The BoxingScene team unanimously voted one winner for Fighter of the Year and, somewhat ironically, it was the only category in our year-end awards with an undisputed winner.
As 2024 closed out, we were all talking about Oleksandr Usyk: about how he was the last man standing from this heavyweight era, how he wasn’t necessarily the one we expected to be talking about but now is the one who is being discussed in terms of being the greatest-ever cruiserweight and a top 10 heavyweight in history.
The southpaw Ukrainian maestro has been unbeatable as a pro, and in 2024 he topped two big shows in two huge fights against one foe, Tyson Fury.
Fury came into 2024 as an unbeaten heavyweight champion. The giant but relaxed and skilled British heavyweight departs the year with two losses hung on his record, both courtesy of the man he called “the rabbit” and “a middleweight.”
Usyk gave boxing one of its moments of the year in May in his first fight with Fury, when he had the 6ft 9ins Fury uncontrollably cannoning off the ropes with legs like melted butter, forcing the big man to take a count and be on the verge of getting stopped. It was an astonishing moment. The type that even those watching at home probably stood up from their couch to take in.
The first fight was close. Both had more than moments of success; they had spells of it, but by the end Usyk won by 114-113 and 115-112 against one scorecard that favored Fury by 114-113.
Fury and Usyk had initially been due to fight in February, but Fury was cut in sparring and the bout was delayed until May 18. It was an incredible contest in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The country has hosted three of Usyk’s last four fights, including on December 21, when Usyk and Fury re-engaged in hostilities. Although Fury claimed victory afterwards, the judges all agreed Usyk deserved to win by scores of 116-112, even though they got to their totals in different ways.
Oddly (and this is boxing, after all) Usyk is finishing the year with just three belts. While he earned the undisputed mantle in May – the first heavyweight to own it in almost a quarter of a century – by September the IBF had put the belt on Daniel Dubois for him to defend against Anthony Joshua.
Therefore, Usyk-Fury II was for the WBA, WBC and WBO titles. But it was for more than that. It was for the No. 1 spot in the division and, as it turned out, the No. 1 spot for the weight class of this era. With Deontay Wilder’s stock having plummeted, Usyk – having twice defeated Joshua and Fury and already having beaten Daniel Dubois – just about completed the game in 2024.
And Usyk has vowed to fight on.
Those also considered for Fighter of the Year were:
Artur Beterbiev, who stopped Callum Smith and won a narrow bout with Dmitry Bivol. Beterbiev and Bivol will run that back in February.
Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez, who closed out 2024 having beaten Juan Francisco Estrada for the lineal junior bantamweight championship and WBC title, and defended successfully against Pedro Guevara.
Daniel Dubois had two huge wins, defeating old sparring rivals Filip Hrgovic and Anthony Joshua, stopping both.
Naoya Inoue hit new heights, climbing off the floor to drill Luis Nery in a thriller in front of a packed Tokyo Dome. Sadly for the undisputed junior featherweight champion, his December 24 bout with Sam Goodman was postponed by one month after the Australian was cut in his final spar. Inoue had also managed a win over TJ Doheny.
Unified cruiserweight titleholder Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez scored impressive wins over Arsen Goulamirian and Chris Billam-Smith.
Oscar Collazo managed three stellar wins, and looked better each time, against Reyniris Gutierrez, Gerado Zapata and Knockout CP Freshmart (Thammanoon Niyomtrong).
There were a trio of early wins for bantamweight titleholder Junto Nakatani over Alexandro Santiago, Vincent Astrolabio and Petch CP Freshmart (Tasana Salapat).
Liverpool’s Nick Ball had a huge breakout year. Unlucky having to settle for a draw against Rey Vargas for the WBC featherweight title, he rebounded to defeat Raymond Ford for the WBA belt on a split decision and then had a tough night in the office in his first defense, winning a 10th-round TKO against the gritty Ronny Rios.
Bakhram Murtazaliev, who didn’t box at all in 2023, came back and stopped Jack Culcay in 11 rounds for the vacant IBF junior middleweight title and defended it with a dominant third-round technical knockout of Tim Tszyu.
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