonito Donaire and came to the ring confident of victory. The Mexican fighter didn’t land a punch of significance and was taken out in six rounds following two heavy knockdowns. In his first title defense, in July, Nakatani was matched against capable Filipino Vincent Astrolabio, who had prevailed in a title eliminator one year earlier. The challenger had also pushed super-tough Australian Jason Moloney to the wire in a bout for the vacant WBO crown before dropping a majority decision. Against Nakatani, Astrolabio lasted just 157 seconds, succumbing to a lung- bursting straight left to the body in Round 1. In October, Nakatani took on the 76-1 Tasana Salapat. While the challenger’s record was eye-popping, he’d never mixed with an elite-level puncher before and was fighting outside of Thailand for just the second time in his career. In his only defeat, Salapat was outpointed by future titleholder Takuma Inoue in 2018. Against Nakatani, in the very same city of Tokyo, he would experience far more discomfort. Two pulverizing knockdowns in Round 6 convinced referee Laurence Cole to wave the fight off. In 2025, destiny could bring Nakatani and Naoya Inoue together for the biggest fight in Japanese boxing history.
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