The Boxing Writers Association of America announced the results of its 2025 annual awards, voted on by its members.
For the second time in his boxing career, Terence Crawford was selected by the BWAA membership as the 2025 Fighter of the Year. Crawford first won this award in 2014.
Crawford set multiple records with his stunning victory over undisputed super middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez in September. With the win, Crawford became the first fighter in men’s boxing to become a three-weight undisputed world champion in the four-belt era: undisputed at Super-Lightweight, Welterweight, and now at Super-Middleweight.
Crawford is also now a four-division lineal champion, an honor he shares with Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao. Finally, he is also one of only six male fighters to have won titles in five divisions, alongside Mayweather, Pacquiao, Thomas Hearns, Sugar Ray Leonard, and Oscar De La Hoya.
The other nominees included Dmitry Bivol, Naoya Inoue, Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez, and Rene Santiago.
Mikaela Mayer was selected by the BWAA Awards Committee as the 2025 BWAA Female Fighter of the Year.
Like Crawford, Mayer bet on herself, moving up a division after having moved up in her previous fight to defeat WBA World Super Welterweight champion Mary Spencer of Canada, winning her third division title.
Eubank vs Benn I, won by Eubank in April, was the choice as the 2025 BWAA Male Fight of the Year. The other worthy candidates included Carlos Canizales KO5 Panya Pradabsri II, Isaac “Pitbull” Cruz W10 Angelo Fierro, Christian Mbilli W 10 Lester Martinez, and Kenshiro Teraji KO 12 Seigo Yuri Akui.
Super middleweight Shadasia Green’s split-decision victory over Savannah Marshall on the Taylor vs Serrano 3 undercard was chosen as the BWAA 2025 Female Fight of the Year.
For the second year in a row, Robert Garcia was voted the Trainer of the Year.
Keith Connolly was selected as the Manager of the Year, winning for the second time.
Roy Jones Jr. is the Taub Award Winner for excellence in broadcast journalism based on his many years with HBO Boxing.
Hall of Fame legend Sugar Ray Leonard is the Good Guy award recipient for his many contributions and support of charitable causes in boxing.
The BWAA’s Barney Nagler Long and Meritorious Service Award winner went to John Sheppard in honor of his creation of BoxRec, the worldwide, universally recognized online database and record-keeping system for both professional and amateur boxing. Sheppard founded BoxRec in 2000, providing comprehensive, real-time data along with algorithm-based rankings, fighter profiles, fight histories, and event listings. It serves as the official registry for many boxing commissions, documenting over three million bouts.
Hall of Fame legend Christy Martin was selected as the John McCain & Bill Crawford Award for Courage In Overcoming Adversity. Martin has been an outspoken advocate against domestic violence, based on her own personal story. The biopic “Christy” starring Sidney Sweeney as Martin received critical acclaim far beyond its audience numbers.
Former USA Today boxing writer Jon Saraceno was selected as the Nat Fleischer Award winner for excellence in boxing journalism.
In the longstanding BWAA tradition, all award winners will be honored at the annual BWAA awards dinner. It is the organization’s major fundraiser and open to the public. The date/time and location will be announced later in the year.
The BWAA Award winners and full alphabetical list of category nominees:
BWAA Fighter Of The Year winner: Terence Crawford
Nominees:
Dmitry Bivol
Terence Crawford
Naoya Inoue
Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez
Rene Santiago
BWAA Fight Of The Year winner: Chris Eubank W 12 Conor Benn I
Nominees:
Carlos Canizales KO5 Panya Pradabsri II
Isaac “Pitbull” Cruz W10 Angelo Fierro
Chris Eubank W 12 Conor Benn I
Christian Mbilli W 10 Lester Martinez
Kenshiro Teraji KO 12 Seigo Yuri Akui
Trainer of the Year winner: Robert Garcia
Nominees:
Ben Davison
Freddy Fundora
Robert Garcia
Shingo Inoue
Andy Lee
Manager of the Year winner: Keith Connolly
Nominees:
Keith Connolly
Robert Garcia
Peter Kahn
Vadim Kornilov
Rick Mirigian
Taub Award winner: Roy Jones Jr.
Nominees:
Jim Gray
Dave Harmon
Roy Jones, Jr.
Mauro Ranallo
James “Smitty” Smith
Marvin Kohn Good Guy Award winner: Sugar Ray Leonard
Nominees:
Russ Anbe
Chris DeBlasio
Sugar Ray Leonard
Steve Pratt
Don Turner
Barney Nagler Long and Meritorious Service award winner: John Sheppard
Nominees:
Henry Hascup
Don Majeski
Dr. Nitin Sethi
John Sheppard
John McCain & Bill Crawford Award for Courage In Overcoming Adversity winner: Christy Martin
Nominees:
Billy Dib
Joe Gallagher
Sampson Lewkowicz
Christy Martin
Yudai Shigeoka
Gayle Falkenthal is an award-winning boxing journalist and the only woman journalist who is a full voting member of the Boxing Writers Association of America (BWAA). She is the Managing Editor for NY Fights based in San Diego, California.