2023 Boxing Awards Including Fighter of the Year, Best Knockout, Biggest Upset and Comeback of the Year

After a great campaign at the end of December, another fantastic boxing year is coming to an end. Metro.co.uk looks back at some of the best sporting moments in 2023 and shares our awards for the year.

Fighter of the Year: Naoya Inoue

In a normally crowded field, Terence Crawford will certainly have the edge after his historic victory over Errol Spence Jr. in July. As does Devin Haney, who defended his undisputed lightweight crown against Vasiliy Lomachenko before becoming a two-weight champion against Regis Prograis earlier this month.

But Japanese phenomenon Naoya Inoue stands out as the best of the best this year.

The 30-year-old became only the second male boxer in the four-belt era after Crawford to become undisputed champion in two weight classes with his Boxing Day victory over Marlon Tapales.

Even more impressive was his devastating victory over Stephen Fulton in July, when he won every round against an elite opponent before knocking him out in the eighth round.

Now that he had won world titles in four divisions, Inoue seemed better than anyone he shared the ring with. This trend shows no signs of changing.

Performance of the Year: Terence Crawford vs. Errol Spence Jr

Inoue has every reason to win this award again after his victory over Fulton in July. But less than a week later this was overshadowed by Terence Crawford’s systematic defeat of his old rival Errol Spence Jr.

The undisputed battle for the welterweight title pitted the two best undefeated players in their division against each other, with the boxing world divided over who would be successful. Spence, who held the IBF, WBA and WBC titles heading into the fight, looked like a novice in a brutally one-sided affair.

In a fight that may be the most important for the sport since Floyd Mayweather vs. Manny Pacquiao eight years ago, Crawford battered, bruised and bloodied his fiercest rival with his combination of perfect timing and vicious counterpunching, with the referee mercifully intervening near the end . the ninth round after three defeats.

The blow ended Spence’s six-year reign as world champion and made Crawford the first man to reign as undisputed champion in two weight divisions. History aside, the Omaha fighter’s sheer dominance against a man who was considered his equal before the opening bell was simply breathtaking.

Fight of the Year: Artur Beterbiev vs. Anthony Yarde

At the beginning of this year, Artur Beterbiev and Anthony Yarde set the bar incredibly high in their classic.

Four years ago, Yarde traveled to Russia to challenge Sergey Kovalev, then one of the top performers in the light heavyweight division, and put in an excellent performance before being stopped in the 11th grade.^e round.

In January, not many gave him a chance against the fearsome IBF, WBC and WBO champion Beterbiev, who maintained his remarkable 100 percent knockout record this year. But the east Londoner put in an incredible effort, setting the pace and leading the Cards before being subbed out in the eighth when it all came crashing down.

In a tense, flat contest, Yarde Beterbiev endured perhaps his toughest test yet before the champion’s strength and experience finished him off.

A good runner-up is Katie Taylor against Chantelle Cameron II. Taylor’s first ever professional defeat in May meant we returned to Dublin in November with Cameron’s super lightweight title on the line once again. The Bray fighter secured her salvation in 10 captivating rounds at a high level.

Comeback of the Year: Jordan Gill

After a tough knockout loss to Kiko Martinez last year, Jordan Gill returned with a bang in December, traveling to Belfast to take out hometown favorite Michael Conlan in his own backyard.

It was the biggest win of the Cambridgeshire fighter’s career and just how devastating it was was evident in his emotional post-fight interview.

After his loss to Martinez, Gill struggled with the situation and went into a downward spiral, contemplating suicide. “On June 30, I was in a field… and I was about to commit suicide. “That day someone came to save me,” he said in an interview with DAZN after the fight.

After stopping two-time world title challenger Conlan, Gill’s prospects are better than ever.

KO of the Year: Zhilei Zhang in Joe Joyce rematch

Zhilei Zhang came to London in April to test the strongest chin in boxing. Joe Joyce earned a reputation for throwing the kind of punches that would flatten most men, but that reputation began to crumble that night as the Chinese heavyweight pushed through and Joyce stood up in the sixth round with his southpaw stance.

Joyce immediately took control of the rematch and as he tried to avoid the left hand that had chiseled him six months earlier, he was crushed by a right hand that sent him face first to the mat. Images of the Putney heavyweight on screen were hard to imagine a year earlier, but ‘Big Bang’ Zhang made it a reality.

Rage of the Year: Joseph Parker defeats Deontay Wilder

Anthony Joshua vs. Deontay Wilder was signed, sealed and ready for delivery next March before Joseph Parker spectacularly tore up the script.

The former WBO champion had recorded three victories before his clash with Wilder on December 23. Wilder, on the other hand, has less than one round to his name in the last 26 months. It turned out to.

Parker’s mix of skill and power stunned Wilder, who seemed a shadow of his former self in Saudi Arabia. At just 31 years old, the New Zealander has looked arguably better than ever during his reign as world champion and is now back among the elite in his division.

Although Saudi Arabia had big plans to end the six-year wait between Joshua and Wilder, Parker’s victory proved that absolutely nothing can be taken for granted in this sport.

Prospect of the Year: Adam Azim

2023 saw three fights and three more wins for Adam Azim. After a string of KOs in 2022, the 21-year-old was credited with some valuable rounds, going the distance in follow-up bouts with Santoa Reyes and Aram Faniian. before stopping Frank Petitjean late on to secure the European title.

By winning the title in just his tenth professional fight, he became the fastest Englishman to win the European title, surpassing the achievements of former champions Spencer Oliver and ‘Prince’ Naseem Hamed.

One of the country’s brightest young talents has no plans to slow down with big plans for 2024.

Story of the Year: Francis Ngannou vs. Tyson Fury

Nobody gave Francis Ngannou a chance.

His non-title meeting with Tyson Fury in October was seen as nothing more than a huge payday for “The Gypsy King”, a chance to win ahead of his undisputed world title meeting with Saudi Oleksandr Usyk. As we all know now, this did not go according to plan.

Ngannou knocking Fury down in the third round that night was perhaps the most iconic sporting image of the year, leaving the WBC champion dazed and confused as to what had just happened.

Although he was always considered one of the most ruthless strikers in MMA, no one expected the Cameroonian to land anything significant against Fury, who was guilty of deflecting the ball and underestimating the former UFC champion.

While he lost the fight on a controversial singles decision, Ngannou emerged as a legitimate force at the top of the heavyweight division – an unimaginable scenario for someone with one professional fight under his belt.

This performance earned him a number 10 ranking in the WBC, ahead of Filip Hrgovic, Joe Joyce and Daniel Dubois, to name a few.