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NY Fights 2024 MidYear Boxing Awards
Year-end boxing awards, sure everyone’s got them. But how about those 2024 MidYear Boxing Awards?
Surprisingly, it has become more common to assess candidates halfway through the boxing year to determine which are early favorites for those mythical prizes.
It’s always a sign of a good year in boxing when we already see front-running candidates across categories by July 1. Unlike so many other issues in this sport, there are no right or wrong answers, only compliments and recognition for deserving athletes who give their all to the sport. Your choices might be different, and there’s room for all of them.
Fighter of the Year: Oleksandr Usyk
Oleksandr Usyk raises the undisputed belt after his victory over Tyson Fury Saturday. Photo: Mikey Williams, Top Rank Boxing
Fighter of the Year looks a lot like 2023. The shortlist includes “The Monster” Naoya Inoue of Japan, Oleksandr Usyk of Ukraine, Gervonta Davis of Baltimore, and Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez of San Antonio, Texas.
If he’d gotten into the ring, it’s likely Terence “Bud” Crawford of Omaha, Nebraska, would be on this list. But he won’t have his first 2024 fight until August 3.
Inoue and Rodriguez had spectacular, star-making wins, and it’s hard to deny the excitement of Davis’ knockout of Frank Martin. But the clear front-runner will be hard to beat. The first man to unify the four heavyweight division titles plus the RING Magazine belt was an underdog winner over a much bigger man. His win was also far bigger than boxing: it was for an entire nation. It will be hard to unseat Oleksandr Usyk here. Slava Ukraini!
Fight of the Year: Usyk vs. Fury
A fight many thought might be a blowout win turned out to be a compelling contest won by the underdog. Photo: Mikey Williams, Top Rank Boxing
The selections are in timeline order: Inoue vs. Nery (March 6), Usyk vs. Fury (May 18), and Estrada vs. Rodriguez (June 29).
For the reasons we've already stated, Usyk vs. Fury, making heavyweight division boxing history, is our choice for Fight of the Year. It had all the drama of a classic heavyweight contest: swings in momentum we called a play in three acts; a big man being knocked down by the smaller opponent; and a winner who was fighting for something much greater than himself, to pick up the spirits of a country at war.
Women's Fight Of The Year: Sandy Ryan TKO4 Terri Harper
Sandy Ryan was the bigger, stronger fighter, despite Terri Harper having dropped a weight class to face her.
Photo: Mark Robinson, Matchroom Boxing
With the elite names not yet in action in competitive fights so far in 2024, we give this half-year honor to WBO World Welterweight champion Sandy Ryan for a thorough beatdown of former champion Terri Harper on March 24 in Sheffield, England. Ryan delivered so much damage to Harper that Harper's corner pulled her out of the fight after four rounds.
Also nominated: Elisabeth Oshoba KO Michaela Braga (January 13); Natasha Jonas UD over Mikaela Mayer (January 22); Elle Brooke KO AJ Bunker (January 20); Gabriela Fundora TKO12 Christina Cruz; Bree Howling KO1 Noemi Bosques (March 1); Lauren Price UD over Jessica McCaskill (May 11).
Round of the Year: Ford vs. Kholmatov, R12
Raymond Ford said he knew he started slow, and answered trainer Anthony Rodriguez's call to “bring out the dog.” Photo: Mikey Williams, Top Rank Boxing
Raymond Ford of Camden, New Jersey, was behind on two of three cards going into the 12th and final round of his tough fight against Otabek Kholmatov of Uzbekistan on March 3 for the vacant WBA featherweight title. He was only one point ahead on the third card.
Ford, had a tough weight cut and had been out of the ring a year. He said he knew it would all come down to the final round. He dug down and rocked Kholmatov in the last 60 seconds of the fight with power shots, forcing referee Charlie Fitch to step in at 2:53. Ford gets the victory and his first world title.
Also nominated: Usyk vs Fury, Round 9, May 18; Sergey Lipinets vs. Robbie Davies, Round 8, May 8; David Stevens vs. Sergio Lopez, Round 1, June 7.
Knockout of the Year: Anthony Joshua KO3 Francis Ngannou
Anthony Joshua knocked down and knocked out Francis Ngannou in two rounds to win their heavyweight bout Friday in Riyadh. Photo: Mark Robinson, Matchroom Boxing.
Doesn’t every boxing fan love a knockout win? Knockouts are like pizza: they’re never awful, and many are incredibly tasty. Whether it’s a left hook to the jaw, a body shot, or a wicked counterpunch, there’s something for everyone.
Some may brush off our choice, but there is no denying the spectacular knockout dropping all 272 pounds of MMA great Francis Ngannou on March 8 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in the second round after two prior knockdowns.
After Ngannou’s performance against then-WBC World Heavyweight champion Tyson Fury, observers felt the fight would at least be competitive. But Joshua proved you don’t play boxing, especially not with a heavyweight power puncher.
At the post-fight news conference, Francis Ngannou admitted he had never felt the knockout punch. Photo: Matchroom Boxing/YouTube
Incredibly, a half hour later during the post-fight news conference, Ngannou seemed recovered and in good spirits.
Also nominated: Louis Greene KO R1 Jack McCann (March 8); Dalton Smith Body Shot KO5 Jose Zepeda (March 23); Vladimir Hernandez KO6 Guido Schramm (June 5); Osleys Iglesias KO6 Evgeny Shvedenko (June 6); Gervonta Davis KO8 Frank Martin (June 15); Jesse Rodriguez KO6 Juan Francisco Estrada (June 29); and anything by Christian Mbilli.
Trainer of the Year: Robert Garcia
Jesse Rodriguez celebrates with his team, including Robert Garcia (right), after winning his title fight against Juan Francisco Estrada at Footprint Center in Phoenix, Arizona. Photo: Amanda Westcott, Matchroom
Ever since Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez was 19 years old, trainer Robert Garcia would tell anyone the most talented fighter in his stable of champions at the Robert Garcia Boxing Academy was a 108-pound 19-year-old from San Antonio.
Say what? Garcia turned out to be right, and he’s had a big hand in Rodriguez’s development into an impressive two-division world champion at age 24, topped just a week ago with his dominating win over sure Hall of Fame inductee Juan Francisco Estrada of Mexico.
Also nominated: Ben Davison (Anthony Joshua); Shingo Inoue (Naoya Inoue): Anatoly Lomachenko (Oleksandr Usyk).
Upset of the Year: Liam Paro Over Subriel Matias
Liam Paro landed the harder shots against the much-feared Subriel Matias. Photo: Amanda Westcott, Matchroom
This award went to a Southern Hemisphere fighter last year in Joseph Parker, and the leader halfway through the year is Australian lightweight Liam Paro. It’s a shame Paro’s card in Puerto Rico on June 15 was competing on the schedule with the Davis vs. Martin PPV in Las Vegas.
But if you’re a two-screen watcher like me or willing to catch up with the second card on demand, you saw a terrific performance from the lightly regarded Paro up against a hometown hero in Matias. Seeing the judges get it right was a treat, giving Paro the surprise decision over the undefeated Matias.
Also nominated: Ismael Barroso TKO R1 Ohara Davies (January 6); Sebastian Fundora UD over Tim Tszyu UD (March 31); Daniel Jimenez UD over Scrappy Ramirez (April 20); Kyrone Davis UD over Elijah Garcia (June 15).
With a half-year lineup like this one, any performance between now and December 31 making our nominations shortlist will need to be something spectacular. Stay tuned as we cover it here at NY Fights.
