By Gerardo Granados: This was an interesting year. Not everything was so bad or so good, but it was a good year of boxing. In fact, there were a couple of events that will be remembered for years to come.
Once again, the WBC continued to get involved in issues it should not have, such as seeking a fight against the Boxrec site. Furthermore, Mauricio Sulaimán, president of the WBC, made an uncomfortable statement against The Ring Magazine, saying: “I don’t know why the media, the champions and the promoters give credence to a Ring Magazine belt, which only threatens the credibility of the sport. .” It was just his personal opinion, but still, it wasn’t smart to do it that way.
However, I must admit that this year, the WBC was the only boxing organization that opposed allowing female boxers to fight twelve rounds over three minutes, and for that reason they deserve my respect.
As I mentioned before, this year women’s boxing went from ten title fights of two-minute rounds to twelve three-minute rounds, which is a big mistake, and time will prove me right in this case.
We watched as UFC fans celebrated and even boasted in our faces to boxing fans after Francis Ngannou gave heavyweight boxing champion Tyson Fury a lesson in humility.
At a local event, I got to see a legitimate battle of attrition between two local boxers. I bet the reader was also lucky and had the opportunity to see one of those fights in his hometown.
Without further words, I announce to the reader, to boxing purists and to all wild and bloodthirsty boxing fans, the 2023 Boxingnews24 Awards:
– The Diva and Duck of the Year goes to Saúl Álvarez. This year, Canelo stated: “I am the king. I do what I want” when he was asked about his avoidance of fighting David Benavidez, and instead of choosing his mandatory challenger at super middleweight, he chose a rusty super welterweight Jermell Charlo.
– The mismatch of the year goes to the fight between Amanda Serrano and Danila Ramos. Not only was Serrano on top of Ramos, but Danila took a twelve-round beating in a three-minute round.
– The atrocious Robbery of the year goes to the inexplicable strike of Ismael Barroso vs. Rolando Romero. This fight turned professional boxing into a mockery.
The surprise of the year is for Francis Ngannou against Tyson Fury. No one could have imagined that Fury would have to fight his way to the end against a rookie 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 Fighter of the Year, the award goes to Katie Taylor, who became the undisputed super lightweight champion after defeating Chantelle Cameron. Taylor also became undisputed two-division divisional champion.
– The female fight of the year goes to Amanda Serrano vs. Erika Cruz. A fight to remember. If you haven’t seen it, you better look it up and enjoy it.
– Knockout of the year goes to Junto Nakatani’s nasty knockout of Andrew Moloney.
– The fight of the year goes to the incredible fight between Jaime Munguia and Sergey Derevyachenko.
– The Fighter of the Year award goes to the undefeated and undisputed WBC – WBA – IBF – WBO super bantamweight world champion, the World Monster Naoya Inoue. Last year, Inoue became the undisputed bantamweight king and now he achieved something truly special that will hardly be matched in the years to come.
As always, I want to thank all the anonymous fighters who made professional boxing honest, offering great fights to watch and enjoy in every corner of the world. To you, the prize winners, and especially the reader, I wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy and Happy New Year.
