The days are fast disappearing when women’s professional boxing ends up tacked onto the end of the men’s year-end list of 2025 boxing awards. The accomplishments of the women at the top of their game make it impossible to relegate them as afterthoughts or accommodations.
Like the men, the elite of women’s boxing include world-class technicians and yes, relentless punchers.
Women Merit All Top Boxing Awards
Most boxing “Best of 2025” lists might give you a women’s Fighter of the Year, and if they’re feeling generous, a Fight of the Year. But there are more than enough performances to merit the same awards given to the men at NY Fights: Fighter of the Year, Fight of the Year, Knockout, Prospect, and Trainer.
Parity isn’t charity here. Promoters need to stage the events in a manner befitting the champions. The matchmaking needs to be compelling. The performances need to show skill and will, and the narratives will write themselves. Well, with a bit of help here from your humble journalist. Let’s get to it.
Fighter of the Year: Elif Nur Turhan
Boxing fans in North America were dialed into the Pitbull vs Roach card on December 6 and largely ignored the five-fight Matchroom card taking place in Monaco. Thank goodness for YouTube.
In the only world title fight on the card, undefeated IBF World Lightweight champion and two-time Olympic medalist Beatriz Ferreira of Brazil was expected to breeze through her fight against Elif Nur Turhan of Turkey. Turhan had other ideas.
Turhan (12-0, 8 KOs) was a virtual unknown before this fight. But the 30-year-old made a big impression with a stunning fifth-round knockout victory over Ferreira (9-1, 2 KOs). It capped off a year with three knockout victories against undefeated opponents to emerge as a new star of women’s boxing and our Fighter of the Year.
Turhan doesn’t have the skill set of a polished technician, but she more than makes up for it in ring generalship, aggression, and a vicious right hand most men would be happy to have in their toolkit.
In her fight with Ferreira, Turhan wasted no time going after the Brazilian champion, scoring a legitimate knockdown missed by the referee seconds after the opening bell. No worries, Turhan repeated the knockdown a minute later. Ferreira got to her feet, but it was clear her night would not go as expected.
“We trained so hard for this moment. We went to war in training then came in here and went to war here too,” said Turhan of her victory. “I worked so hard for three years for this fight. This is what I worked for, and this is what I gave my all to. I trained that hard that I cried and this is what it was for.”
Boxing fans who don’t warm up to women’s bouts say it’s the lack of knockouts. Turhan’s power reminds me of prime Sergey Kovalev in his Krusher days. She is just three years into her pro career, and we look forward to seeing more Turkish knockouts in 2026.
Also Nominated:
Gabriela Fundora: Our top women’s pound-for-pound fighter made two defenses of her undisputed flyweight titles in 2025, winning both by knockout. Fundora of Coachella, California (17-0, 9 KOs) is already one of the best women’s fighters at age 23.
Mizuki Hiruta: Hiruta of Japan (10-0, 2 KOs) defended her WBO Junior Bantamweight title four times, the only champion with four title defenses other than Naoya Inoue. She is now based in Los Angeles and is becoming better known to US fans.
Shadasia Green: Green of New Jersey (16-1, 11 KOs) defeated champion Savannah Marshall to become the WBO/IBF unified super middleweight champion in the biggest win of her career on a big stage.
Mikaela Mayer: Mayer of Colorado Springs (22-2, 5 KOs) took a page out of Terence Crawford’s book and moved up a division to defeat Mary Spencer of Ontario, Canada to win the WBC and WBO junior middleweight titles. Mayer also won a rematch with Sandy Ryan of Great Britain.
Fight of the Year: Green vs Marshall
Before her super middleweight title unification fight with Savannah Marshall of England, Shadasia Green of Paterson, New Jersey, told me she’d be gunning for the $250,000 Fight of the Night bonus paid out by Most Valuable Promotions on its historic all-women’s fight card in July at Madison Square Garden.
After a grueling battle for ten hard rounds, it was a tense wait for the scorecards. On hearing her name announced as the new unified champion, WBO World Super Middleweight champion Shadasia Green of Paterson, New Jersey (15-1, 11 KOs) and her trainer Barry Porter both burst into tears and embraced in celebration of the victory over IBF champion Savannah Marshall of England (13-2, 10 KOs). Scores were 96-93 and 95-94 for Green, and 96-93 for Marshall.
Marshall got out to an early lead. Her punches are clean and easy for the judges to see. Green struggled at first to get into a rhythm. She began holding Marshall to slow her down. Referee Thomas Taylor deducted a point in the fourth round.
Now in a deep hole, it delivered the shock Green needed to reset herself, and she got down to business. She landed hooks to Marshall’s head with serious authority and nearly knocked out Marshall in round five. The crowd at the Garden gasped when Green’s punches connected flush. Marshall has a great chin, but she began to fatigue.
Both corners felt the urgency to win the final two rounds. With both women letting it go to close the show, Green buzzed Marshall with a hard right. The crowd hoped to see a knockout, but their support was rewarded when they heard the scorecards.
The bout was highly anticipated as an action fight between two of the most feared punchers in women’s boxing. Marshall and Green delivered and then some, with the sold-out Madison Square Garden crowd roaring with approval for the New Jersey fighter. For her effort, Green was awarded the $250,000 performance bonus to a warm round of applause.
Also Nominated:
Elif Nur Turhan TKO 6 win over Beatriz Ferreira, December 6
Gabriela Fundora, TKO 7 over Marilyn Badilla Amaya, April 19
Mikaela Mayer UD over Mary Spencer, October 30
Tamm Thibeault TKO 7 over Mary Casamassa, July 13
Knockout of the Year
Fans appreciate all the skills an elite boxer possesses, but let’s face it. Knockouts matter. We’re going right back to our Fighter of the Year, Elif Nur Turhan of Turkey, with the second of her three knockout wins of the year. Turhan took the fight on ten days’ notice against previously undefeated Shauna Browne of Ireland on March 1 at the SSE Arena in Belfast. It took Turhan just 47 seconds to drop and stop Browne with a left hook.
Signed to Matchroom Boxing, promoter Eddie Hearn hopes to match Turhan against WBC World Lightweight champion Caroline Dubois in a blockbuster unification fight. Yes please!
Trainer of the Year: Freddy Fundora
Great corners don’t just hold mitts and write up a game plan. They learn their fighters’ strengths and weaknesses, learn how to work with both, then build skills trust, develop trust, and push fighters into uncomfortable places when necessary. When a trainer finds the right formula, they and their fighters form a winning team.
Undisputed womens’ flyweight champion Gabriela Fundora credits much of her success to her trainer and father, Freddy Fundora. Fundora’s bona fides are bolstered by his success with Gabriela’s older brother, Sebastian, also a unified champion. There may be a third Fundora champion in the future, as younger sister Fabiola is widely touted as even more talented than her siblings. Our nod goes to Papa Fundora, whose results are undeniable.
Also Nominated:
Barry Porter, trainer of unified super middleweight champion Shadasia Green
Shane McGuigan, trainer of WBC World Lightweight champion Caroline Dubois and unifed super bantamweight champion Ellie Scotney
Prospect of the Year: Tamm Thibeault
Prospects get a lot of hype, but predictions for success need to be grounded in evidence. This is the fighter whose results point at fruitful results in the next 18 to 24 months.
Two-time Canadian Olympian Tamm Thibeault of Quebec was signed to the Most Valuable Promotions stable of talented women boxers. She delivered in her third bout and first fight for MVP on the MSG all-women’s card in July. Thibeault (3-0, 2 KOs) drilled and knocked out previously undefeated Mary Casamassa of Pittsburgh (6-1, 1 KO) in five rounds with vicious body shots and hooks.
Thibeault then went on to score a first-round TKO win in the co-main event of the Most Valuable Prospects 15 card in Montreal on September 27 against Italy’s Cristina Mazzotta (1-1) to improve her record to four wins with three by knockout in front of a raucous local crowd at Théâtre St-Denis. Thibeault showed why she’s among boxing’s rising stars, and she did it early.
“I have my place here. I got two fights, but I got a lot of experience as an amateur, and I belong with these women,” said Thibeault in July among the veterans on the MSG card. We couldn’t agree more.
Boxing Riding Wave of Women’s Sports Popularity
In 2025, women’s professional boxing no longer needs to borrow legitimacy from their brothers. They are earning it on their own terms. The results every bit as compelling as what we’ve seen on the men’s side.
Smart promoters like Most Valuable Promotions and Matchroom Boxing see the potential and are making the investment by snapping up and signing the top athletes.
Best of all, the athletes continue to meet the moment when the lights are brightest, and the pressure is on them. Women are used to having to prove themselves over and over, and there’s no reason to think it will stop in 2026.
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.