(Photo by Naoki Fukuda)

2023 WAS GOOD, BUT ONE MAN STOLE THE SHOW

HAPPY NEW YEAR! For boxing fans, not only do I think it’s going to be a Happy year, I think it’s going to be a GREAT one. I’ll tell you why later in this column. Right now, it’s time for me to give out my own personal awards for 2023. Some you won’t find anywhere else.

Before I begin, I must tell you that SiriusXM Radio – where I do my twice-weekly shows with Gerry Cooney – came to us in early December and told us that we’d have to record our “awards shows” on December 18 and 19, as there would be a skeletal production staff on hand for the final two weeks of the year. I informed them that by recording our shows on the 18th and 19th, we’d be precluding two of the most important shows of the year – the December 23 extravaganza in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and the December 26 junior featherweight unification in Tokyo. The suits at SiriusXM understood, but so did we. With a skeletal staff, we were forced to record the “awards shows” prior to the 23rd and 26th megacards. 

Ring Magazine was also looking for a deadline right before those two cards. When I explained that to the Ring editorial staff, they listened. They heard. They understood. I’m thankful they did. You see, those two important cards made the difference in several major yearly awards.

Let’s start with the big award, the first one out of everybody’s mouth when talk of boxing’s yearly awards begins. In my mind, there was only one possible winner:

(Photo by Naoki Fukuda)

FIGHTER OF THE YEAR: NAOYA INOUE

Had we not waited until December 26, four fighters were in line to win this coveted award. One was Devin Haney. Another was David Benavidez. A third was Canelo Alvarez. There was also Terence Crawford. 

As impressive as Crawford’s demolition of Errol Spence was, that one victory – his only fight of the year – was simply not enough to make him the “Fighter of the Year.”

David Benavidez was 2-0 during 2023, a year in which he elevated himself to the obvious next-in-line position to face Canelo Alvarez for the undisputed super middleweight championship. 

However, I just didn’t feel that a decision victory over Caleb Plant and a beatdown stoppage of Demetrius Andrade were enough to make Benavidez the “Fighter of the Year.” 

Stephen Fulton lasted until the eighth round against Inoue. (Photo by Naoki Fukuda)

The same with Canelo Alvarez. Was he deserving to be “Fighter of the Year” for a decision victory over John Ryder and a stoppage of inactive blown-up junior middleweight champion Jermell Charlo? I couldn’t see it.

Had Inoue not fought for – and unified – all four major 122-pound titles as well as filling the vacant Ring Magazine championship, my choice for “Fighter of the Year” would have gone to Devin Haney.

He had two fights. He had two victories. One was against Vasily Lomachenko. The other was a move-up-in-weight shutout against junior welterweight titleholder Regis Prograis. Without Inoue, Haney takes the award. But there was Inoue. 

Of the five names considered, I view what Inoue did in his two outings in 2023 far more impressive than what the other four terrific fighters did: For Inoue, it was two fights. Two victories. Two stoppages. Each win came against reigning beltholders. Inoue picked up the WBC and WBO junior featherweight belts when he stopped previously unbeaten Stephen Fulton in July. A day after Christmas, Inoue’s stoppage of WBA/IBF titleholder Marlon Tapales made him the undisputed (and Ring Magazine) junior featherweight champion.

Devin Haney, Canelo Alvarez, David Benavidez and Terence Crawford are all terrific fighters. Maybe they’re even great fighters. But what they did in 2023 paled next to Inoue’s year.  

In my mind, Inoue’s two title-bout KOs in 2023 make the Japanese superstar a no-brainer for “Fighter of the Year” honors. 

FIGHTER OF THE YEAR:

1.  Naoya Inoue
2.  Devin Haney
3.  David Benavidez
4.  Terence Crawford
5.  Canelo Alvarez

Foster (right) vs. Hernandez was so good it won both Fight and Round of the Year. (Photo by Ed Mulholland/Matchroom)

FIGHT OF THE YEAR: 

1. O’Shaquie Foster TKO 12 Eduardo Hernandez
2. Devin Haney UD 12 Vasily Lomachenko 
3. Jaime Munguia UD 12 Sergiy Derevyanchenko
4. Luis Nery KO 11 Azat Hovhannisyan
5. Tim Tszyu UD 12 Brian Mendoza

ROUND OF THE YEAR:

1. O’Shaquie Foster vs. Eduardo Hernandez, Round 11

UPSET OF THE YEAR: 

1.  Joseph Parker UD 12 Deontay Wilder
2.  Rafael Espinoza MD 12 Robeisy Ramirez
3.  Agit Kabayel TKO 4 Arslanbek Makhmudov
4.  Zhilei Zhang TKO 6 Joe Joyce (first fight)
5.  Chantelle Cameron MD 10 Katie Taylor (first fight)
6.  Jose Felix TKO 3 Gary Cully
7.  Jose Resendiz TKO 10 Jarrett Hurd
8. Julissa Guzman KO 8 Ramla Ali (first fight)
9. Mercito Gesta SD 10 Joseph Diaz
10. Liam Smith TKO 4 Chris Eubank Jr. (first fight)

Some didn’t agree with Devin Haney’s win over Vasiliy Lomachenko, but his performance agaist Regis Prograis was an unqualified masterpiece. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)

PERFORMANCE OF THE YEAR:

1. Devin Haney UD 12 Regis Prograis
2. Terence Crawford TKO 9 Errol Spence
3. David Benavidez RTD 6 Demetrius Andrade
4. Joseph Parker UD 12 Deontay Wilder
5. Jesse Rodriguez RTD 9 Sunny Edwards

KNOCKOUT OF THE YEAR:

1.  Brian Mendoza KO 7 Sebastian Fundora
2.  Gervonta Davis KO 7 Ryan Garcia
3.  Agit Kabayel TKO 4 Arslanbek Makhmudov
4.  Anthony Joshua KO 7 Robert Helenius
5.  Zhilei Zhang KO 3 Joe Joyce (rematch)

TRAINER OF THE YEAR: Bill Haney

THE BRONER AWARD (Which I give every year to the biggest flake in the sport): Adrien Broner

PROMOTER OF THE YEAR: Top Rank

COMEBACK:

1. Joseph Parker
2. Zhilei Zhang
3. Daniel Dubois – came back from a KO loss earlier in 2023
4. Ryan Garcia – came back from a KO loss earlier in 2023

PROSPECT:

1. Andy Cruz
2. Ernesto Mercado
3. Emiliano Vargas
4. Freudis Rojas
5. Lorenzo Medina
6. Amari Jones
7. Paddy Donovan
8. Callum Walsh
9. Robin Safar
10. Moses Itauma

THE JAMES BROAD AWARD (Named after the 1980s heavyweight contender who ate his way into oblivion): Jarrell Miller 

THE 10 FIGHTS I MOST WANT TO SEE IN 2024

1.  Canelo Alvarez vs. David Benavidez
2.  Artur Beterbiev vs. Dmitry Bivol
3.  Tyson Fury vs. Oleksandr Usyk
4.  Katie Taylor vs. Amanda Serrano 2
5.  Anthony Joshua vs. Deontay Wilder
6.  Janibek Alimkhanuly vs. Jermall Charlo
7.  Devin Haney vs. Gervonta Davis
8.  Tim Tszyu vs. Terence Crawford
9.  Seniesa Estrada vs. Yokasta Valle
10.  Naoya Inoue vs. any featherweight titlist

QUICK HITS: It’s just a hunch, but one dozen unbeaten fighters I see big things for in 2024 are middleweight king Janibek Alimkhanuly; junior welterweight Gary Antuane Russell; lightweights Keyshawn Davis and Andy Cruz; junior middleweight Xander Zayas; junior welterweight Ernesto “Tito” Mercado; female world champions Claressa Shields and Seniesa Estrada; fast-rising featherweight Bruce “Shu Shu” Carrington; heavyweights Jared Anderson and Agit Kabayel; and IBF strawweight titleholder Ginjiro Shigeoka.

You can email Randy Gordon at [email protected]

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