FIGHTER OF THE YEAR
ALSO NOTABLE:
Four-weight world champion Canelo Alvarez dominated both Jaime Munguia and Edgar Berlanga in super middleweight defenses, dropping his then-unbeaten foes en route to wide unanimous decision triumphs.
Englishman Nick Ball put a controversial draw against then-WBC featherweight champ Rey Vargas behind him to score a career-defining triumph over Ray Ford to lift the WBA version. Ball closed out the year with a thumping 10th-round stoppage over Ronny Rios.
JESSE RODRIGUEZ “Bam” Rodriguez entered 2024 as a pound-for-pound entrant thanks to a TKO triumph over the then-unbeaten Sunny Edwards in a flyweight unification bout in December 2023. Struggling to make 112 pounds, the Texas-based lefty decided to move up to junior bantamweight in pursuit of more gold. Even though he’d already held the WBC title in this weight class, Bam could scarcely have been more audacious in his choice of opponent for June 29 at the Footprint Center in Phoenix. Over the past 12 years, Mexican boxing legend Juan Francisco Estrada had lost just one fight – to Srisaket Sor Rungvisai – and he’d avenged that setback on points. He was also the Ring Magazine/WBC champion at 115 pounds and his skillset was beyond reproach. While oddsmakers favored Bam’s youth and aggression, many felt Estrada’s experience and ring IQ would provide the 24-year-old boxer-puncher with a stern test. In a superb showing, Bam displayed tactical superiority early, making Estrada work harder than he wanted to work and scoring with accurate punches. However, just when the curtain began to descend on Estrada’s Hall of Fame run, he dropped the challenger with a terrific right-hand bomb in Round 6. More embarrassed than hurt, Bam rose quickly and refused to engage anything other than forward gears. Estrada went beyond the call of duty to hold the younger man off but succumbed to a liver-bruising left to the midsection in the seventh. Now closing in on the pound-for-pound top five, Bam took on former junior flyweight titleholder Pedro Guevara to finish out the year. Once again, he was dazzling, dropping the challenger twice en route to a brutal third-round TKO in Philadelphia.
OLEKSANDR USYK By the end of 2023, Oleksandr Usyk had two decision wins over Anthony Joshua and a TKO 9 victory over Daniel Dubois. In those fights, Usyk gave away significant amounts of weight, height, reach and natural strength, yet he still prevailed. The Ukrainian hero’s intelligence, agility, speed and fighting heart carried the day. In 2024, Usyk would face the biggest challenge of them all – twice. Tyson Fury is listed at 6-foot-9, his reach is 85 inches, and he competes around the 270-pound mark. Usyk is 6-foot-3, his reach is 78 inches, and he always hits the scales at a shade over 220. And it’s not just that Fury is big – “The Gypsy King” is a seasoned and skilled warrior with a terrific ring IQ. On May 18, 2024, at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, both fighters were magnificent. Defending the WBC title, Fury retained tactical superiority from Rounds 3 through 7, stunning the unified Ring/IBF/WBA/WBO champion with perfectly timed uppercuts and unleashing a potent body attack. But no other active fighter responds better under fire than Usyk. He roared back to take command and score a knockdown in Round 9 before claiming a career-defining split decision triumph. Usyk was only undisputed champion for a period of weeks before being forced to surrender the IBF title in order to face Fury in a contractually agreed rematch. However, this rivalry was now bigger than title belts and there was a genuine sense of destiny as fight time approached. On December 21, at the same venue, the pair threw down to decide once and for all the greatest heavyweight of a generation. Again, Fury put forth a gallant effort and gave his nemesis all he could handle, but it wasn’t enough. Usyk banked eight rounds on all three scorecards to claim a 12-round unanimous decision.
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