By Jake Donovan UPSET OF THE YEAR
TITLES CHANGED HANDS, HOMECOMINGS WERE RUINED AND MODEST PUNCHERS PRODUCED MEMORABLE KOS IN SOME OF 2024’S SURPRISE ENDINGS
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4. PHUMELELA CAFU SD 12 KOSEI TANAKA October 14, Ariake Arena, Tokyo WBO junior bantamweight title South Africa’s Cafu was the only visiting fighter to leave town with new hardware during a two-day, seven-title- fight weekend in Japan. The purple-haired challenger (10-0-3, 8 KOs at the time) did so against a four-division titlist in Tanaka, who entered his first WBO 115-pound title defense at 20-1 (11 KOs) and as a -1100 favorite by the opening bell. A fifth-round knockdown – courtesy of a right hand – provided the margin of victory. Cafu prevailed by matching scores of 114-113 on two cards, overruling the 114-113 tally for Tanaka. 5. BAKHRAM MURTAZALIEV TKO 3 TIM TSZYU October 19, Caribe Royale Resort, Orlando, Florida IBF junior middleweight title
1. LIAM PARO UD 12 SUBRIEL MATIAS June 15, 2024, Coliseo Juan Aubin Cruz Abreu, Manati, Puerto Rico IBF junior welterweight title
way. Murtazaliev’s left hook produced three of the bout’s four knockdowns in the shockingly one-sided knockout win. Tszyu entered the year as the unbeaten WBO titlist and The Ring No. 1 junior middleweight. His 2024 ended with a second straight loss. 6. BRUNO SURACE KO 6 JAIME MUNGUIA December 14, Estadio Caliente, Tijuana, Mexico Super middleweight non-title bout France’s Surace traveled outside of Europe for the first time and – with just four knockouts in 27 pro fights (25-0- 2) – was considered a safe choice for Munguia’s Tijuana homecoming. The Ring’s No. 1 super middleweight (44-1, 35 KOs going in) was a massive -3500 favorite and floored the Frenchman in the second round. Things continued to go according to plan – until they didn’t. Surace uncorked a right hand to the chin that put Munguia on his back. Munguia rose from the
down the No. 1 strawweight and become a two-time IBF titlist. Shigeoka, previously undefeated at 11-0 (9 KOs), was a whopping -2000 favorite to successfully defend his title for the second time. Taduran jumped ahead in the fourth, at which point Shigeoka’s right eye was battered and nearly swollen shut. A barrage of punches in the ninth left the Japanese champion defenseless, which forced the stoppage at 2:50 of the round. 3. ANGELO LEO KO 10 LUIS ALBERTO LOPEZ August 10, Tingley Coliseum, Albuquerque, New Mexico IBF featherweight title Traveling to an opponent’s hometown meant little to Mexicali’s Lopez. Wins over Isaac Lowe, Josh Warrington and Michael Conlan all came on the road in an 18-month span. He entered his fourth title defense as The Ring’s top-rated featherweight and opened as a -750 favorite. Leo was written off in January 2021 after his brief WBO 122-pound title reign 3.
Matias (20-1, 20 KOs going into the fight) was armed with the title, a new Matchroom Boxing promotional contract and a stadium full of fans eager to see his first fight in Puerto Rico since the pandemic. The knockout artist entered his second title defense as a healthy -1100 favorite. Australia’s Paro (24-0, 15 KOs going in) was fighting in the boxing-wild island nation for the first time and was taking his first shot at a major title. He was reminded of Matias’ home advantage with an absurd point deduction in the seventh. It didn’t impact the outcome. Scores were 116-111, 115-112 and 115-112 for the visiting challenger. Matias’ 16-month title reign ended with a homecoming to forget.
2. PEDRO TADURAN TKO 9 GINJIRO SHIGEOKA July 28, Shiga Daihatsu Arena, Otsu, Shiga, Japan IBF strawweight title The irony in Shigeoka’s stunning defeat is that it paved the way to crown the first-ever Ring 105-pound champion. That door opened when the Philippines’ Taduran stormed into Shiga to take
canvas but could not steady himself as he was counted out at 2:36 of the sixth.
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The only winning fighter on the list to retain his title also boasted the most remarkable backstory. In addition to facing a -700 favorite in Tszyu (24-1, 17 KOs at the time), Russia’s Murtazaliev (22-0, 16 KOs going in) revealed afterward that he entered his first title defense with a broken right hand. His left hand was just fine, though, as Australia’s Tszyu found out the hard
ended in defeat against Stephen Fulton, despite a subsequent four-fight win streak. Nobody will ever forget the left hook Leo launched to put Lopez flat on his back, though. He raced across the ring to celebrate on the ropes as referee Ernie Sharif ended the contest at 1:16 of the 10th.
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