By Gerardo Granados: This was an interesting year. Not all was that bad or that great, but indeed, it was a good boxing year. In fact, there were a couple of events that will be remembered in years to come.
Once again, the WBC kept on getting involved in issues that they shouldn’t, such as picking a fight against the Boxrec site. Also, Mauricio Sulaiman, the WBC President, made an awkward statement against The Ring Magazine, saying, “I don’t know why media, champions, and promoters give any credit to a Ring Magazine belt, which only threatens the credibility of the sport.” It was only his personal opinion, but still, it was not smart to do it that way.
Nonetheless, I must admit that this year, the WBC was the only boxing organization to go against allowing female boxers to go twelve rounds for three minutes, and for that reason, they deserve my respect.
As I previously mentioned, this year, female boxing went from ten – two-minute rounds title bouts to twelve – three-minute rounds, which is a huge mistake, and time will prove me right on this one.
We saw how UFC fans celebrated and even bragged on our faces to the boxing fans after Francis Ngannou gave a humility lesson to the boxing heavyweight Champion Tyson Fury.
At a local event, I got to see a legit battle of attrition between two local boxers. I bet that the reader was also lucky and got the chance to see one of those fights in your hometown.
Without any further words, I announce to the reader, to the boxing purists, and to all the savage, bloodthirsty fight fans, the 2023 Boxingnews24 Awards:
– The Diva & Duck of the Year goes to Saul Alvarez. This year, Canelo stated, “I am the king. I do whatever I want” when questioned about his avoidance of fighting David Benavidez, and instead of taking his mandatory challenger at super middleweight, he handpicked a rusty super welter Jermell Charlo instead.
– The mismatch of the year goes to the Amanda Serrano vs. Danila Ramos fight. Not only was Serrano levels above Ramos, but Danila took a beating through twelve rounds in a three-minute round.
– The heinous Robbery of the year goes to the Ismael Barroso vs. Rolando Romero unexplainable stoppage. This fight made a mockery out of pro boxing.
The upset of the year goes to Francis Ngannou vs. Tyson Fury. No one could have imagined that Fury would have to struggle to go the distance against a novice boxer. And I must say that many boxing fans saw Fury lose to Ngannou.
– Trainer of the year goes to Shingo Inoue, father of the Monster Naoya Inoue.
– For the Female Fighter of the Year, the award goes to Katie Taylor, who became the undisputed super lightweight champion after she defeated Chantelle Cameron. Taylor also became a two-division undisputed divisional champion.
– The female fight of the year goes to Amanda Serrano vs. Erika Cruz. A fight to remember. If you haven’t watched it, you better search for it and enjoy it.
– The knockout of the year goes to Junto Nakatani’s nasty knockout over Andrew Moloney.
– The fight of the year goes to the helluva fight between Jaime Munguia and Sergey Derevyachenko.
– The Fighter of the Year award goes to the undefeated, undisputed WBC – WBA – IBF – WBO super bantamweight Champion of the World Monster Naoya Inoue. Last year Inoue became the undisputed bantamweight king and now achieved something really special that will hardly be matched in years to come.
As always, I want to thank all the anonymous fighters who kept pro boxing honest, delivering great fights to watch and enjoy in all the corners of the world. To you, to the award winners, and especially to the reader, I wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy & Prosperous New Year.
